We got a million of em'
U.S. considered using bats to bomb Tokyo, files show
William Hollingworth
Wednesday, December 4, 2002 at 09:29 JST
LONDON U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt was so frustrated with the U.S.
military's early inability to bomb the Japanese mainland in World War II
that he looked into using bats to do the job, according to newly
unclassified diaries of a senior British intelligence officer.
The U.S. government, which was hampered by distance in its attempt to bomb
Japan in the early stages of the war, reportedly examined a scheme to
release bats strapped with explosives close to Japan in order to cause
damage to Tokyo.
The scheme was detailed in the World War II diaries of Guy Liddell, head of
counter-espionage in the British domestic intelligence service MI5. The
diaries were released last week.
According to Liddell, Roosevelt suggested that the Office of Strategic
Service (OSS), the forerunner of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, look
into acquiring large quantities of bats from Mexico and strapping small
incendiaries to their feet and wings. The creatures would be released close
to Tokyo so that they could cause as much damage as possible.
The diaries did not say how the scheme would operate in practice.
Liddell said although officials were not quite sure whether Roosevelt's
suggestion was tongue in cheek, they explored the plan and consulted
experts on the most suitable type of bats for the job.
The plan apparently never got off the drawing board but officials and
Roosevelt did mull it over on a number of occasions following the initial
suggestion, according to Liddell's diaries.
In one of his diary entries for December 1943, which has been seen by Kyodo
News, Liddell recounts a conversation he had with a London-based OSS
official, who had been asked by the head of the OSS, Bill Donovan, to
examine the bats scheme.
Liddell wrote, "The suggestion put forward by the president was that OSS
should collect large quantities of bats known to exist in certain caves in
Mexico. These bats should be put into crates and shipped to Seattle. They
were to be taken from there to some point within flying distance of Tokyo
where they would be put on board aeroplanes. Attached to the feet and wings
of the bats were to be small incendiaries. The bats were to be released
from the aeroplanes near Tokyo, the idea being that they would fly down the
chimneys and that Tokyo would go up in flames."
John Crossland, a World War II historian who has examined the Liddell
diaries, said the plan to use bats was probably "tongue in cheek," but it
reflected the frustration among U.S. military planners.
"Americans were not in bombing range of Japan's home islands and that's why
I could imagine such a scheme being suggested," Crossland said.
He added that it was only after the U.S. military captured Saipan in 1943
and built a runway on the island that it could unleash B-29 bombers on Japan.
"There were all sorts of crazy plans considered during the war. They were
so frustrated and chewing over various ideas. Maybe they had had one
Screwdriver (cocktail) too many when considering this," Crossland said.
(Kyodo News)
Japan Today Discussion
Post Your Opinion!
U.S. considered using bats to bomb Tokyo, files show
BlackKnight (Dec 4 2002 - 12:18)
Sounds about as half baked an idea as building rice paper balloons, filling
them with hydrogen, putting incendiary bombs on them and letting them glide
all the way across the Pacific to the west coast of the United States.
http://japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=241288
Bats over Tokyo. Sometimes a moron looks better for a president.Now
Rats...now your talkin'
