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Re: Norden Bomb Sight--Curiosity Only



On Tue, 16 Jan 2001, Kurilecz, Peter wrote:

> If I'm not mistaken isn't he required to carry a sidearm when
> transporting it? (Preferably a 45 cal). Of course it will come in
> handy when he wants to toss a pickle into a barrel. :-)

As Peter indicates, during the war, the Norden was "Top Secret" and
subject to extreme security measures.  Apparently, whenever it was
being transported to or from an aircraft, it had to be accompanied by
an armed guard to protect it from spies or saboteurs.

When Doolittle led his raid on Japan from USS Hornet in 1942, his
B-25s did *not* use the Norden because they knew they would lose most
of their aircraft and many of them would fall into enemy hands, and
they didn't want to risk losing the secret that early in the war.  Of
all the bombers shot down over Europe 1943-45, at least a few of them
had to be carrying the Norden, so the Germans must have gotten their
hands on the Norden and figured out why it was, allegedly, so
effective.

Presumably, the Norden has since been declassified, otherwise you
might expect a visit from several government representatives, and I
don't mean NARA  :-)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

James Stimpert                       E-mail:    James.Stimpert@jhu.edu
Archives (Arts and Sciences)
MSE Library
Johns Hopkins University             Voice:     (410) 516-8323
3400 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD  21218                 Fax:       (410) 516-7202

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