Hello all, I am trying to find individuals with historical knowledge, that would be willing to participate in answering a few questions to support my research. I am exploring chemical and biological warfare surrounding WW1 and WW2. I have emailed historians, authors and history lecturers ... with not much luck. Could anyone point me in the right direction? or would like to take part? Thank you Natasha
I think you need to be a bit more specific about your 'angle' - it's not a small subject. Understanding your focus might help others to respond.
** Too add, I understand it is a broad topic, therefore I am looking at cause and effects, physical effects and comparisons, Geneva Protocol, Treaty of Versailles and the disposal of chemicals after WW2.. Its more overall general questions I have, which I hope to explore in my blog whilst designing special effects makeup for a period drama.
have a look here Biological weapons use? Unit 731 - Biological and Chemical Warfare Chemical warfare The history of biological warfare
Most manufacture, at least early on was in Runcorn, at Randle's Works, Wigg Island and possibly Castner's, both ICI, St Helens Poison Gas Works - Sutton Oak CDRE | Sutton Beauty & Heritage and Rhydymwyn near Mold.The Sutton Oak link is a new website to me. The Cheshire plants had some of the largest military guard numbers of any strategic industrial sites in the county in 1940.
BAStudent, When you have composed your topic statement, which will introduce any questionnaire, it will need to be quite specific and currently it is very broad. So for example either biological or chemical, not both. After WW1 the use of chemical weapons declined, although still used by some, e.g. Italy in Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Less well-known in Europe is the extensive use of CBW by Japan in China and there is still a joint mission active in recovery operations. For pointers: Chemical Weapons Abandoned by Japan in China and https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/16523/paper13.pdf Most WW2 incidents - from memory - were accidental discharges or unintended discharges, notably the American freighter exploding at Bari and Wiki provides an introduction: Air raid on Bari - Wikipedia There are a number of threads here on the Bari disaster, try searching with "bari" + "mustard gas" + ww2talk.com" site:ww2talk.com Focus, focus and if there is enough material I would recommend the issues in China caused by Japan in WW2. More recently there is a book 'Dirty War: Rhodesia and Chemical Biological Warfare 1975-1980' by Glenn Cross, published by Helion & Company in 2017 (290 pgs.). See: Dirty War: Rhodesia and Chemical Biological Warfare 1975-1980 Not many UK academics or authors to my knowledge write on the whole range of issues. Look to contact Dan Kaszeta, an expert in the private sector now and who is London-based. Glenn might be worth asking too, he is in the US government and has worked on these issues as an analyst for a long time. Somewhere I have his email.
There are quite a few references to making preparations for chemical warfare in the records of the War Cabinet and the Chiefs of Staff committee which are available on-line via the National Archives website. If you are interested I could look up a couple of references for you once you've decided on a specific topic. Regards Tom
I don't know if you are doing this strictly from a British perspective or not. If you are interested in American WWII perspectives look at the US Army official volume, The Chemical Warfare Service, by Kleber and Birdsell. With no gas warfare as such in WWII, the US Army Chemical Warfare Service devoted much of its attention to flame and demolitions. Colonel Harold Riegelman, a CWS officer in the Southwest Pacific, wrote of his experiences with this sort of work in The Caves of Biak. Biak is an especially important story in WWII CBW because it was one of the few battles in which the US Army seriously considered employing gas.
Massive release of mustard from bombing raid on Bari December 2 1943. Many killed and affected. Doctors did not know what had happened and how to treat patients as it was kept secret as far as possible.
At the other end of the scale, the Japanese deployed gas grenades - basically glass bulbs - and are reputed to have used them at a tactical level, e.g. against pillboxes and tanks. There were supposedly tear gas and cyanide versions but it's a bit of a hazy subject.
Thank you, this is something I have not come across yet in my research- the use of mustard gas during ww2 (I know it was being manufactured). Will definitely look into this
Thank you for your comment, I was unaware that attention was given mostly to flame and demolitions in US in ww2 this is something that I can research into and may be able to explore within my project
