The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-12-11
Postmortem on Germany Discloses Fire
Vas Great Killer During World War 7wo

shire IN COVenty, Guy HoSp1tdl
: in London and others. THE
a opinion has been expressed that
; in total war the Red Cross on the
y brilliant white background is no
S longer a shield of safety on the
]. roof of a hospital but pinpoint
e for orienting pilots over a black
| ened city on moonlit night"
/, The fire billiards. set by in
: cendiany bombs caused deaths
: akin to those from the atomic
= bombs on Hiroshima and Nagas-
aki, and for the same reasons
, intense heat. The victims died
from inhaling air super-heated to
as high as 1,400 degrees, from
carbon monoxide, from direct me-
chanical destruction by flames,
from Tetanus infection resulting
: from burns.
;. The great fire raid on Hamburg
in July, 1943, was an example.
Fires set off by the incendiary
attacks burned uncontrolled for
six weeks. Temperatures went up
to 1,472 degrees farenheit. The
mounting flames created drafts
of 80 miles per hour wind velo-
city which sucked people down
streets and into the inferno. Peo-
pie ran, from shelters into streets
land were seen to collapse very
slowly like people utterly exhaust
ed" their lungs scared, the bodies
suddenly dehydrated by the super
heated air. ''Most of these people
were not burnt to ashes when re-
covered, but dry and shrunken, re-
sembling mummies."
Carbon monoxide caused shelter
and cellar deaths. 1t was general
ed by incomplete combustion from
F the flames outside or by bomb
bursts, the gases from which con-
tanned as high as 70 per cent car
bon monoxide. The people in the
shelters died gently. They found
hem sitting neatly at rest, un-
touched by bomb or blaze-just
dead.
} Being bombed does not drive
people crazy. There was an estin1-
ated decrease of from 81 to 81 per
: cent annually in the number Of
cases in mental institutions. People
have 50 many other worries about
: their families, property and
friends that they forget about
/ themselves.
There were no epidemics In Ger
t many during the war. The Ameri-
can doctors aren't quite sure why.
The German doctors said it was
luck. The survey experts thought
: the Germans devotion to personal
t hygiene and, their penchant for
keeping their homes spotleSly
clean-and for obeying the orders
of the well-organized health serv-
ice-might have been factors. Al
though there were no epidemics,
there were increases in certain
diseases which became important
problems in some areas.
Bodies in the rubble Of de-
stroyed cities Can estimated U.s.
900 to 10000 still remain in the
ruins) did not present a disease
breeding problem. The German ex-
i PLANTATION was: The body Is not
a carrier OF disease since putre-
faction destroys any disease-sup-
porting agent; the corpse was not
breeding place for flies because
few flies existed in the bombed
and burned areas; the disease
bearing rat population did not in
crease because decay Of the body
sis usually in such an advanced
state that the rats prefer other
foods which are plentiful as 4 con-
sequence of destruction
Bombing destroyed food process
sing plants, storage facilities and,
most important of all, the trans
portation needed for food distri-
button. It is not possible now to
state exactly in what measure
the curtailment of the national
diet contributed to the ultimate
defeat of Germany but it was "an
important factor In any event,
IL was major element cOntrlbut-
ing to the postwar food shortage
in the Reich.
If this many people were killed
in air attacks largely precision
in nature, what is going to hap
pen when they start throwing gad-
gets they can't direct?" (The ref.
erence here was to long-range
bombardment by rocket-carried
atomic bombs.)
What was learned in the study
of the German cities? Those re-
sponsible for the protection Of the
American people should give
attention to the construction Of
hospitals towering, windowless
afraid hospitals with walls Of re
inforced concrete nine feet thick
and underground institutions were
refugees for the Germans; theil
location they should be on the
periphery of cities); and the place.
ment and protection of food sup
plies for use when the transporta
ton net is destroyed).