Chemical weapons and the United Kingdom facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The United Kingdom used chemical weapons a lot during World War I. These weapons, often called "poison gas," were also thought about for use in World War II. However, it seems they were not actually used in later conflicts.

Even though the UK signed agreements like the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 that banned poison gas shells, these agreements didn't mention gas released from cylinders. The UK later agreed to the Geneva Protocol in 1930 and the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1996, which aim to stop the use and production of these weapons.

Chemical Weapons in World War I
Between the World Wars
Plans for Chemical Weapons in World War II
After World War II
See also

Chemical Weapons in World War I

A World War I-era British gas bomb

During the First World War, Germany started using chlorine gas against British troops in April 1915. In response, the British Army used chlorine gas for the first time during the Battle of Loos on September 25, 1915.

By the end of the war, both sides were using poison gas widely. By 1918, about a quarter of all artillery shells contained gas. Britain alone produced around 25,400 tons of these harmful chemicals.

Britain used different types of poison gases. At first, they used chlorine. Later, they used more dangerous gases like phosgene, diphosgene, and mustard gas. They also used smaller amounts of gases that caused irritation, like chloromethyl chloroformate and chloropicrin. Sometimes, gases were mixed. For example, "white star" was a mix of chlorine and phosgene. The chlorine helped spread the heavier, more toxic phosgene.

Even with new types of gas being made, chemical weapons became less effective as the war went on. This was because soldiers on both sides learned how to protect themselves better and had improved equipment.

Mustard gas was first used effectively by the German Army in 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele near Ypres, Belgium. The name Yperite comes from its use near Ypres. The Allies didn't use mustard gas until November 1917 at the Battle of Cambrai. This happened after they captured a supply of German mustard gas shells.

It took Britain over a year to make its own mustard gas. They first used it in September 1918 during the Hundred Days' Offensive. The use of chemical weapons in World War I went against international agreements like the 1899 Hague Declaration and the 1907 Hague Convention. These agreements clearly said that using "poison or poisoned weapons" in war was forbidden.

Between the World Wars

After World War I, Britain wanted to keep a supply of Adamsite, a chemical that causes coughing. So, in 1919, the British Ministry of Munitions opened the Chemical Defence Research Establishment (CDRE) at Sutton Oak. This factory could make up to 20 tons of mustard gas each week in the late 1920s.

In 1919, the Royal Air Force used a gas called diphenylchloroarsine against soldiers in Russia. This gas was meant to cause uncontrollable coughing. In 1920, Winston Churchill, who was in charge of war and air, suggested using poison gas in Iraq during a big uprising there.

For many years, historians debated whether gas was actually used in Iraq. A study in 2009 looked at old documents. It found that while tear gas was available and its use was considered, all the conditions needed for it to be used never happened at the same time. This means no poison gas was actually used in Iraq during that period. The confusion came from mistakes in official letters at the time.

Churchill himself wrote in 1919:

It is silly to hurt a man with a sharp piece of a shell but worry about making his eyes water with tear gas. I strongly support using poison gas against uncivilized groups. The good effect on their morale should be so strong that very few lives would be lost. We don't have to use only the deadliest gases: we can use gases that cause a lot of trouble and fear, but don't leave serious lasting effects on most people.

—Winston Churchill, Departmental minute (1919)

In 1937, a large British company called Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) started building a new factory. This factory, located at Wigg Island, Runcorn, was for making mustard gas.

Britain signed and approved the Geneva Gas Protocol in 1930. This agreement banned the use of toxic gases and bacteria in war. However, it did not ban making or developing such weapons. So, Britain carried out many tests of chemical weapons starting in the early 1930s. In some tests, called the Rawalpindi experiments, many Indian soldiers were exposed to mustard gas. This was done to find out how much gas would be effective in battles. Many of these soldiers suffered severe burns from the gas.

Plans for Chemical Weapons in World War II

In the late 1930s, the British government planned to be ready to use chemical weapons if Nazi Germany used them first. They expected Germany might use mustard gas and phosgene to fight off a possible German invasion in 1940–1941. If an invasion had happened, the Royal Air Force might have used gas against German cities.

General Brooke, who was in charge of British anti-invasion preparations of World War II, wrote in his diary that if Germans landed, he "definitely intended to use sprayed mustard gas on the beaches." Britain made mustard gas, chlorine, lewisite, phosgene, and Paris Green. These were stored at airfields and depots, ready to be used on the invasion beaches.

Building Chemical Weapon Factories

In 1939, a place called the Alyn Valley in Rhydymwyn was chosen to build a major chemical weapons factory. This factory, named M. S. Factory, Valley, became the United Kingdom's main plant for making chemical weapons.

Storing Chemical Weapons Safely

To make sure Britain could quickly strike back if Nazi Germany used chemical weapons, several "Forward Filling Depots" were built. These depots helped spread out the mustard gas supply so it would be ready to use.

FFD 1: RAF Barnham, Suffolk
FFD 2: RAF Risely Lake Site, Befordshire
FFD 3: RAF Station Swinderby, Lincolnshire
FFD 4: Bridge Site, Cambridgeshire
FFD 5: Station Site, West Cottingwith/Escrick, Yorkshire

Later Discussions About Using Gas

Winston Churchill later wrote a memo suggesting a chemical attack on German cities using poison gas and possibly anthrax. Even though this idea was rejected, it has caused much discussion.

In July 1944, Churchill was worried that rocket attacks on London would get worse. He said he would only use chemical weapons if it was "life or death for us" or if it would "shorten the war by a year." He wrote a secret memo asking his military leaders to "think very seriously over this question of using poison gas." He felt it was "absurd to consider morality on this topic when everybody used it in the last war without a word of complaint." He added:

I would be ready to do anything [Churchill's emphasis] that would hit the enemy in a deadly way. I may certainly have to ask you to support me in using poison gas. We could drench the cities of the Ruhr and many other cities in Germany ... We could stop all work at the flying bombs starting points....and if we do it, let us do it one hundred per cent.

—Winston Churchill, 'Most Secret' PRIME MINISTER'S PERSONAL MINUTE to the Chiefs of Staff, 6 July 1944

However, the military planners advised against using gas. They believed it would definitely make Germany use gas in return. They argued this would hurt the Allies in France and make people upset if they found out Britain used gas first. They also worried about public morale in Britain. They thought people might feel angry if they believed a gas war could have been avoided. The military leaders also warned that the Nazis would have no trouble controlling their own people if they were attacked with gas. But British people "are in no such quiet condition." Also, Germans might use Allied prisoners to work in gas-filled areas, causing "great public concern."

Churchill replied to this advice by saying:

I am not at all convinced by this negative report. But clearly I cannot make head against the parsons and the warriors at the same time. The matter should be kept under review and brought up again when things get worse.

At the same time, the planners looked into using anthrax as a bioweapon against six large German cities. But they decided against it because the anthrax bombs were not ready yet. A large order of these bombs was placed, but by the time the US factory was ready to make them, the war in Europe was almost over, so they weren't needed.

Some historians and writers argue that once the atomic bomb, another weapon of mass destruction, became available and could shorten the war, the Americans used it. They ask why germ warfare should have been seen any differently by the British.

As the war was clearly ending, Britain stopped making poison gas in February 1945, following a request from military leaders.

Production in South Africa

During World War II, poison gas was also made in South Africa for the United Kingdom.

In 1943, Britain discussed with the South African government and later with the government of Bechuanaland (now Botswana). They wanted to find a good place to test chemical weapons under the secret name FORENSIC. South Africa said no suitable site was available. Britain then suggested a possible site in the Makgadikgadi Pan of Bechuanaland. These planned tests were put off because of the rainy season in 1943 and it seems they were never carried out. Information about them was not known to the public until British colonial records were opened in 2012.

After World War II

From 1939 to 1989, experiments on chemical weapons, including nerve agents and ways to protect against them, were done at the Porton Down research center. Volunteers took part in these tests. However, many former servicemen later complained of long-term illnesses after participating. It was claimed that they were not given enough information about the risks before volunteering. This would go against the Nuremberg Code of 1947, which sets rules for human experiments. This led to a long police investigation called Operation Antler.

From 1950, a Chemical Defence Establishment was set up at CDE Nancekuke for making small amounts of chemical agents. A small factory for making Sarin, a nerve agent, was built. It produced about 20 tons of Sarin between 1954 and 1956. A larger factory was planned, but in 1956, Britain decided to end its program for making offensive chemical weapons. So, the larger factory was never built. The Nancekuke facility was kept ready, meaning it could easily start making chemical weapons again if needed, throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

In the early 1980s, the government thought that not having a chemical weapons supply in Europe was a "major gap in NATO's defenses." However, political problems prevented Britain from restarting its chemical weapons production.

On May 5, 2004, an investigation began into the death of a serviceman named Ronald Maddison. He died on May 6, 1953, during an experiment using sarin. An earlier investigation by the Ministry of Defence had said his death was an accident. But this was overturned by the High Court in 2002. The 2004 hearing ended on November 15. A jury found that Maddison's death was caused by "application of a nerve agent in a non-therapeutic experiment."