6 days ago
The uninhabited Scottish island that was once one of the UK's most dangerous places
During the war, Churchill had ordered British scientists to develop biological weapons fearing the Nazis were doing the same
Once considered one of the most dangerous places in Britain, a remote Scottish island nicknamed 'Anthrax Island' was off-limits to the public for decades after becoming the secret site of a wartime biological weapons experiment.
Gruinard Island, located off the north-west coast of Scotland, was chosen by the British government during the Second World War as the test site for a top-secret programme aimed at weaponising anthrax.
At the height of global conflict, Prime Minister Winston Churchill feared Nazi Germany was developing biological weapons and ordered British scientists to do the same, Express reports.
Remote, uninhabited and close enough to the mainland for access, Gruinard fitted the bill. But locals in nearby villages such as Laide had no idea what was unfolding across the bay.
Rumours began to circulate as sheep, cows and horses mysteriously began dying. The government tried to silence speculation by compensating for the loss of livestock, blaming the deaths on a Greek ship's poor animal disposal.
The island's long and complex past stretches well beyond the 20th century. It was mentioned as far back as the mid-16th century by traveller Dean Munro, who noted it was under the control of Clan MacKenzie.
Historically, both Ross-shire and Cromartyshire laid claim to the island due to its location between Gairloch and Ullapool.
By the late 1700s, with surrounding villages growing into fishing and sheep-farming communities, Gruinard was used for grazing sheep and as a makeshift dock for local fishing activity. Though the 1881 census recorded six residents, no permanent population has existed since.
The true extent of the secret tests during World War II remained hidden until a Ministry of Defence film was declassified more than 50 years later.
The footage revealed the shocking details: around 80 sheep were placed in exposure crates and positioned to inhale a cloud of anthrax spores released by a small controlled explosion.
Scientists wearing cloth overalls, gloves and respirators oversaw the operation as a white powder drifted in the wind towards the animals. Within days, the sheep were dead.
Though Churchill's anthrax bomb was never deployed in war, the island was left contaminated, scorched and abandoned.
In a desperate attempt to rid it of the toxin, two men from Porton Down, the UK's top chemical and biological research facility, were sent to burn large sections of the heather. That evening, villagers watched thick plumes of smoke rise from the island, unaware of what had been unleashed.
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Anthrax, a deadly bacterial disease, especially when inhaled, can be fatal even with medical treatment. Yet for 24 years after the tests, no signage on the island even mentioned the word.
It wasn't until the 1980s that public pressure mounted to clean up the site. In 1981, a group of environmental activists calling themselves Dark Harvest launched a bold campaign to force the government to act.
The island remained a biological hazard until 1986, when a decontamination team, all vaccinated against anthrax and dressed in protective gear, finally began efforts to cleanse the land. The clean-up took four years, and on 24 April 1990, Gruinard Island was officially declared free of anthrax.
In 2022, Gruinard Island made headlines once again when a dramatic blaze engulfed the uninhabited land, sending plumes of smoke into the night sky.
