Air Force And The Atomic Bomb (1960)

give the the of men in World War II the large scale Relentless bombing  operations of American Air Forces gave the world convincing proof of the destructive power of  our aircraft but even while we were showering Devastation upon the enemy our huge bomber fleets  were on their way to becoming obsolete in 1944 a year before the war ended a new and mighty  weapon was in the most crucial phase of its development a year later in 1945 this weapon  the atomic bomb became a reality a great new Force had come in into being one that brought  World War II to an abrupt halt one that was destined to change the whole character of warfare  in the future much remained to be learned however about this newest and most deadly of weapons  so a long and elaborate series of tests was planned and undertaken by the armed services  of the United States in close cooperation first with Manhattan district and later after  1947 with the atomic energy Commission in 194 bikini atol in the Marshall Islands was the  scene of the first of these tests this was Operation Crossroads these islands in the Pacific  bikini quadulan and anoo were chosen because no populated areas would be put in danger and  because there was an ideal place in which to assemble the 93 Naval vessels that were to  form the target when we arrived at the islands we saw signs of the heavy fighting that took  place here little Japanese cemeteries reminded us of those terrific battles coming into an  talk island in the weeks preceding the bomb drop were many c-54s bringing men supplies and  Technical equipment operation Crossroads was to be a scientific experiment on a vast scale both  in the quantities of material and the number of personnel many thousands of of us from all the  armed services and civilian experts were needed at the islands for the tests our air arm had the  responsibility not only for Logistics but also for Furnishing man and aircraft for the bomb  drop for Gathering weather data aot for air rescue for air photography of every phase of the  operation and who are operating Cloud sampling drones quadine was the base for our Crossroads  b29 we needed them in many ways every one of them had an important assignment and all were  going to be aoft at H hour on able day another chapter in the long and honorable history of  the b29 it was another b29 The Outlaw that brought General Curtis lame to the islands  he was then Deputy Chief of air staff for research and development General L is greeted  by Brigadier General Roger Ry commander of the Army Air Forces task group under Major General  William E Kepner Deputy Commander for Aviation for the whole operation major woodro P wanut  aircraft commander of Dave's dream the b29 that is going to drop the test bomb holds  a final inspection of his crew just before takeoff Dave's dream takes off on an historic  mission to drop the first atomic bomb directed against Naval vessels aboard USS M McKinley 14  mil from the target area vice admiral William Blandy in charge of the entire operation as  commander of Task Force 1 and his staff are waiting for H hour the big moment when the bomb  will fall Dave's dream aoft and ready major Swan cut is at the control all set as his men are  for the bomb run when he gets the word major Harald e wood the bombarder ready to bring to a  climax many months of preparation by a great many people with Dave's dream Airborne it's time  for the B17 drones to take off they will be sent through the cloud Mass after  the detonation to pick up samples for radioactivity tests at first the drones are  under control from the ground soon the mother ships will take over operation Crossroads  combined all the features of a full scale military operation and the conditions  of a laboratory experiment of imposing proportions The Ground Control pilot  now turns the drones over to the mother aircraft and there she is more of the  B7 drones are moved toward the target area the beer pilot in the nose  of the mother aircraft can see on his TV scope right into the cockpit of the Drone when he moves the control stick in  the mother ship the controls in the Drone respond two c-54s and 8 p29s are aoft as photographic planes the big  blast is going to be well recorded converging on the target which can  consists of battleships Cruisers carriers destroyers submarines merchantmen and  landing craft nearly time now for the bomb drop on Naval craft miles away  a wise precaution H hour is here this is the first controlled and fully  observed test of an atomic weapon dropped on a military Target the bombs dropped on  Japan had hled a war but we still lacked scientific information on blast pressure heat  light and radioactivity about 8 minutes after the detonation of the abl day bomb the b7s  begin their run through the dangerous mushroom flow this is the sort of testing Possible only  under controlled conditions and after elaborate preparations the drones are a complete success  after their runs through the atomic Cloud they return to base controlled by mother planes from  a distance up to 8 Miles although the bomb drop was not a bullseye five ships were sunk one  of them a cruiser and there was Heavy damage to many others we had plenty of evidence that an  a bomb could effectively attack Naval formations able day was to be followed by Baker day when  a submarine blast sank up ships of the target Fleet operation Crossroads proved again  that nuclear weapons had vitally changed the character of warfare the B17 drones  return still under control of the mother aircraft The Ground Control pilot takes over The Landings couldn't be better  even if Pilots were aboard the aircraft the radiological crew Gally takes  over the task of removing the contamination filters these samples will reveal the  exact gamma ray and neutron measurements within the atomic Cloud the filters are  placed in lead shipping containers to be sent Stateside to Los Alamos and other  scientific Laboratories for analysis and study any aircraft that had been  in or near an atomic Cloud will carry away some contamination a washing  Dawn method was developed which makes the cloud sampling aircraft safe  and ready for service within 24 hours work went forward to convert  these Barren Islands into a fully equipped military installation Barracks  mes Halls observation posts runways Chapel Recreation facilities and maintenance shops  because before long there were to be other abomb tests here operation sandstone  in 1948 and operation Greenhouse in 1951 also from 1951 on for those of us who  worked on the new a bomb testing range in Nevada another important program was in  progress we decided to find out what the effect of atomic bombs on Grounded aircraft  would be so a number of airplanes some of them obsolete others of the latest types  were set up in the Target area at various angles to the blast Point test buildings  were targets too some of them of sturdy construction aboard a c-54 a group of flight  surgeon volunteers are about to test their visual reaction to the actual flare of an  atomic blast because it is important to learn the effect of terrifically brilliant  Atomic light on the eyes of of aircraft Crews examination proved that none of the  flight surgeons suffered any permanent eye damage test by test we and the Air Force increased  our knowledge of the new and fearsome weapon and even while these tests continued with  improved and more powerful a bombs a new development of vast importance was in  progress in January 1950 it was revealed that President Truman had directed the  atomic energy commission to continue its work on a weapon of even more overwhelming  destructive force the thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb thus it happened that after years of  intensified effort by our scientists the most terrible of all the weapons that man  has ever built the hbomb was detonated at Anto let us hope that the time never comes when  we must use it but if that time does come the men the machines and the knowhow will all be  a part of the Readiness of the United States Air Force