Sex, fear and looting: survivors disclose untold stories of the Blitz

[Hat and Rehat]

Before cooking the leg of lamb, make a number of incisions with a sharp pointed knife, then press a clove of garlic into each incision. Best tasting lamb you will ever eat.

Thank you. Garlic is essential. My brother in law inserts the cloves that way, but I've always pressed most of a head of garlic into my oil and vinegar marinade, which it is bathing in already. He and I used to do the cooking on Mother's day, and would do a leg of lamb on the grill. We'd double garlic it, using both methods. If you have never used citrus in lamb marinade, I highly recommend it. Either lime or lemon is very good. Also, I have no idea how widespread this practice is, but I grew up eating it with mint jelly. I'm making myself salivate just writing about it.

 

[Just Jim]

Like the city centres of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for example?

Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were legitimate military targets.

Hiroshima was an industrial city supporting the war effort, a military center (the entire defense of southern Japan was run out of Hiroshima Castle), a supply/log base for the Japanese military, and a major shipping port. The day it was bombed, roughly 10% of the population (40k of 350k) were members of the Japanese military.

Nagasaki was one of the largest ports in southern Japan (and one of the most-intact ports in Japan). It was another industrial city, with 90% of the industry being shipbuilding. In other words, 90% of the industrial output of the city went directly to Japan's war effort.

The bombs were aimed using the Norden bombsight. At the time, that was the best we had, but post-war analysis showed that even under the best circumstances only about a third of the bombs hit within 1,000' of the target point. At Hiroshima, a crosswind blew the bomb (dangling under a parachute) about 800' off-target: instead of detonating over the target (a bridge), it was detonated over a hospital. At Nagasaki, the bomb was targeted at the city's industrial core, but drifted nearly 2 miles off-target (which ultimately protected much of the city).

P51 has an interesting suggestion, in that the firebombing in Europe and Japan, and the nuclear bombing of Japan, was done to make clear to Japan and to the world that the cost of attacking the Allies was too high to risk. If that were the plan, I think the targets would have been the Imperial Palaces in Tokyo and Kyoto; if Hirohito survived, his execution would have shortly followed the surrender.

I think the firebombing, and the nuclear bombing of Japan, was done for more mundane reasons: the destruction of the capacity and will to fight.

 

[MisterCairo]

Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were legitimate military targets.

Same arguments were used to justify the bombing of German cities. Industry and labourers. QED.