Operation Vegetarian

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Operation Vegetarian was an unused British biowarfare military operation plan developed from 1942 to 1944 during World War II. The plan consisted of disseminating linseed press cakes infected with anthrax spores into the countryside of Nazi Germany. These cakes would have been eaten by the cattle, which would then be consumed by the human population, leading to widespread death and disruption. Furthermore, it would have wiped out the majority of Germany's cattle, creating a massive food shortage for the rest of the population that remained uninfected. Preparations were not complete until early 1944, when the plan was abandoned due to Operation Overlord; the linseed cakes were destroyed by incineration in 1945. Efforts to research the feasibility of Operation Vegetarian began in 1942 with the director of the Porton Down biology department, Paul Fildes. He was ordered to find appropriate suppliers of the chemicals needed for production of both the anthrax and the cakes themselves, along with the specialized containers to carry them to prevent contamination during transport. This also meant that some RAF planes had to be modified in order to drop the non-munitions payloads without destroying them in the process. The linseed cake production was outsourced to the Olympia Oil and Cake Company based in Blackburn Meadows in order to produce large batches of full cakes. The slicing of the cakes into the appropriate sizes was given to a soap manufacturer business named J & E Atkinson.