July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Show airing on history channel (7/12/04)
Editor's Mailbag
By To the editor:-
Last December a book was released that outlined one of World War II’s most remarkable events. It was titled, “The Last Mission.” Later the History Channel had a program about the subject. It is to be broadcast again tonight, again on the History Channel. It is very detailed, so if you saw it once, it is worth seeing again.
It is about a raid that the 315th Bomb Wing based on Guam did on Aug. 14, 1945. It was the last attack on Japan and it happened one week after the last atom bomb was dropped. This group’s project was to destroy the Japanese petroleum industry. Japan does not have coal or oil, which was the real issue of World War II. There was a refinery about 400 miles northwest of Tokyo that was targeted. The 315 wing was selected because of a special piece of equipment that they had replacing the Norden bomb aiming device.
Using the Norden bomb aiming device in Europe caused up to 5 percent of bombs to land in the selected target. The equipment used by the 315 wing caused 90 percent of their bombs to fall into the selected target — a 20-fold increase in accuracy. This equipment is the grandparent of the “smart bombs” of today.
This raid was ordered for Aug. 14, 1945 — six days after the apparent end of the war. It was the longest combat mission ever flown up to that date — more than 3,800 miles — and the loads prescribed taxed the aircraft to the absolute limit of capacity. The air crews were just short of rebelling about such a dangerous trip when the issue was already settled, nonetheless, the order stood.
Take-off was scheduled at 4 p.m. and all was ready when a communication officer came to the area (there was radio silence at the time) saying the raid was delayed and no one was to leave the area until further orders. About one hour later he returned and said the raid was on and to go immediately.
Jim Smith, the book’s author, was a radio operator on one of the planes involved. He spent years studying why the raid was ordered and also documenting the remarkable results that occurred accidentally that night — these results prevented the invasion of Japan.
The documentary reveals it all. Smith’s airplane completed the trip. When they landed 18 hours later on Guam, their plane ran out of fuel while still on the runway. They missed landing in the ocean by mere seconds. All this was revealed only months ago. It may end up in a movie.
Sincerely,
Dr. Eugene Gillum
Portland
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It is about a raid that the 315th Bomb Wing based on Guam did on Aug. 14, 1945. It was the last attack on Japan and it happened one week after the last atom bomb was dropped. This group’s project was to destroy the Japanese petroleum industry. Japan does not have coal or oil, which was the real issue of World War II. There was a refinery about 400 miles northwest of Tokyo that was targeted. The 315 wing was selected because of a special piece of equipment that they had replacing the Norden bomb aiming device.
Using the Norden bomb aiming device in Europe caused up to 5 percent of bombs to land in the selected target. The equipment used by the 315 wing caused 90 percent of their bombs to fall into the selected target — a 20-fold increase in accuracy. This equipment is the grandparent of the “smart bombs” of today.
This raid was ordered for Aug. 14, 1945 — six days after the apparent end of the war. It was the longest combat mission ever flown up to that date — more than 3,800 miles — and the loads prescribed taxed the aircraft to the absolute limit of capacity. The air crews were just short of rebelling about such a dangerous trip when the issue was already settled, nonetheless, the order stood.
Take-off was scheduled at 4 p.m. and all was ready when a communication officer came to the area (there was radio silence at the time) saying the raid was delayed and no one was to leave the area until further orders. About one hour later he returned and said the raid was on and to go immediately.
Jim Smith, the book’s author, was a radio operator on one of the planes involved. He spent years studying why the raid was ordered and also documenting the remarkable results that occurred accidentally that night — these results prevented the invasion of Japan.
The documentary reveals it all. Smith’s airplane completed the trip. When they landed 18 hours later on Guam, their plane ran out of fuel while still on the runway. They missed landing in the ocean by mere seconds. All this was revealed only months ago. It may end up in a movie.
Sincerely,
Dr. Eugene Gillum
Portland
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