The war in the Pacific, for the U.S., had been going on since the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor in late 1941, and longer than that for the British and French. Many great sea battles had been fought. Many losses had been endured by the Allied forces. The struggle had been painstakingly slow, fighting from island to island.
In the spring of 1945, the home islands of Japan herself remained to be taken to end the war. The invasion of Japan was planned for the spring of 1946. The planning of "Operation Downfall" (the actual invasion of the home islands of Japan) had been going on for some time. The early casualty estimates for the invasion were set at 130,000 to 220,000, of which the American death total was expected to be 25,000 to 46,000. However, after the battle for Okinawa, the U.S. realized the Japanese intended to fight to the death for the home islands, and the casualty figures were revised drastically.
2.3 million Japanese Soldiers were being set in place to defend the Japanese homeland. There were another 4 million Army and Navy employees which would be militarized. Finally, there were 28 million Japanese civilian militia, both men and women, who were preparing to die for their country. No surrender was contemplated.
The new casualty estimates for the invasion jumped to a more realistic 1.4 million to 4 million for the Allied invaders, up to 800,000 dead. As many as 20,000,000 Japanese casualties were predicted by the Imperial Japanese General staff, due to the entire population intending to fight to the death for their emperor. The allies put Japanese casualties at 5 to 10 million. Nobody really knew, of course. It was scary. Preposterous unfathomable numbers.
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July 16, 1945, 0500.
Scientists and military men huddled in bunkers 10 miles distant from a metal tower with an odd-looking device, referred to only as "the gadget," hanging at the top of the tower.
0500:29: The New Mexico desert suddenly becomes as bright as noonday. Every rock and crevice of the nearby mountains is clearly visible. Even inside the distant bunkers, the heat is like an oven.
The military code name for the test of the device was "Trinity."
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the scientists in the bunker. As the odd mushroom cloud climbs higher and higher, a line from the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, runs through his mind.
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
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And so it came to pass that millions and millions of Japanese lives were spared; there was to be no invasion of the Japanese homeland by a slow and horrendous ground war. The Allied estimate of their own invasion casualties was revised downward from 4 million to zero.
In the end, out of great horror and still unspeakable death, came, for millions and millions, mercy of a sort.
But the genie is still out of the bottle.
Some Japs even now wish they had fought to the death.
ReplyDeleteWhich ones?
DeleteThe site is closed to the public? They're still exploding things there?
ReplyDeleteYou need to get up closer to the signs, Max. I can't read them properly in the second picture.
Still exploding things? :)
DeleteIt's tempting to say the world was changed in that moment of explosion but of course the knowledge was already there. The world had changed some time earlier, imperceptibly.
ReplyDeleteI was watching a programme on TV just the other day which said that nearly all or at least many of the major technological advances came from military developments in the first place. It applies even to nuclear science, not only for power production which is always debatable, but there's also nuclear medicine and all sorts of other applications.
The theory was there. Knowledge not there until the explosion. You're surely right about good things often coming from military applications. I agree. Of course I like nuclear power plants too.
DeleteCome on! You really think they exploded the bomb based on a theoretical view of what might happen? The knowledge was well established, starting way back with Pierre and Marie Curie.
DeleteI do think that. The scientists who did it thought that.
DeleteSo you think the Germans could have had the bomb anytime they wanted,, because they had the "knowledge?" - could have used the bomb on Britain early on in the war but didn't because the thought was too horrible to them? I don't think so, Sheila. As long as the formula is only on paper, it is only theory. It becomes knowledge when it is proven out, in my opinion, as I said. They certainly knew the various parts that had been discovered earlier, but those parts had not been innovated into a bomb product.
And so, even as the countdown for the blast wound down in the desert, even then the scientists didn't KNOW what was about to happen. Would nothing happen? Would there be some sort of explosion? (Theory said "yes.") Or would it ignite the Earth's atmosphere? A few seconds later, they had KNOWLEDGE.
That's just my definition, of course. (Well, the definition of others as well.)
Thinking otherwise would mean they let millions die in the European war when they could have ended it earlier.
What I don't get, truly, is why people deny the logic of USING the bomb on the enemy, even when confronted with the conventional land invasion historical figures of casualties.
Well we could argue semantics all night long, then we could sing "Good Morning" to each other.
DeleteA logical answer doesn't mean it was a good thing, just a less bad option.
They DIDN'T know (and I say that with authority).
DeleteWhen they had the first sustained nuclear chain reaction (in the heart of Chicago, I might add), there were two scientists standing over their makeshift reactor (inthe "suicide booth")with an axe and a bucket of boron water in case it went nuts, which was one of many theoretical possibilities.
When Trinity was blown, estimates went from one extreme (setting the atmosphere on fire) to the other (complete failure). I'm sure the actual bomb was close to someone's estimates but they moved forward with educated guesses and desperation.
Ironically, the ones who have expressed the most remorse about the bomb were probably the scientists who devised it.
And I DO get the logic of using the bomb, even though I get the rationale for not using it.
Our hats will never be completely white again. The bomb is not a military weapon. It is a weapon against civilians. It is a weapon to destroy a people and using it, whatever the justification, put us in the same bucket with the bad guys, in that there was no nothing we wouldn't do.
Not saying it was the wrong thing. I've heard both sides and can see merits in both arguments. Glad I didn't have to choose myself. I would not have dropped it. Or, if I had, I would have provided more of a lag between Hiroshima and Nagasaki to give them a chance to prevent the second.
I am very comfortable with the decision that was made. For not only did it save millions of lives at the end of World War II, it is arguable that it saved millions upon millions of lives in the years to come by forcing a cold war with the communists instead of a very hotly contested one. On the other hand, I can certainly understand the other side of the issue.
ReplyDeleteYou know I am always the contrarian, Jerry, so could you explain the merits of the opponents' argument of NOT using the bomb on Japan? You said (You said you understood the other side of the issue.) I don't mean to put you on the spot but I have never been able to understand the "don't use the bomb" side.
DeleteIt has to do with letting the genie out of the bottle, which you have already touched upon. For not only is an atomic/nuclear bomb capable of slaughtering innocents on a massive scale, it is capable of continuing to do so for years upon years to come on account of radiation contamination of the soil and water. Of course, when one is eyeing the imminent end of their own world, it is quite natural for them to not care all that much about what tomorrow may bring. This can be a terrifying thought to many who cannot imagine being directly involved (albeit merely as possibly being collateral damage) in a conflict where the deployment of a atomic/nuclear bomb could end it much sooner than later.
DeleteThere was also considerable evidence that Japan was already anxious to surrender (the estimates you provided was only one side of the argument). (Several higher up generals certainly believed so and were also against the bomb). Bombing with napalm (which is only different in degree rather than intent) was also very very effective on paper cities and likely would have eliminated much of the "ground" invasion.
DeleteAnd, as I have mentioned, it changed who we were. We had always claimed to be the good guys in our fighting (though actual historical evidence is available that certainly makes that questionable at best), but, by dropping the bomb, we declared war on a populace.
Our hat could never be truly white again.
The position we took was one of practicality, not principle, and, once you've done that, you can't go back.
I would never have existed. The Japanese army planned mass execution of all prisoners of war, should Japan itself be invaded.
ReplyDeleteMy father would never have returned.
I never knew your father was over there. I'm extra glad for the bomb now.
DeleteThere's always the "what if?" isn't there? Last year I read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, about an Olympian who became a WWII navigator who ended up as a Japanese POW. I never knew much about that aspect of the war. It's astounding that any of those prisoners survived their treatment. Very eye-opening.
ReplyDeleteThere a quite a few Bataan March survivors in the town I live in. Well, not so many anymore because they are dying of old age. They have bad stories to tell. I don't know if you have heard of the fall and capture of the Philippines or not. MacArthur went to Australia and left his men behind. They said he was ordered to leave. Dunno. He said he would resign his commission and fight on as a private. I guess he didn't. After sufficient posturing, he went to Australia. Most of the survivors I've met have lifelong disabilities from their treatment. But they at least survived. None complained about the use of the bomb.
DeleteThe younger Japanese generations that followed the Second World War know little about it...that part of their history and the part Japan played has mostly been erased. Like the Holocaust...the horrors should not be forgotten or erased from the history books...in my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that. That the actual truth isn't taught in Japanese schools. I guess they want to put the past behind them. I've heard similar about Germany too. Us too, maybe. Victors get to write history, they say. :)
DeleteI hope your storms are over.
I'm not sure that's entirely true. The treatment of the POWs in Japan was not a "new" thing. Japan has historically looked at anyone who surrendered as less than dirt and devoid of honor, so mistreating them goes way back in history. That's why many would die rather than surrender (seppeku). And that history is fairly well documented. Ancient Japan wasn't any gentler than near modern Japan (haha, not even close). Not saying that makes it fine, just saying that it wasn't some special Inquisition-like thing devised for us.
DeleteNor is it that we bring the transgressions from our own past into light. We glorify it, too. It's the way of historians.
We weren't exactly treating our own Japanese American citizens well in OUR POW camps - and those folks hadn't actually attacked us or anything, just happened to be of the wrong heritage. We've got quite a few windows to be tossing stones.
Just sayin'.
I'd venture to say that your Japanese-American citizens, who were NOT prisoners of war, but internees, were not systematically worked to death, not beaten, nor tortured, nor beheaded, nor nailed to trees, nor trussed with barbed-wire.
DeleteI'd imagine they weren't vivisected, nor did their guards fill their stomachs with water through a hose, and then jump upon them, for fun.
Japan was a militarised nation.
And a nation which would have used that bomb, without any qualms whatsoever.
The Japanese had no remorse whatsoever for their abuse of civilian populations. Nor any care for women and children, look up Nanking, if you think they'd have acted in a nicer way than the allies.
Hiding the truth; hiding history and one's part in it is the easy way out, I believe, Relax Max. I believe those who are ashamed of the part they played in it are more likely to be the ones who write it off...hide it.
DeleteI didn't hide anything, Lee. :)
DeleteNo! No! I wasn't referring to you, RM...not all. I was referring to Japan and Germany.
DeleteSorry for any confusion. :)
And if the atom bomb had not been deployed, America had another secret weapon of mass-destruction to use on the Japanese. Japan's cities were full of tightly packed houses, made largely of wood and paper. They burn easily, and the japanese are very careful about fire.
ReplyDeleteSo cunning war strategists wondered how to get a lot of small fires going, that would overwhelm a fire-fighting force. The answer? The Bat-Bomb!
I kid you not. Bruce Wayne was not involved, nor was Robin the boy-wonder.
"The experiment was dubbed "Project X-Ray." The Mexican free-tailed bat was selected. Though it weighed but one third of an ounce, it could fly fairly well with a one-ounce bomb. In March 1943, authority to proceed with the experiment came from the United States Army Air Force Headquarters. The test was to "Determine the feasibility of using bats to carry small incendiary bombs into enemy targets." Two sizes of incendiary bombs containing napalm were designed. One weighed seventeen grams and would burn four minutes with a ten-inch flame. The other weighed twenty-eight grams and would burn six minutes with a twelve-inch flame. In May 1943, about 3,500 bats were collected and placed in refrigerators to force them to hibernate. On 21 May 1943, five drops with bats outfitted with dummy bombs were made from a B-25 flying at 5,000 feet. The tests were not successful; most of the bats, not fully recovered from hibernation, did not fly and died on impact. By December 1943 the Marine Corps began similar experimentation. Using bats they started 30 fires. Twenty-two went out, but, according to Robert Sherrod's History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II, "four of them would have required the services of professional firefighters."
A “bat bomb” was developed that would allow the bats to emerge from hibernation on the way to the ground. 1040 bats were placed in 26 trays in a five-foot bomb. There were 40 separate containers in each tray that held one hibernating bat each. The bomb was dropped from 5,000 feet and slowed by parachute at 1,000 feet. The bomb then split apart and the trays opened like an accordion, held together by cords. As the bats awoke and flew off, a tiny thread-like wire attached to the tray armed the incendiary device. The timer was set for 30 minutes. During tests on 15 December 1943 the device worked exactly as planned and set fire to a mock Japanese wooden village set up in Utah. The military evaluators stated: “It is concluded that the bat bomb is an effective weapon.” There were plans to utilize the bomb in September 1944 but the program was suddenly cancelled on 16 February 1944. There was no need for bats to set Japan ablaze. The atom bomb was coming online. By that time, the project had cost the American taxpayer approximately $2 million dollars."
I never quite know what to make of these yarns, never know whether to accept them as fact or place them on the shelf next to A.'s kangaroo eater stories. I am almost persuaded this time -- being as how the Mexican short-tailed bat could be captured by the thousands from Carlsbad Caverns, not terribly far from the atomic bomb test site in southern New Mexico; perhaps they were fooling around with the bats at Los Alamos or at the missile range (where things are indeed still exploding daily) while they were waiting for the mad scientists to get their big boom theory/knowledge right. Dunno. You read enough recently declassified journals to where you might possibly have run across some rare truth. Then again, you may simply be overly twitterpated by obscure poetry drifting out of Texas. Hard to say. Maybe I should just leave this to the wonder-realm of Adullamite and Jerry. Weren't you the one who told me of another brilliant scheme by the U.S. Army where they allegedly came up with a fart pill that made the enemy not able to bear to be close to one another? Or body odor water additive or some such. I forget. I think I will accept this one as truth. If only to fend off your righteous indignation and hail of scholarly citations that would surely follow if I were to poo poo it instead.
DeleteYou might want to look into the Japanese plan to drop non-explosive 'bombs' on the continental U.S., containg rats which were hosts to fleas deliberately bred to carry bubonic plague, typhus, and anthrax.
ReplyDeleteTwo submarines carrying three planes whose job it was to drop these rats into cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, surrendered after the nuclear bombs were dropped.
Japan had already targeted the U.S. with an attempt to start widespread forest fires. Balloons, mostly built by Japanese civilians, including large numbers of schoolchildren, were launched from Honshu, and crossed the pacific to the U.S. They had sophisticated altitude control, and timers. Japanese meterologists calculated the time it would take for winds to carry them over america, at which point the timer would deflate the balloon, and start the incendiary device.
Delays in production and deployment, and the best carrying conditions in the jet-stream, led to their not reaching the U.S in the dry season, and thus being mostly ineffective. Only about 300 of the 9000 released have been accounted for. Many fell into the sea, others into lakes and snowfields, barren rocky areas and desert. Those that did ignite in forests or towns failed to create the planned widespread inferno.
The only known casualties were a woman and five children in Oregon who investigated one stuck in a tree, triggering the high-explosive.
They were seen from Alaska to Mexico, and as far east as Michigan.
One did, briefly, take out the powerlines supplying the plutonium plant, and thus delayed the atomic bomb project.
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1968/jan-feb/conley.html
http://entomology.montana.edu/historybug/YersiniaEssays/Shama.htm
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2002214428_sub21.html
They had their eyes on Australia, too; and a couple of times got a little too close for comfort!
DeleteOur Aussie Diggers and the US troops worked together well...and for that, for their efforts, I'm very glad.
My father and his fellow prisoners, quite a lot of them Aussies, were tasked with building an airfield on Singapore Island, from which the Japs planned to launch bombing raids on Australia.
DeleteThe work involved levelling hills, and taking the rock and earth from above grade, to infill mangrove swamps, which were, of course, below grade.
He describe wading, chest-deep in water infested by poisonous snakes, and cutting mangrove roots with blunt axes. Injuries, and snake-bite, killed many. However, one of the benefits was the occasional snake to add to the rice-pot. Snakes and insects were all just protein to starving men.
oops,clarifier, the plan was to drop fleas, not rats. The rats were just there to keep the fleas and their viruses and bacteria alive until deployment.
ReplyDelete