Evening star., 1943-05-28
Block Buster,' Now Used Against Germany,
Rated DeudIiest Weapon in All History
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

BY WALTER McCALLUM.
Block busters devastate Deussel-
dorf."
"Rhineland factories put out Of
action by air bombing"
Berlin feels impact of Atom
bombs
THOUSANDS of tons of bombs fall
on Dortmund. Essen again feels
weight of bombing"
What does it all mean, to the man
in the street? To Americans who
never have heard or felt the shatter-
ing impact, the deadening concus-
sion and the disrupting, tearing ex-
plosion of modern bombs dropped
from great heights, these headlines
are routine. But to the people OF
Germany, forced by circumstance to
take the unprecedented impact of
this deadiest and most destructive
weapon of war, it means life itself.
Air bombing, so the air power ad-
vocates say, concentrated as it has
not yet been concentrated. can bring
an early end to the war. Ground
force advocates point out that, al
though the destructive physical and
mentaD effect of air bombing is
obvious, the airplane does not occupy
territory, although it's bombs can
devastate cities and lay waste entire
areas.
Bombs Now More Destructive.
What happens when 4,000-pound
bomb falls in the heart of a city.
perhaps in the middle of paved
street, or plunges at 1000 feet a
second through the roof of a modern
Office building? The British have
used many 4.oOO-pounders in giving
such cities as Berlin. Dusseldorf
Dortmund. Essen. Stuttgart and
other German population and war
factory centers far worse poundings
than even much bombed London got
during the blitz Of 1910. They are
Using even bigger and more destruc-
tive bombs. and biggest point of all,
the American Air Force. despite
many raids by the big Bits. hardly
has begun to swing it's weight over
Germany and occupied France.
Records of the United States Army
Air Force show that the impact and
explosion of 2,00O-pound bomb is
the most destructive phenomenon
both to structures and to human be-
ings that the long history of war has
developed. An airplane carrying
bombs is, in effect, a travelling gun
platform with far more mobility and
greater range than the biggest and
best gun ever invented. The bombs
it drops are the projectiles.
The explosive effect of a 2,oO0-
pound bomb dropped from an air.
plane travelling at 200 miles an hour
from 10000 feet kills human beings
within hundreds of yards of the eX-
plosion.
1t rips and tears apart heavy con-
crete and steel structures with a
shattering. rending effort, height
ened by the rarefaction or suction
of the air returning to fill the vac
uum caused by the explosion de-
veloped when pressure of gases with
in the bomb case by the detonation
of compressed explosive charges rush
out at the rate of about 1000 feet a
second; nearly 30 miles per minute.
augmentation of the bomb case
alone sends shrieking. rending bits
of steel flying at incredible speeds
for hundreds Of yards around the
explosion. Thse bits Of flying steel
will kill human beings at many hun
dreds Of yards. A 2,0Oo-pound bomb
skaters into about 5000 fragments,
each a potential killer. But the
shocking effect on the human body
is fully as lethal. This alone will kill
at range within many yards of the
explosion.
Almost Causes Suffocation.
Hardest to understand is the recoil
wave, caused by the air rushing back
to fill the vacuum. Testimony of peo-
pie who have survived the shock OF
block busters Is to the effect that
the raretactlon or suction seems to
draw the air from their lungs, al
most suffocating them.
The shock of impact and explo-
sion of block buster sets up in the
earth miniature earthquake, vio-
lent but short lived. 1t exerts tre-
mendous pressure on building foun-
dations and buried pipes. Building
foundations crumble and collapse.
Water, gas and sewer mains are
broken. Successive impact of many
block busters in saturation bombing
by heavy bombs would. the advo-
Gates of continuously genuine heavy
bombing claim, destroy the capacity
of human beings to live a normal
life. with ordinary conveniences, in
a city under such attack.
A 2,000-pound bomb will pene-
trate 46 feet into ordinary earth
before explosion. 1t will penetrate
7 feet of solid concrete. 1t will
penetrate concrete reinforced with
steel beams distance of feet. If
the block buster (and this is a
small one) strikes reinforced con-
crete, similar to that used in the
floors of a modern building, the
effect is even worse. The bomb
pentrates each floor progressively
and goes through more footage of
concrete than if it struck a solid
block of such material, decorating
many floors below the point Of
entry with devastating effect.
Fuses can be set by timing
methods so the bomb will not ex-
plode until maximum penetration
has been achieved, whether in con-