Shockwave: The Countdown To Hiroshima.

[corsair67]

Shockwave: The Countdown To Hiroshima
Author: Stephen Walker
ISBN: 0719567734
Binding: Paperback
No of Pages: 352.


Over the weekend I finished reading this well written account of the Manhattan Project and the dropping of the "Little Boy" Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima on 6th August 1945. Gives the Japanese perspective to the story too, and some of the accounts of survivors makes for harrowing reading.

On the whole a very good read which gives you a great insight into all the secrecy and logistics involved with the project. There was one small point that bothered me about the book - the statement that the B-29 could carry a bigger bombload than any other bomber in service - which was probably true for the bombers of the USAAF, but I do seem to recall the RAF had an aircraft called a Lancaster that could carry bombs of up to 22 000lbs!!!!

Anyway, I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in aviation and/or military technology.

[flyjoe180]

The Avro Lancaster was designed to find enemy targets at night against minimal fighter opposition and had to be modified to carry a 'special' 22,000lb bombload (or loads such as the bouncing bomb).

The Boeing B29 was designed to fly further, faster and higher (pressurised and heated), and featured advanced (for its time) fire control systems as it had to face intensive fighter opposition. The aircraft didn't need to be converted to carry an 'outsized' bombload.

Probably like most here I prefer the Lancaster in the overall nostalgia stakes, but they were two different aircraft designed to fly in very different situations. The Lancaster could carry more than the B17, but the B29 was in a 'next generation' of design.

'Shockwave: Countdown to Horishima' sounds like a good read though.

[corsair67]

If anyone is interested, you can order this book up from QBD for AUD$7.99 + AUD$6 postage (AUD$15 to NZ).

www.qbdthebookshop.com/viewproduct.cfm?productID=398612&CFID=111304&CFTOKEN=45362&requestID=200605191132380.771517


Of course, my copy cost me $25!!!!!!!!!

[planeimages]

My "old man" was naive enough to visit Hiroshima a few weeks or months after the bomb. He was with the RAAF contribution to the BECOF. He sent photos back.