"Interesting British secret weapon" Topic

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…the Canadians had dressed sheep and goats in two layers of battledress material and positioned them across a wide area, some in trenches….

Quite a sight!

I thought this would be the story of the British plan to drop bombs that would disperse poisoned needles over (late war)German lines in Europe. But this article is just as interesting….

As an aside, it seems Singer (sewing) was contacted for the needle purchase.

Mark Dunton: "…But it shows the Allies were prepared to consider anything – no matter how gruesome – to secure a victory."
Curious how time changes peoples perspective like a Monday morning quarterback. At the time period described (1941 on) I do believe the "Allies" were doing anything they could to stave off a defeat, not just secure a victory!

Meh.
Seems like dead is the same, no matter how you get there.

Besides, wouldn't this have been "mustard liquid" ?
-Kle.

Klebert L Hall asked this ask:

Besides, wouldn't this have been "mustard liquid" ?

Yes -- bit one of the first things you learn in the intro to NBC is that chemical agents have since half forever been called "gas" regardless of whether they are gases, smokes, liquids or finely-divided powders.

Indeed, when I was taught this stuff, the alarm for radioactive fallout was to yell "Gas, gas, gas!" and bang your mess tins together.

All the best,

John.

Indeed, when I was taught this stuff, the alarm for radioactive fallout was to yell "Gas, gas, gas!" and bang your mess tins together.

1970s?

Very Late 1970s, yes.

All the best,

John.

Indeed, when I was taught this stuff, the alarm for radioactive fallout was to yell "Gas, gas, gas!" and bang your mess tins together.

Perhaps this was a cunning plan intended to decieve the enemy intelligence into thinking that you thought that it was something else than what it was?

Which type of mess tins did you employ?

Griefbringer

After you put your respirator on of course – mid 80s

I was taught it in the early 70's as a high school cadet….bloody scarey what we weer taught as kids in those days – eg how much earth would provide decent protection from back-scatered radiation, how far away we should be from the detonation of 1 MT nukes, etc (like we would ahve a choice!)…..

Griefbrigaer asked these asks:

Perhaps this was a cunning plan intended to decieve the enemy intelligence into thinking that you thought that it was something else than what it was?

I think it was more the fact that the IA was exactly the same for either threat, plus the fact that shouting "downwind radiological hazard, downwind radiological hazard, downwind radiological hazard!" would cut unfairly far into other people's nine seconds to mask up.

Which type of mess tins did you employ?

The same type as the British Army has had since about 1937, I believe.

Oddly, various real or pretended revolutions in military affairs have so far left eating irons untouched.

In another NBC/mess-tin interaction, I still recall with fondness the time on my recruits' cadre when our RSM, John Langley, spotted a recruit who had failed to take his respirator with him to get his curry from the containers on the lunch wagon. For myself, being an HQ Company soldier and knowing John Langley of old, I thought that things might go amiss as soon as I saw a glint in his eye, and so shovelled my curry extra fast before something kicked off. Now, John Langley was in the habit of carrying an orange signal smoke grenade on his belt, and would, from time to time, prime and throw this with a merry shout of "Gas! Gas! Gas!" in order to keep everyone on their toes, and wearing their respirator carriers at all times. Sure enough, as soon as Recruit Dopey had had his curry glopped into one mess-tin and his duff and cuss into another, our esteemed RSM tossed the smoke grenade in his general direction, and shouted "Gas! Gas! Gas!". Switched-on soldiers had their respirators on instantly, less switched-on ones hunted around a bit, and, at John Langley's insistence, started beating their mess-tins together while yelling the gas warning. This resulted in curry and custard flying everywhere, just like the deleted pie-fight scene from "Dr. Strangelove". The humour of the situation was considerably added to by the fact that John's carelessly tossed grenade had, by mischance, landed smack in one of Recruit Dopey's mess-tins -- whether curry or duff I do not now remember -- and he was running up and down in panic, trying to remember where he had left his respirator, holding the mess-tin with burning smoke grenade at arm's length and generally doing as good an imitation of Norman Wisdom as can be done without an ill-fitting cap and cries of "Mr. Grimsdale!". Anyhow, lesson learned about NBC preparedness, I think, and as John made the cooks fetch us another curry to make up for the one we had just thrown about the training area for exercise purposes, those of us who were fast with the yaffling spanners got two curries for the price of one.

Incidentally, John Langley was one of the writers of the WRG's original "Infantry Action" rules, now available Harry Freeman's from Phil Barker's website.

All the best,

John.

Thank you for a most inspiring story, mr Salt!

Makes me wonder what the mess tin looked like once the smoke grenade had exhausted itself, though.

Griefbringer