Was Tabun gas or GA ever used during ww2. I heard the Germans planned on deploying it in the Ruhr pocket.
Nope, it was never used. And when Hitler was informed that the "secret" of tabun was far from a secret (it and sarin had been patented internationally) since the mid-thirties. Eventually the Nazi' IG Farben had about 17,000 tons of this nerve agent stockpiled, and DuPont had about 12,000 tons in America's reserve. The terms of the Geneva Convention on poison agents stated that if one nation uses any "first" all the others are free to use it against that nation if possible. The Nazis knew full well that the western allies had the capability to retaliate in kind, so they held their's as well. Here is a post of mine from earlier: Speer, who was strongly opposed to the introduction of tabun, flew Otto Ambros, I.G.'s authority on poison gas as well as synthetic rubber, to the meeting. Hitler asked Ambros, "What is the other side doing about poison gas?" Ambros explained that the enemy, because of its greater access to ethylene, probably had a greater capacity to produce mustard gas than Germany did. Hitler interrupted to explain that he was not referring to traditional poison gases: "I understand that the countries with petroleum are in a position to make more [mustard gas], but Germany has a special gas, tabun. In this we have a monopoly in Germany." He specifically wanted to know whether the enemy had access to such a gas and what it was doing in this area. To Hitler's disappointment Ambros replied, "I have justified reasons to assume that tabun, too, is known abroad. I know that tabun was publicized as early as 1902, that Sarin was patented and that these substances appeared in patents. (...) Ambros was informing Hitler of an extraordinary fact about one of Germany's most secret weapons. The essential nature of tabun and sarin had already been disclosed in the technical journals as far back as 1902 and I.G. had patented both products in 1937 and 1938. Ambros then warned Hitler that if Germany used tabun, it must face the possibility that the Allies could produce this gas in much larger quantities. Upon receiving this discouraging report, Hitler abruptly left the meeting. The nerve gases would not be used, for the time being at least, although they would continue to be produced and tested." (Joseph Borkin; The Crime and Punishment of IG Farben) From "Wiki…" (I know, bad source): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_agent#During_World_War_II But since it quotes the book, figured it was worth the adding.
