Located 1 mile off Gruinard Bay, between Gairloch and Ullapool on northwestern coast of Scotland, Gruinard Island was the site of the first biological warfare test by British military scientists from Porton Down in 1942. Eighty sheep were taken to the island and bombs filled with anthrax spores were exploded close to where selected groups … More ‘Anthrax Island’, Scotland
In 1940, Maintenance Unit No. 28 was the biggest chemical weapons reception and storage depot in the United Kingdom. Up to 46,000 individual chemical weapons were stored on the 200-hectare site and in the surrounding country lanes. Wholesale burning of chemical weapons took place there after the war.
The Dorset Biological Warfare Experiments were conducted in the south Dorset area between 1963 and 1975. They took place under the control of the Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down. The experiments involved scores of trials in which both live and dead bacteria were sprayed from ships off the coast and from the air on … More Lyme Bay, Dorset
Located on a backroad near the Rhydymwyn Valley Chemical Works, Woodside was used as a spill-over site for the storage of bulk chemical weapons. Storage at Woodside was in partially-buried tanks: 31 containing 55 tonnes and one containing 250 tonnes. The site was experimental in that it was built as a model for other bases … More Rhydymwyn, Wales
This Poisoned Isle 