THESE FOUR MEN
HAVE A BIG RESPONSIBILITY
W
THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1957,
SOMETHING NO ENGLISHMAN HAS EVER DONE BEFORE
HILE the politicians argue about the rights and wrongs of exploding British H-bombs over the Pacific, (see below) the for men pictured here on the right are quietly preparing for the dangerous task of dropping the weapon.
They are the bomb-aimers of the four Valiant jet-planes which will take off from a crushed coral airstrip on Christmas Island to carry out the mission.
It will be their job to ensure that the bombs released from a height of about nine miles explode at precisely selected target points in the air three miles above the sea.
The huge weapons will be Street, Blackburn. and travelling forward at about Warren Street, London, will 600 miles an hour the cause an international. in- speed of the aircraft-when cident if the weapons full they are released. Gravity wide of their largets, shed- will pall them downwards a ding radioactive dust out 360 miles an hour. Wind
can carry them off course.
Yet,
these
from men
maldresses such. as Troy
side the narrow, down-wind danger strips selected by the scientista.
an Just how easily such
the error can be made in extremely stressful circum-
by CHAPMAN PINCHER
HERCULES AND NIKE
BARRED
Britain tells America
stances of this operation was shown when the U.S. Air Force dropped its first H-bomb last усаг. The bomb-aimer missed the target by several miles.
Since then the political implications of such an error have become for serious. If appreciable nmounts of bomb-dust are
THEY KNOW
more
ALAN WASHEROOK. 38
WILFRED JENKINS, 32
FRANK CORDUROY, 26
KENNETH LEWIS, 23
set
the new Even if the radioactivity the bomba burst too far detected outside the Christ- the tests before mas Island area there will weapons, are properly remains within the 750,000, from the instruments be an international outcry, proved.
square miles exfety zone, a out to measure its power. They know tax that the bad target miss might con-
The task which these men Government has staked its taminate naval ships in the have taken on is made more revolutionary new strategy
Tusk Force. At best the difficult by the danger of the The bomb-aimers know and its reputation — on
assumption that the test would be robbed of operation to themselves and could lead to a suspension of tests WILL be successful. much of its value if one of to their crew-mates.
'You can't send missiles that a mistake on their part the
here to guard bases'
an American proposal that US. air bases and H-bomb dumps in this country should be guarded by Americans with their own anti-aircraft missiles.
BRITAIN has turned down
NIKE -NO
These
"deter- money — whichi ronald make rent
bares must Britain PERMANENTLY be guarded
pendent on America for air de- exclusively by Dritish Kuided fence.
Inissiles. the
Government huis drelded.
because
It
Inferior
Some Ministers The missiles the Americans supported the US. wanted to tat are called the jlan wund save money, Nike and Nike-Hercules. British Defence rocket experts advised Defence Het the chiefs opposed it Minister Mr Duncan Sardlys
The counts that their performance was not
1. The U.S. mis- siles operate on a different radar
good enough.
Labour divided and Tories torn
ATOM HAVOC
HATEVER havoc the independent foreign policy
WBritish Homovente in an analy other pour
on Christmas Island, it will try does have them. probably be mild compared with the havoc it has al- ready wreaked on British politics.
Impotent Allies
NEWS RROM BRITAIN
...By Les Armour,
has published findings in- Now, up to this moment dicating that there is a risk The Labour Party stands in history, the United States of bone cancer. The Foreign divided, unable to make a and its allies, particularly Secretary, Mr Selwyn Lloyd, clear, unambiguous state. Britain, have acted and re- said on the B.B.C. that "a ment. The Conservative acted upon one another in great deal of this kind of Party, officially, stands rock such a way as to assure a argument comes from They also reported that their firm behind the government. reasonably cautious and pru. pauple with strong fellow- system from that rater warning system is inferior But that is not to say dent policy for the West as travelling tendencies of the British to the British.
and that individual Conservative a whole. If the bomb is the leanings", This la true. M.P.s are all entirely easy in decisive factor in policy. But it is also fair to pont their minds.
. howover, and if only the out that one of the Vice- United States has it, there Presidents of the Atomic are very grave limitations Scientists" Association upon the capacity of its Sir John Cockcroft, the ailies to exert any important director of the government's influence.
atomic research station at
unts, which will
be installed
to
defend RAF, air- fields and bomb dumps.
The Dedence chiefs insisted that missiles all the dofending Britai must operate on one system, and UNDER ONE COMMAND.
2. Once the U.S. missiles were In- #talled it might be dilleult ever to replace them with British ones-
which will be superior to U.S. weapon against bumber altreks.
3. The move might tempt the Government to cut OB British missiles
research
to save
¡POCKET CARTOON
by OSBERT LANCASTER
Bur
ure
Indeed, that is not to say that the members of the Cabinet themselves absolutely free from doubt. And all this uneasiness is reflected in the Kencral public,
Schweitzer,
13
The argument against the Harwell. Aibert bomb, as it has been pre- sented here over the past man widely revered in this The argument for the few weeks, is rather more country, has made the same manufacture and for the subtle. In the first place, point as the Atomic Scient- And he testing of the bomb is simple it is argued that the hazards ists' Association. and direct enough: Any to humanity are so great is not a fellow-traveller. power which does not that it is a moral outrage Against this, however, possess hydrogen bombs for anyone to explode any comes the statement from and the capacity for making more bombs,
the United States Atomic The Atomic them is, in the last analysis,
Scientists' Energy Authority that in- precluded from pursuing an Association, for instance, tensive investigation has
TO RUSSIA: "The German Army doesn't want any Atomic Weapons"
TO THE WEST:
"The German Army most TO
bove Atomic Weapon75!" ~ ~ GERMAN SCIENTISTS:
“You leave Atomie Hegreas
to the German Army!"
THE ADENAUER STORY
TO POSTERITY: "Sieg heil! The Germon
Army has got them!"
Lowden Zagrada Airsice
Copyright in
revealed that the current
| "bomb-hazard" is about the equivalent of the radiation hazard which would result from moving from a house at sea, level to a frotge fow hundred feet higher. (Natural radiation increases as you go up). As to this danger, Investigations have. shown that the bone cancer rate in Denver, 5,000 feet above sea level, is no higher than the rate in San Fran- cisco,
The Grand Gesture
In quite a different field, It is being argued that the danger of atomic war is o great that it is morally in- cumbent upon one of the H-bomb powers to make a grand moral gesture and renounce the weapon. The effect of this, it is believed, would bo, salutary upon the othera
This inue wonder that wide- spread doubt,“ should 找商 fidem. While welter of anguinerit. It is, in the circumatonden," "fatti÷ possible for any, reasoriable mon not-to tɔve" "doshta do - postter
which set of arguments he finds most convincing,
The govemment continues to believe, on balance, that it le utterly right. But that does not mean that it does not recognise that there is balance to be struck-and weight on the other side.