There's "light footed".
51 years ago today ... Page 2
Quote: DaButt @ September 17 2008, 12:57 PM BSTMy brother ended up a little light in the loafers
I bet you could ask a fair few americans who's agree it's the radiation 
Your old mans had a fasinating life Da Butt.
The US were always the best bombers around. Period.
Quote: Frankie Rage @ September 17 2008, 2:40 PM BSTThe US were always the best bombers around. Period.
Read the Wikipedia pages about the various tests in the 1950s. Some of the yields were marked as "fizzle." And occasionally the yield was much larger than expected, i.e. CASTLE BRAVO:
I still can't believe what the U.S did to Hiroshima. We talk now about the horror of terrorists killing a few hundred people, it just pales in comparison to that atrocity. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of civilian men, women and children in one fell swoop. F**king hell! Hitler was probably well impressed.
This is of course by no means an attack on your dad btw DaButt, just to make sure you realise that.
Quote: ian_w @ September 17 2008, 3:38 PM BSTI still can't believe what the U.S did to Hiroshima. We talk now about the horror of terrorists killing a few hundred people, it just pales in comparison to that atrocity. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of civilian men, women and children in one fell swoop.
Yeah, it was terrible. No doubt about it. But it also brought to a speedy close war that killed more than 70 million people - the majority of them civilians.
The invasion of mainland Japan would've made the death toll from Hiroshima and Nagasaki pale in comparison; you only need to look at the figures for the Battle of Okinawa to see how desperately the Japanese would have fought:
"The battle has one of the highest number of casualties of any World War Two engagement: the Japanese lost over 100,000 troops, and the Allies (mostly United States) suffered more than 50,000 casualties, with over 12,000 killed in action. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, wounded or attempted suicide. Approximately one-fourth of the civilian population died due to the invasion."
There are a couple of things to ponder before writing off Hiroshima and Nagasaki as nothing more than coldblooded murder:
1) The invasion of Japan could have cost millions of Allied and Japanese lives.
2) The Japanese had a couple of days after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, yet they still refused to surrender. Hence the bombing of Nagasaki.
3) The Japanese and Nazi Germany both had nuclear weapon programs of their own - even collaborating to an extent. Do you think they would have chosen to not use them on England and/or the United States had they developed a working bomb first?
Quote: ian_w @ September 17 2008, 3:38 PM BSTI still can't believe what the U.S did to Hiroshima.
We should do it again in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Quote: ian_w @ September 17 2008, 3:38 PM BSTHitler was probably well impressed.
More than three months after committing suicide, that'd be quite a feat, even for him.
Quote: DaButt @ September 17 2008, 4:16 PM BSTThere are a couple of things to ponder before writing off Hiroshima and Nagasaki as nothing more than coldblooded murder:
There's no escaping the fact, no matter what excuses one might make, that it was coldblooded murder. We're talking about a sound, solid reason for vapourising countless children. Children ffs - who had absolutely nothing to do with the war.
1) The invasion of Japan could have cost millions of Allied and Japanese lives.
However the troops would've been equipped for it, prepared for it, and wouild've made their choice to fight.
One of the suggested plans for the Battle of Britain was to bomb civilian towns to cripple British morale and frighten us into submission. Hitler refused point blank to do that and instead opted for the much tougher task of breaking through our air defences and bombing radar points and munitions factories. That was Hitler - supposedly one of the most evil men in history! And even he couldn't do it.
2) The Japanese had a couple of days after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, yet they still refused to surrender.
What bastards!
3) The Japanese and Nazi Germany both had nuclear weapon programs of their own - even collaborating to an extent. Do you think they would have chosen to not use them on England and/or the United States had they developed a working bomb first?
No-one has any idea whether they would've actually done that. 'Getting in there first' is a poor, poor excuse.
Quote: ian_w @ September 17 2008, 4:40 PM BSTNo-one has any idea whether they would've actually done that. 'Getting in there first' is a poor, poor excuse.
Anyone who seriously questions whether they would or not, really is kidding themselves.
Ian war is hell, and comes in many diferent forms.
The Second World War was an industrial model of war. One where victory went to those who could accumalate and effectively use the most weapons of destruction.
Nagasaki and Hiroshima ended the war before the invasion of Japan that would have killed millions not thousands. It also ensured total surrender preventing having to fight the same war 20 years later.
Also Hitler the humanitarian? Get real, once the window for Sea Lion passed he bombed what ever he could with out mercy.
He slaughtered millions across Europe with out shedding a tear.
n.b. getting there first is an ace excuse. The willingness to use the bomb stopped Stalin rolling into the rest of Germany and then onwards.
Mind you I think America should have used the nuclear bomb in Korea.
Wars are won by people willing to both kill and be killed.
Quote: Aaron @ September 17 2008, 4:46 PM BSTAnyone who seriously questions whether they would or not, really is kidding themselves.
Go away. You don't know nothing. Bitch!
Also the fire bombing of Tokyo over a week killed more than both bombs put together.
Quote: ian_w @ September 17 2008, 4:40 PM BSTThere's no escaping the fact, no matter what excuses one might make, that it was coldblooded murder. We're talking about a sound, solid reason for vapourising countless children. Children ffs - who had absolutely nothing to do with the war.
Children whose parents voted in Tojo, and failed to mount any form of resistance,
Sometimes in the real world your childrens lives are the price of your own foolishness.
n.b. the reason Tojo was such an asshole about surrendering, was he wanted to surrender to Russia. Stalin would have had naval bases on each side of Asia.
Quote: ian_w @ September 17 2008, 4:40 PM BSTOne of the suggested plans for the Battle of Britain was to bomb civilian towns to cripple British morale and frighten us into submission. Hitler refused point blank to do that and instead opted for the much tougher task of breaking through our air defences and bombing radar points and munitions factories. That was Hitler - supposedly one of the most evil men in history! And even he couldn't do it.
Don't think for one moment that he wouldn't have if he didn't want to harness our power and industrialisation. Remember that the Empire was still largely in tact at this point, and it's well-accepted that plans had been underway on both sides to effectively split the world in two - British-controlled, and Germany-controlled.
Also Sealion was plain impossible with the RAF having even a handful of bombers. They would have sunk the over burdened invasion barges with considerable ease, in the narrow channels available.
Hitler never did a humane or kind thing his whole sorry time in power.
I'm surprised on you not knowing that.
Hitler was a vegetarian and a dog lover. No further proof should be needed that he was pure evil.