The Fog of War: Chemical Weapons, Burn Pits, and the British Environment

• In Event: Weapons of Mass Pollution: Health, Hazards, and the British Environment, 1850-1950

Abstract

During the Second World War, the United Kingdom produced thousands of tons of mustard gas and other chemical weapons, which it stockpiled at sites all over Britain and elsewhere. The United States also brought enormous quantities of chemical weapons to Britain. When the war ended without these weapons being used in combat, the British government decided to destroy much of this arsenal, as well as large quantities of captured German chemical weapons. To dispose of these highly toxic materials, officials often decided to burn them. This method was cheap and convenient, and it eliminated the need for long-distance transport of fragile shells, some of which were already leaking. Yet the burning of chemical weapons produced enormous clouds of dense smoke, and it prompted complaints from farmers that their livestock were being sickened or even killed by the fumes. Drawing on archival research at the National Archives of the UK in Kew and the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, this paper shows that when destruction proved much more problematic than officials had expected, they denied responsibility for causing harm to agriculture, health, and the environment, and they sought to prevent the public from becoming aware of the difficulties of rendering chemical weapons harmless.

Author

• Peter Thorsheim, UNC Charlotte