Bir Hakeim, Battle of (May 26–June 11, 1942) The only other known use of biological warfare occurred in 1943 in Poland, where the “Armia Krajowa” or Polish Home Army infected German soldiers and some Gestapo agents with typhoid, killing several hundred Otherwise, only the Japanese used biological weapons during the war, although by the end of the war six other countries were conducting research: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States Little is known about the Soviet program The British conducted war work on botulism and anthrax from the 1930s Tests were carried out against sheep and cattle on desolate Gruinard Island, off the coast of Scotland The U.S program began in 1942 It was headquartered at Fort Detrick, Maryland Americans benefited from sharing information with the British from 1941 By 1944 the Western Allies had an anthrax bomb ready for large-scale production and were making progress on other diseases German research was more limited than Western Allied intelligence supposed The Germans had tried to infect North American herds with anthrax during World War I, but most of what is known to intelligence agencies about that project and interwar biological work remains classified It is known that the Wehrmacht did not have offensive biological weapons, but instead concentrated on bio-defense Unaware of this, the Western Allies feared that the V-1 might deliver biological infection and discussed dropping anthrax bombs on Germany They also fed disinformation about their own capabilities into Germany as a means of bio-deterrence of Hitler and the Luftwaffe See also Abyssinian War (1935–1936); nerve agents BIR HAKEIM, BATTLE OF (MAY 26–JUNE 11, 1942) This desert fortress at the extreme left of the British Gazala Line was held by the Free French 1st Brigade while British 8th Army withdrew to what became the El Alamein position General Erwin Rommel attacked in force on May 26, sending the elite Italian Ariete armoured division to lead the assault Italian tanks broke into the stronghold, but were repulsed with heavy losses Axis forces then surrounded Bir Hakeim from June 1–10, but its Free French defenders refused to quit With crucial support from the RAF, the French held out until ordered to withdraw under cover of night on June 10–11, having reached the end of their water and ammunition Of 3,600 men in the garrison, 900 killed and wounded were left behind The rest broke though the Axis encirclement and fought their way back to rejoin the British The hard fight did much to impress the Western Allies that Charles de Gaulle’s men were worthy battlefield comrades Symbolizing this change, the Free French movement restyled itself “France Combattante” or “Fighting France.” See also Gazala, Battle of BIRKE (SEPTEMBER 3–29, 1944) “Birch.” Wehrmacht code name for the evacuation of German forces from Finland to Norway, conducted amidst great confusion Finland asked for a ceasefire with the Soviet Union on September Moscow demanded as a precondition of any armistice that the Finnish Army attack retreating Germans, with whom the Finns were then still allied The Finns were reluctant to attack a withdrawing army that remained extremely dangerous, 160