Posted on 07/01/2015 4:51:10 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
9000 balloon bombs sent and 1,000 landed here.
http://defensetech.org/2004/06/17/world-war-iis-paper-bomb-attack/
Note the captions. photo in flight so that tells the japs we know about them. Landed in Canada, tells them it didn’t work.
From this site:
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1492
1,000 estimated landing, 285 documented.
Started nov 3,1944, ended April 1945. We probably knew thy had stopped so was safe to release some info.
Two days after the nov 3 launch, out planes spotted them off the coast so it was not a surprise.
Evidently, we shot a few down.
Here it says we blew up their hydrogen production which put a stop to it.
The Japanese government withdrew funding for the program around the same time that Allied forces blew up Japanese hydrogen plants, making the commodity needed to fill the balloons scarcer than ever. Plus it was unclear whether the weapons were working; security was so good on the U.S. side that news of the balloon bombs’ arrival never got back to Japan.
MARSHALLS WANT U.S. PROTECTORATE
One petition.............said:
When this World War is over we request as it is written below:
1) We ask the United States of America to look over us.
2) And it should also keep our customs
3) We want the United States as long as we live on the world.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/26551.htm
I do not understand the Churchill cartoon associating him with socialism. Any insight?
Along with a reminder to zig-zag
Forensic geology played a part in determining where the balloon bombs were being launched.
“When the balloons made landfall, there were no obvious clues as to where they originated. But forensic geology, then in its infancy, was able to pinpoint Japan as the point of launch. When Col. Sigmund Poole, head of the U.S. Geological Survey military geology unit at the time, was given sand from one of the balloon’s ballast bags, he is alleged to have asked, “Where’d the damn sand come from?”
His team of geologists knew it wasn’t a type of sand found in North America or Hawaii. “Japan was a logical guess,” said Tewksbury. The sand was unique enough to narrow the source down to two areas on the island of Honshu. “Most likely it had been coming from a small chunk of beach east of Tokyo,” he added.”
I recall a 1996 New Yorker Magazine article which goes into more detail about the forensic geology used in determining the exact location. It’s here behind a pay wall: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/01/29/the-gravel-page-the-gravel-pageballoons-of-wardeath-of-an-agent
US reply: No problem so long as you let us blow up and irradiate some of your islands.
My wife's aunt's brother was aboard Tullibee and she asked me to get her some information about the boat a few years ago.
My take is the cartoonist is saying the socialists want to smear Churchill by saying he is a different - and more sinister - man than the war leader known by British voters. The smear campaign is a socialist dirty trick, so the tool box.
Attlee and Labor were attacking Churchill's relationship with Lord Beaverbrook, an Anglo-Canadian businessman and confidante of Churchill. He was quite conservative and rather unpopular due to a reputation for sharp elbows when he was in the government. So, I take it the point of removing the mask only to see the same face is to show that Churchill is not a mouthpiece for Beaverbrook. The cartoonist, Butterworth, often took on the Labour government after the war.
The second cartoon is a little harder for this American to figure out, but it seems to be saying Britain would do just fine at the upcoming Potsdam conference of the Big Three because the Americans and Russians would still respect Britain in light of Churchill's stature and reputation during the War. In fact Churchill was opening the conference with Attlee as an observer because the election results would not be known until after the conference convened.
Everyone expected the electorate would return the Tories to power because of Churchill's immense reputation, even most senior Labour politicians. Attlee himself wanted to keep the coalition government to VJ Day but his hand was forced by the party apparatus and trade unions.
It's easy with 20-20 hindsight to see what happened. The electorate was focusing on peace, not war. During the war the Beveridge Report was issued that called for the establishment of a welfare state and Labour promised full implementation. The fact was the Tories had not done a very good job on domestic policy in the 1930's and were still blamed for Chamberlain botching the job of handling Hitler. So, a country where Churchill was extremely popular as a war leader tapped Labour to lead the peace.
It should also be noted that the Tories have been in power since 1931, the Parliament disssolved in 1945 was elected in 1935. After 14 years in office most Governments are going to get tossed.
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