大象传媒

A Report from overseas.

One of my school friends went to the U.S.A. during the war with his parents. His father was something senior in the electrical engineering field. It was possible that he was connected with the Atom Bomb project, as my friend never found out what his father had been up to.

This was unusual in those days, as normally something would be said in the family, that gave a clue. A lasting impression was made by his account of an 鈥淎ir-Raid鈥� Practice run in Chicago. How this was supposed to occur so far inland, was never revealed. The only feasible way would have to be by submarines carrying small bomber aircraft sneaking up into the Great Lakes system. While the Japanese had something of this kind in the Pacific Ocean, the Germans did not, and the logistics were against it. But the Chicago City authorities insisted on carrying out this test with devastating results.

When the alarms were sounded, there was a panic-stricken rush for the shelters. My friend said that most of the people that he saw who did not panic, and proceeded in an orderly way towards the shelters were known to him as British, and he suspected that all the rest were also British or at least, not Americans. The authorities refused to admit how many deaths and injuries were sustained in this event. But there were no more such tests.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.