Did Nazi scientist save Britain from Hitler's deadly gas that could have killed millions?

Daily Mail ^ | July 7, 2010 | Guy Walters

[C19fan]

None of the men of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Hampshires was surprised that the fight would be tough. As they doggedly advanced up 'Gold' beach on D-Day, every man knew that surviving the murderous criss-cross of machine-gun fire would demand a miracle.

The village of Le Hamel, although no more than a few hundred yards beyond the surf, never seemed to get any closer. The bullets mercilessly cut down their commanding officer as well as several middle-ranking officers, and as the day wore on, it looked as if the entire battalion would be slaughtered on the beach.

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But now a startling new explanation has come to light. According to Frank J. Dinan, a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York State, a scientist close to Hitler exaggerated the Allies' capability of hitting back with their own chemical weapons, which caused the Fuhrer to rethink his plans.

If Professor Dinan's extraordinary claim is true, it means that a German scientist, up until now regarded as a war criminal, might be one of the greatest unsung heroes of the 20th century.

[righttackle44]

I’m a WWII buff. I’ll be interested to see if there is any new information develops on this.

[grapeape]

He is not a hero but an intelligent man who made an economic decision. He realized that the allies could and would hit back and completely destroy Germany. No really. Destroy, like wipe off the map destroy. The end of their culture. Many of us forget that people all over the world at the time didn’t care if Germany ceased to exist as a people. The same was true for the attitude toward Japan.

He knew the Allies would blanket Germany with chemical weapons and there would be no Germany left. We were bombing them on a regular basis at that point.

[TexasFreeper2009]

If America ever gets invaded, expect the exact same thing to happen but with Nukes. Washington could be in flames and the entire population could be on the verge of being exterminated and the President would never authorize the use of Nukes against the enemy.

Many years later the historians would still be wondering why America didn't use it's nukes and save itself.

[JoeProBono]

Saviour: Did Otto Ambros want to spare millions of soldiers?

[Tallguy]

During the landings in Italy a group of LST’s were hit by German dive bombers. It’s widely acknowleged that the LST’s were carrying chemical weapons. Wiped out the harbor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Raid_on_Bari

[GreyFriar]

The wikipedia has it partly wrong. The US sent a shipment of mustard gas munitions to the Med to be used in retaliation, if the Germans used chemical weapons in Italy. One hundred tons of mustard gas was loaded on the Liberty ship “John Harvey” that was in Bari Harbor. On the night of Dec 2, 1943, in an airaid by the Luftwaffe, the ship was caught fire from the flames of the ship moored next to it that had been hit. The fire caused the gas to be released in the harbor area. Because it was shipped in secret, no one in the harbor, except possibly the senior military official in Bari. This resulted in the medics not knowing what was the cause of the problems with the many sailors and people who were exposed to the gas and thus not giving them proper treatment.

Here is a much better and accurate article on the incident: http://fhpr.osd.mil/CBexposures/ww2mustard.jsp

[caver]

Great post! I’m a bit of WW2 buff also.

[caver]

Great post! I’m a bit of WW2 buff also.

[Tallguy]

Thanks Grey. My father had a 2nd cousin that served on LST’s in the Med. He recalls coming under Stuka attack while tied up. He said that there was a line of a dozen LST’s all loaded to the gunnels with Av Gas. One spark...

Miraculously the attack was beaten off and none of the ships were hit. But if 1 had been hit the entire row would have gone up in a series of enormous explosions.

[BenLurkin]

The Germans would have used their chemical weapons on the Bolsheviks, if they really planned to deploy them. And it’s too bad they didn’t.

[east1234]

I doubt it, even hitler has his fears.

[mainsail that]

Dresden post WWII

Now imagine it if the Germans had used nerve gas too

[ak267]

Hitler fell victim to a gas attack in WWI which no doubt left an impression with him.

In the Pacific theater, the US was stockpiling poison gas in Okinawa in preparation for Operation Olympic. If an invasion of the Japanese homeland was needed, the US was prepared to use additional atomic bombs, poison gas and even germ warfare to subdue the populace.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Gas also ran counter to the Germans lightning attack strategy.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Gas also ran counter to the Germans lightning attack strategy.

[Flag_This]

"Gas also ran counter to the Germans lightning attack strategy."

But their lightning attack strategy ended at Stalingrad. After that it was one long drawn-out retreat back to Germany. Hitler knew if Germany lost he would be dead, one way or another, so I don't understand why he didn't use the gas as things got desperate. I know he didn't really give two craps about Germany, so concern about "his people" isn't the answer.

[cynwoody]

Albert Speer reportedly advised Hitler against going chemical, because the other side could, too. From this link:

In World War II, both sides stockpiled chemical weapons, but never used them. The reasons for this was: they were belived to be no more efficient than conventionel wepons and would complicate and delay operations where used, fear of retaliation with the same means and, political leaders did not want to go agains the Geneva Protocol.

The Germans had produced more leathal agents which were organophoshorus nerve agents. It was developed from insecticides, but much more leathal to man than insect. They caused intense sweating, dimming of vision, uncontrollable vomiting and defecation, convulsion, and finally paralysis and respetory failure. Death would generally come within a few minutes after respitory exposure and within hours if exposure was throught liquid nerve agents on the skin.

Fortunately, Adolf Hitler never used these weapons during the war. The reason why he made this decision is still a subject of controversy for modern historians. The most popular explanation for Hitler's apathy stems back to the previous World War where toxic gases were used in combat. Hitler had been victimized by these chemical agents and was unwilling to introduce new and more toxic agents. There is also evidence that suggests that Hitler was advised against using the agents and even stopped their production. Hitler's Minister of Production, Albert Speer, said after the war, All sensible army people turned gas warfare down as being utterly insane, since, in view of America's superiority in the air, it would not be long before it would bring the most terrible catastrophe upon German cities.

[cynwoody]

Contrary to what the article says, this is old news. The Wikipedia relates basically the same story:

In 1940 the German Army Weapons Office ordered the mass production of sarin for wartime use. A number of pilot plants were built and a high-production facility was under construction (but was not finished) by the end of World War II. Estimates for total sarin production by Nazi Germany range from 500 kg to 10 tons.

During that time, German intelligence believed that the Allies also knew of these compounds, assuming that because these compounds were not discussed in the Allies' scientific journals information about them was being suppressed. Though sarin, tabun and soman were incorporated into artillery shells, the German government ultimately decided not to use nerve agents against Allied targets. The Allies didn't learn of these agents until shells filled with them were captured towards the end of the war.

This is detailed in Joseph Borkin's book The Crime and Punishment of IG Farben:

Speer, who was strongly opposed to the introduction of tabun, flew Otto Ambros, I.G.'s authority on poison gas as well as synthetic rubber, to the meeting. Hitler asked Ambros, "What is the other side doing about poison gas?" Ambros explained that the enemy, because of its greater access to ethylene, probably had a greater capacity to produce mustard gas than Germany did. Hitler interrupted to explain that he was not referring to traditional poison gases: "I understand that the countries with petroleum are in a position to make more [mustard gas], but Germany has a special gas, tabun. In this we have a monopoly in Germany." He specifically wanted to know whether the enemy had access to such a gas and what it was doing in this area. To Hitler's disappointment Ambros replied, "I have justified reasons to assume that tabun, too, is known abroad. I know that tabun was publicized as early as 1902, that Sarin was patented and that these substances appeared in patents. (...) Ambros was informing Hitler of an extraordinary fact about one of Germany's most secret weapons. The essential nature of tabun and sarin had already been disclosed in the technical journals as far back as 1902 and I.G. had patented both products in 1937 and 1938. Ambros then warned Hitler that if Germany used tabun, it must face the possibility that the Allies could produce this gas in much larger quantities. Upon receiving this discouraging report, Hitler abruptly left the meeting. The nerve gases would not be used, for the time being at least, although they would continue to be produced and tested.
– Joseph Borkin, The Crime and Punishment of IG Farben

Borkin's book was published in 1979.

[Oatka]

He realized that the allies could and would hit back and completely destroy Germany.

America was the industrial giant then and everybody knew it. Some years back I read where DeGaulle was in conference with some Free French officers. In late '41 their backs were to the wall and most all thought Germany would win. Someone broke into the meeting saying that the Japanese had bombed Hawaii and wiped out the American Pacific fleet.

Everybody was dumbstruck - the last straw. DeGaulle got up and said, "Gentlemen, we have won the war." They looked at him as if he was crazy. He went on to tell them about America's industrial might and how, once we got back on our feet, America would drown the Japanese and Germans with equipment and men.