U.S. AIR FORCE COMMUNIQUE

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24640, 9 August 1945, Page 5

U.S. AIR FORCE COMMUNIQUE

(Rec. 11 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Aug 8. Reconnaissance photographs show that the atomic bomb wiped out four and one-tenth square miles, or 60 per cent, of Hiroshima. Five major industrial targets were destroyed. This information is given In an Air Force communique, which says that additional damage is shown outside the destroyed area. The communique adds:— “Upwards of 225 escorted Superfortresses based on the Marianas struck at industrial areas in Yawata with heavy demolition bombs today. “In the Superfortress mission against the Yokohama naval arsenal yesterday, 121 bombers dropped 750 tons of high explosive, with generally excellent results.” OPPOSITION FROM CHURCHES USE OF NEW BOMB

LONDON, August 7. The Vatican is* absolutely opposed to the atomic bombing of Japan, according to an authoritative Vatican source quoted by the correspondent of the Associated Press in Rome. “The Roman Catholic Church has equal pity for all those subjected to atomic bombing and it cannot make any distinction between the victims, ’ said the correspondent’s informant "The discovery of the atomic bomb has caused an unfavourable impression in the Vatican, because the use of atomic bombs might be the first link _in a chain of unpredictable violence.” A Vatican press bulletin said; “The atomic bomb revelations have made a deep impression in the Vatican City, not so much for the use already made of the new death instrument as for the sinister shadow that the discovery of this weapon casts over .the future of humanity.”

The Rev. A. D. Belden, the General Secretary, on behalf of the Christianity Calling Council, has sent a message to Mr Attlee and President Truman, saying: “This unparalleled terrorism disgraces the United Nations. I beg you to secure a veto on the use of the atomic bomb.”

SMOKE VISIBLE FOR 160 MILES

(Rec. 11 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Aug. 8. The Guam correspondent of the “New York Times” says: “The smoke cloud from tte bombing of Hiroshima was visible 160 miles out to sea. General Spaatz and General Lemay left no doubt that they believed the Air Forces could beat Japan into unconditional surrender with the new terrible weapon.”

TOKYO RADIO’S COMMENTS

COUNTER MEASURES TO BOMB SOUGHT

LONDON, Aug. 7. “The destructive power of the atomic bomb cannot be slighted, but history shows that ways are always discovered to nullify new weapons,” said the Tokyo radio, quoting the Domei News Agency. "The Japanese authorities are already busy on counter measures. “The main reason which drove the enemy into the use of the new bomb on Hiroshima was impatience at the slow progress of the projected invasion of Japan’s mainland. While admitting the bomb’s considerable destructive power, informed quarters say that his resort to such inhuman tactics will brand the enemy as a destroyer of justice and mankind and ‘Public Enemy No. 1’ of social justice. These bestial tactics prove to show how thin is the veneer of the civilisation of which the 'Allies have boasted.

“An investigation is under way to determine the extent of the damage done by employing this new weapon which is designed to massacre innocent civilians. “The Americans have unveiled to the world their sadistic nature. The gallant resistance of the Japanese forces on Iwo Jima and Okinawa frustrated the enemy's hope of a quick decision in the forthcoming battle of Japan’s homeland. The strategic advantages which the Japanese forces are certain to enjoy in the next phase of the Pacific war have made it clear to the enemy that an early conclusion is mere wishful thinking. Therefore, the enemy has begun to employ this barbaric method as a last desperate resort.” Na*i General Surrenders.—The Allied Press Service in Germany has anriounced that the S.S. general, Otto Hoffman, the former head of the Office for Race and Settlement, surrendered to the American forces ih Bavaria after hiding for two months. Hoffman joined the Nazis in 1929. He is listed as a war criminal.—London, August 7.