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Deconstructing the Myth of the Norden Bombsight by Michael Deconstructing the Myth of the Norden Bombsight by Michael Tremblay B.A., University of Victoria, 2007 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History Michael Tremblay, 2009 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Deconstructing the Myth of the Norden Bombsight by Michael Tremblay B.A., University of Victoria, 2009 Supervisory Committee Dr. David Zimmerman (Department of History) Supervisor Dr. Gregory Blue (Department of History) Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. David Zimmerman (Department of History) Supervisor Dr. Gregory Blue (Department of History) Departmental Member The Norden Bombsight was a complex, 2000-piece mechanical computer. It was designed to solve the mathematical problem of dropping bombs from high altitude bombers in order to hit specific ground targets. Originally developed under the supervision of the U.S. Navy, the device was picked up by the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1935, and quickly became the Air Corps’ most important military technology. For the Air Corps, the device not only defined its institutional relevance, but also enabled air power proponents to appeal to the American public’s predilection for technology in order to gain popular support. By the time America entered the Second World War, the device was famous and it captured the hearts of many Americans due to its touted pinpoint accuracy and ability to make war more humane. The belief that the device would make war less brutal reinforced American notions of the link between progress and technology. During the war, the device proved to be a failure, yet the rhetoric and altruistic belief in the bombsight’s ability to save lives persisted. This thesis deconstructs this enduring myth by investigating the language the mass media used to discuss it before and during the war. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee .................................................................................................. ii Abstract......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ...........................................................................................................v Dedication.................................................................................................................... vii Introduction.....................................................................................................................1 Deconstructing the Myth of the Norden Bombsight .....................................................1 The Norden Bombsight............................................................................................6 The Norden in the Public Eye ................................................................................10 Deconstructing the Norden Myth ...........................................................................11 The Norden Bombsight’s Historiography...............................................................17 Chapter 1.......................................................................................................................29 American Notions of Progress and the Air Corps.......................................................29 Chapter 2.......................................................................................................................61 The Norden in Print ...................................................................................................61 Chapter 3.......................................................................................................................94 The Norden in Film ...................................................................................................94 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................118 Post War Reality and the Norden’s Legacy..............................................................118 Bibliography................................................................................................................136 Archival Sources..................................................................................................136 Magazines............................................................................................................136 Motion Pictures and Television............................................................................137 Newpapers...........................................................................................................137 Publications .........................................................................................................138 v Acknowledgments While it is my name only that appears as the creator of this work, there are many people who deserve as much credit as myself, and most definitely my gratitude. First, Dr. John Hinde, whose honesty and encouragement has been a major source of guidance for me since my start of studies in 2004. Without your influence, and friendship, I never would have attempted to apply to the University of Victoria, and then, after three more years of work you steered me towards graduate studies. Thank you. Dr. John P. Oleson, through mutual interests I ended up as an eager participant in almost every undergrad class you teach, your ability to pass on knowledge, as well as the passion you display for your work have truly been inspirational. Thanks to you I have been to parts of the world that most will never see. Dr. David Zimmerman, you took me on as a graduate student without knowing my work ethic or me, and for this I thank you. Graduate studies have been an amazing growth experience both personally and academically. I must also thank Dr. Gregory Blue whose editing skills have made it possible to actually read this work. It is impossible to attend full time studies without financial support. This is especially true when one has a smalland growingfamily, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank the University of Victoria’s Department of History for providing me with fellowship grants. I must also thank Dr. Zimmerman for providing me with some of his SSHRC funding that allowed me to undertake research at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, and the National Archives in Washington DC. None of this would have been possible without the indomitable patience of my partner Faye. You are a pillar of stoicism, and you have kept our growing family together vi through years of my mental absence. Thank you. I love you. Darius, only through this scholastic adventure have we been able to spend so much time together. While other dads are working, we have played, rode, or hiked and I have enjoyed it immensely. I am the luckiest dad I know. Cassandra, although you are new to this world you have brought a whole bunch of smiles into it, thank you. vii Dedication To Steve: A lifetime, but it seems a lifetime ago. I miss you. Introduction Deconstructing the Myth of the Norden Bombsight On our first day at Norden, we were awed and even scared to be in the very building that housed the mysterious, secret, powerful and famous Norden Bombsight… It is a wonderful, superb instrument… It has made an unsurpassed contribution toward the winning of this terrible war, and we are sincerely proud housed with it. Norden Insight, July 19441 In 2006 PBS premiered a television documentary called Warplane: A Century of Fight and Flight, the program highlighted the history of military aviation from the earliest uses of lighter-than-air vehicles to modern stealth technology. The premise of the four-part documentary was to explore the changes in aviation technology and how those changes influenced the development of new devices to make war from the air. The documentary featured historians and aviation writers who explained the history of military aviation. In the second segment, “Air Force to Air Power,” a discussion surrounding the Allied strategic air campaign of the Second World War was undertaken. While the segment correctly differentiated between the American and British concept of strategic bombing, the focus of the segment on the American campaign was a decidedly favourable account of the Norden Bombsight (NBS), a device that despite the positive 1 Norden Insight, July 1944, Volume 2, No. 12. 1. 2 representation by PBS was, in large measure, a technological failure. The documentary in many ways reinforced the myth of the bombsight having been a war-winning weapon. The segment of Warplane that deals with the American air campaign begins by explaining how the root of the American strategy of daylight precision bombing was not just about precision strikes; instead the “American approach to making war has always been that the use of technology can be a substitute for human casualties.”2 The NBS is then compared with other examples of military technology, both ancient and modern, that have been developed with the ever-present goal of obtaining higher degrees of accuracy. The irony of course is that the result of making weapons such as the longbow or the machinegun more accurate is the more efficient killing of humans. In the case of American daylight precision bombing doctrine,
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