Deterrence and Restraint
In his book, Reflections on Intelligence, R.V.Jones recounts that in February 1944 Lord Cherwell told Churchill that six Lancasters carrying anthrax bombs could kill everyone in a square mile . As Jones puts it, ‘hardly less devastating than an atomic bomb’. He goes on to say that half a million anthrax bombs were ordered to be made in America. These to be held in reserve in case Germany came up with something similar.
Jones also mentions his response to a question from Churchill regarding why Hitler never deployed his, ‘Weapons of Despair’, the nerve weapons that Germany had developed. He claims the reason was revealed in a decrypted communication with the Japanese indicating that Germany believed Britain had developed nerve weapons of its own.
The question being why, with Bomber Command fully engaged, on an almost nightly basis in pounding Germany as hard as possible, they resorted to less than the most powerful weapons available? Of course, what Jones doesn’t touch on is what the USA might have ruled on the subject, and if they, rather than Churchill and his cabinet, set the limits.
However, that does still leave the question, why, at the end, with the Red Army banging on the door, did Hitler feel restrained?