WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT!

Shrieking with sheer terror, the monkeys showered in bubonic plague: Horrific film from 1952 shows British germ warfare tests

• WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
  
• Operation Cauldron took place on pontoon off the coast of the Isle of Lewis
  
• Military chiefs believed the Soviets were producing bacteriological bombs
  

By
Guy Walters


PUBLISHED:

22:39, 23 September 2012


|

UPDATED:

11:07, 24 S
Crammed into small boxes, their heads wedged through tiny holes, the monkeys undoubtedly look terrified.

Around
them, men in rubber overalls and gas masks arrange a semi-circle of
boxes containing guinea pigs on the deck of a sloping pontoon.

After the boxes have been laid out, the men disappear below the deck of a ship, and for a while, nothing happens.
Scroll down for video




Gruesome: A still from the 1952 film shows a
monkey in distress as it is exposed to bubonic plague during the germ
warfare tests of the Isle of Lewis

Then, after several minutes, a
small bomb placed on a boom a few feet out to sea detonates, and showers
the animals in a deadly cloud of bubonic plague.

These scenes, which have just
been released, appear in a gruesome film showing secret germ warfare
experiments on animals carried out by British government scientists
sixty years ago.

The
experiments, which ran from May to September 1952 off the coast of the
Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, exposed nearly 3,500 guinea pigs
and 83 Rhesus Macaque monkeys to deadly germs such as bubonic plague.

Codenamed
Operation Cauldron, the secret experiments were part of our nascent
biological warfare programme, which at the time was deemed as important
as the development of nuclear weapons.
Acting in the belief that the Soviets
were producing bacteriological bombs, scientists from Porton Down
laboratory in Wiltshire were briefed to devise similar weapons that
could be used in retaliation against a Russian germ warfare strike.

Although
the existence of the 47-minute film has been known about for many
years, it is now available for the world to see on the video-sharing
website YouTube, thanks to the efforts of Mike Kenner, 58, an Open
Government campaigner from Weymouth in Dorset.











Trials: A Rhesus Macaque monkey and five guinea pigs await their fates on the deck of the pontoon





Scientists set out the animals in cages on the
deck of the pontoon before a small bomb containing bacteriological
agents is detonated

‘This is the only film like it
in the world,’ says Mr Kenner, who lobbied the Ministry of Defence to
get the film released. ‘As far as I know, it’s the only film that shows
animals being exposed to deadly pathogens.’

The MoD was reluctant to release the film, and it is not hard to see why as it is disturbing viewing.

Many
of the monkeys and guinea pigs exposed to the germs died within a few
days, while any that survived were killed and dissected so their organs
could be studied for the effects of the deadly germs.

Above all, it is the sight of the monkeys’ almost human faces that make the film so shocking.
‘Although
we see the tests are being carried out on animals,’ says Mr Kenner,
‘when one sees the monkeys, one can’t help but empathise, and realise
that these weapons were being designed to be used against people’.

Very few of those who took part in Operation Cauldron are still alive.

One
of the men who can testify to the truth of what happened is Geoffrey
Scarlett, 82, who was a petty officer on board the ship the Ben Lomond,
which housed the animals and scientists.

As
the ship’s writer, responsible for sending back reports to the
Admiralty, Mr Scarlett well understood the aims of the project. Many of
the other sailors only had a vague idea of the experiments being carried
out on the nearby pontoon.





The terrified monkey are sealed in small boxes
in the hold of the pontoon before being brought up on deck in batches to
exposed to deadly germs





Fate: Many of the monkeys and guinea pigs
exposed to the germs died within a few days, while any that survived
were killed and dissected so their organs could be studied

‘We were simply told that we were
going on a germ warfare trial,’ says Mr Scarlett. ‘But we were not told
where we were going.’ However, the men were informed that taking part
was not compulsory.

‘Right
from the beginning, they let anybody know that if they objected to the
experiments being carried out on animals, then they would be allowed to
drop out and there would be no stain on your record,’ says Mr Scarlett.

‘To
my knowledge, nobody dropped out. You have to remember these were
different times and animal welfare was not such a priority.’

Mr Scarlett also says most saw the necessity for the development of a new type of weapon of mass destruction.

‘It
was the middle of the Cold War,’ he says. ‘You realised that it had to
be done. Most had served in the war, or, like me, had been brought up
during the war. We had seen the atomic bomb, and this was another type
of warfare.

‘In
theory, it was going to be a lot more deadly than nuclear warfare. A
nuclear bomb can take out a city. Germ warfare can take out a country.’

The
utmost care was taken to keep the experiments safe and wind conditions
were carefully monitored before each detonation to avoid spreading the
germs inland.





A scientist prepares for an experiment. Around 3,500 guinea pigs and 83 Rhesus Macaque monkeys were exposed to deadly germs

However, there was one accident that could have had disastrous consequences.
On the last day of the programme, a trawler, the Carella, sailed through the path of a bubonic plague experiment.

‘The
trawler was tailed by two naval vessels for 21 days, waiting for any
distress call,’ says bacteriological warfare expert Dr Brian Balmer of
University College, London.

‘When
none came, almost all records of the incident were burnt.’ Indeed, the
crew members only heard about their exposure to the plague when the
official records were opened 50 years later.

When the scientists involved in the trials returned to Porton Down, they judged the experiments to have been a success.

‘New ground has been broken with plague trials,’ read a report.

But the findings of Operation Cauldron were never meant to come to the public’s attention.

If
the experiments ever did come to light, the then prime minister,
Winston Churchill, had prepared a statement justifying what many would
have regarded as unethical.

‘The possibility that bacteria may be used in a future war cannot be overlooked,’ the statement read.

‘The
researches ... are being pursued so that defensive measures may be
taken. The experiments now taking place form part of these researches.’

Today
the MoD has sought to distance itself from the experiments. It says it
does not recognise the treatment of animals as seen in the film as being
in line with modern ethical scientific conduct.

Although
it is unlikely such creatures are today being exposed to deadly
pathogens in the pursuit of military advantage, the release of the film
is a chilling reminder of the disquieting lengths Britain went to
develop perhaps the most deadly weapons the world had ever seen.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Voice over jokes about the 'rights of monkeys' in shocking 1952 film


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2207608/Shrieking-sheer-terror-monkeys-showered-bubonic-plague-Horrific-film-1952-shows-British-germ-warfare-tests.html



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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2207608/Shrieking-sheer-terror-monkeys-showered-bubonic-plague-Horrific-film-1952-shows-British-germ-warfare-tests.html