¤ A la base militaire de « Porton Down », on a « enfumé » les anglais pendant cinquante ans !

Tested to destruction

In 1953, British servicemen volunteered for what they thought were harmless scientific experiments. Instead, they became unwitting participants in the military’s race to beat the Soviet Union in the development of chemical warfare. This week, police announced the first investigation into the death of one young airman who was gassed to death. Rob Evans reports on the human guinea pigs of the cold war

Inquiry into nerve gas cover-up
Defence Evaluation Research Agency homepage

• Email - The Guardian, Friday 20 August 1999
• source   http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/1999/aug/20/freedomofinformation.uk?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

Ronnie Maddison thought he was helping the nation find a cure for the common cold. That was what many servicemen who answered the appeals to take part in experiments at Porton Down thought they were volunteering for. It was 1953, the middle of the cold war, and the military had little interest in telling them any different.

So when the scientists put out the call for 140 human « guinea pigs » between April 25 and June 5, Ronnie signed up. At 10.17am on May 6 he found himself sitting in a sealed chamber with five other men in Porton Down. Scientists then dripped liquid gas from pipettes through two layers of military clothing on to his skin. At 10.40 he « complained of feeling ‘queer’ and was seen to be sweating », according to official reports obtained by the Guardian. (more…)