Bomb Fragment Bomb fragment from the attack on the Italian port of Bari on 2 December 1943. Small piece of yellow substance adhering to underside. One of the American ships hit in the Bari raid was carrying a secret cargo of mustard gas shells. As a result of the attack many military personnel and civilians suffered from the effects of gas exposure, caused by the explosion of the mustard gas shells. Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Francis Alexander was dispatched to Bari and after conducting a series of tests discovered that the chemicals in the mustard gas killed white blood cells, prompting Alexander to wonder if chemicals would be useful in killing cancer cells. Based on his work, two Yale pharmacologists were hired by the military to study the use of mustard gas chemicals and developed the first chemotherapy drug, mechlorethamine to treat lymphoma. This fragment was picked up by Dublin born Dermot 'Derry' Clarke, a member of the merchant navy who was stationed in the harbour in December 1943. For more information see https://heritage.rcpi.ie/Whats-On/Blog/a-world-war-ii-bomb-which-led-to-the-birth-of-chemotherapy 1943