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W. Earl Hall World War II stories, 1944
Letter #3
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slug-Robomb Hite-4 By W. EARL HALL, Globe-Gazette Managing Editor Letter No. 1 - 3 London (Air Mail)-- No one question is more alive in this town tonight than this one: "Can the Nazis across the channel tell in more than the most general sort of way where the bombs from their doodle bugs are going to land?" While there are some who credit to the buzz bombs a rough accuracy, approximating that of an artillery piece firing a hundred miles or so, the more commonly held belief is that with the "robombs" it's a case of pointing rather than aiming. This latter happens to be my own belief. With a sprawling target like London, the buzz bombs might have a terror value if the people against whom they were turned scared easily. Londoners don't, as I brought out in my last letter. If Herr Hitler was counting on his pilotless bombs to win the war, or to save him from defeat, he leaned on a weak reed. Even if 10 times more effective, they wouldn't do either of those two things. As is almost always the case, the defense against this new weapon has been quick and rather effective. It has involved 3 main items--balloons, ack-ack and fighter planes. How many of the doodle bugs are being launched or how many--exactly how many--are getting through to this metropolitan area each day, I don't know. But I do know that the percentage is extremely low. I feel very sure that Hitler's investment in the terror machines is infinitely greater than the sum total damage caused by them. This belief, I should add, is not wholly academic on my part. I've seen the doodle bugs in flight. I've felt the shock of a hit 3 blocks away and seen the smoke arise from it. While I'm not permitted to say where or when it was, I can tell you that it was the type of building which would have been knocked out by a 2-ton block buster dropped from a high altitude. And what happened in this case? Glass for 2 blocks around was shattered by the vacuum from the blast. Windows in the building itself were broken. But the other damage could be repaired by a dozen masons within a week's time. It wasn't the sort of thing that would win, or even help win, a war for the Germans. Arriving on the scene within 5 minutes, I had the opportunity to see London's wardens, fire watchers and other homefront volunteers in action. It was raining hard but every man was at his station. Experience gained in the ever so much more severe blitz of 1940 has not been forgotten. In these first letters I've written a great deal about bombs. I probably have been guilty of leaving the impression that Londoners are majoring on this subject in their thinking. If I have, I've given a false picture. The truth is that the ever-increasing good news from across the channel has brought a joy and a hope that could come only to a people to whom war has been a bitter, close-at-hand reality for five long years. I for one am willing to concede that they have some jubilation coming. Passed for publication 22 Aug 1944
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slug-Robomb Hite-4 By W. EARL HALL, Globe-Gazette Managing Editor Letter No. 1 - 3 London (Air Mail)-- No one question is more alive in this town tonight than this one: "Can the Nazis across the channel tell in more than the most general sort of way where the bombs from their doodle bugs are going to land?" While there are some who credit to the buzz bombs a rough accuracy, approximating that of an artillery piece firing a hundred miles or so, the more commonly held belief is that with the "robombs" it's a case of pointing rather than aiming. This latter happens to be my own belief. With a sprawling target like London, the buzz bombs might have a terror value if the people against whom they were turned scared easily. Londoners don't, as I brought out in my last letter. If Herr Hitler was counting on his pilotless bombs to win the war, or to save him from defeat, he leaned on a weak reed. Even if 10 times more effective, they wouldn't do either of those two things. As is almost always the case, the defense against this new weapon has been quick and rather effective. It has involved 3 main items--balloons, ack-ack and fighter planes. How many of the doodle bugs are being launched or how many--exactly how many--are getting through to this metropolitan area each day, I don't know. But I do know that the percentage is extremely low. I feel very sure that Hitler's investment in the terror machines is infinitely greater than the sum total damage caused by them. This belief, I should add, is not wholly academic on my part. I've seen the doodle bugs in flight. I've felt the shock of a hit 3 blocks away and seen the smoke arise from it. While I'm not permitted to say where or when it was, I can tell you that it was the type of building which would have been knocked out by a 2-ton block buster dropped from a high altitude. And what happened in this case? Glass for 2 blocks around was shattered by the vacuum from the blast. Windows in the building itself were broken. But the other damage could be repaired by a dozen masons within a week's time. It wasn't the sort of thing that would win, or even help win, a war for the Germans. Arriving on the scene within 5 minutes, I had the opportunity to see London's wardens, fire watchers and other homefront volunteers in action. It was raining hard but every man was at his station. Experience gained in the ever so much more severe blitz of 1940 has not been forgotten. In these first letters I've written a great deal about bombs. I probably have been guilty of leaving the impression that Londoners are majoring on this subject in their thinking. If I have, I've given a false picture. The truth is that the ever-increasing good news from across the channel has brought a joy and a hope that could come only to a people to whom war has been a bitter, close-at-hand reality for five long years. I for one am willing to concede that they have some jubilation coming. Passed for publication 22 Aug 1944
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