Way off topic, but it has do to with the French

On Mar 3, 6:18*pm, Rich Ahrens wrote:
Phil J wrote:
Churchill was so concerned about it that he ordered the English army
to prepare to use poison gas to defend England's beaches in the event
of a German invasion.

The old ******* was fond of poison gas in general. Ask the Kurds and
Pashtuns, for instance. "I do not understand the squeamishness about the
use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against
uncivilised tribes."

Yeah, Churchill didn't really see a moral difference between using
high explosives and using poison gas.

In World War II, the U.S. got involved as well. In 1943 a U.S.Liberty
ship called the John Harvey carried a shipment of liquid mustard gas
to the port of Bari, Italy. It was to be held in reserve in case the
Germans decided to use poison gas. Because the shipment was top
secret, the ship had to wait with all the others to unload. They
waited in the harbor for five days. At the time, the Allied
authorities were convinced that the Luftwaffe wasn't a threat in that
area, so they kept the harbor fully lighted at night so they could
continue unloading ships. A formation of 105 Ju-88s snuck in under
radar and attacked the port, and it was the worst Allied loss of
shipping in a bombing raid since Pearl Harbor. The John Harvey
exploded and released the liquid mustard gas which mixed with oil on
the water. Over 600 were treated for exposure, and 69 died. The
whole thing was hushed up by the English and American governments
because they were afraid the Germans would start using poison gas if
they knew the Allies were working with it.

AFAIK poison gas was never actually used by either side in World War
II, thank God.

Phil