I checked their online archives, but they only go back to 1995, so it's earlier than that.
A library should have the complete index to the magazine.
Civilians also have been exposed inadvertently to chemical weapons many years after weapon deployment during war. Some 50,000 tons of mustard shells were disposed of in the Baltic Sea following World War I. Since then, numerous fishermen have been burned accidentally while hauling leaking shells aboard boats. Leaking mustard shells also have injured collectors of military memorabilia and children playing on old battlefields.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/chemical_warfare/article_em.htm
Ok, I have just done some research on this and I haven't read the whole thread so I don't know what else has been posted. I found some articles verifying this. This one in particular is somewhat terrifying. It tells how there is this huge stockpile of chemical weapons just piled up at a place called Houthulst in the open just sitting there degenerating away. It tells how some of this stuff is merely a trigger's wire rusting away from a disastrous situation.
www.greatwar.nl/gifgas/houthulst-eng.html
Here is another that raises some grave concerns because it tells of these things being smuggled into Britain and also sold on the black market:
www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/south/series9/week_four.shtml
And I also found this:
Poison gas in World War I - Unexploded weapons
Unexploded WWI ammunition, including chemical ammunition, was a major problem in former battle areas after the end of the War, and has ever since been present. Shells may be, for instance, uncovered when farmers plough their fields; more importantly, shells are regularly discovered when public works or construction work is done. While classical shells pose a risk of explosion, their disposal is relatively easy. It is not the case with chemical shells.
An additional difficulty is the current stringency of environmental legislation. In the past, a common method of getting rid of unexploded chemical ammunition was to detonate or dump it at sea; this is nowadays prohibited in most countries.
The problems are especially acute in some northern regions of France. The French government no longer disposes of chemical weapons at sea. For this reason, piles of untreated chemical weapons accumulated. In 2001, it became evident that the pile stored at a depot in Vimy was unsafe; the inhabitants of the neighbouring town were evacuated, and the pile moved, using refrigerated trucks and under heavy guard, to a military camp in Suippes. [1] [2] The French government announced the construction of an automated plant for the dismantling of chemical munitions inherited from previous wars; this factory, codenamed SECOIA, is to be operational in 2007.[3] The capacity of the plant is meant to be 25 tons per year (extensible to 80 tons at the beginning), for a lifetime of 30 years.[4]
In Belgium, a similar plant was planned in 1993 and brought in service in 1999, two years late, indicating the difficulties in disposal of such wastes. Germany, too, has to deal with unexploded ammunition and polluted lands resulting from the explosion of an ammunition train in 1919.[5]
www.experiencefestival.com/important_role
Considering the problems in Europe and Britain at the present with jihadists seeking ways to destroy them, I would think that these things should be of great concern.
"Not a year goes by when a Frenchman or two (and some of his farm animals) doesn't die from plowing up a mustard-gas shell from WORLD WAR ONE."
"You wouldn't happen to have a link to this? We need ammunition to use against the left's rebukes."
I found one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/south/series9/week_four.shtml
Here is one snippet from the second article on the link concerning the French problem with the WW1 mustard gas shells called "Bomb Danger"
Bomb danger?
Potentially deadly? Old UXBs may pose a threat
Inside Out investigates how dangerous live military shells and bombs are going missing before the Army or Police can make them safe.
Renegade military dealers and collectors are stealing 'live' chemical shells and bombs from the battlefields of Belgium and France.
They are then smuggling these potentially deadly munitions back through the Channel Tunnel or on the ferries into the UK for sale on the military black-market or on the web.
Some of the live shells going missing are toxic and contain chemicals that could kill.
Trench warfare - bombs are still being uncovered
It appears that toxic shells containing mustard gas and and phosgene were being stolen and were finding their way illegally back into the UK.
So many live bombs are unearthed by farmers, there are designated spots where they are left for collection by the military.
They may be 90-years-old and look harmless but the chemical agents can be as deadly as the day they were first made. Destroying them has to take place inside a high security lab.
The scale of the problem is frightening and with toxic agents like phosgene and mustard gas, it is dangerous work.