Keen as Mustard (film)

[1] In the later days of World War II evidence was found in Papua New Guinea of Japan's preparedness to use chemical weapons, in the form of bombs loaded with a mixture of mustard gas and lewisite.

Initial tests proved that mustard gas was around four times as potent in tropical climates, with greatest aggravation to the skin occurring in the sweaty areas of the groin, buttocks, back of legs, neck and armpits.Jack Legge & Olive Lucas checking goats in weapons pit prior to mustard gas experiment Brook Island 3 March 1944.jpg A large 100 cubic metres (3,500 cu ft) controlled environment stainless-steel gas chamber was designed by biochemists J. W. Legge and (later Professor Sir) Hugh Ennor to house volunteer subjects to ascertain the effectiveness of various materials and designs of protective clothing, during periods of physical exertion and after being subject to normal wear and tear.

The determined resistance put up by Japanese soldiers against the Americans in their assault on Tarawa in November 1943 prompted the US Army, which had sustained terrible losses in taking the island, to make plans for use of chemical weapons in further attacks of the kind.

North Brook Island, off the Queensland coast around 30 km east of Cardwell, was prepared with various forms of tunnel and foxhole to simulate the kind of emplacements used by the Japanese army, and goats tethered in these locations.

Goodwin wrote an essay on her research and the making of the film for the series "Working with Knowledge" conference papers online, Session 6 entitled "Science Archives: Humanising and Popularising the Stories", available here