Contrary to popular belief, the British RAF did not drop chemical weapons on Iraqi Kurds in the 1920s, according to US historian Ray Douglas of Colgate University, New York.
While Winston Churchill, then war secretary, urged the use of the weapons on rebel Kurds, the nearest supply was in Egypt.
An official at the air ministry wrongly wrote in 1921 that tear gas shells were used in Iraq to “excellent moral effect”; however army general HQ in Baghdad said that no shells were used either by artillery or by plane.
Topics: Iraq