UK Used Indian Troops As WW2 Mustard Gas Guinea Pigs

Newly released UK Government documents have revealed that military scientists, from the Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment, Porton Down, used conscripted Indian soldiers in their WW2 Mustard Gas human experimentation programme.

Military scientists tested mustard gas on Indians


· Hundreds of soldiers used in experiments
· Illnesses caused by carcinogen not tracked

Rob Evans
Saturday September 1, 2007
The Guardian


British military scientists sent hundreds of Indian soldiers into gas chambers and exposed them to mustard gas, documents uncovered by the Guardian have revealed.
The Guardian understands that the British military did not check up on the Indian soldiers after the experiments to see if they developed any illnesses. It is now recognised that mustard gas can cause cancer and other diseases.

Many suffered severe burns on their skin, including their genitals, leaving them in pain for days and even weeks. Some had to be treated in hospital.

The trials have been thrown into the spotlight by newly discovered documents at the National Archives which have shown for the first time the full scale of the experiments.
The Indian troops were serving under the command of the British military at a time when India was under colonial rule.

The experiments took place over more than 10 years before and during world war two in a military installation at Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan. They were conducted by scientists from the Porton Down chemical warfare establishment in Wiltshire who had been posted to the sub-continent to develop poison gases to use against the Japanese.

The Indian tests are a little-known part of Porton's huge programme of chemical warfare testing on humans. More than 20,000 British soldiers were subjected to chemical warfare trials involving poison gases, such as nerve gas and mustard gas, at Porton between 1916 and 1989.

Many of these British soldiers have alleged that they were duped into taking part in the tests, which have damaged their health in the years after the trials.

The full article can be found at www.guardian.co.uk...

The relevant files can be examined at The National Archives, Kew, near London. Their reference numbers are:

WO 189/3187 Comparative trials of lachrymators, KSK, CX and BBC under hot weather conditions in India 1937 Jan 01 - 1937 Dec 31

WO 189/3205 The danger to be expected from marching over ground heavily contaminated with liquid mustard gas in ... 1939 Jan 01 - 1939 Dec 31WO 189/3228 Trials with shell, 25 pounder (air burst) charged with lachrymator B4 and vesicant Y4 at Deolali, In ... 1942 Jan 01 - 1942 Dec 31

WO 189/3234 The effect of mustard gas vapour on eyes under Indian hot weather conditions 1942 Jan 01 - 1942 Dec 31

WO 189/3236 The effect of mustard gas vapour on the skin under hot weather conditions 1942 Jan 01 - 1942 Dec 31

WO 189/3238 The casualty-producing power of small drops of vesicants under tropical conditions: part 1, prelimin ... 1943 Jan 01 - 1943 Dec 31

WO 189/3242 Protection of the scrotal area against vesicant gases: part 1, test of design and irritancy of impre ... 1943 Jan 01 - 1943 Dec 31

WO 189/3243 The appearances and treatment of mustard gas burns of the skin under Indian conditions 1943 Jan 01 - 1943 Dec 31

WO 189/3245 Aircraft spray in India: further trials under conditions of steady wind at Karachi 1943 Jan 01 - 1943 Dec 31

WO 189/3268 Report on two cases of severe skin burns from mustard gas vapour under tropical conditions in India 1944 Jan 01 - 1944 Dec 31

WO 189/3297 Protection of the hands from various liquid contaminations; includes comment on CDRE (India) Reports ... 1945 Jan 01 - 1945 Dec 31

WO 189/3312 Dosages of mustard gas vapour resulting from bombardment of a wooded target with 25 pounder base eje ... 1946 Jan 01 - 1946 Dec 31

WO 189/3353 The clinical aspects and treatment of hand burns due to mustard gas arising from trials with impregn ... 1945 Jan 01 - 1945 Dec 31

WO 189/3364 Some experiments on the skin-burning power of Lewisite vapour in a warm humid climate 1946 Jan 01 - 1946 Dec 31


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