Rawalpindi experiments: Difference between revisions

The experiments in [[Rawalpindi]] were part of a much larger project intended to test the effects of chemical weapons on humans. More than 20,000 British servicemen were subjected to [[chemical warfare]] trials between 1916 and 1989 at the Defence Ministry’s [[Porton Down]] research centre in southwest England. The Rawalpindi experiments focused on [[mustard gas]], now known to be highly carcinogenic. According to documents at [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] in [[London]], British scientists and doctors tested the effects of mustard gas on more than 20000 Indian soldiers{{cite web|title=Military scientists tested mustard gas on Indians|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/sep/01/india.military |website=The Guardian |date=September 2007 |accessdate=13 April 2017}} over a ten-year period. Beginning in the early 1930s, scientists at [[Rawalpindi]] sent [[British Indian Army]] soldiers, wearing shorts and cotton shirts, into gas chambers to experience the effects of [[mustard gas]]. The scientists hoped to determine the appropriate dosage to use on battlefields. Many of the subjects suffered severe burns from their exposure to the gas.{{cite web|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-i-p2-1779985|title=What Everyone Should Know About World War I|first1=Jennifer Rosenberg Jennifer Rosenberg is a|last1=historian|first2=History|last2=Fact-Checker|first3=Freelance Writer Who Writes About 20th-Century History|last3=Topics|website=ThoughtCo|accessdate=28 February 2019}}