Editing Gruinard Island

{{Short description|Island off the coast of Scotland}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Scottish island
|Image = Gruinard Island.jpg
|coordinates = {{Coord|57|53|24|N|05|28|12|W|display=inline,title|region:GB}}
|location_map = Scotland Ross and Cromarty
|caption = Gruinard Island shown within [[Ross and Cromarty]]
|GridReference = NG945945
|celtic name = Eilean Ghruinneart
|norse name = Grunnfjörðr
|meaning of name = "Shallow firth", from Norse
|area = {{cvt|196|ha|sqmi|frac=32}}
|area rank = 111
|highest elevation = An Eilid, {{convert|106|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
|Population = 0<ref>{{NRS1C}}</ref>
|population rank =
|main settlement = None
|island group = [[Inner Hebrides]]/Islands of Ross and Cromarty
|local authority = [[Highland Council|Highland]]
|references = <ref name=Smith>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 187</ref><ref>{{ Ordnance Survey}}</ref><ref>{{Gaelic Placenames}}</ref>
}}
'''Gruinard Island''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|r|ɪ|n|j|ər|d}} {{respell|GRIN|yərd}};<ref>G.M. Miller, ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' (London: Oxford UP, 1971), p. 65.</ref>
{{langx|gd|'''Eilean Ghruinneard'''}}) is a small, oval-shaped [[Scotland|Scottish]] island approximately {{convert|2|km|mi|frac=4|abbr=off|spell=in}} long by {{convert|1|km|mi|frac=8|spell=in}} wide, located in [[Gruinard Bay]], about halfway between [[Gairloch]] and [[Ullapool]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Reopening Public Facilities After a Biological Attack: A Decision-Making Framework|url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11324&page=196|page=196|year=2005|author=United States National Research Council|author-link=United States National Research Council|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=[[National Academies Press]]|isbn=978-0-309-09661-4|doi=10.17226/11324}}</ref> At its closest point to the mainland, it is about {{convert|1|km|nmi|frac=2|abbr=off|spell=on}} offshore. In 1942, the island became a [[sacrifice zone]],<ref name="newstatesman/ai-odh">{{cite news |last1=Scothorne |first1=Rory |title=The story of anthrax island and Operation Dark Harvest |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/environment/climate/2022/03/the-story-of-anthrax-island-and-operation-dark-harvest |access-date=2 March 2023 |work=[[New Statesman]] |date=22 March 2022}}</ref> and was dangerous for all mammals after military experiments with the [[anthrax]] bacterium, until it was decontaminated in 1990.<ref name="bbc2024">{{cite news |last1=Burke |first1=Myles |title=Britain's mysterious WW2 'island of death' |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240419-britains-mysterious-ww2-island-of-death? |access-date=29 April 2024 |publisher=BBC Culture |date=22 April 2024}}</ref>

==Early history==
The island was mentioned by [[Donald Monro (priest)|Dean Munro]] who travelled the area in the mid-16th century. He wrote that it was [[Clan MacKenzie]] territory, "full of woods" (it is treeless today), and that it was "guid for fostering of thieves and rebellis".<ref>Monro (1549) "Gruynorde" no. 178</ref>

Historically, the counties of [[Ross-shire]] and [[Cromartyshire]] have both laid claim to Gruinard Island due to the position of the island in between [[Gairloch]] and [[Ullapool]]. In the late 1780s, the villages became substantial fishing and sheep farming communities leading Gruinard Island to be utilized as an area of land for grazing sheep or as a small dock for fishing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=DODGSHON |first=ROBERT A. |title=No Stone Unturned: A History of Farming, Landscape and Environment in the Scottish Highlands and Island. |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4744-0075-6 |pages=206}}</ref>  By 1881, the population on the island was six, soon becoming uninhabited with no record detailing any established population.

In 1926, Rosalynd Maitland purchased the Eilean Darach estate which included Gruinard Island. Rosalynd Maitland bequeathed the island to her niece Molly Dunphie, who was friends with [[Winston Churchill]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinclair |first=Iain |title=Gruinard Island |url=https://www.rossandcromartyheritage.org/home/wester-ross-communities/aultbea/aultbea-places/features/gruinard-island/ |website=Ross and Cromarty Heritage |access-date=2 November 2023 |archive-date=2 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102214735/https://www.rossandcromartyheritage.org/home/wester-ross-communities/aultbea/aultbea-places/features/gruinard-island/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Biological warfare testing==
{{main|Operation Vegetarian}}

In 1942, during [[World War II]], a [[biological warfare]] test was carried out on Gruinard by scientists from the Biology Department of [[Porton Down]].<ref name="bbc2024"/><ref name="bbc4">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1457035.stm Britain's 'Anthrax Island'], 25 July 2001 ''news.bbc.co.uk'', accessed 5 March 2020</ref> The test was conducted as part of [[Operation Vegetarian]], an ultimately unused plan which called for the dispersal of [[Flax|linseed]] cakes spiked with [[Anthrax disease|anthrax]] across the German countryside.<ref name="bbc2024"/><ref name="bbc2">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1643031.stm Living with anthrax island], BBC, "In 1942 it became the focus of the UK's secret effort to find a weapon capable of defeating the Nazis.", "'I understand Winston Churchill was very keen on using anthrax,' says local historian Donald McIntyre. 'He didn't see why the devil should have all the best weapons.'" 8 November 2001. BBC, accessed 5 March 2020</ref> It was recognised that tests would cause long-lasting contamination of the immediate area by anthrax spores, so a remote and uninhabited island was required. Gruinard was surveyed, deemed suitable, and requisitioned from its owners by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]].<ref name="asanltr19902">Pearson, Dr. Graham S. (October 1990) [https://web.archive.org/web/20160401034422/http://www.asanltr.com/newsletter/01-5/articles/015c.htm "Gruinard Island Returns to Civil Use "] ''The ASA Newsletter''. Applied Science and Analysis. Inc. Retrieved 12 January 2008.</ref> Porton Down meteorologist [[Oliver Graham Sutton|Sir Oliver Graham Sutton]] was put in charge of a fifty-man team to conduct the trial, with [[David Willis Wilson Henderson]] in charge of the germ bomb. Biology Department head [[Paul Fildes]] made frequent visits.<ref>{{cite book | last=Guillemin | first=Jeanne | title=Biological weapons: from the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism | publisher=Columbia University Press | publication-place=New York | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-231-12943-5 | oclc=61113028 | page=54}}</ref>

The anthrax strain chosen was a highly [[virulent]] type called "[[Vollum strain|Vollum 14578]]", named after Roy Lars Vollum (1899–1970), a professor of bacteriology at the [[University of Oxford]], who supplied it.<ref name="holl">{{Cite report|url=https://www.rrojasdatabank.info/pfpc/geoholland.doc|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819090557/https://www.rrojasdatabank.info/pfpc/geoholland.doc|archive-date=19 August 2021|last=Holland|first=Geoffrey|title=United States exports of biological materials to Iraq: Compromising the credibility of international law|date=June 2005|quote=Anthrax was the weapon of choice and between 1942 and 1943 [Dr Paul Fildes'] team from Porton Down took over the remote Scottish island of Gruinard, where they detonated a series of anthrax-laden bombs, testing their killing efficiency using sheep&nbsp;... Dr Fildes obtained this anthrax from Prof R L Vollum – Professor of Bacteriology at Oxford University}}</ref> Eighty sheep were taken to the island and bombs filled with [[anthrax]] spores were detonated close to where selected groups were tethered. The sheep became infected with anthrax and began to die within days of exposure.<ref name="bbc4"/>

Some of the experiments were recorded on [[16 mm]] colour movie film, which was [[Classified information|declassified]] in 1997.<ref name="bbc2024"/> One sequence shows the detonation of an anthrax bomb fixed at the end of a tall pole supported with [[guy rope]]s. After the bomb explodes, a brownish [[atmospheric particulate matter|aerosol]] cloud drifts away towards the target animals. A later sequence shows anthrax-infected sheep carcasses being burned in incinerators at the end of the experiment.<ref>"X" Base Gruinard Island Trials 1942-43. Imperial War Museum Film and Video Archive. Available at: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mykjxkwwe0]</ref> After the tests were completed, scientists concluded that a large release of anthrax spores would thoroughly pollute German cities, rendering them uninhabitable for decades afterwards.<ref name="bbc4"/> Those conclusions were supported by the inability to decontaminate the island after the experiment—the spores were sufficiently durable to resist any efforts at decontamination.

In 1945, when the island's owner sought its return, the Ministry of Supply recognised that the island was contaminated, and so could not be de-requisitioned until it was deemed safe. In 1946, the government agreed to acquire the island and to take responsibility for it. The owner or their heirs would be able to repurchase the island for £500 when it was declared "fit for habitation by man and beast". For many years, it was judged too hazardous and expensive to decontaminate the island sufficiently to allow public access, and Gruinard Island was [[quarantine]]d indefinitely.<ref name="bbc2024"/> Visits to the island were prohibited, except for periodic checks by Porton Down personnel to determine the level of contamination.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gruinard Island following contamination by anthrax: annual inspections; correspondence |website=The National Archives |author= |date=1956–1970<!--1 June 1956–30 June 1970-->|url= https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11446916}}</ref>

==Operation Dark Harvest==
In 1981 newspapers began receiving messages with the heading "[[Dark Harvest Commando|Operation Dark Harvest]]" which demanded that the government decontaminate the island, and reported that a "team of microbiologists from two universities" had landed on the island with the aid of local people and collected {{convert|300|lb|kg|abbr=off}} of soil.

The group threatened to leave samples of the soil "at appropriate points that will ensure the rapid loss of indifference of the government and the equally rapid education of the general public". The same day a sealed package of soil was left outside the military research facility at [[Porton Down]]; tests revealed that it contained anthrax bacilli.<ref name="bbc2024"/> A few days later another sealed package of soil was left in [[Blackpool]], where the governing [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] was holding its annual conference. The soil did not contain anthrax, but officials said that the soil was similar to that found on the island.<ref name=darkharvest>{{cite magazine|title=Dark Harvest|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922652,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100126165123/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922652,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 January 2010|date=9 November 1981|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=1 February 2008}}</ref>

==Decontamination==
Starting in 1986 a determined effort was made to decontaminate Gruinard Island, 280 tonnes of [[formaldehyde]] solution diluted in sea water was sprayed over all 485 acres (196 hectares) of the island and the worst-contaminated [[topsoil]] around the dispersal site was removed. Run-off from the formaldehyde seeped into the ocean and slowly led to the destruction of intertidal organisms such as barnacles, crustaceans, and seaweed. By 2000, research into intertidal organisms recovery was launched, with researchers from that survey project in 2007 saying that “recolonization is ongoing, rather than complete.”<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Mark P. |last2=Pye |first2=Sankurie |last3=Allcock |first3=Louise |date=2007-12-20 |title=Dispersal mode and assessments of recovery on the shores of Gruinard, the 'anthrax island' |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9307-y |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=721–732 |doi=10.1007/s10531-007-9307-y |issn=0960-3115|hdl=10379/310 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

A flock of sheep was placed on the island not long after the cleanup in 1987 and remained healthy.<ref>{{cite news |date=22 November 1987 |title=Sheep as Guinea Pigs on Gruinard : Contaminated Island to Get All-Clear? |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-11-22-mn-23825-story.html |access-date=9 December 2023}}</ref>

On 24 April 1990, after 48 years of quarantine and four years after the solution was applied, junior defence minister [[Michael Neubert]] visited the island and announced its safety by removing the warning signs.<ref name="bbc/604838492">{{cite news |date=25 February 2022 |title=The mystery of Anthrax Island and the seeds of death |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-60483849 |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="bbc4"/> On 1 May 1990, the island was repurchased by the heirs of the original owner for the original sale price of £500.<ref name="asanltr19902"/> There was some confusion in which members of the public did not know it was being resold solely to its original owners and people from around the world sent letters to the British government asking to purchase the island for £500.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scott |first1=Tom |date=31 May 2021 |title=The Accidental Rush for Anthrax Island |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suAC_PDP3Sk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/suAC_PDP3Sk |archive-date=11 December 2021 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Wildfire ==

On 26 March 2022, the island was burned "from one end to the other" by a [[wildfire]].<ref name="BBC-60892350">{{cite web |title=Gruinard Island: Fire on island used for Anthrax experiments |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-60892350 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=27 March 2022 |date=27 March 2022}}</ref> Eyewitnesses described the scene as "apocalyptic".<ref name="BBC-60892350" /> The cause of the wildfire has not been confirmed but around 200 hectares have been destroyed by the fire. A spokeswoman on behalf of the Gruinard estate did not explicitly state the cause of the fire, only that "It hasn't caused any damage. It has done good."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Campsie |first=Alison |date=29 March 2022 |title="Estate owners say Gruinard fire 'good' for island once contaminated by anthrax" |work=The Scotsman |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/national/estate-owners-say-gruinard-fire-good-for-island-once-contaminated-by-anthrax-3630624 |access-date=2 November 2023 |archive-date=2 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102194146/https://www.scotsman.com/news/national/estate-owners-say-gruinard-fire-good-for-island-once-contaminated-by-anthrax-3630624 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Popular culture references==
Gruinard Island is mentioned in the novels ''The Anthrax Mutation'' by Alan Scott (1971), ''[[The Enemy (Desmond Bagley novel)|The Enemy]]'' by [[Desmond Bagley]] (1977), [[1982, Janine|''1982, Janine'']] by [[Alasdair Gray]] (1984), ''Isvik'' by [[Hammond Innes]] (1991), ''[[Sea of Death]]'' by [[Richard P. Henrick]] (1992), ''[[The Fist of God]]'' by [[Frederick Forsyth]] (1994), ''Quantico'' by [[Greg Bear]] (2005), ''[[The Big Over Easy]]'' by [[Jasper Fforde]] (2005), ''Forbidden Island'' by [[Malcolm Rose]] (2009), ''And then you die'' by [[Iris Johansen]] (1998), ''The Island'' by R. J. Price (better-known as the poet [[Richard Price (poet)|Richard Price]]) (2010), ''[[And the Land Lay Still]]'' by  [[James Robertson (novelist)|James Robertson]], ''[[The Impossible Dead]]'' by [[Ian Rankin]] (2011), ''White Pines'' by [[Gemma Amor]] (2020), and ''Paying the Piper'' by [[Sharon McCrumb]]. It also features as the principal setting for the novel ''El año de gracia'' by [[Cristina Fernández Cubas]], in which the protagonist spends a winter shipwrecked on the island.<ref>Fernández Cubas, Cristina. ''El año de gracia''. Originally published in 1985. Tusquets Editores, {{ISBN|978-8-47223-750-6}}</ref> The island is the principal location in the novel ''Anthrax Island'' by D. L. Marshall (2021).{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In issues 187–188 of the comic book ''[[Hellblazer]]'', in a story titled "Bred in the Bone", the protagonist's niece finds herself on Gruinard surrounded by flesh-eating children. The issues were released in 2003 and were written by [[Mike Carey (British writer)|Mike Carey]] and illustrated by Doug Alexander Gregory.

An episode of the British wartime TV series ''[[Foyle's War]]'' entitled "Bad Blood" involved biological testing – a reference to the Gruinard testing.

The 1970 ''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]'' episode "Three Dead Cows at Makapu, Part 2" featured a scientist played by [[Ed Flanders]] who threatened to unleash a deadly virus on the island of [[Oahu]]. When being interrogated, the scientist briefly mentions Gruinard Island and how it will be uninhabitable for a century due to anthrax experiments.

''[[Outlying Islands (play)|Outlying Islands]]'', a Fringe First-winning play by Scottish dramatist [[David Greig (dramatist)|David Greig]], is a fictionalised account of two British scientists' visit to an island in Scotland where the government plans to test anthrax inspired by the story of Gruinard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theatreweekly.com/atticist-to-bring-outlying-islands-to-kings-head-theatre/|title=Atticist to Bring Outlying Islands to King's Head Theatre|website=theatreweekly.com|date=November 2018|language=en-GB|access-date=22 November 2018}}</ref>

"Smallpox Island", off the north-west coast of Scotland, appears in the ''[[2000 AD (comics)|2000 AD]]'' comic strip ''[[Caballistics, Inc.]]'', although the warnings of contamination from biological weapons are a cover for a top secret, high-security prison.

The 2006 ''[[Doctor Who]]'' audio drama ''[[Night Thoughts (audio drama)|Night Thoughts]]'' is set on the fictional Gravonax Island, the name and history of which are inspired by those of Gruinard.

The 2013 UK TV series ''[[Utopia (UK TV series)|Utopia]]'' describes the fictional outbreak of a new form of flu. During Episode 3, Dugdale visits the proposed origin of the virus at the, now quarantined, [[Fetlar|Island of Fetlar]]. On arrival, personnel at the island, wearing orange overalls, carry one of numerous covered bodies past on a stretcher in a scene that is nearly identical to that seen in the original test footage from Gruinard Island. In the dramatisation however, the personnel at Fetlar are seen wearing dust masks as opposed to the gas masks seen in the Gruinard footage; likely due to budget constraints (much of '''Utopia''' was not filmed where it claims to be).<ref name="sonicbomb.com">[http://www.sonicbomb.com/iv1.php?vid=anthrax_island&id=533&w=400&h=300&ttitle=Anthrax%20Island Anthrax Island (video)] ''www.sonicbomb.com'', accessed 5 March 2020 {{Dead link|date=December 2021|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

The experiments are referred to in the storyline of "[[List of Silent Witness episodes#ep135|Trust]]", the third and fourth episodes of Series 16 of the BBC series ''[[Silent Witness]]''.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pzqcm/episodes/guide | title=BBC One - Silent Witness, Series 16, Trust - Episode guide | access-date=20 August 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927051016/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pzqcm/episodes/guide | archive-date=27 September 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Scottish islands}}
* [[List of islands of Scotland]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{Haswell-Smith}}
* {{Monro}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mykjxkwwe0 Archive colour 16&nbsp;mm footage from 1942, showing the Bioweapons testing on Gruinard island]
* [http://www.julianlewis.net/essays-and-topics/3805:the-plan-that-never-was-churchill-the-anthrax-bomb-1982-02-01 The Plan that Never Was: Churchill and the 'Anthrax Bomb' by Julian Lewis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730154149/http://www.julianlewis.net/essays-and-topics/3805:the-plan-that-never-was-churchill-the-anthrax-bomb-1982-02-01 |date=30 July 2019 }}
*[http://www.hgstump.de/buch/128.jpg Gruinard Island photo]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig1Cz2tdVjY More footage of the testing done on Gruinard Island]
*[http://www.locusplus.org.uk/projects/1448~n/information Art Project based on Gruinard weapons testing]

{{Hebrides (uninhabited)}}
{{Scottish provinces|minor}}

[[Category:Biological warfare facilities]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Highland (council area)]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Scotland]]
[[Category:United Kingdom biological weapons program]]