During the Cold War, British military scientists from Porton Down in Wiltshire tested biological and chemical warfare methods in public. These Aerial Release Trials were conducted during the years 1953 and 1976. The Government state that the trials were carried out to help better understand how a biological attack might spread across the UK. Given the international situation at the time these trials were conducted in secret.
In the 1990s the MOD revealed that Beaulieu Airfield / RAF Beaulieu had been the site of some of these germ warfare tests. Two tests had been conducted. The first was in November 1953 when clouds of the chemical, zinc cadmium sulphide, were sprayed in arcs from the back of a Land Rover parked up on the airfield. Another similar test took place in March 1954.
The chemical arcs stretched 50 miles, heading north towards Southampton and Winchester, and east towards Dorset. The clouds travelled over the New Forest and reached as far as Salisbury, Basingstoke, and Weymouth.
The tests were conducted by a team from the Porton Down laboratory in Wiltshire. It was a top-secret program, and it wasn’t until 1999 that admissions were made and documents released.
These tests involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals over vast swaths of the population without the public being told. While the Government has insisted the chemical is safe, exposure to zinc cadmium sulphide is known to cause kidney and bone toxicity and lung cancer.
Two separate and independent reviews of the trials have both concluded that the trials did not have any adverse health effects on the UK population.
On the British Government website they state:
The UK’s chemical and biological weapons programme was closed down in the 1950s. Since then Porton Down has been active in developing effective countermeasures to the constantly evolving threat posed by chemical and biological weapons. To help develop effective medical countermeasures and to test systems, we produce very small quantities of chemical and biological agents. They are stored securely and disposed of safely when they are no longer required.
During the cold war period between 1953 and 1976, a number of aerial release trials were carried out to help the government understand how a biological attack might spread across the UK. Given the international situation at the time these trials were conducted in secret. The information obtained from these trials has been and still is vital to the defence of the UK from this type of attack. Two separate and independent reviews of the trials have both concluded that the trials did not have any adverse health effects on the UK population.
In September 2024, I interviewed Mike Kenner, an independent researcher who has studied and researched these tests for many years, and has gathered documents from Porton Down under freedom of information requests.
It’s a very interesting part of our history so I hope you enjoy the interview which can be watched on YouTube
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The government statements can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-truth-about-porton-down