Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker
In another previous column, I wrote about different funny bat stories.
However, I did not know they were almost used in WW II. Any World War 11 veterans may recall what I am talking about.
After the devastating Pearl Harbor attack, America was working on the atomic bomb, and wanted another plan of attack. And a dentist who was just returning from a vacation in New Mexico had observed many wing tailed sort of these critters in the caves. He got an idea. His idea? To use bats as bomb carriers. Perfect thinking? Timely thinking or a scatterer brained plan. (What an imagination).
The dentist whose last name was Adams, went back to New Mexico and to the bat caves where he researched a plan. The plan was to get the bats into a hibernation state and attach small but powerful bombs to them.
It seemed like a foolish thought , but an idea that may just work. Adams, then, wrote a letter to the White House and explained his bat bomb idea.
Of course it is rumored that Adams was friends with Eleanor (the president’s wife) and that is how the letter with the plan arrived on FDR’s desk.
The go ahead was given by the president and heads were put together to make the project work.
A compartment styled box which held over 1000 bats with little canister shaped bombs on them were put into a hibernation state.
The bats were to be dropped over a Japanese City where they would be released and hoped they would hide in the city’s buildings. Then all the bombs would detonate.
Can you even imagine all of these bats being released?
Before the main event, however, the idea was tested here in the United States.
To much disappointment, the bats flew towards a barrack and into it. In turn it caught on fire where it was engulfed in flames.
Lacking funding as money was all being put into the atomic bomb project, the plan was scratched.
This story I had never heard, but a show was broadcast on the History Channel telling about it.
We do have and still have ingenious minds here in the USA.
I am sure that other defensive programs were thought of, but the bat bomb idea turned out to be a “batty” but perhaps a good idea.
Through the years, bats have been associated with fear and death. But now if you see a bat, salute it because they almost became weapons and almost served our country.
I was wondering if any WWII veterans remembered the bat bombs or are you as surprised as I was.
Let me know and I’ll give you a Penny for Your Thoughts.
