Hundreds of Indian soldiers were sent into gas chambers by British scientists and had mustard gas tested on them.
The soldiers were not checked up on after exposure to the gas which is now known to be the cause of cancer, damage to DNA in human cells, disfigurement and blindness.
The tests were used to determine how much gas was needed to produce a casualty on the battlefield.
The experiments were conducted over a time spanning a decade in 1930s and 40s during the British Raj in India and first reported by The Guardian in 2007.
In 1942 the Porton Down (UK’s military science park) scientists reported that there had been a “large number” of burns from the gas among Indian and British test subjects. Some were so harsh that they had to be sent to hospital. “Severely burned patients are often very miserable and depressed and in considerable discomfort, which must be experienced to be properly realised,” wrote the scientists.
— The Guardian’s report
The Port Down experiments and many other examples of British atrocities over the century are now being chronicled by a Twitter account Crimes of Britain.
The account’s first tweet was posted less than a month ago on July 17th.
323 tweets and 20 days later, Crimes of Britain has a following of 12,800.
The account’s Twitter bio explains the main purpose - “Revisiting and monitoring the crimes of Britain.”
It also indicates that a movie on the subject is expected later this year.
Most tweets are interspersed with strong political statements against Britain.
While some of the events mentioned may need more scrutiny and verification to understand the context, the narrative being created by Crimes of Britain is clearly finding many takers going by the account’s rising popularity.