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Yes, no bias, I see the logic in thinking about the hundreds of thousands (or possibly millions) of Americans and Japanese who would have been killed had the Japanese home islands had to be invaded. Sobering nevertheless. But my fundamental message was of hope. Vince Vince Russett County Archaeologist Development Management Group North Somerset Council Our Historic Environment Record is now on-line: Go to the North Somerset web site (http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk) then use the tabs Environment / Conservation / Archaeology/ Historic Environment Record. Enjoy! Landline: 01934 426456 Mobile: 07919 265645 Please note my work hours are usually 8am to 4pm I will be on annual leave Monday 12, Monday 19 and the w/c 26, all of August: the w/c of 9 and 23 September; the w/c 14 October 2013 -----Original Message----- From: British archaeology discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Longinus Sdapeze Sent: 06 August 2013 15:08 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: 6th August Yep. It brought about an end to the war with Japan and brought my dad home = =20 from Burma where he was fighting for all our freedoms and destined to give= =20 me life. An evil enemy was vanquished. Rejoice. =20 =20 In a message dated 06/08/2013 08:31:37 GMT Daylight Time, =20 [log in to unmask] writes: On this day, 68 years ago, 12 men led by Colonel Paul Tibbets, in an aircraft named after his mother 'Enola Gay', carried out the first nuclear strike in history. Thankfully, the subsequent one three days later, has so far remained the last. The weapons effectiveness (in terms of yield, i.e. blast) was pretty minimal compared to some of the behemoths developed later, during the Cold War: the equivalent of 16,000 tons of TNT. Nevertheless, the area destroyed in Hiroshima was around 1 mile in radius (about 3.2 square miles, the size of Portishead or twice the size of Nailsea). 70,000 =E2=80=93 80,000 people died in the blast and within a day= of acute radiation poisoning, 20,000 of them servicemen (Hiroshima was an 'army town'). It is sobering to consider that during the height of the Cold War, weapons with a yield of 100 megatons and even larger, were considered. These would have produced yields 8000 times bigger than the Hiroshima bomb. This would have produced a blast nearly 90 miles in radius. Total destruction. Droppe= d over Birmingham, this blast would totally destroy Bristol, cause fires in Weymouth, and break windows and strip roofs in Cherbourg. This is almost incomprehensible, I know, but there's probably the key. But then, you start to think. Nobody ever wins a war until their soldiers are holding enemy soil. Even then, you're never sure (are you, Herr Hitler?). And the radiation rising from such stupendous explosions just goes up in the atmosphere, and comes back to bite YOU. In fact radioactive material from any nuclear explosion is spread around the world, and certainly in the West and the Soviet Union, this was thought of as something of a disadvantage of large-yield nuclear weapons. I worked this out all by myself during the Cold War, and although V-bombers were on the runways fully nuked up during the 6-day War in 1967, and after the Russian shooting down of an off-course airliner in 1984, I slept at night. And here we are, worried about Al-Quaeda. We are a worried species. If we aren't worried about nuclear Armageddon, we pick on the next potential disaster =E2=80=93 climate change, ecologica= l meltdown, alien invasion... Relax. It's been a 2 million year wild ride since Olduvai Gorge, but we're still here. And as for 6th August? I prefer to remember the Rev John Skinner discovering the Roman settlement of Charterhouse on Mendip on this day in 1819. Keeping in touch Visit www.n-somerset.gov.uk for information about our services Council Connect: for all streets, open spaces and environmental protection enquiries visit www.n-somerset.gov.uk/connect Care Connect: for all adult social services enquiries visit www.n-somerset.gov.uk/careconnect Out of hours emergencies: 01934 622 669 Privacy and confidentiality notice: The information contained in this email transmission is intended by North Somerset Council for the use of the named individual or entity to which it is directed and may contain information that is privileged or otherwise confidential. If you have received this email transmission in error, please delete it from your system without copying or forwarding it, and notify the sender of the error by reply email. Any views expressed within this message or any other associated files are the views and expressions of the individual and not North Somerset Council. North Somerset Council takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that no viruses are transmitted with any electronic communications sent, however the council can accept no responsibility for any loss or damage resulting directly or indirectly from the use of this email or any contents or attachments.