British use of banned weapons ?
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: General History
Forum Name: Modern Warfare
Forum Discription: Military history and miltary science from the ''Cold War'' era onward.
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20747
Printed Date: 13-May-2024 at 01:59
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.56a - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: British use of banned weapons ?
Posted By: nuvolari
Subject: British use of banned weapons ?
Date Posted: 14-Jul-2007 at 13:35
|
I have read the the British government in WW2 were so concerned that the Germans might use flamethrowers against their troops that they threatened to retaliate by using dubious or banned weapons such as poison gas/chemical/biological weapons.
Has anybody else heard that and can quote a reliable source as to this threat having been made ?
Cheers,
Nuvolari.
|
Replies:
Posted By: Cywr
Date Posted: 14-Jul-2007 at 16:53
|
The British developed bombs that would spread anthrax spores (tested it on sheep on some remote Scotish island) which was to be used as retaliation for any gas attack on UK soil. This threat to retaliate in kind may well have been made for all i know, but it was deffnitly official policy for a while. As for flame throwers, i doubt it. The British had their own 'Ack pack' flame throwers, but tended to prefer flame throwers mounted on tanks. Using bio/chemical weapons as retaliation for a weapon used my most armed forces during that war, and furthermore, in a context that would put their own troops at risk to exposure to such weapons, just makes no sense. It was WWII, not WWI, the peeps in charge of the British armed forces actualy used their brains this time round. I've never heard of this claim, and i personaly think its BS. There is also a claim that German SS troops would execute the crew of British flame thrower tanks as soon as they were caught, again due to anger of flamethrowers being used against their troops, but i've not seen much to convince me that this claim is true either. -------------  Arrrgh!!"
|
Posted By: pekau
Date Posted: 14-Jul-2007 at 17:39
Doubt it. In WW2, both sides used anything they could find against their enemies. Such British threat is meaningless. ------------- http://swagbucks.com/refer/Malachi"> 
Join us. |
Posted By: nuvolari
Date Posted: 15-Jul-2007 at 13:19
As far as I am aware, in the context of which we speak, NO nationality (Allies or Axis) ever used biological weapons ( other than the Japs use of bio. against Chinese ) against each other, any more than they used chemicals. Ditto re poison gas. This being the case, I cannot do other than reject the assertion that "both sides used anything they could find".
Insofar as the alleged threat of the British to use dubious weapons against the Germans if the latter employed flamethrowers against them, the mere fact that a reader or readers states that they have never heard it does not make it B/S. The proper view would be to take it under consideration until it is either proved or disproved, which is what I am doing - hence my post in the first place !
|
Posted By: edgewaters
Date Posted: 20-Jul-2007 at 15:25
|
The British did not threaten to use anthrax or gas in retaliation for flamethrowers. Both sides used flamethrowers. (Were they even banned in the forties?) The Germans favoured man-portable kits, and a few flame tanks, the British used many flame tanks (eg Churchill Crocodile) but few man-portable units.
The British did threaten to use anthrax or gas under certain conditions. First, the use of such weapons by the Germans; second, to defend their beaches in the event of a German landing. Both sides had stockpiles of biological weapons and poison gas. They were even issued to army groups to use if the need arose (there was a famous disaster in the Meditteranean during the Italian campaign in which two ships collided, one of which was carrying a load of poison gas). However, no party to the conflict in Europe ever used chemical or biological weapons. Japan is another story ... |
Posted By: Maharbbal
Date Posted: 20-Jul-2007 at 15:44
|
I never heard of threats of retaliations by the UK with gas in case of invasion. But one thing for sure the Brits had developed a kid of flame thrower on their beaches. And the German were scared to death to be baked alive. ------------- I am a free donkey! |
Posted By: edgewaters
Date Posted: 20-Jul-2007 at 16:00
Yes, Churchill threatened to gas the beaches and had set up a few flaming systems. Mind you, it was mostly just tough talk - the British military knew perfectly well that the Germans were not capable of a Channel crossing and weren't going to risk it, so they were not really committing themselves to any kind of war crime. It was designed to bolster British confidence and call Hitler's Sealion bluff. It was about politics and propaganda, not military reality. In reality there was no danger of invasion and no danger the British would be called to make good the threat. Churchill often threatened to use poison gas under various circumstances, for instance, he made a gratuitous point of threatening to use it if the Germans used it in Russia. I don't think he was looking for an excuse to use gas. He was doing it to undermine Hitler. The Germans certainly knew Hitler was a loose cannon, and being reminded all the time of these various things Hitler might do which would result in them being gassed or hit with anthrax might have eroded their confidence in him. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 21-Jul-2007 at 03:22
|
IIRC, their was a time (outside Moscow) when the German's did want to use poison gas, but Hitler absolutly forbade it.
Flamethrowers, snipers, minelayers, have very short life expectancy when captured. ------------- |
Posted By: edgewaters
Date Posted: 21-Jul-2007 at 04:04
They had very short life expectancy if they were seen, let alone captured. That's why the Soviets camouflaged their flamethrowers (KS-2 and KS-3) so it looked like they were carrying a standard infantryman's backpack and a standard Mosin Nagant rifle. No other flamethrower looked like a rifle, but for the Soviets it was a necessity as German snipers would immediately target any obvious carriers of flame weapons. |