TEETH IN WARFARE

Recently declassified documents show that during World War II the British Government considered using human teeth as ammunition.

As the UK came under sustained attack in 1941 Prime Minister Churchill saw the urgent need to explore new designs and technologies. Anthony Eden, then Secretary for War, brought Churchill his department's plans to requisition teeth from the populace as part of the war effort. The War Office proposed that when people registered to sleep in bomb shelters, as well as giving their details and showing identification, they would then have to line up at a separate desk to be punched hard in the mouth. The resulting windfall would have been rushed to the front line. Posters were printed and distributed, ready for the campaign.

   

 

Churchill ordered that tests be carried out immediately. The results were disappointing, and the scheme was never implemented.

 

The damning top secret report that spelt the end for Eden's brainchild

 

Eden never forgave Churchill for not proceeding with his idea, while Churchill never forgave Eden for suggesting it in the first place, referring to him ever after in private as "the tooth fairy".

 

       
    A tooth (not to scale)        Anthony Eden (not to scale)


WHY? ... will the Ministry of Defence not respond to any correspondence about this experiment?