The post by 357magster about the WW II letter from London has prompted me to post about another WW II letter, written to Dad by his sister, Elizabeth in July, 1943. Though she didn't have a college degree, Aunt Elizabeth was very intelligent, and was curious about everything. Her small flat in Chicago was filled with books and two grand pianos. (Why two? Who knows?) She worked as a waitress in an upscale Chicago restaurant called Kungsholm. One day she was serving a couple of gentlemen, one of whom was an executive from an electronics manufacturing company. What she overheard fascinated her, and caused her to write this letter to Dad, who was a civilian electronics technician for the Army Signal Corps, stationed in San Diego. She figured that he might know what the electronics executive was talking about. However, Dad didn't know either, because what the loose-lipped executive was describing in detail were three of our biggest military technology secrets of the war! I've attached copies of the original letter, but I'll provide a typed transcript below for ease of reading. Can you WW II buffs figure out which secret technologies were revealed? Here goes:
"Monday, July 19 '43
Dear George,
Your nice letter came today along with one from Edie, so it was a red letter day. I hope they do keep their word and let you go back home on schedule.
I overheard a manufacturer of radio equipment talking to some government official/man of importance about some of the even newer fangled developments in war equipment – It was quite fascinating what I could catch while I was serving the party. I couldn't hang around too much as I didn't want to appear to be eavesdropping. It seems that radio is being used to direct bombs and torpedoes; from what I gathered, a torpedo is being made with some radio gadget attached that can be set in tune with the same frequency of the generator of the enemy target. The darned thing then makes a bee line for the target guided to it by what ever makes the thing click – it can even go around another object to go after the thing it's aimed at. He also said they have some sort of bomb, shell or something they've been using against the Japanese airplanes that works on the same principle. The American plane can send the projectile down on the Jap plane from positions that seem impossible. The flippers – wings or whatever is on the bomb are set in such a way that once dropped it turns and is directed by this radio gadget that is tuned to the mechanism of the plane. He says the Japs are mystified by the thing. This is a very poor interpretation or impression of what a scientific man might have explained to an ordinary man. (The man he was talking to was a judge or some official.) This manufacturer was also talking about other new things – tank destroyers with some magic powers – all to fascinating but I couldn't hang around. Anyway – I couldn't get any of it straight with my lack of scientific knowledge. He said his company and many others were making that Radar equipment – and they were perfecting something a step ahead of that that had a super-duper-television effect that they could not only have the distance and speed of the approaching object – but also a picture of the thing. It all sounded so fantastic that I wondered why he was discussing such things in a public place. Perhaps you know of many more magic things now cooking. The whole theme of his conversation was of the ingenuity of American scientists in producing war equipment. Too bad the government doesn't have some brains too – or does it?"
The letter goes on, but it's all family stuff.
Although her descriptions were somewhat off the mark, were you able to identify the secrets? There were three that I could come up with: 1) The acoustic homing torpedo. It was a fire-and-forget weapon that homed in on the propeller sounds of the target. U.S. submarines did not receive these until late in the war, so this July, 1943 revelation was well in advance of its actual use. Thus it was a super secret at this time. The Germans actually had them first, but the Japanese never did develop one as far as I know. 2) The "bomb" with the "flippers" that so mystified the Japanese I believe was the proximity-fused anti-aircraft shell. In an incredible feat of engineering, U.S. scientists were able to fit a tiny vacuum tube-operated (no solid-state stuff in those days) transmitter-receiver into the nose of a five-inch anti-aircraft shell. After firing, when it detected the presence of an object, such as an enemy aircraft, it would explode. A direct hit was not necessary. This weapon was so secret, that it was forbidden to be used over land, less a dud be recovered and reverse-engineered by the enemy. It had just come into use in the Navy when Aunt Elizabeth heard about it. 3) The "television" picture radar was the PPI, or plan position indicator radar that gives a 360 degree overhead view of the targets, providing range, bearing, speed, and heading data. This type of radar had just been placed into widespread service in the Navy by mid-1943. As to the "magic" tank destroyers, I haven't got a clue. And then there is her last sentence. The two or three conservatives on the Forum might agree!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how loose lips can sink ships. Fortunately, Aunt Elizabeth was not a spy, just curious.
"Monday, July 19 '43
Dear George,
Your nice letter came today along with one from Edie, so it was a red letter day. I hope they do keep their word and let you go back home on schedule.
I overheard a manufacturer of radio equipment talking to some government official/man of importance about some of the even newer fangled developments in war equipment – It was quite fascinating what I could catch while I was serving the party. I couldn't hang around too much as I didn't want to appear to be eavesdropping. It seems that radio is being used to direct bombs and torpedoes; from what I gathered, a torpedo is being made with some radio gadget attached that can be set in tune with the same frequency of the generator of the enemy target. The darned thing then makes a bee line for the target guided to it by what ever makes the thing click – it can even go around another object to go after the thing it's aimed at. He also said they have some sort of bomb, shell or something they've been using against the Japanese airplanes that works on the same principle. The American plane can send the projectile down on the Jap plane from positions that seem impossible. The flippers – wings or whatever is on the bomb are set in such a way that once dropped it turns and is directed by this radio gadget that is tuned to the mechanism of the plane. He says the Japs are mystified by the thing. This is a very poor interpretation or impression of what a scientific man might have explained to an ordinary man. (The man he was talking to was a judge or some official.) This manufacturer was also talking about other new things – tank destroyers with some magic powers – all to fascinating but I couldn't hang around. Anyway – I couldn't get any of it straight with my lack of scientific knowledge. He said his company and many others were making that Radar equipment – and they were perfecting something a step ahead of that that had a super-duper-television effect that they could not only have the distance and speed of the approaching object – but also a picture of the thing. It all sounded so fantastic that I wondered why he was discussing such things in a public place. Perhaps you know of many more magic things now cooking. The whole theme of his conversation was of the ingenuity of American scientists in producing war equipment. Too bad the government doesn't have some brains too – or does it?"
The letter goes on, but it's all family stuff.
Although her descriptions were somewhat off the mark, were you able to identify the secrets? There were three that I could come up with: 1) The acoustic homing torpedo. It was a fire-and-forget weapon that homed in on the propeller sounds of the target. U.S. submarines did not receive these until late in the war, so this July, 1943 revelation was well in advance of its actual use. Thus it was a super secret at this time. The Germans actually had them first, but the Japanese never did develop one as far as I know. 2) The "bomb" with the "flippers" that so mystified the Japanese I believe was the proximity-fused anti-aircraft shell. In an incredible feat of engineering, U.S. scientists were able to fit a tiny vacuum tube-operated (no solid-state stuff in those days) transmitter-receiver into the nose of a five-inch anti-aircraft shell. After firing, when it detected the presence of an object, such as an enemy aircraft, it would explode. A direct hit was not necessary. This weapon was so secret, that it was forbidden to be used over land, less a dud be recovered and reverse-engineered by the enemy. It had just come into use in the Navy when Aunt Elizabeth heard about it. 3) The "television" picture radar was the PPI, or plan position indicator radar that gives a 360 degree overhead view of the targets, providing range, bearing, speed, and heading data. This type of radar had just been placed into widespread service in the Navy by mid-1943. As to the "magic" tank destroyers, I haven't got a clue. And then there is her last sentence. The two or three conservatives on the Forum might agree!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how loose lips can sink ships. Fortunately, Aunt Elizabeth was not a spy, just curious.
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