and other kinds of rapid dividing cells. This discovery was further investigated by pharmacologists, Louis S. Goodman and Alfred Gilman who used a mustard gas related agent, mustine, as the first chemotherapy treatment. In order to try to cover-up the in-theater possession of chemical weapons by the Allies, the deaths were attributed to "burns due to enemy action". Reports were purged or classified but, since there were too many witnesses to keep the secret, in February 1944, the U.S. Chiefs of Staff issued a statement admitting to the accident and emphasizing that the U.S. had no intention of using chemical weapons except in the case of retaliation. U.S. records of the attack were declassified in 1959 and the British government admitted the poison gas release and harm caused to the surviving victims. Details of the attack were given in a 1967 article in the US Navy journal Proceedings, and in a 1976 book by Glenn B. Infield, Disaster at Bari. See also Geneva Protocol Chemical warfare References External links A History Of Chemical Warfare December 17, 1943 The Spokesman-Review account of Bari disaster Liberty ships World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships built in Wilmington, North Carolina Ships sunk by aircraft during the air raid on Bari Maritime incidents in December 1943 1942 ships