Far East Summary on Japanese Assessment of Destruction of Nagasaki, War Department Office of Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, no. 515, Aug. 18, 1945.

This group of intercepted messages included what were basically orders to various military groups on how to conduct themselves now that the war was over.

Some information about the Nagasaki bomb results are included in the report. It said the effects of the blast extended beyond 12 kilometers (about 8 miles) from the point of explosion. The report describes houses burning and roof tiles being blown off houses.

In a part about the Hiroshima bomb, the messages indicated the Japanese knew it was an atomic bomb (although that had already actually be broadcast from the US radio). One line is significant: eighty per cent of the wounded were burned and the outlook for their recovery is not favorable.

There were some countermeasures noted (apparently the intercept was from before the actual surrender), including rebuilding houses as half-underground structures, covering aircraft or moving them underground, and having Army hospitals prepared to deal with a large number of burned people.



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