Porton Down: Britain’s Secret Nerve Gas Lab

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ธ.ค. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 1.8K

  • @geographicstravel
    @geographicstravel  4 ปีที่แล้ว +48

    Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/geographics

    • @ammarsiddiqui3602
      @ammarsiddiqui3602 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Thank you for this video it was really interesting for as dark as it may be it was still fun to watch

    • @charlesachurch7265
      @charlesachurch7265 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      My idea is too dangerous after watching this great presentation.

    • @markarmour1576
      @markarmour1576 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Great as usual but... John Constable did his best work in Wiltshire? What about The Haywain? Or Willy Lotts Cottage? His best and most famous works are from Flatford and East Bergholt on the Suffolk/Essex border surely?

    • @MatsNorway
      @MatsNorway 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Keep it professional, no memes please.

    • @Duffman-zn7ku
      @Duffman-zn7ku 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ohh but the novichok was definitely russian right

  • @resileaf9501
    @resileaf9501 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1851

    "A sufficiently terrified man can indeed outrun a chemical weapon"
    Glorious adrenaline, keeping humans alive since before we've been humans.

    • @dflatt1783
      @dflatt1783 5 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      Chemical weapons are deployed in a fashion that makes it impossible to run from saturated areas. You can't see most nerve agents (spine will tingle ... too late).

    • @seancascanet3428
      @seancascanet3428 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      "Keeping humans alive before we were humans" ....wow...just..wow lol..

    • @ewhays
      @ewhays 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      AWOLNATION RUN meme plays.

    • @diGritz1
      @diGritz1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Run Forest Run!

    • @jasonlaidley9252
      @jasonlaidley9252 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      And God bless blunt force head trauma. After a good shot to the bean everything that comes after is gravy.

  • @Jimthetyreman
    @Jimthetyreman 5 ปีที่แล้ว +725

    My late father was one of the 1950's "Volunteers", he to was told it was a cure for the common cold!! One of the factors in ending the class action in 2008 and accepting the VERY low offer was that so many veterans were ageing and would never see victory in this battle!! My Dad died 2 years later! Thank you for sharing this story, Simon.

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      But At Least it's not Aralsk 7!

    • @rooboo9290
      @rooboo9290 4 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Bless you and your father. Lest we forget

    • @portergarza6946
      @portergarza6946 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Rip

    • @tesfurdo
      @tesfurdo 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      You said "Volunteers". So he was forced in to it?

    • @Spamela3825
      @Spamela3825 4 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      @@tesfurdo Dude, the man was tricked into volunteering under false pretenses. Told it was a cure for the common cold, not a test for nerve gas.

  • @dflatt1783
    @dflatt1783 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2410

    First thing you learn in the military ... don't volunteer for anything.

    • @itarry4
      @itarry4 5 ปีที่แล้ว +139

      Specially not to "help cure the common cold..." you know that thing that everyone knows there's no cure for because it keeps evolving.

    • @kevinbyrne4538
      @kevinbyrne4538 5 ปีที่แล้ว +345

      My dad (a WW2 vet' ) said that in his day, the motto was: "Never be first, never last, never be best, never be worst, and never volunteer."

    • @dflatt1783
      @dflatt1783 5 ปีที่แล้ว +44

      @@kevinbyrne4538 That is sage level advice :)

    • @TheBorderRyker
      @TheBorderRyker 5 ปีที่แล้ว +61

      I was told “Never volunteer for, or admit to anything”.

    • @aaronblyth345
      @aaronblyth345 5 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      I know a guy who did a lot of time in military prison, he claims to have been tested on with anthrax and he does go to a rehab centre for 2 weeks every few months. I wouldnt ever ask him to verify something like that but i do find it hard to believe, this would of been in the late 80s early 90s. Any possibility he is telling the truth?

  • @charliemansonUK
    @charliemansonUK 5 ปีที่แล้ว +313

    My Warrant Officer warned me never to volunteer for Porton Down explaining what they did.
    They also would paint chemicals onto exposed skin to study the effects.
    On a connected side note, I was one of the Service personnel who had the series of Anthrax injections from 1998 through to my medical discharge in 2008 in the hope we would be protected during exposure.
    Peace
    Charlie 🇬🇧

    • @damowilliams204
      @damowilliams204 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Charlie Manson yeh, good story walt

    • @charliemansonUK
      @charliemansonUK 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      @@damowilliams204 theres good lad, look at you getting all excited.
      No walting here princess.
      Stay safe
      Charlie 🇬🇧

    • @GregoryMcStevens
      @GregoryMcStevens 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@charliemansonUK my name is Charlie and I write like its 1873 because I'm a boring fuck
      Charlie🇬🇧

  • @MrDmitriRavenoff
    @MrDmitriRavenoff 5 ปีที่แล้ว +461

    "Dude, this stuff really did a number on these 5 guys. How many more times do we need to test this?"
    "Eh, about 4000."
    WTF?!

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      At least it's not Aralsk 7!

    • @mariehewett5240
      @mariehewett5240 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Until all the poor animals in the lab are dead?

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @Tom W I said it... ONE TIME.

    • @stein1885
      @stein1885 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@IronWarhorsesFun The amount you said "At least it's not Aralsk 7!" in this section got me saying it myself

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@stein1885 Well 2021 is here so I'm sure Trump has got something equally insane brewing.

  • @Khyron56
    @Khyron56 5 ปีที่แล้ว +804

    So, the question is...
    If I'm a mad scientist, looking to create even -deadlier- nerve gasses, can SquareSpace assist me in achieving my goals?

    • @geographicstravel
      @geographicstravel  5 ปีที่แล้ว +205

      Probably not if you want to remain out of prison ;)

    • @nilesbutler8638
      @nilesbutler8638 5 ปีที่แล้ว +79

      @@geographicstravel Eh - if he´s successful and markets it to the right people, he´ll be swimming in milititary-industrial money.

    • @nytram42
      @nytram42 4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Asking for a friend?

    • @aa2339
      @aa2339 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      And end up in a small squarish space for the rest of your life.

    • @sibbha15
      @sibbha15 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@aa2339 interesting toght tho? right right?

  • @richardpatton2502
    @richardpatton2502 5 ปีที่แล้ว +549

    “Yes, a sufficiently terrified man can outrun the gas” I almost pissed my pants! As the guy running from the gas I’m sure

    • @resileaf9501
      @resileaf9501 5 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      Glorious adrenaline, keeping humans alive since before we were humans.

    • @bremnersghost948
      @bremnersghost948 5 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      A Sprinter can, How about a normal 20 yo Squaddie weighed down with 50kg of kit & Weapons?

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      SOUNDS LIKE A GAS!

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Gas by itself is stationary unless wind gives a hand. It's also generally heavier then air so it sinks to ground level so as long as you either get above it or are upwind you don't even have to move at all. But if it comes towards you RUUUUNNN.

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@bremnersghost948 dump the kit, not worth it.

  • @AntonSlavik
    @AntonSlavik 5 ปีที่แล้ว +447

    Yeah, I'm sure they learned their lessons. Lessons on keeping secrets better

    • @thedepartmentofredundancyd5160
      @thedepartmentofredundancyd5160 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      The Skripol experiment illustrates your point nicely.

    • @KriegMarshal94
      @KriegMarshal94 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      And yet, GDI can never keep their secrets long, can they, General Slavik?
      In the name of Kane!

    • @harrietharlow9929
      @harrietharlow9929 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Sadly, that seems to be the only lesson government entities seem to learn.

  • @nigelh2696
    @nigelh2696 5 ปีที่แล้ว +262

    They were still asking for volunteers in the 1980s. My platoon sergeant said he would kick anyone's arse that did. Two weeks extra holiday wasn't worth your health or your life.

    • @peterking2651
      @peterking2651 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Yep, kept coming up on daily orders.

    • @onetwothreefour3957
      @onetwothreefour3957 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      "do not volunteer"
      a great piece of advice for military service, taught to children already and probably for decades if not centuries. nowadays it's more true than ever

    • @GECKman88
      @GECKman88 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      1989 was the last date recorded, stated in the video. mmmm.... my dad was given a number of experimental drugs that were meant to help "fight infections and disease" as a "preventative measure."

    • @bobthebuilder1360
      @bobthebuilder1360 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @RIDIN’ HIGH 5150 lol dont they would probably give a while cup of lsd n tell u to drink it lol

    • @CMDRSweeper
      @CMDRSweeper 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @RIDIN’ HIGH 5150 Nah, LSD is such a pain to eat or drink or whatever.
      Better just accept the test trial and put it on your car and then show them mad slides instead :D
      That is the best LSD.

  • @andygray6519
    @andygray6519 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    I did the infamous Porton down battle run in 1986. There wasnt any chemical agents used on us, we just pretty much lived in a CS gas cloud for 3 or 4 days.
    A few years later in 1995 I went to BATUS in Canada for 4 motnhs helping out another unit. There were areas we were not allowed to even step out of the vehicle we were in, if we did or got stuck in one we were not allowed to move an would have to go through the decontamination process. Who knows what the hell they ere testing out there!

  • @irritated888
    @irritated888 5 ปีที่แล้ว +510

    "Better than the USSR" isn't a good bar to set, unless you're a gymnast trying to set a limbo record.

    • @enderiskender2977
      @enderiskender2977 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      next stop better then the devil himself i gues :).

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @Jose Raul Miguens Cruz the USSR didn't pretend this shit never happened for decades afterwards.

    • @Markle2k
      @Markle2k 5 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      @@IronWarhorsesFun When it was revealed the USSR didn't exist anymore. Same story in the DDR and Romania.

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@Markle2k kruchev actually gave up quite a lot when it came to what was done under Stalin.

    • @jonnydavison9222
      @jonnydavison9222 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      😆

  • @SebAnders
    @SebAnders 5 ปีที่แล้ว +95

    Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last and DON'T EVER VOLUNTEER FOR ANYTHING.

    • @trevordeane3940
      @trevordeane3940 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Oh, you mean like the anti-covid injections being tested on humans now?

    • @tombrydson781
      @tombrydson781 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Correct

  • @DarkPhaaze
    @DarkPhaaze 4 ปีที่แล้ว +70

    Really getting some Aperture Science vibes from this place.
    "We've been shooting you with an invisible laser that's supposed to turn blood into gasoline, so all that means is it's working."

  • @Thedarkdog95
    @Thedarkdog95 4 ปีที่แล้ว +201

    You know that a weapon is truly gruesome when even Hitler said no to using it.

    • @themadhammer3305
      @themadhammer3305 4 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      I wonder if the threat of similar weapons being used in retaliation was a factor in Hitler never using them in warfare. Perhaps the theory of mutually assured destruction will really work even when a nation is totally conquered

    • @drpavel9414
      @drpavel9414 4 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      @@themadhammer3305 He was legitimately pretty traumatized by what he saw and experienced in WWI, I think he was blind for a week after a gas attack

    • @danmanmcleod
      @danmanmcleod 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Even HE wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy.

    • @steve29384
      @steve29384 4 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      danmanmcleod expect he used a gas on innocent people to systematically murder millions yeah no its was definitely a logical decision and not a moral one

    • @matthewbibby8921
      @matthewbibby8921 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@steve29384 technically that'd mean that he'd wish it on his worst enemy, just not anybody else.

  • @anne-droid7739
    @anne-droid7739 5 ปีที่แล้ว +613

    Mustard gas saved my life. A derivative of the mustard gas family, cyclophosphamide, is used in chemotherapy. This application was discovered from the after-effects in soldiers gassed during WWI--like my grandfather. It's a funny world.

    • @shubbagin49
      @shubbagin49 5 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      The after-effects on my grandfather, trooper in the Royal Scots Greys was a pint of milk a day from the government because of the ulcers in his guts after being gassed at wipers.

    • @MrDmitriRavenoff
      @MrDmitriRavenoff 5 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Several of our worst atrocities have lead to great things in their wake.

    • @anne-droid7739
      @anne-droid7739 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@shubbagin49 What a dismayingly inadequate nod at treatment and appreciation. How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm? No wonder so many came home to turn into Angry Young Men.

    • @liquidminds
      @liquidminds 5 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      So, mustard gas almost killing your grandfather caused mustard gas to save your life? Weird world... Damn weird world...

    • @anne-droid7739
      @anne-droid7739 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @dethrophes Yes, they are--but it's the specific history of this one that makes it more compelling.

  • @ignitionfrn2223
    @ignitionfrn2223 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    1:35 - Chapter 1 - Gassed
    5:10 - Chapter 2 - A taboo family
    9:05 - Chapter 3 - The experiments
    12:30 - Mid roll ads
    14:05 - Chapter 4 - Death comes to porton
    17:45 - Chapter 5 - Bioweapons & Secret trials
    21:25 - Chapter 6 - Lifting the lid

  • @DrakoDragonis
    @DrakoDragonis 5 ปีที่แล้ว +260

    Who needs enemies when you have 'friends' like these...

    • @alexwolfeboy
      @alexwolfeboy 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@A Moye Pretty sure Simon did a video on that on the channel TopTenz. I think it is "10 Horrifying Declassified Secrets".

    • @Jimskateuk
      @Jimskateuk 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Perhaps if you hadnt friends like these you would be writting this comment in german

    • @DrakoDragonis
      @DrakoDragonis 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@Jimskateuk If you believe testing on your own people is fine, then you're just as sociopathic are they are.

    • @bobthebomb1596
      @bobthebomb1596 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Most frontline soldiers in WW1 for a start, cosidering those "friends" developed the gas masks that protected them from German chemicals.

    • @talltroll7092
      @talltroll7092 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@DrakoDragonis It's a tricky ethical question, though. If you disapprove of testing on volunteers, do you propose testing on people who haven't volunteered instead? Because that seems much worse. Or do you propose not testing at all? Because that has potentially horrifying consequences for any people, soldier or civilian, who are exposed to nerve agents. Is just developing something that you vaguely hope might help, and then going "Nah, it'll be fine" really a morally defensible position?

  • @mauricetait5704
    @mauricetait5704 4 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    I was of the mugs who went to Porton Down 1967, they ask for soldiers to help find a cure for the common cold. The police inquiry was by Wiltshire and M o D Police. We (4 of us ) given encompassment that lasted 3 days, we were some of the 361 service personnel to be paid compensation.

    • @riverdeep399
      @riverdeep399 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Is it rude to ask how your health is? I'm guessing there was no accountability.
      All the best.

    • @psycronizer
      @psycronizer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      was anyone ever held to account for this nightmare ?

    • @vincentgizdich2842
      @vincentgizdich2842 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Recall the compensation?

  • @T0mtf2
    @T0mtf2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Didn't expect to hear about my grandfather, Alfred Thornhill, on this so thank you as I miss him every single day

  • @KnightsWithoutATable
    @KnightsWithoutATable 5 ปีที่แล้ว +60

    @ about 12:00 - 15 shillings was 0.75 Pounds. That comes out to roughly 21 Pounds today. That is what they paid Ronald Madison to take a near lethal dose of nerve gas.

    • @creedolala6918
      @creedolala6918 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      doing some quick American math, that works out to... almost $17,000,000 USD! wow, I'd definitely sign up!

  • @bandk2000
    @bandk2000 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    In 1979 I worked with an ex RAF regiment guy, apart from the strories of serving in Northern Ireland, he once brought up a story of Porton Down - A notice was posted in the barracks, 1 weeks pay in return for volunteers for Porton, time away from the regiment (5 days) could be taken as you were helping the M.O.D. He and a mate volunteered, his mate was called first and off he went. On his return 5 days later he was covered in huge water blisters all over his exposed skin. Seeing him the guy I worked with immediately withdrew his application :)

  • @richjones2767
    @richjones2767 4 ปีที่แล้ว +33

    Porton's been open to commercial business for years. Dyson did their early dust extraction efficiency test there for their dual cyclone.

  • @mad7206
    @mad7206 4 ปีที่แล้ว +38

    I remember my training staff telling us in 1989 " DO NOT VOLUNTEER FOR THIS PLACE "

  • @Looter217
    @Looter217 4 ปีที่แล้ว +112

    The phrase “weaponized Ebola” sent a chill down my spine like I’ve never felt before

    • @rooboo9290
      @rooboo9290 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Yes, I also ejaculated

    • @Nyx_2142
      @Nyx_2142 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      What do you think the outbreak in Africa was? It is hardly the only man-made bio-weapon released on the world. Numerous outbreaks in recent years have shown signs of being man-made and engineered, but you'll never hear about that in the news.

    • @airsofter2247
      @airsofter2247 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Not as much as mine! I live on the south coast about 25 miles away!

    • @bobthebuilder1360
      @bobthebuilder1360 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Corona virus

    • @stevebarlow3154
      @stevebarlow3154 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@Nyx_2142 Of course you won't, because it is not true. It is yet another conspiracy theory that has no basis in reality. The outbreaks of Ebola in Africa were caused by people eating wild animals and the disease jumping across species. Bats may have been the original culprits again.

  • @carlopton
    @carlopton 5 ปีที่แล้ว +79

    When I enlisted in the Army in 1976, my Dad told me never, ever to volunteer for anything, while I served. He was a WW2 vet that got bombed and badly hurt in the desert. I did as he told me to, one of the very few times I listened to him. Now, after watching this video, it was a freakin' good thing I did. Also, there is no such thing as perfection. It is something we should always strive for. My point is this, at some point, at Porton Downs, and at Bluegrass Army Depot, and others around the world, there will be a release. I'm certain uncontrolled releases have already happened. As long as they exist, it will happen. It just takes time. The thought of a weaponized accidental release of smallpox terrifies me far more than that of anthrax. Smallpox spreads like a wildfire in perfect burning conditions.

    • @gunner678
      @gunner678 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Very good advice.

    • @whiteboard7thstreet
      @whiteboard7thstreet 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      AdHocFuture I had a friend who’s mom was one of the first people to be experimented on for the flu vaccine but luckily no side effects by that stage in the trials

    • @carlopton
      @carlopton 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @James Sloan My wife and I about a week ago was talking about this as well. If an outbreak occurred, all the young people would suffer greatly. I worry about you young folks.

    • @shadsalah4716
      @shadsalah4716 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @James Sloan explain further, what plan do you mean?

    • @NLTops
      @NLTops 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@shadsalah4716 He is suggesting that people are no longer being vaccinated because "they" are planning to intentionally create a smallpox outbreak.

  • @atlasshrugged9093
    @atlasshrugged9093 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    Today we learn on Geographics “A sufficiently terrified man can indeed outrun a chemical weapon”

  • @srspower
    @srspower 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    My Grandad visited Porton Down a fair few times as he worked for the RSRE. He hated it there, he said you'd go for a drink with them after work and they'd spike you with LSD for a laugh.

  • @jsnsk101
    @jsnsk101 4 ปีที่แล้ว +52

    This video sponsored by Porton Down, we do good things now quit asking questions.

  • @mrbubbles8214
    @mrbubbles8214 5 ปีที่แล้ว +224

    So wait us British did terrible things in regards to warfare? Well I've never heard of such a thing!

    • @MattyMcFly_
      @MattyMcFly_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      Only thing worse than sarin is people who put the milk in first when making a brew

    • @leeboy26
      @leeboy26 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@MattyMcFly_ Those people are monsters. Shame on you for making such a comparison.

    • @MattyMcFly_
      @MattyMcFly_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@leeboy26 people who put milk in their tea first are definitely more detrimental to my health than sarin gas. I think my comparison is pretty fair

    • @leeboy26
      @leeboy26 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@MattyMcFly_ I wasn't disagreeing.

    • @MattyMcFly_
      @MattyMcFly_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@leeboy26 Oh Im following you 😂 comparing those monsters to the creators and users of sarin probably was a bit harsh to be fair

  • @simonforget280
    @simonforget280 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    You cannot speak about Porton Down without Suffield Experimental Station. Whatever experiment they couldn't do at the first was done at the later. Keep up your excellent work!

  • @DavidL1986
    @DavidL1986 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    That 1 death pisses me off tho.. they said they "finally learnt their lesson".. but they had that opportunity on the previous test, when a patient almost died. It was just a competely unnecessary death

  • @carl_marks1626
    @carl_marks1626 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    All Britain’s chemical weapons were stored at RAF Harpur Hill near Buxton. Including captured German weapons. The place is huge and built in the side of a hill with tunnels that have miniature train tracks. The RAF moved out in the sixties and the place is now an underground industrial estate for several businesses. Rumor is some chemical weapon shells are still down there under concrete.

  • @King_Ears
    @King_Ears 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    My grandparents lived in Gomeldon about a mile away from porton down and just up the road from the NBC facility at Winterbourne Gunner. As a kid I never knew what happened there but was always intrigued by the fact that all the land around their house is classed as a military training area with red flags flying constantly. We used to go for bike rides and along one road both sides were training area with the red flags clearly visible. I always found it weird we could ride through the middle of it lol.

    • @ianfoulkes2114
      @ianfoulkes2114 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Winterbourne Gunner is the station chosen for the training NBC/CBRNe Instructors

  • @TheHoagie13
    @TheHoagie13 4 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    In the Army, we don't "volunteer", instead we're *VolunTOLD!!*

    • @affectionatepunch
      @affectionatepunch 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      In the British army you're volunteered

  • @Christopher-N
    @Christopher-N 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    (23:32) While we all agree that chemical weapons should be totally removed from existence, there is a very sane reason for keeping small quantities in the lab: it provides the opportunity develop detection of its presence, methods of protection, to provide medical aid to those affected, and develop methods of decontamination. We hope they're handled legally, with responsibility, and with independent oversight.

  • @Dave5843-d9m
    @Dave5843-d9m 3 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Porton Down does a load more than “just” bio/chemical weapons. The stuff hidden away is way beyond anything we will hear on TH-cam.

    • @LordDrakkon1
      @LordDrakkon1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      like what the doctor TARDIS?

    • @LordDrakkon1
      @LordDrakkon1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Username-lw4mi 🤣

  • @jessaguilar4747
    @jessaguilar4747 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    I love this channel!!! Everything Simon and the team do is amazing!! Keep it up guys!!! ❤️

  • @tieck4408
    @tieck4408 4 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    >"a mild experiment to find a cure for the common cold"
    Now sounds almost as scary as the truth 😂

    • @notstarboard
      @notstarboard 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      "We did cure your cold, silly. You can't have a cold if you're dead!"

  • @resileaf9501
    @resileaf9501 5 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    5:50 Weird sound glitch there. Mic problems for that one line?

    • @F.K98
      @F.K98 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Good to know that I wasn't the only one who heard. I thought my earphones were dying, but phew

    • @hunterfellows5460
      @hunterfellows5460 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@F.K98 audiophiles everywhere rejoice

  • @theenclave5816
    @theenclave5816 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Humanity and humans in general will never learn their lesson. I remember hearing someone once say that science is only to be used to advance humanity but not at the cost of the very humanity it claims to be serving.

  • @thomasgray6092
    @thomasgray6092 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    A really interesting piece! Thank you for this insight into the goings on of Porton Down!
    Interesting that you note the 2007 foot and mouth outbreak! I was living in the area affected by the outbreak.
    I remember when leaving the area, cars had to be disinfected etc. I also remember dozens of helicopters flying overhead!

  • @Werrf1
    @Werrf1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    There's no question that a site like Porton Down is absolutely essential for the security of a nation. It's one of those things that you hope never to need, but if you DO need it you don't have time to wait for it to be built. But there is a HUGE difference between "We need a place like Porton Down" and "We need a place like Porton Down to operate without ethics, oversight, or accountability". Indeed, sites like PD need the _strictest_ oversight and accountability, even if it's top secret, because the consequences when they fuck up are so potentially massive.

  • @DarksideFistofFury68
    @DarksideFistofFury68 4 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    The evil that lie in the heart and mind of men has no boundaries.

  • @angusmacchilly5468
    @angusmacchilly5468 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Second comment but worth it:
    My brother was an IT purchaser at porton and had really bad runs. Cue him having the toilet door knocked on by guys in full NBC gear and being zipped up in a clear body bag to be whisked to Salisbury hospital as the base went on full shutdown.
    Massively invasive testing later (bum probes, gum injections etc) turns out it was a dodgy Dominoes Pizza.
    I remind him of this on a regular basis 😂

    • @nickjung7394
      @nickjung7394 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Shouldn't work there if he couldn't take a joke!

  • @alexdawson5293
    @alexdawson5293 4 ปีที่แล้ว +46

    Porton Down is starting to become open to non government businesses.
    Source: nearly got a job there

    • @narrakasa81194
      @narrakasa81194 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      This idiot once worked there. You are very correct. Not only government work now

  • @LANCECAPS
    @LANCECAPS ปีที่แล้ว

    Hi I was part of the police investigation, operation Antler, having been gassed at Porton Down in 1964.
    I had been seconded (without reward) to a couple of their experiments and testing on newly introduced masks and NBC combat gear.
    I never got any compensation and still take daily medicine. I am now 78.
    I was very I’ll at the time of our experiment which was carried out, deliberately in windy conditions.
    Dale.

  • @reggiep75
    @reggiep75 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Yep, I've read loads of books in the 90's and read up on Porton Down in the early 2000's when fast internet became more common (512k broadband :-D ) and was interested and horrified at the same time from what I learnt!

    • @jbird7782
      @jbird7782 ปีที่แล้ว

      It wasn't spelling

  • @Nyctophora
    @Nyctophora 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I knew some of this, but not all. I'm pretty sure I saw magazine adverts for testing volunteers. We knew about the "Centre for the Common Cold" but not all this. Thank you for sharing this vital history.

  • @jimtalbott9535
    @jimtalbott9535 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Another suggestion along these lines - the Hanford Site in Eastern Washington State, USA. Lots of "fun" isotopes buried there to this day, the site of 40 years of Nuclear Weapons Plutonium production - as well as some bizzare "farm" experiments in the late 1940s, the "Downwinder" story, and a gigantic cleanup effort. The first full-sized nuclear reactor was built there, and is now a museum that can be toured. Enrico Fermi's office chair is there, and you can even catch the occasional choir performance in front of the reactor face.

    • @harrietharlow9929
      @harrietharlow9929 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Uep. I worry about the underground tanks. A lot of very nasty stuff in them. Hopefully, they've started emptying them and dealing with the contents.
      In an interview for a documentary, a tribal elder said that people ask if anything fished out of the Columbia River is safe to eat and he said he tells them that he doesn't know. The whole thing is a hot mess.

  • @buckshot6481
    @buckshot6481 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Threw a lot of gas at him and said "run" ! I can't stop laughing 😂💀

    • @bryn494
      @bryn494 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Could've been worse; a heavy baton with "DROP ME AND RUN" embossed on it's side :O

  • @dogwalker666
    @dogwalker666 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    Not really a secret is it. It's been in numerous books, films, quatermass even bloody Dr Who.

  • @danielmarshall4587
    @danielmarshall4587 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    If you've never heard of Antharx.... oh yes Spreading the Disease, Among the Living... Great albums.

  • @nicktombs1876
    @nicktombs1876 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    A lot of John Constables best works were in Suffolk, where he was from. Also the germans used phosgene gas, not phosthene gas

  • @meeruisland
    @meeruisland ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I com[pleted a NBC instructors course at Porton Down in the later half of the 80's....I remember during years of my military service notices appeared asking for volunteers to go to Porton Down for 2 weeks to take part in experiments and you would paid for each experiment. i knew one lad who went for 3 weeks (his actual leave, which he got back) as he was skint and thought it would be a good idea. he did a sh*t load of experiment's leading up to his final one of a blister agent being applied to his hand near to the web of the thumb. I saw him some 3 years later and he was still as mad as when i first met him except his agent burn looked around the size of a 50p piece and he said it itched, i asked was it worth it, i wont write down his reply.........brought back memories lol

  • @TheHoagie13
    @TheHoagie13 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    22:57 ...Aaaaaaand *Simon* reenacting *"Max Headroom"*

  • @narrakasa81194
    @narrakasa81194 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Oh this should be good. As a local and former employee at porton down, I love to read and hear peoples theories lol

    • @Yellow30045
      @Yellow30045 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Its DSTL PTN tut tut Lainey lol

  • @CloneDaddy
    @CloneDaddy 4 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    I've been there a couple of times., delivering plant machinery. I didn't know all this stuff then, otherwise I'd have told my boss to f...send someone else.

    • @7930james
      @7930james 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      CloneDaddy ive been there for the same reason to the part heavily guarded at the back, its a scary thought!

  • @jeanlafitte268
    @jeanlafitte268 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    22:48 Word about Porton Down's postwar experimental work got out long before the 1990s. Alan Scott's 1971 novel Project Dracula refers to Porton Down's research into nerve agents. A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret Story of Gas and Germ Warfare, published in April 1, 1982 by Robert Harris, Jeremy Paxman also discusses the matter.

  • @kellypaws
    @kellypaws 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Fabulous watch, as usual. But it does make you very nervous about those who 'guard us'.
    Who shall guard the guards themselves....

    • @narrakasa81194
      @narrakasa81194 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Quis custodiet, ipsos custodes

    • @kellypaws
      @kellypaws 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Lainey-Lou Watson How wonderful. One never expects a little Latin in a TH-cam discourse. A Greek farce perhaps. But not Latin.

    • @narrakasa81194
      @narrakasa81194 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@kellypaws ah latin is my favourite language. And this happens to be my favourite saying, along with Mea Culpa..

  • @patrickgrounds2157
    @patrickgrounds2157 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I heard a radio 4 programme about the common cold experiments at Porton Down. The one that stuck in my head was British top brass wanted a drug to increase the com at performance of infantry, like the Nazi's did with amphetamines.
    A group of volunteer troops were given huge doses of LSD, about 6 times stonger than most street doses.
    The soldiers were then ordered to perform basic military manourves against a fortified position.
    You can imagine the chaos. People confused, hallucinating, unable to do anything. One sergeant was noted to be sobbing and moaning "who is in charge here".
    From a BBC radio 4 programme about 20 years ago.

  • @rm4692
    @rm4692 5 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    3:44 i don't think I was supposed to laugh

  • @monkieie
    @monkieie 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    In the early 90s I had the opportunity to be tested at Porton Down... due to the Gulf War they were desperate for volunteers. After a lot of considerarion though I thought it all rather suspect and - regardless of the money - not to volunteer for 'trials'. I think it was all for the best, in retrospect.

  • @brandonryan9582
    @brandonryan9582 5 ปีที่แล้ว +98

    Imagine what we don't know..

    • @kinroga
      @kinroga 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Most of this we weren't going to know

    • @fastsales1328
      @fastsales1328 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      They probably got ray guns now

    • @jimjambananaslam3596
      @jimjambananaslam3596 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      This was in a time where it was a lot easier to keep things like this a secret. One of the most powerful governments in the world couldn't keep what Clinton was doing under the sheets a secret, do you honestly believe they could cover up something actually important for any length of time? All it would take is one person on their deathbed who has nothing to lose, that's it. Conspiracy theories are a joke.

    • @ammarsiddiqui3602
      @ammarsiddiqui3602 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'd rather not know

    • @Daxly746
      @Daxly746 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@jimjambananaslam3596 . . . if that helps you sleep at night more power to ya.

  • @brightmodelengineering8399
    @brightmodelengineering8399 ปีที่แล้ว

    I was in the forces in the 1980s and as many have said, never volunteer for anything. Unless you need a bit of extra cash or some extra leave. I volunteered twice, The first time we were told to dress in full NBC kit, so suit, respirator, gloves, over boots etc. We then spend two days with electrodes attached to our skin as we were told to repeatedly do the assault course time after time and then play football. All to test dehydration, sensory deprivation etc. Tiring but harmless. The second time we were told no NDC kit required and were told to defend a small copse. We thought we were the enemy force defending the copse against the test guinea pigs. A scientist approached and placed a large box a short distance away, monitoring equipment we thought. After a short while strange things started to happen, one mate started shooting blanks at dandelions, another was just led on the ground watching the clouds in the sky, I was enjoying watching the trees walk about. Eventually the boffins approached and suggested we give them our heavy riffles as they looked uncomfortable, we did. The test was to see how easily trained soldiers could be disarmed without harm or destroying property and equipment. The strange box mentioned earlier contained LSD gas. Two days resting as the effects cleared and we got extra leave.

  • @DanHalford75
    @DanHalford75 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    John Constable’s best work was done not in Wiltshire, but in the area known as Constable Country; southern Suffolk around Flatford Mill and Dedham Vale.

  • @mhoppy6639
    @mhoppy6639 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is where 28 days later started. And where it will begin for real… a good one.

  • @ArcturanMegadonkey
    @ArcturanMegadonkey 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Interesting about the 2007 foot an mouth outbreak, I cannot remember the press mentioning that it was a fault pipe at Porton Down that caused the outbreak.

    • @stepheneyles2198
      @stepheneyles2198 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      The press are only allowed to tell the people what those in control let them tell...

    • @thedepartmentofredundancyd5160
      @thedepartmentofredundancyd5160 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@stepheneyles2198 And/or direct them (the press) in the telling.

    • @ArcturanMegadonkey
      @ArcturanMegadonkey 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Miss Liberty Bella I heard it was because someone dropped a half eaten sandwich in a pig pen, the swineflu was in the sandwich

    • @ianbirchenough5558
      @ianbirchenough5558 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It wasn't Porton down it was the advanced effluent pipes from either the Institute for Animal Health or the similar vaccine researching and producing Merial Animal Health laboratory near to Pirbright village in the county of Surrey- the pipes were too old and/or insufficiently inspected given their importance. An inspection of the effluent pipes and manholes carried out for the HSE investigators showed deficiencies and the independent investigation of Professor Brian Spratt concluded that it was very likely that they occasionally leaked still-infectious effluent at the time of the outbreak.

    • @cglees
      @cglees ปีที่แล้ว

      @@ianbirchenough5558 spot on

  • @ph11p3540
    @ph11p3540 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    We even did nerve gas trials in Suffield Range, Alberta, Canada. It took 30 years to get the information declassified under the then new access to information act of 1985. The tests were done in the 1950s in looking for a cure for nerve gas attacks. Suffield is considered Canada's Area 51 site.

    • @dwight4626
      @dwight4626 ปีที่แล้ว

      I live about 60 miles from Suffield.They have a 5 story underground lab there

  • @wyolaskan1868
    @wyolaskan1868 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    “Yes! A sufficiently terrified man Can outrun a chemical weapon!”
    Why did I laugh at this?

    • @Jaxmusicgal23
      @Jaxmusicgal23 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Because if you didn’t you would have been traumatically shocked instead. You found the humor to keep yourself from freaking out at how diabolical and wrong that test was!😉

    • @bryn494
      @bryn494 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      There's a popular marine textbook for boaters that contains a section on various bilge-pump types. It ends with "The most efficient pumping unit is probably a frightened man with a bucket." :D

  • @WASPdaddy
    @WASPdaddy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My father was stationed there in the early 50's, My mother said dad had to go in a gas chamber to get a weekend pass to see her! When my father applied to marry my mother, she didn't pass for approval as a great great-ish grandfather on her mother side served on Napoleons ship! Dad was a batman and officer he served managed to overturn the CO's decision.
    The the day he died five years ago, if you mentioned Porton down, his answer was "Queen and country" Refused to even acknowledge it exists.

  • @shootthemoon6072
    @shootthemoon6072 4 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    Anyone else watching this while in quarantine?

    • @adamam6139
      @adamam6139 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      me

    • @KRJayster
      @KRJayster 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Eight months later…

    • @RosieWilliamOlivia
      @RosieWilliamOlivia 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'm watching this after watching the news telling us to get an experimental vaccine...

    • @N_0968
      @N_0968 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Again in quarantine 10 months later.

  • @watermelonkid5613
    @watermelonkid5613 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Ahhhh when porton down is a 5 minute walk away from your house.

    • @watermelonkid5613
      @watermelonkid5613 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @23:30 is the road I go through everyday

  • @Nicho137Racing
    @Nicho137Racing 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I volunteered for a study there when I was in the RAF. The doctor went into detail of the tests and I rapidly changed my mind! Definitely wasnt worth the £50 they were offering! 🙈

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      You must LITERALLY be the one person they were honest to. Maybe you got a actual human being!

    • @Nicho137Racing
      @Nicho137Racing 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@IronWarhorsesFun Theres still no saying they were being honest, what they said was scary, the reality may have been even worse!!! 🙈

    • @IronWarhorsesFun
      @IronWarhorsesFun 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Nicho137Racing wouldn't be surprised!

    • @Nicho137Racing
      @Nicho137Racing 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @Gabriel That was 2003.

  • @g7eit
    @g7eit 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you for your hard work putting this together

  • @CraigJukes
    @CraigJukes 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Ahh PortonDown...I live 5 mins away from there...and that's walking.

  • @robdedrick2052
    @robdedrick2052 ปีที่แล้ว

    I had a History Teacher that had Volunteered to Fight in WWII . He told us a Story of being in Basic Training before going to Europe . They were in a Lecture Room and the Superiors ( WWI VETS ) asked for Volunteers . No one was putting up there hands . So he Put his up . They pulled him up and Poked his arm with something . He missed going with his Buddies and was in the Hospital for 6 months . He survived the war . His buddies didn't .

  • @Mangaka-ml6xo
    @Mangaka-ml6xo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I'm rather glad that the Nazis "never" had the occasion to use that gas, they could have easily wiped whole battlefields in minutes.

    • @sonnytopboy4975
      @sonnytopboy4975 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Now the people they were gasing are doing evil around the world

    • @patricktate4782
      @patricktate4782 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@sonnytopboy4975 the nazi regime was not the evil party in the conflict I’m afraid. History has been twisted.

    • @Jonathan-fb1kj
      @Jonathan-fb1kj 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@patricktate4782 What kind of crack you on mate.

    • @patricktate4782
      @patricktate4782 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Jonathan-fb1kj it’s called doing your own research

  • @cliffcampbell8827
    @cliffcampbell8827 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Survived mustard gas, shrapnel, stormed two machine gun nests, a British soldier didn't shoot him because pitty/WWI ended and numerous assassination attempts. I wonder, did he ever buy a lottery ticket? Go to Las Vegas, make his way to the roulette tables, "all on bleck, unt you, server froline, bring me a schnapps! Ja, I vont it all on bleck, unt let it rrrride!"
    Oh, and have I ever heard of Anthrax? Hell yes I have. They were kinda big in the late 80's. My favorite album of theirs is State of Europhia. Favorite song on that album is Finally.

  • @jackd.ripper7613
    @jackd.ripper7613 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    2:39 You misspelled 'Salisbury'.

  • @badgersgetabadname
    @badgersgetabadname 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I used to live in Wiltshire. We cycled out to the area to camp out. Beautiful countryside lovely people

  • @garwhittaker3743
    @garwhittaker3743 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Salisbury I here the GRU holiday there ,apparently they love the steeple .

    • @scottkirkland6139
      @scottkirkland6139 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      You still blame the Russians,

    • @grantscowen1308
      @grantscowen1308 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah... I had no idea the British were developing nerve agents right next to Salisbury. The news conveniently left Porton Down out.

  • @brianbks02
    @brianbks02 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    “A sufficiently terrified man can indeed outrun a chemical weapon.”

  • @Nicolas-uu3jr
    @Nicolas-uu3jr 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    "as taboo as possible" 🤣, that was good 😅

  • @lburns7952
    @lburns7952 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    'Stop the madness, stop playing God'. i love the British lol

  • @andycoombes161
    @andycoombes161 ปีที่แล้ว

    I served in the Royal Navy as a Radio Operator in the 80s/90s. I distinctly remember receiving signals asking for "volunteers" to go to Porton Down. Even then we all knew that only a fool would put their name forward. Although I saw the signals, i never ONCE heard that information disseminated to the men actually asking them to volunteer.
    Later on i was involved in the First Gulf War. I began to suffer from very strange symptoms upon my return home and cut a long story short became a campaigner as the finger was being firmly pointed at Nerve Agent Pre-treatment tablets and the various Anthrax and Plague Vaccines etc. I submitted an FOI request asking about the testing regime of the Nerve Agent Pretreatment tablets. The response stated that they were tested on fewer than 10 people in the 1960s. That was it. That FOI response has since dissappeared from the website. They then dished those out across UK, US, Canadian and Australian forces to hundreds of thousands of men and women. Only a fool woukd trust their government and that's the reason I refused ALL Covid vaccines. Once bitten twice shy. What a great decision that was

  • @aalexjohna
    @aalexjohna ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Brian May was a world-famous guitarist, known for his work with the band Queen. He was also a brilliant scientist, with a PhD in astrophysics. But there was one thing that Brian was not known for: his love of stuffed animals.
    It all started when Brian was a child. He was given a stuffed animal dog named Humphrey for his birthday. Humphrey quickly became Brian's best friend. He took him everywhere with him, and they would often cuddle up together on the couch.
    As Brian got older, he never lost his love of stuffed animals. He would often buy new ones, and he would even bring them on tour with him. One day, Brian was on tour in Japan when he saw a stuffed animal that he absolutely had to have. It was a giant, blue whale named Cushion.
    Brian bought Cushion immediately, and he brought him back to his hotel room. Brian was so excited about his new friend that he couldn't sleep that night. He just lay in bed, holding Cushion close and talking to him.
    The next morning, Brian woke up and realized that he had feelings for Cushion. He didn't know how it had happened, but he had fallen in love with a stuffed animal.
    Brian was scared to admit his feelings to anyone, but he couldn't keep them a secret any longer. He went to his friend Roger Taylor and told him everything.
    Roger was surprised, but he was also supportive. He told Brian that it was okay to love whoever he wanted, even if it was a stuffed animal.
    Brian was relieved to hear Roger's words. He finally felt like he could be himself.
    Brian and Cushion were inseparable from that day on. They went everywhere together, and they even slept in the same bed.
    One day, Brian was playing a show with Queen when he started to feel sick. He went backstage and collapsed. The doctors diagnosed him with a rare disease, and they said that he didn't have much time left.
    Brian was devastated. He didn't want to die without saying goodbye to Cushion.
    Brian went home and called Cushion to his side. He told Cushion how much he loved him, and he thanked him for being his best friend.
    Then, Brian kissed Cushion on the forehead.
    Brian died a few days later, but he was at peace. He knew that he would always be with Cushion, even in death.

  • @viperblitz11
    @viperblitz11 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Germans with Sarin: "If we use this, the British will retaliate."
    British with Anthrax: "This weapon is immoral."
    Americans with nukes: *Excited squealing*

  • @daguard411
    @daguard411 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    One of the interesting things I learned is that the major powers are side stepping the international laws of stockpiles and production of chemical weapons. Why? How? They have developed binary formulations so that there are no weapons being produced or stored, only this unusual artillery round or a different kind of airal bomb to to deliver these formulations. Those binary mixtures don't become weapons until mixed by the unusual delivery devices.

  • @rh661
    @rh661 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Can we get a "Today I found out" on Operation Paperclip? I keep hearing one liners about it and moving on.

  • @MrBrygsi
    @MrBrygsi 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I worked there throughout spring/summer ‘98... We amazingly had access to a lot of the camp, indoors and out... probably all I should tell you. Some mad shit goes on there.

  • @grzesiak1991able
    @grzesiak1991able 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Great video I live near portion and thought this was an amazingly detailed video. However altho I understand and agree with sponsors in videos Ronald maddison died, I didn't like that the subject of his death was used as suspense to promote a sponsor. Felt a bit wrong.

    • @grzesiak1991able
      @grzesiak1991able 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Also the rebel base in the force awakens is at porton. It was filmed there. Interesting side fact.

  • @quimbydragun1906
    @quimbydragun1906 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Simon is now on Britain’s Hitlist

  • @alexconway4782
    @alexconway4782 5 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    Probably worth mentioning that porton down also has an incredibly large role in the destruction of chemical weapons from abroad and in england, most of the activity there nowadays seems to be getting rid of the weapons than creating them!

    • @geographicstravel
      @geographicstravel  5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Didn't know that. That would have been a great addition. Thank you for sharing :)

    • @stevenjohnarmitage4345
      @stevenjohnarmitage4345 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@geographicstravel Its also the site of a number of research companies - including one working on Medicinal use of Cannabis for serious diseases and conditions. Its not one building - its more of a complex of different labs and projects.

    • @scottmac210
      @scottmac210 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Now when you say dispose of - do you mean abandon in a local park?

    • @smattock7366
      @smattock7366 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      They have a whole team that deal with old mustard gas munitions that get dug up and found. The BBC did a documentary on Porton explaining some of its roles.

    • @Nyx_2142
      @Nyx_2142 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Right, because the people doing the shady shit told you so, therefore it must be true. Sheep.

  • @masterimbecile
    @masterimbecile 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Symptoms of poisoning by organophosphate (a class of nerve agent to which sarin belongs): MUDDLES
    Miosis (pinpoint pupil)
    Urination
    Diarrhea
    Diaphoresis (excessive sweating)
    Lacrimation (tear production)
    Excitation (or Emesis [vomiting])
    Salivation (drooling)

  • @SuperStevestan
    @SuperStevestan 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Went there a few times when based nearby, creepy place.

  • @Chris.sees.whats-what
    @Chris.sees.whats-what 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    That novochock turning up in Salisbury right next to this place was extremely suspicious to me from the start. No coincidence

  • @elisheffer6049
    @elisheffer6049 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    8:06, pure soul, I can almost forgive him for ordering use of Cyclon B in extermination camps.

    • @froZn991
      @froZn991 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      i mean nobody said he is a pure soul :D

  • @chipanderson2135
    @chipanderson2135 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    All of the British Military's personal protective equipment is designed, developed and tested at Porton Down. All of the protective equipment that was used by the police and personnel dealing with the Novichok attacks in Salisbury was developed at Porton Down, and Porton Down was the only place that was capable of dealing with all of the novichok contaminated items recovered. For that I am grateful. It is not something you want lingering around.

  • @davidsmith1310
    @davidsmith1310 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    How dare they harm bunnies!

    • @nomercya1xk135
      @nomercya1xk135 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Its not just rabits . Horses , pigs , dogs etc