I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas... I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes... It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gases: gases can be used which cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected.
Winston Churchill's statement as President of the Air Council in War Office Departmental Minute (the original document is in the collection of Churchill Papers 16/16 at the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge), May 12, 1919.
