World Battlefronts: Baled Bomb

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The strange little men of Japan turned up in the Pacific with a strange little aircraft — a man-controlled rocket plane that carried its pilot to certain death. At Okinawa, where it made its first tentative appearance, U.S. soldiers promptly dubbed it the "baka" (Japanese for "foolish") bomb.

Apparently an adaption of German designs, the new Japanese weapon was a 20-ft., two-ton, wood-and-metal airplane launched from a conventional bomber. Carried to about 15,000 feet by the mother plane, the baka would be cast loose by its pilot to ride on the 40-second "whoosh" from three powerful rockets. Since the nose was simply a ton of TNT, the "Kamikaze" suicide pilot had only to aim himself at his objective, then prepare to meet his ancestors. There was no landing gear; the pilot was doomed from the moment he stepped into the cockpit.

The baka had a 16-ft. wingspread, an estimated range of 35 to 40 miles, a speed of from 400 to 600 m.p.h. (depending upon the angle of dive). It had twin rudders, but first reports from the Pacific said it seemed to be wild and difficult to steer.

Airmen and ack-ack gunners gave the bakas the standard defense treatment. But more were expected to appear; as long as the supply of Japanese fanatics and plane manufacturers held out, the baka would be a menace.