In an obituary, Sir Harold Hartley said "Livens combined great energy and enterprise with a flair for seeing simple solutions and inventive genius.

According to Simon Jones' book World War I Gas Warfare Tactics and Equipment, on learning of the sinking of the luxury liner RMS Lusitania in May 1915 with loss of 1,100 lives including, apparently, his wife, he vowed to kill an equal number of Germans.

It was to this end that he began experimenting with gas and flame projectors of various types and continued in his work even after hearing that his wife had not, after all, been on board the Lusitania.

[16] According to Who's Who in World War One by John Bourne, it was the first use of poison gas by the Germans at the Second Battle of Ypres on 22 April 1915 that prompted Livens' vengeful ambitions.

[17] Major-General Foulkes described him as a "go getter", but also as unfamiliar with military protocol;[18] Foulkes later recalled Livens' part in the preparation of a gas attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt: On one occasion he brushed aside all opposition at Victoria Station and filled a Pullman car with miles of rubber pipes and boxes of heavy gun-metal castings, and on reaching Boulogne he telegraphed the Quartermaster-General personally for the immediate supply of 20 lorries—which he got!

[19]Livens was soon put in charge of Z Company, a special unit that was given the responsibility of developing a British version of the German flamethrower that had recently been deployed on the Western Front.

The mortars were buried in the ground in rows, almost touching each other and with only the muzzles visible above the surface, and in this manner they were set in the required direction, while pieces of metal from any that happened to burst—of which there were quite a number!—were prevented from flying about.

"[28]Livens' new weapon was used for the first time on the morning of 23 July 1916: twenty oil projectors were fired just before an attack in the battle of the Somme at Pozières – the effect was limited.

The Livens Projector was used in a series of gas attacks during October 1916 and a number of officers took a close interest in the results.

The Livens Projector became a preferred means by which the British Army delivered a chemical attack and its production was given a high priority, the total for the Allies of the Great War eventually exceeded 150,000 units.

[2] Livens, "who was always full of ideas" gave up the command of Z company and became a liaison officer between Foulkes' Special Brigade and the Ministry of Munitions in which role he remained for the last two years of the war.

A witness to one trial described orange boxes filled with explosives and fired from a hole in the ground in the manner of a shell fougasse.

This system failed because the explosives tended to detonate ineffectually in mid-air – a sight that was described as being: "A most impressive picture of the Day of Judgement".

[1] A variation of the Livens Projector prototype was also tested with a view to cutting wire; Major-General Foulkes later recalled: "After the shoot, as the spectators approached the target area to observe the effect that had been produced Livens noticed that one drum containing 100lb of ammonal had failed to explode, and he called out "Back everybody" as he led a hasty retreat.

I think he considered this the highlight of his military career—the occasion when he barked out an order to an Army Commander (Gough) and was promptly obeyed!

[10] After the First World War, Livens, being of independent means, no longer had any incentive to produce new inventions and his life was relatively uneventful.

[38] The hearing was detailed and a number of witnesses were called including the recently retired General Gough[29] and Charles Howard Foulkes who was then a colonel.

Livens joined the team of developers working at the newly formed Petroleum Warfare Department under the directorship of Sir Donald Banks.

His equipment as one remembers it was an old club blazer with numerous pockets out of which explosives of all kinds, fuses, wire and gadgets would emerge and hey presto!

[43] A flame fougasse comprised a 40-gallon light steel drum[d] filled with petroleum mixture and a small, electrically detonated explosive as a propellant charge.

When the Ammonal-based propellant charge was detonated, it caused the barrel to rupture and shoot a flame 10 feet (3 m) wide and 30 yards (30 m) long.

It had all the features of a modern dishwasher, including a front door for loading, a wire rack to hold crockery and a rotating sprayer.

[citation needed] In his leisure time, Livens enjoyed sailing small boats and was a member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club.

His remains were cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on Saturday 8 February with the request that donations to Cancer Research should be made in place of flowers.