Readers can now get this newsletter in two ways, either by collection (as a pdf version for off-line reading/printing) from the newsletter distribution service, and from there they will get regular notification of the same by a brief e-mail, Royal Signals Yahoo Groups or now thanks to the efforts of Keith Drummond this newsletter has also been made available on-line within the main RSO site. Look for the respective drop-down menu's.
We still need your participation submissions and feedback, so please send us your stories, concerns and wishes, and please recommend us to your friends and enemies.
I want to say thank you to our readers and our contributors, also in the name of Brian Streetly and Keith Drummond
Mrs. Petra Henderson
(Royal Signals 1971-1976)
From: Jim SLOAN
Date: Sunday, November 30, 2003 11:40:28
Subject: FWD: Mick Hothersall
Petra
I don't know if any of your members remember Mick or not, but just in case.
Regards Jim
-------Original Message-------
(Archie Cairns sent to Jim SLOAN on 29 Nov 2003)
Dear Jim
I have just been informed by one of our members 'Dave Lamb' that his father-in-law. Michael (Mick) Hothersall died on Friday morning 28th November, 2003, after a long battle with cancer.
Mick was an ex member of the Corps and joined as a boy soldier in 1958, he left the Corps in 1980 after 22 years service. A lineman by trade, he served amongst other units, 7 Sigs, 4 Div. 22 Sigs and 16 Sigs in Krefeld, rising to the rank of WO2 (RQMS).
Dave has asked me to try to inform as many old comrades as possible and as he served in 4 Div and 7 Signal Regiment I felt I should contact you first.
Mick settled down in Krefeld after leaving the Corps, and lived right next to Bradbury Barracks in Krefeld.
Mick's funeral is to be held next Thursday, 4th December, 2003 (in Germany)
Best Regards
Archie
Brian Streetly's "Last Post" page is up and running. Do you know of any one departed who served in the Corps, no matter when or what rank or for how long, who you would like to see their details added, so that they can be remembered ?? If so could you please send the details to Brian at Please include as much detail of the person as you possibly can.
These people should not be forgotten, and Brian means women as well as men.
Text and Pictures Provided by Cliff Lord Hon Historian of the Royal NZ Corps of Signals
| Official Title of Corps | Corps of Signals. |
| Date of Formation | March ~ July 1971 |
| Corps Colour | Sky Blue, Sea Blue, Green |
| Sky Blue, Sea Blue, Green | Druto-O-Nishchit |
| Corps Emblem | Jimmy, but with National Flower in Hand |
The Corps trace their origin to the Sappers and Miners of 15 February 1911, which later became the Indian Corps of Signals. This date is considered the birthday of the Corps.
East Pakistan broke away from Pakistan and became known as Bangladesh in 1971. The first phase of the liberation struggle was from March to July 1971 and was devoted to setting up a viable organisation, training and limited offensive.
In the initial days of Liberation War, only 79 Signals personnel from the former Pakistan Army were available.
The Signals personnel were reorganised into three Sector or Brigade Signal Companies. The manpower was obtained from the former Pakistan Army Signals, East Pakistan Regiment Signallers, and ex Pakistan Air Force and Navy personnel.
Signal Battalion Headquarters Mujib Nagar.
Commanding Officer: Major M Habibullah Bahar (Lieutenant Colonel retired)
Officer Commanding: Flying Officer Rouf (Ex Pakistan Air force). Raised at headquarter 11 Sector. This company was responsible for providing communication to the Northern Zone covering the zonal headquarter and all units of 5 Sector.
Officer Commanding: Captain Shahidul Islam (Brigadier General retired). This company was responsible for providing communication to the units of 1-4 Sectors of the Eastern Zone and Echelon Headquarter.
Officer Commanding: Captain Mohd Abdul Halim (Major General Retired). His company was responsible for providing communication for the units of 6-9 Sectors.
Immediately after the liberation, the Signals Corps was re-organised and developed. New signals officers were sent overses for training until a Signal Corps Centre and School was built. A Signals Base Workshop was also raised.
The Corps insignia is that of original Pakistan Signals Corps badge of Mercury but with the star and crescent replaced with the national flower (Shapla). The motto was replaced with the new Corps motto 'Druto-O-Nishchit' which means dispatching all types of messages/information with speed and reliability.
©2003 Cliff Lord Hon. Hist. RNZSigs
The boots start to steam in the heat of the "pink Paraffin heater" in the back of the Rover when you trudge drearily and damp back in… Or folding up ice laden Cam-nets and Hessian ready for a move.
Remember the rule of all Explorers of cold areas, "Never - Ever eat the Yellow Snow!"
New Datasheets added… Due to Illness no new Datasheet have been added to the RSO site this month… Several are in work and those nearly complete will be made available before Christmas.
Layout… Keith has been working on improvements to the Photo Album index that not only will make the overview easier to see, but has a representation for each Division, Regiment or Squadron to help guide visitors to the Albums they want on the basis of the Symbols they know. We do want help to find Insignia that is evidently missing. And info for any that might be incorrect.
Any feed back would be much appreciated. Either direct to Keith or Petra. As she is the one playing with the insignia.
The site has been moved to a faster server with more bandwidth. Users should not notice any difference in finding and accessing the pages, but also not suffer any decay of the speed and access as we add more content and/or get more visitors.
In September the National News was again presented with Shocking results of a two year Enquiry confirming the MoD tested Nerve Gas on Servicemen and covered up the death of at least one. Previous "Inquest" decisions were overturned and the Government criticized for the cover up.
Sunday September 28, 2003, 05:47 AM
MoD silenced witness of nerve gas death
LONDON - A witness of the death by nerve gas of a serviceman during military experiments was silenced with the threat of jail, according to The Observer.
Alfred Thornhill said he watched his colleague Ronald Maddison die after Ministry of Defence scientists used him as a guinea pig to test the nerve agent Sarin.
Although the 20-year-old Royal Air Force engineer died in 1953, ministry scientists continued testing nerve agents on some 3,000 servicemen until 1989.
An original inquest, which ruled Maddison choked to death in a "misadventure", was recently overturned in the High Court, and a new inquest is expected to open in coming weeks.
Thornhill was a 19-year-old ambulance driver at the MoD's Porton Down laboratory when he witnessed Maddison's death.
"I was called into an office and read the riot act by a medical officer," he was quoted as saying. "He made me sign something and told me if I ever spoke a word about what I saw at Porton Down I would be sent to prison."
Maddison died after 200 mg of the deadly chemical warfare agent was placed on his skin.
"It was like he was being electrocuted, his whole body was convulsing," Thornhill said. "There was all this terrible stuff coming out of his mouth. It looked like frogspawn or tapioca."
The MoD was unable to comment on the case of Thornhill, but said it had not opposed the reopening of the inquest and would assist the coroner wherever possible.
Hundreds of servicemen say they were duped into the tests, thinking they were helping find a cure for the common cold.
Many say their health has suffered as a result.
But the Crown Prosecution service ruled in July that there would be no criminal prosecutions, leaving the veterans to mount their claim through the civil courts.
Dear Petra,Its a terrible story, but sadly I have to say all too true.
Porton Down's closest units were RAF Netheravon and of course 3 Div Hq & Sig Regt in Bulford. Both places I believe were encouraged, shall we say, to provide an ample supply of guinea pigs for their research. In 3 Div (my first posting) 1971, as a new arrival to the unit I was told 'I had' volunteered to go for trials at Porton and it would be a good skive so to speak (never heard of the place before this) and this is how it was sold to me, along with two other new arrivals.
On arrival, at the briefing, (I think there was a dozen of us in total) we were read the riot act about doing exactly as we were told by the civvies scientists who were supported by some military 'I don't know who's', and had to re-sign the official secrets act and were warned not to discuss anything, even with each other, as we were split in to two groups. Of course things do not work like that and we could get together in the accommodation at the end of play each day. It makes me really angry now to think how naive we all were at the time, and how stupid to be involved. We were subjected to various trials/tests, of which some were downright unpleasant, but the one that this Headline brings back, are the gas trials. The chamber itself was just like the one's used for capital punishment in the states, all thick riveted steel plates, with viewing windows of thick glass at the top. We were told the particular experiment was to determine the strength of a gas being developed for use in NI, it was much more potent than CS and was known as CR gas. I new it did not bode well, when we were given vomit bags and a handful of tissue's to clean up any mess. Still 'do as you are told' and get sealed in the chamber. The gas was introduced and in ten seconds we were clawing at the walls to get out (we had been told to go to the access door and would be let straight out if suffering). Then you get some sadistic bastard who somehow can't open the door (intentionally fumbling) and telling us to hang on a second. So not a pleasant experience.
Now one lad, who was an old sweat, extremely heavy smoker etc, remained in the chamber after we were all out and recovering. Somehow he tolerated the gas, although we could see he was having difficulty breathing and eyes streaming, I think he stayed in for seven minutes or so. The scientists took a particular interest in him because of his tolerance and we never saw him again at he accommodation block or anywhere.
Well, for the sake of brevity, that's just one story of my experience at Porton Down.
Regards,
B.
Other News Reports leading up to the above findings. Maybe this will encourage others to Help the Police and Authorities with their investigations.
11th of August 2000
Ministry of Defence scientists face criminal charges over horrifying experiments on service men and women during chemical and biological weapons tests.
Detectives investigating the activities at the Porton Down research centre are considering charges which involve assault and administering poison, the Daily Express can reveal.
Police have been investigating the deaths of more than 40 "human guinea pigs" and injuries to more than 400 others at the centre near Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The inquiry team has taken dozens of statements from victims and their families and could arrest and interview former staff in the coming months.
Officers have also seized records said to include film of soldiers unwittingly fed the drug LSD by the scientists.
The investigation, which originally focused on experiments in the Fifties and Sixties, has been widened to include research carried out up to the end of the Eighties.
Yesterday Wiltshire police declined to comment in detail on the progress of the operation, codenamed Antler and led by Detective Superintendent Gerry Luckett.
But a Daily Express investigation has revealed the gravity of the actions investigated by the Antler squad.
Survivors of the scandal claim they were tricked into taking part by being told the tests were to find a cure for the common cold.
They claim they were impregnated with deadly chemical agents such as sarin and mustard gas and mind-bending drugs such as LSD.
One volunteer, airman Ronald Maddison, died after having sarin dropped on to cloth wrapped round his arm in May 1953.
Police originally focused their inquiry on his death but later began examining the cases of other subjects who had died from mystery illnesses after leaving the centre.
Many of those who lived through the ordeal suffered a lifetime of complicated medical problems which are almost certainly related to their treatment. One witness said Royal Marines were given LSD then ordered to simulate an attack on an enemy position. The resulting chaos was filmed.
A survivor said he had sarin - the agent developed by the Nazis and used to kill 12 commuters in an attack on the Tokyo subway five years ago - squirted into his eyes.
Another alleged victim, now 55, said he was ordered to take part in the experiments under threat of court martial. During three nightmare weeks at the centre, he said he was stripped to his underpants and marched repeatedly into gas chambers where he was impregnated with sarin, tabin and mustard gas.
He also claims he was given hallucinogenic drugs and, after leaving the service to resume civilian life, suffered a catalogue of health problems, including flashbacks and renal failure.
Many of the Porton Down subjects said they were forced to sit in gas chambers with white rabbits on their laps, in a bid to test how long after the animals' deaths humans could tolerate the poison.
One of the few recorded women to be used as a guinea pig claims she suffered complications with the birth of her two children after helping to test a valium-based drug.
Another survivor, Ken Earl, is planning to set up a support group for victims who want to know more about what happened and how to seek compensation.
Mr Earl, 67, was at the centre at exactly the same time as Mr Maddison and endured the same procedure of having 200 milligrammes of sarin dropped on to his arm.
He said: "My long-term health has been ruined by what happened to me at Porton. None of us knew what we were in for when we got there and we just went along with it because we obeyed orders.
"I don't think the British public realise what has been done in their name. They imagine that it's Nazi or Soviet scientists who did this sort of thing. Well, sadly, they're wrong.
"Many of us have been trying to bring this out into the open for years but it's only since the Wiltshire investigation that things seem to have moved at all.
"It's time the Ministry of Defence put their hands up and at least admitted that things were done very wrongly.
"They should compensate a group of loyal people who were treated most inhumanely.
"We also hope that individual scientists are going to be brought to account for their actions. Many of them must still be involved in scientific work.
"What happened to us displayed the callous indifference of the Porton Down scientists. You wouldn't treat a dog the way they treated people."
Solicitor Alan Care, who represents 77 ex-forces personnel seeking compensation, said: "It's horrifying stuff. A whole variety of very nasty things were administered to service people, the vast majority of them men, over a long period of time right up until the end of the Eighties.
"They were duped and subjected to a whole range of chemical and biological warfare agents without their consent and without any knowledge of what they were given.
"Almost without exception they all subsequently suffered from a whole range of chronic illnesses.
"Proving the link between what happened to someone and the illnesses they then suffered from is notoriously difficult, but proving they were treated in a way that amounts to assault is less difficult."
A police spokesman said yesterday: "The Operation Antler investigation is still under way and we will not comment as that might prejudice any future proceedings."
A spokeswoman for the MoD said: "We will not comment on anything related to the criminal investigation into Porton Down except to say we are co-operating fully with Wiltshire police."
RAY Hutchins, 66, claims he suffered the horror of having sarin directed into his eyes.
Mr Hutchins was an 18-year-old gunner with the Royal Artillery when he volunteered for what he thought was work on the common cold. The reward of 15 days' leave and extra pocket money was too good to refuse. "We were put into gas-proof clothing and a mask, and everything was covered apart from our eyes," he said. "We went into gas chamber with a sort of glass honeycomb wall and there was mist in there. They kept us in for three minutes and the pain on my eyes was immediate and incredible. Now I know it was sarin."
Mr Hutchins, of Stoke-on-Trent, said: "When I left Porton I went blind as I waited at the bus stop. This turned out to be temporary, but I have lived with constant pain behind my eyes ever since."
CHRIS Mablon, 42, thought he too was helping with cold research. But he said he was among volunteers put into a chamber several times and given sarin and mustard gas. "We were lied to, it's as simple as that," he said. "One of the RAF lads reacted particularly badly. You could see he was seriously damaged. It was pitiful but the scientists just didn't care. The mustard was put on strips of cloth designed for protective clothing that had been taped on to you and they were testing for reactions."
Mr Mablon, of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, added: "My grandad was gassed with mustard in the First World War and his lungs shot to pieces. So I wondered why the hell they needed to do that research with humans. The mark the mustard left on me was awful, a huge abscess eating into me. I've had terrible skin and chest problems since."
KEN Earl, 67, endured the same experiments as Ronald Maddison, the airman who died in 1953. Mr Earl had 200 milligram's of sarin dropped on to strips of uniform material wrapped round his arm. He has suffered a catalogue of medical problems, including liver and skin complaints.
"They told us to bare our arms then then taped two lots of material on," he said. "They then dropped from a pipette 10 drops of each of this colourless liquid which turned out to be sarin. My total dosage was 200 milligram's. When they did it to Ronald Maddison two days later, it killed him."
Mr Earl, an actor who has appeared in TV series including Minder and Z Cars, added: "I had never heard of Porton Down and didn't know what it was. We were very naive and didn't think our superiors would send us on something so dangerous."
Even under the UK "Official Secrets Act" these Illegal Human Experiments are leaking into the public sectors and crime prosecutors talking of prosecuting some Porton Down's researchers. This is long overdue, and only the tip of the iceberg as to how much this was done, especially under US direction.
Claims that elderly people were used as guinea pigs for germ warfare experiments more than 30 years ago are being investigated by police.
Detectives have been handed three letters alleging that scientists at the Porton Down military base in Wiltshire used people suffering from dementia as research subjects between 1968 and 1970.
The Ministry of Defence has denied that Porton Down was involved in the research.
The allegations follow reports that up to 20,000 soldiers were duped into taking part in experiments with nerve gas, mustard gas and LSD at Porton Down.
The latest claims are made in documents given by the Express newspaper to Wiltshire Police working on Operation Antler - the investigation into the experimentation on servicemen.
Two of the letters are written by the Roman Catholic priest Monsignor John Barry, who described his belief that the experiments were taking place.
A third was written by the then assistant of the former Liberal Party leader, Sir David Steel. Monsignor Barry first raised the issue many years ago.
In January 1970 he told the Edinburgh Business Club: "I have seen evidence which I think is genuine, which seems to suggest that there is a certain section of the Ministry of Defence which uses elderly people as guinea pigs for experiments and quietly puts them to death afterwards.
"It is carefully hidden by the Official Secrets Act."
The issue received little publicity at the time, but has resurfaced following the allegations about the testing of soldiers. A police spokesman said: "We have been handed three letters in connection with the Porton Down investigation. We will be looking at those letters."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman denied that Porton Down scientists were involved in testing the elderly.
"The scientists involved did work at Porton Down, but not at the time of this research," the spokesman said.
Veteran Labour MP Tam Dalyell, who courted controversy over the Porton Down issue in 1967, said he plans to raise the matter in the Commons following the latest developments.
In 1967 he was reprimanded by the Speaker after he handed over evidence on Porton Down, taken by the Select Committee on Science and Technology, to The Observer newspaper.
The Linlithgow MP said: "For years I believed the Ministry of Defence had stitched me up over Porton Down in revenge for other issues I had embarrassed them about.
"But now it is dawning on me that they did it because they were desperate to keep me away from the subject of Porton Down. They wanted to make the subject a no-go zone."
"Botulism toxin dropped into reservoirs and the infection of natural fauna of such areas, e.g. rats, dogs and cats with bubonic plague, rabies etc, are all suitable methods of attack."
Officially, Britain has no offensive biological-warfare programme. Unofficially, however, the UK has taken just a proactive role in CBW research as the United States, and with just as little compunction or ethical considerations when it comes to testing these weapons on its own population.
At the same time as the US was developing its chemical-biological warfare programme during World War II, a British CBW programme began. Britain produced five million cattle cakes filled with anthrax spores, to be dropped over Germany.
The idea was that cattle would eat the cakes and be killed, weakening German agriculture.
There were also plans to drop anthrax bombs on six German cities. The prototype weapons were tested on the now infamous "death island" of Gruinard off the north-west coast of Scotland in 1942. A declassified account of these trials recorded that these experiments "demonstrated to the UK and its allies that biological warfare was not only feasible, but practical and potent." The data gathered from the experiments was used by both Britain and the US to develop bombs that were better able to effectively disperse anthrax spores.
It was thought that Gruinard Island was far enough off the coast to prevent any contamination of the mainland - a reasoning that turned out to be very wrong. After an outbreak of anthrax in sheep and cattle on the Scottish coast that directly faced Gruinard, testing was stopped in 1943. However, a consequence of the CBW programme is that even today, Gruinard Island is contaminated with Bacillus anthracis spores.
An initial plan of decontamination involved starting a brushfire to burn off the top of the soil and kill all traces of the organisms. However, the spores were found to have embedded themselves in the soil, so total decontamination was impossible. In fact, so powerful was the contamination of Gruinard that no humans or animals were allowed to set foot on the island for more than 40 years.
Recently declassified documents unearthed by Dr Brian Balmer, a specialist in science policy at University College London, revealed that the British government secretly ordered the production of 10,000 biological cluster bombs during the cold war to carry 7,000 disease-carrying bomblets towards Soviet targets. The bombs, intended to contain "the most effective biological agent for the incapacitation of workers", were ordered by the government's air staff under the codename Red Admiral. The project was cancelled in 1954, before the bombs had been built, but not before extensive trials of toxins and viruses had been carried out using live animals in the Hebrides, Antigua and the Bahamas.
The documents revealed that the chiefs of staff gave biological weapons the same priority as atomic weapons. In one report from 1947, military strategists wrote: "Botulism toxin dropped into reservoirs and the infection of natural fauna of such areas, eg rats, dogs and cats with bubonic plague, rabies etc, are all suitable methods of attack." And: "it is assumed the Russians are more lice and parasite ridden than we are, therefore it would be to our advantage to attack Russia with bacteria from the parasite-borne groups, ie bubonic plague, typhus etc."
In 1948, the Air Ministry worked out how many bombs it would take to inflict serious damage on 27 key Russian cities. They estimated that if every bombing run went perfectly, 296 biological bombs could do the damage of 59 nuclear weapons.
In 1994, in a parliamentary answer, the Conservative government revealed that five open-air trials of dangerous bacteria and viruses had been carried out at sea in the late 1940s and 50s - three in the Caribbean and two off Stornoway on Lewis in the Hebrides. Among the biological weapons used were: anthrax; brucella and francisella tularensis (which cause severe fever); and pasteurella pestis (the plague bacterium). During Operation Ozone in 1954 , a highly infectious virus causing Venezuelan equine encephalitis was deliberately released off the Bahamas, 60 miles south of Nassau.
Defence officials cheerfully suggested that these tests would cause "no adverse effect on the tourist trade."
However, the trials did not go smoothly. The first, Operation Harness, between 1948 and 1949, began with a breakout in Britain by some of the 250 monkeys specially flown in from India for the experiment. Not all were recaptured. The test rig was made of 35 rubber dinghies, each with a crate for a live sheep, a box for a monkey and a carrier for three guinea pigs. During preparations, two of the dinghies were taken by sharks.
The crews were not told that they were to be involved in biological warfare tests until after the trial flotilla had set sail for the Caribbean. One lab technician caught brucellosis from the test samples; his relatives were told that the disease was "frequently contracted in tropical climates."
In 1997, the Guardian newspaper revealed that the MoD's chemical and biological warfare research centre at Porton Down in Wiltshire had tested nerve gas on humans during the cold war, exposing more than 3,100 military personnel in gas chambers between 1945 and 1989. Many now claim their health has been permanently damaged. The report of one experiment shows that in 1956, 211 humans were exposed to Sarin.
The men were sent into gas chambers, and told to remove their gas masks for up to two minutes. They commented they felt that "they had blinkers on", or that "it feels like you are looking down a gun barrel".
Scientists from Porton Down conducted more than 200 trials over vast swaths of Britain during the cold war, disseminatuing organisms and chemicals from planes and ships. Over an eighteen month period in the early 1950s, scientists regularly sprayed organisms around the British Museum's vast underground warehouse at Westwood Quarry, Wiltshire, as part of an anti-Soviet CBW programme. They found that "it is not difficult to predict the course of events should a bacterial spray be released by a saboteur inside a large building... diffusion would be rapid and complete throughout the building".
The scientists also turned their attention to trains, since "all types of transport are now generally recognised as being likely to be one of the most important targets for special operations in a war of the future. It would be particularly important in the early stages to hamper the deployment of troops; at later stages, subversive attacks on trains crowded with both military and civilian personnel might well cause considerable dislocation." In 1953 and 1954, trials were carried out on a rail line between Exeter and Salisbury. Clouds of organisms were sprayed within a tunnel, enveloping the train as it passed through. On other occasions, organisms were released within trains.
In the 60s and 70s the Ministry of Defence (MoD) conducted germ warfare tests in London and the Southeast that involved dropping "simulants" of biological warfare agents from aeroplanes over populated areas to test how they would disperse under different weather conditions. Some were left in boxes in test locations including west London, central Southampton and around Porton Down. Some were even released from canisters on the London Underground. Simulants were also sprayed into the air from a ship off Lyme Bay in Dorset.
The existence of these tests were kept secret until the disclosure of a 1998 report by Professor Brian Spratt, a leading Oxford University scientist, which led to the MoD confirming it had continued the tests until at least 1977. The MoD stated that the tests were kept secret because of "the risks to national security." In fact most of the covert CBW programmes carried out by Britain have only recently been revealed. The experiments on the London Underground were deliberately hidden under the innocent title of "ventilation trials". Of these, one senior official wrote at the time: "I am convinced of the vital need for these trials, which impose no hazard to the public, although clearly knowledge of them by unauthorised persons could be politically embarrassing." Since the 1980s the Ministry of Defence also carried out germ-warfare trials using live E-Coli and other bacteria such as Bacillus globigii (which can cause disease in humans) and these test are continuing to this day.
The trials involve releasing bacteria into the air on MoD land to see if army testing equipment can trace the germs. Such germs, whose behaviour mimics biological warfare agents such as anthrax, have been shown in a recent independent inquiry to cause pneumonia, blood poisoning and lung infections if inhaled.
For people with breathing problems or poor immune systems, the E-Coli strain used in the tests can cause septicaemia, fever, pneumonia and chest infections. The trials are classified and it is not known how many bacteria are being released, nor how close the test sites are to civilian areas.
Scientists fear the bacteria are drifting into residential areas and disclosure of the tests prompted calls from MPs for an inquiry into the justification for and safety of the tests. Professor Spratt stated: "I think these tests are going on all the time." Consideration should be given to the fact that the MoD owns thousands of acres of land throughout Britain.
Internal MoD documents have revealed that military scientists at Porton Down wanted to test potentially lethal nerve gas on humans as recently as 1995. Under the proposal, military personnel would have been exposed to low levels of Sarin nerve gas for ten hours. But the test did not go ahead after the ministry decided the experiment could be done through computer modelling instead.
Nerve gas experiments on humans have never been formally stopped at Porton Down, even though the US and Canada officially halted all such trials more than twenty years ago.
Porton Down's experiments are currently being subjected to a lengthy investigation by Wiltshire police: since August 1997, a squad of 14 officers has been examining the case of Ronald Maddison, an RAF mechanic who died in 1953 after liquid Sarin was dropped on his skin.
They are also investigating whether people were duped into volunteering.
A full list of human experiments was described for the first time in the annual reports of Porton Down's ethics committee, which were released to Ken Livingstone MP. These papers disclosed that in 1996, scientists proposed a "study of the effects of prolonged exposure to a low concentration of Sarin vapour on vision and performance" of volunteers. The proposal was submitted to the establishment's ethics committee, and rejected.
Porton Down last tested nerve gas on humans in 1989, to assess the effects on the eye. Porton Down disclosed to Mr. Livingstone that in the trial, 23 humans were exposed to "low levels" of Sarin for more than six hours. Nerve gas constricts the pupils rapidly so that vision becomes very dim and blurred in broad daylight, sometimes for several days.
"The response of the volunteers exposed was variable," according to Porton Down staff; who concluded that the amount of Sarin used in the experiment would not have prevented military personnel from carrying out their combat duties.
Darran who is known to most people regularly on the various signals sites and groups, as the Owner of the two MSN groups "Royal Signals Club" and "Cardiff Royal Signals", http://groups.msn.com/RoyalSignalsClub/ and http://groups.msn.com/cardiffroyalsignals the latter also being the host site for the Sunday night chat, Supplied (involuntary!) the following info about the Forgotten Swastika Trees, the BBC "V" signal and the first UK bombing casualty …
Thanks Darran.
SWASTIKA TREES. In 1937, a local businessman, an ardent follower of Adolf Hitler, planted a 60 by 60 metre area of Larch trees in a forest near the town of Zernikow, about 110 kms north of Berlin. The trees were planted in the shape and format of a Swastika and could only be seen from the air. During Autumn, when the Larch trees changed their colour to orange and yellow they stood out strikingly against a green forest of surrounding Pine trees. Discovered many years after the war, this long forgotten symbol of the Nazi era was finally removed by cutting down 27 of the 57 trees that made up the Swastika design. This was done in 2001 by the Brandenburg State Forest authorities. Displaying the Swastika symbol is forbidden by law in Germany today.
The above photo was taken on November 14, 2000. The 60 x 60 meter swastika consisted of Larch trees in a Pine forest near the village of Zernikow (110 km Northeast of Berlin). It was only visible from the air a few weeks in the Spring and a few weeks in the Autumn when Larch trees stood out in contract to the surrounding Pine trees.
These trees were planted in the 1930's by a local resident during Nazi times. They were largely forgotten until after the German reunification in 1992 when private planes were once again allowed to fly over the area.
Local forestry officials cut down 27 of the Larch trees after this photo appeared in several German tabloids. Swastikas are outlawed in Germany..
Luckly for collectors, coins and stamps are exempted from the ban.
THE "V" FOR VICTORY SIGN was the idea of a Belgian refugee in London, Victor De Laveleye. In a short-wave broadcast from London, he urged his countrymen to chalk the letter "V" on all public places as a sign of confidence in ultimate victory. This was plugged in all BBC foreign language programs and later supported by the two finger "V" sign of the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
BRITAIN'S FIRST CASUALTY. The first civilian killed in an air raid on Britain was twenty seven year old James Isbister, during a German raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney's on July 24, 1940.
On a previous raid on November 13, 1939 during an attack on the Shetland's, all that resulted was a large bomb crater in the countryside and the only fatality was a rabbit, which gave rise to the marching song 'Run Rabbit, Run' . There is some speculation that the 'Rabbit' was actually purchased from a local butcher and placed in the crater for effect....or a laugh! But this must be the worlds most famous dead rabbit.
Sadly No New Reports for the Next Six Month window…
Nor any of the other inputs such as "help finding" or details of any R. Sigs relevant Groups or websites, etc.
If you are planning a reunion, please tell us "who, where, when and the relevant contact info".
An appeal to our RSO newsletter readers to send us stories and info comments, wishes and general feedback for the next newsletter and/or datasheets
An appeal to our RSO newsletter readers to send us stories and info comments, wishes and general feedback for the next newsletter and/or datasheets
If you have any comments, inputs or events for this Newsletter, please Contact Brian, Keith or myself via the respective royal-signals.org.uk email addresses below.
