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The Westwood Quarry Biological Warfare Trials

Very early in the Cold War, the UK's Biological Warfare facility at Porton Down, the Microbiological Research Department, decided to test the vulnerability of Government buildings and citadels to sabotage attacks with Biological Warfare agents. In 1950, UK government officials were reluctant to sanction such tests in large government offices, while they were occupied. As a result, Porton Down then asked the Ministry of Works for details of other buildings, such as citadels, etc. which might be used instead. One such site was found. Westwood Quarry - home to both a former WW2 underground 'shadow' factory and an underground Repository belonging to the British Museum. Permission for MRD Porton Down to use the Westwood Quarry Repository was given by the British Museum. Scientists from MRD Porton Down subsequently constructed a 'clean' laboratory in the deepest part of the Repository and converted the air conditioning system to enable the use of an area known as 'the Carpet Room' as a BW test chamber. For each test, aerosols of a live bacteria were sprayed into the air conditioning system and samples were obtained from various air-sampling devices placed in the test chamber. The live bacteria used in the main tests was Serratia marcescens (SM) an opportunistic pathogen. Although considered to be harmless to most, it was capable of causing disease in vulnerable individuals. MRD Porton Down Personnel operating either inside the test chamber or round the surrounding area wore full protective clothing and respirators. Even the MRD scientist responsible for these BW field trials, Group Captain Mackay (RAF Medical Services) expressed doubts as to the safety of using Serratia marcescens in these tests, referring to the bacteria used in the trials as a 'so-called non-pathogen'. While the Westwood Quarry Biological Warfare field trials were ongoing, workers in the nearby Royal Enfield underground factory worked as normal. They were not informed of Porton Down's occupation of the British Museum Repository or that the tests were taking place. Unfortunately for the Royal Enfield workers, the only exit for the large bacterial aerosol clouds generated for each experiment was via the main entrance tunnel to the quarry. This tunnel was shared by both the Royal Enfield factory and the test Repository. As the BW tests (known as field trials) were always conducted at 11.00 am, it is highly likely that when the Royal Enfield workers exited the factory for their lunch break, they used the same tunnel which contained as massive bacterial aerosol being vented from the test chamber. The declassified MRD Porton Down report (MRD Report No 2) reveals that the scientist in charge noted, " it was demonstrated that workers outside the chamber were exposed to a much higher bacterial content of the air than was considered advisable even for a so called non-pathogen". He advised the fitting of a crude air filter. For reasons as yet unknown, MRD Porton Down omitted to place air sampling devices in the adjacent underground Royal Enfield factory. The Westwood Quarry BW field trials were highly classified for nearly 50 years. They were only declassified as a result of a public campaign in 2002. The full film can be viewed at the Imperial War Museum Film and Video Archive. Catalogue number DED 90.