Keen As Mustard: Britain's Horrific Chemical Warfare Experiments in Australia [Paperback]

Bridget Goodwin (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 361 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Queensland Pr; 1 edition (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0702229415
• ISBN-13: 978-0702229411
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,509,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rather personable account of human experiments, January 5, 2000

By 

Reid Kirby (St. Charles, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keen As Mustard: Britain's Horrific Chemical Warfare Experiments in Australia (Paperback)

During WWII about 60,000 US Servicemen were subjected to experiments with Mustard Gas. An overview of these experiments and their long-term health consiquences were well documented in a NSF study during the 1980's.

Bridget Goodwin's book compliments what is know of the US experience by revealing what was done in Australia. During WWII, the US, England, Canada, India, and Australia collaborated on CBW research. The Australian experience was vital in determining the efficy of Mustard Gas in tropical conditions. Specifically, these studies determined that Mustard Gas was 4 times more toxic in tropical climates compared with temperate climates, that systemic effects were more prevalent, and that British protective clothing was rendered toxic in tropical climates.

Far beyond these facts that are often quoted elsewere, 'Keen As Mustard' details the personal accounts of how these experiments were conducted. The character and personality of the researchers, assistants, and 'volunteers' are well developed. The morbid humor of those involved in these experiments is revealed.

'Keen As Mustard' is also useful presenting reasons why Chemical Warfare was not initiated in the Pacific Theatre. Having read the available US manuals on chemical employment at the time, I agree with the authors findings that development of reliable munition expenditure tables, tactics, and safe entry times did not make it to the field level in time to be considered. There was no agreement between CW oficers at the time on how to conduct chemical operations, and no assurances could be made to commanders of the length of the hazard or reliability of protective means.

The human experiments conducted in Australia and elsewhere were largely responsible for what is now known about Blister Agents, and the employment of chemical weapons. What was discerned in an experiment was by 1945 detailed in a manual, only to be endlessly reproduced since.

What 'Keen As Mustard' offers that has been largely forgotten since these experiments is the disposition of Mustard Gas casualties. The difficulty in producing casualties was documents by Australian soldiers being seemingly unaffected by Mustard Gas by removing their bandages to work through tactical obsticals. The methods for determining casualty severity and time to incapacitation for medical officers is well worth revisiting. Furthermore, the methods of hospital care are interesting and a good firsthand account.

'Keen As Mustard' has a respectable bibliography of Australian sources, and the author had made many personal interviews and acquired materials from private collections. The personal accounts reveal how non-voluntary the volunteers were, and the pressure of the war effort to victomize their health.