49
So whether Allied LoC were disrupted by the Japanese or a typhoon, the end result would be the same: troops and supplies prevented from achieving their objectives, and Allied strategy would be hampered. The Allies could do something about the Japanese, but not much about a typhoon.
As nasty as it is, a typhoon does have a redeeming factor. The rain that accompanies it can help alleviate the water supply problem in a place as dependent on rainfall for its fresh water as Hong Kong (which itself has no rivers). During wartime, an adequate water supply was a most invaluable resource for both sides.33
The B-29
There was another important reason for recapturing Hong Kong: to use it as a base from which to bomb Japan. Before the war, China was thought to be the best place from which to do this.34 During her conquests of 1941-1942, Japan had wisely expanded her perimeter far enough so that she would be impervious to retaliatory bombing raids by Allied land-based aircraft, or so she thought. The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942 was as unorthodox as it was daring, having been accomplished by land-based bombers operating from aircraft carriers, but it was not practical to replicate on a large scale. If the Allies wanted to devastate Japan, they needed a real land base and a bomber with enough range and bomb capacity to reach Japan.
That bomber was the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. It was classified as a Very Heavy Bomber (VHB), and it was, with a maximum bomb load of 10 tons, a range of 3,600 miles (5,800 km), and a top speed of 358 mph (577 kph). But it could not display all of these qualities at the same time, for speed and range decreased as the bomb load increased. The B-29 had been originally designed to operate from across the Atlantic to hit Germany, but once the older Allied bombers were performing adequately against Germany by 1943, the decision was made to operate the B-29 in the war against Japan. Initially, China was believed to be the best place from which to operate the B-29s.
Southeastern China, of which Hong Kong was a part, was deemed the best part of China to begin B-29 operations against Japan.35 The prerequisite, of course, was a strong enough LoC being established
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So whether Allied LoC were disrupted by the Japanese or a typhoon, the end result would be the same troops and supplies prevented from achieving their objectives, and Allied strategy would be hampered. The Allies could do something about the Japanese, but not much about a typhoon.
As nasty as it is, a typhoon does have a redeeming factor. The rain that accompanies it can help alleviate the water supply problem in a place as dependent on rainfall for its fresh water as Hong Kong (which itself has no rivers). During wartime, an adequate water supply was a most invaluable resource for both sides.33
The B-29
There was another important reason for recapturing Hong Kong: to use it as a base from which to bomb Japan. Before the war, China was thought to be the best place from which to do this."4 During her conquests of 1941-1942, Japan had wisely expanded her perimeter far enough so that she would be impervious to retaliatory bombing raids by Allied land-based aircraft, or so she thought. The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942 was as unorthodox as it was daring, having been accomplished by land-based bombers operating from aircraft carriers, but it was not practical to replicate on a large scale. If the Allies wanted to devastate Japan, they needed a real land base and a bomber with enough range and bomb capacity to reach Japan.
That bomber was the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. It was classified as a Very Heavy Bomber (VHB), and it was, with a maximum bomb load of 10 tons, a range of 3,600 miles (5,800 km), and a top speed of 358 mph (577 kph). But it could not display all of these qualities at the same time, for speed and range decreased as the bomb load increased. The B-29 had been originally designed to operate from across the Atlantic to hit Germany, but once the older Allied bombers were performing adequately against Germany by 1943, the decision was made to operate the B-29 in the war against Japan. Initially, China was believed to be the best place from which to operate the B-29s.
Southeastern China, of which Hong Kong was a part, was deemed the best part of China to begin B-29 operations against Japan.35 The prerequisite, of course, was a strong enough LoC being established
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