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The Effects of the Atomic Bomb At Hiroshima And Nagasaki: Report Of The British Mission To Japan
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The British Mission, who had previously been concerned with the assessment of air-raid damage in Great Britain, and subsequently continental Europe, spent the month of November 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This, their report of that visit was published in consideration "that a full understanding of the consequences of the new form of attack may assist the United Nations Organisation in its task of securing the control of atomic energy for the common good and in abolishing the use of weapons of mass destruction.” (pg.iii, Forward)
Contents:
Introduction, The Two Cities Before Attack, The Two Cities After Attack, The Action of the Atomic Bomb, Blast Effects, Heat Effects, Radio-Active Effects, Casulties, Conclusions, Important Effects (in diagrammatic form).
24 b/w photographs.
The British Mission, who had previously been concerned with the assessment of air-raid damage in Great Britain, and subsequently continental Europe, spent the month of November 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This, their report of that visit was published in consideration "that a full understanding of the consequences of the new form of attack may assist the United Nations Organisation in its task of securing the control of atomic energy for the common good and in abolishing the use of weapons of mass destruction.” (pg.iii, Forward)
Contents:
Introduction, The Two Cities Before Attack, The Two Cities After Attack, The Action of the Atomic Bomb, Blast Effects, Heat Effects, Radio-Active Effects, Casulties, Conclusions, Important Effects (in diagrammatic form).
24 b/w photographs.
27 pages, Unbound
First published January 1, 1946
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January 27, 2015
This 1946 report, “The Effects Of The Atomic Bombs … “ is the first of two publications I unsuccessfully searched my bookshelves for when reading Dr Hachiya’s “Hiroshima Diary” [ http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16... ]. Alas, I do not own a house of sufficient size to designate and devote an entire (large) room lined-out with bookcases to serve the essential function of a Library! So, alas, books and documents do get misplaced and mislaid.
This Report is 94 paragraphs in length, together with 24 b/w photographs (10 of Hiroshima, 14 of Nagasaki) of damage caused by the atomic bombs dropped on those two cities in 1945. Page 21 contains a diagram of “The More Important Effects Of Atomic Bombs on People And Their Homes.”
Therein lies the key to this document. The British Mission (comprising members from the Home Office, The Government of India, the Admiralty, The War Office, the Air Ministry, and the Ministry of Aircraft Production) dispassionately and minutely recorded their observations and evaluation of the physical evidence of the aftermath of the deployment of those bombs. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki they saw with their own eyes how the way the Japanese had lived, and how the nature of the physical infrastructure had contributed to the death toll.
An important purpose of that British Mission was to answer questions of civil defence and remediation in Britain; and based on population density in British cities, the number of civilians likely to be rendered homeless by a similar action. Emotive text does creep into the final paragraph (94): “The overall picture, then, is sombre. … With them must be kept in mind the grave problem of fire, … overshadowed by the scale of casualties produced by the bomb, which make the mere disposal of the dead a major problem. …”. Para. 84 gives that official figures published by the Occupying Authority were 78,150 killed (plus 13,983 still missing) in Hiroshima (the Introduction rounds this up to 80,000 in an area of 4 sq. miles). For Nagasaki, the estimate given in the Introduction is 40,000 in an area of 1½ sq. miles; before chillingly stating "It was clear that bombing had changed the character and its scale beyond recognition.” Para. 84 gives an eye-opening comparison to the number killed in London by air attack, during the entire War: 30,000; together with the corresponding number killed throughout the length & breadth of Great Britain (including London): 60,000.
Documents such as this report are either freely available to be consulted in university libraries, or for a nominal charge by loan request to your public library. There much to benefit from in broadening one’s horizons by applying for a reader’s card at your local university (especially if it's a good one). Like mine, that service may come free: it’s only borrowing that costs!
A pdf e-copy of this particular report can be found (at the time of writing) freely available, with no irritating commercial adverts, via http://nla.gov.au/nla.gen-vn4967391 at http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/doview/nla...
This Report is 94 paragraphs in length, together with 24 b/w photographs (10 of Hiroshima, 14 of Nagasaki) of damage caused by the atomic bombs dropped on those two cities in 1945. Page 21 contains a diagram of “The More Important Effects Of Atomic Bombs on People And Their Homes.”
Therein lies the key to this document. The British Mission (comprising members from the Home Office, The Government of India, the Admiralty, The War Office, the Air Ministry, and the Ministry of Aircraft Production) dispassionately and minutely recorded their observations and evaluation of the physical evidence of the aftermath of the deployment of those bombs. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki they saw with their own eyes how the way the Japanese had lived, and how the nature of the physical infrastructure had contributed to the death toll.
An important purpose of that British Mission was to answer questions of civil defence and remediation in Britain; and based on population density in British cities, the number of civilians likely to be rendered homeless by a similar action. Emotive text does creep into the final paragraph (94): “The overall picture, then, is sombre. … With them must be kept in mind the grave problem of fire, … overshadowed by the scale of casualties produced by the bomb, which make the mere disposal of the dead a major problem. …”. Para. 84 gives that official figures published by the Occupying Authority were 78,150 killed (plus 13,983 still missing) in Hiroshima (the Introduction rounds this up to 80,000 in an area of 4 sq. miles). For Nagasaki, the estimate given in the Introduction is 40,000 in an area of 1½ sq. miles; before chillingly stating "It was clear that bombing had changed the character and its scale beyond recognition.” Para. 84 gives an eye-opening comparison to the number killed in London by air attack, during the entire War: 30,000; together with the corresponding number killed throughout the length & breadth of Great Britain (including London): 60,000.
Documents such as this report are either freely available to be consulted in university libraries, or for a nominal charge by loan request to your public library. There much to benefit from in broadening one’s horizons by applying for a reader’s card at your local university (especially if it's a good one). Like mine, that service may come free: it’s only borrowing that costs!
A pdf e-copy of this particular report can be found (at the time of writing) freely available, with no irritating commercial adverts, via http://nla.gov.au/nla.gen-vn4967391 at http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/doview/nla...
Displaying 1 of 1 review