The Second World War is a big chapter in my father's life story. He joined the War in 1942, relatively late but he'd been working in an important management role for GEC Marconi, producing parts for the
His unit beached in
When he arrived in southern
From Singapore they were shipped out to Hong Kong, which also surrendered just
before they arrived, for a pre-invasion massing of forces. Here they were kept aboard ship in Hong
Kong harbour for most of the time, being allowed only six hours
shore leave in case a rapid departure was required. At this point the Americans
were in Okinawa and the Japanese were fighting
a desperate rearguard action.
In preparation for invasion the Americans were conducting a firebombing campaign that destroyed many Japanese cities; on 26th July 1945 in the Potsdam declaration America, Britain and the Republic of China called for Japan's surrender, threatening an alternative of "prompt and utter destruction". The Japanese government ignored this ultimatum and, whilst my father was on a troop ship heading for Tokyo, the United States then delivered the promised "destruction" when they dropped two nuclear bombs on Japanese cities.
In preparation for invasion the Americans were conducting a firebombing campaign that destroyed many Japanese cities; on 26th July 1945 in the Potsdam declaration America, Britain and the Republic of China called for Japan's surrender, threatening an alternative of "prompt and utter destruction". The Japanese government ignored this ultimatum and, whilst my father was on a troop ship heading for Tokyo, the United States then delivered the promised "destruction" when they dropped two nuclear bombs on Japanese cities.
Atomic bomb mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)
My father arrived in
Before they left for Etajima Island, my father's regiment trooped the colour in front of the
To get an idea of what this must have been like, the regimental goat can be seen in the picture below in front of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, in Tokyo somewhere between 1946 and 1948. The picture shows the white goat from Royal stock which always heads the Battalion on ceremonial parades followed by pioneers carrying picks, shovels and axes to commemorate the period in the Regiment's history when the Pioneers cleared the way into battle.
Hanging from the collars of the tunics of the Fusiliers who are standing to attention in the foreground of the picture, down their backs, are black flashes - a distinctive characteristic to commemorate the fact the the Royal Welch was the last British Regiment to wear 'queue bags' or pigtails (and another feature that my father always commented on: "...special" he would say, "from the days when the Fusiliers were fighting in the American Civil War and missed the general command that all soldiers should remove their pigtails and the flashes. Seven inches for other ranks, nine inches for an officer, it had to hang exactly down the seam in the middle of the uniform shirt..."). (Photograph taken by a New Zealand Army photographer; from the National Library of New Zealand).
Within a day of arriving on the coast, his commanding officer (Appreece-Jones) had suggested that my father should “take a look” at the impact of the bomb on Hiroshima and gather intelligence. It is worth noting that, whilst by now the average soldier knew about the atomic bomb, there was much ignorance surrounding its detonation and after-effects. For instance, there was little awareness of the effects of radiation; remarkably there was also a growing fear that “the world would explode” - apparently there was a widespread belief that an atomic explosion could ignite the oxygen in the atmosphere and turn the world into a fireball.
Permission to enter was gained from the Americans and with a jeep and a couple of men he carried out a reconnaissance mission and then, the day after he returned, close to 2 weeks after the bomb was dropped, he took two jeeps and men to make a fuller assessment of the situation. The Americans had used bulldozers to move the rubble off the roads (apparently these men succumbed very quickly to radiation poisoning and died); but otherwise the site was physically much as it had been in the direct aftermath of the bombing.
He still has 35 mm contact prints taken during the first visit, including shots of the now iconic metal framed dome of the one of the few buildings that remained standing (the
His reflections on his
experience were always mixed. On the one hand there was a job to do; on the other there was shock and horror at the extent of the destruction wreaked by a
single device. Those feelings would always come back strongly every time he retold the story. I gained a sense of the awe they felt on seeing the bombed city; flattened apart from a few stone buildings. He said: “..the Americans had cleared the roads and we were able to drive around the site..", and "...among all the destruction, some stone structures and iron window frames were
all that was left”.
He also had an opinion about the motives of the allies in bombing the site: "...yes, it ended the War, but the site itself was an island” (whilst just inland off the coast, it is indeed bordered by water on two sides of the roughly triangular site) and, on that basis, “...the Americans probably chose it because it was an isolated laboratory that would allow them to test the effects of the bomb”.
Finally he was left with an impression of “incredible devastation”, which he could compare with the Coventry blitz, where “no one was left alive”. Extraordinarily he was in Coventry on the night of the bombing raid that destroyed the cathedral. He himself would often reflect on the circularity of that.
He also had an opinion about the motives of the allies in bombing the site: "...yes, it ended the War, but the site itself was an island” (whilst just inland off the coast, it is indeed bordered by water on two sides of the roughly triangular site) and, on that basis, “...the Americans probably chose it because it was an isolated laboratory that would allow them to test the effects of the bomb”.
Finally he was left with an impression of “incredible devastation”, which he could compare with the Coventry blitz, where “no one was left alive”. Extraordinarily he was in Coventry on the night of the bombing raid that destroyed the cathedral. He himself would often reflect on the circularity of that.
Not long after his visit he said that “the site was closed off”. I imagine that his report lies in a file somewhere that may one day be opened again. When they got back “Doc Thomas” examined all of them and said: “we have to keep an eye on you”. At this time there was very little knowledge about the potential impacts of radiation poisoning but as far as I know he never suffered any adverse physical effects from his experience - and made it to the age of 94.
[1] ."In the moment of its incomparable blast, air became flame, walls turned to dust. 'My God,' breathed the crew of the B-29 at what they saw. Members reported, 'there was a terrific flash of light, even in the daytime ... a couple of sharp slaps against the airplane.' White smoke leaped on a mushroom stem to 20,000 feet where it spilled into a huge, billowy cloud. Then an odd thing happened. The top of this cloud broke off the stem and rose several thousand feet. As it did so, another cloud formed on the stem exactly as the first had done." -- From the article "War's Ending," LIFE, 8/20/1945. The Hiroshima
[2]
"Japanese
doctors said that those who had been killed by the blast itself died instantly.
But presently, according to these doctors, those who had suffered only small
burns found their appetite failing, their hair falling out, their gums
bleeding. They developed temperatures of 104, vomited blood, and died. It was
discovered that they had lost 86 percent of their white blood corpuscles. Last
week the Japanese announced that the count of Hiroshima
[3]
"In the
following waves [after the initial blast] people's bodies were terribly
squeezed, then their internal organs ruptured. Then the blast blew the broken
bodies at 500 to 1,000 miles per hour through the flaming, rubble-filled air.
Practically everybody within a radius of 6,500 feet was killed or seriously
injured and all buildings crushed or disemboweled." -- From the
article "Atom Bomb Effects," LIFE, 3/11/1946. To this day, of course,
historians, politicians, and military men and women the world over argue
whether the American use of atomic weapons in WWII was, in fact, justified.
That the bombs hastened the end of the war is, on the other hand, something
that even the United States Nagasaki , Japan
Dear Lawrence,
ReplyDeleteyou 've done it very very nicely, I like it a lot and think you got something extraordinary too. So many thanks again for our Amsterdamday, hoping to hear from you again.