Guardian is at this one, again. > http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/sep/01/winston-churchill-shocking-use-chemical-weapons >
Perhaps we could have something on the website about it? I don't think it's in the "myths and legends". RAC Begin forwarded message: > From: No reply <[email protected]> > Subject: From the Guardian: Winston Churchill's shocking use of chemical > weapons > Date: 2 September 2013 12:20:21 BST > To: [email protected] > Reply-To: No reply <[email protected]> > > Richard Wheeler thought you might be interested in this link from the > Guardian: Winston Churchill's shocking use of chemical weapons > > The use of chemical weapons in Syria has outraged the world. But it is easy > to forget that Britain has used them – and that Winston Churchill was a > powerful advocate for them > > Giles Milton > Sunday 1 September 2013 > > The Guardian > > http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/sep/01/winston-churchill-shocking-use-chemical-weapons > > ---- > > Secrecy was paramount. Britain's imperial general staff knew there would be > outrage if it became known that the government was intending to use its > secret stockpile of chemical weapons. But Winston Churchill, then secretary > of state for war, brushed aside their concerns. As a long-term advocate of > chemical warfare, he was determined to use them against the Russian > Bolsheviks. In the summer of 1919, 94 years before the devastating strike in > Syria, Churchill planned and executed a sustained chemical attack on northern > Russia. > > The British were no strangers to the use of chemical weapons. During the > third battle of Gaza in 1917, General Edmund Allenby had fired 10,000 cans of > asphyxiating gas at enemy positions, to limited effect. But in the final > months of the first world war, scientists at the governmental laboratories at > Porton in Wiltshire developed a far more devastating weapon: the top secret > "M Device", an exploding shell containing a highly toxic gas called > diphenylaminechloroarsine. The man in charge of developing it, Major General > Charles Foulkes, called it "the most effective chemical weapon ever devised". > > Trials at Porton suggested that it was indeed a terrible new weapon. > Uncontrollable vomiting, coughing up blood and instant, crippling fatigue > were the most common reactions. The overall head of chemical warfare > production, Sir Keith Price, was convinced its use would lead to the rapid > collapse of the Bolshevik regime. "If you got home only once with the gas you > would find no more Bolshies this side of Vologda."The cabinet was hostile to > the use of such weapons, much to Churchill's irritation. He also wanted to > use M Devices against the rebellious tribes of northern India. "I am strongly > in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes," he declared in > one secret memorandum. He criticised his colleagues for their > "squeamishness", declaring that "the objections of the India Office to the > use of gas against natives are unreasonable. Gas is a more merciful weapon > than [the] high explosive shell, and compels an enemy to accept a decision > with less loss of life than any other agency of war." > > He ended his memo on a note of ill-placed black humour: "Why is it not fair > for a British artilleryman to fire a shell which makes the said native > sneeze?" he asked. "It is really too silly." > > A staggering 50,000 M Devices were shipped to Russia: British aerial attacks > using them began on 27 August 1919, targeting the village of Emtsa, 120 miles > south of Archangel. Bolshevik soldiers were seen fleeing in panic as the > green chemical gas drifted towards them. Those caught in the cloud vomited > blood, then collapsed unconscious. > > The attacks continued throughout September on many Bolshevik-held villages: > Chunova, Vikhtova, Pocha, Chorga, Tavoigor and Zapolki. But the weapons > proved less effective than Churchill had hoped, partly because of the damp > autumn weather. By September, the attacks were halted then stopped. Two weeks > later the remaining weapons were dumped in the White Sea. They remain on the > seabed to this day in 40 fathoms of water. > > If you have any questions about this email, please contact the > theguardian.com user help desk: [email protected]. > > theguardian.com Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2013 > Registered in England and Wales No. 908396 Registered office: PO Box 68164, > Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1P 2AP > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
