Bat Bombs - MORE Terrifying Than Atomic Bombs?!

[@TheZoenGaming]

As the son of a Marine, I can absolutely believe that a Marine Corp. General told the Army brass they were idiots and he was taking their new toy away because they didn't deserve it. I also believe he giggled with glee when they let him.

[@Jeremiah90526]

"Let him" did you ever try taking a weapon away from your dad, or any other Marine? They would have had to be willing to kill that General first. The only way they could have gotten that Marine to let go of the Bat Bomb was to give him nukes.

[@generaljedi8691]

Next Marine pacific theater strategy meeting began with grown men giggling and a story that began with “I shit you not…”

[@77mcmarine]

@@generaljedi8691 that or "I swear this is real!"

[@richardcampbell8685]

As marine that's exactly how it went.

[@Rekhan4242]

​@@generaljedi8691You guys are not gonna believe what they gave away! A bomb... made of bats! And we get to do whatever we want!

[@blackhorsecavalry]

Who scares you more? A theoretical physicist or a member of the E4 mafia saying "I've got an idea!"

[@vidard9863]

The first is theory, the second is practice. What DOES work is always more effective than what SHOULD work.

[@rusty_shackleford2226]

This is a trick question. The obvious answer is the E4.

[@44R0Ndin]

I have a way of thinking about things that doesn't focus overly on the practical. But that can be a good thing, because I've come up with ideas that are frighteningly practical more times than I can count on my fingers AND toes, simply by not considering if it's practical until I have a complete idea. By doing it "backwards" in that way, nearly every time I've realized that I was describing something that's available off-the-shelf, but with modifications to turn its purpose into something entirely different. And you'd be surprised how often those modifications are just... tiny. For instance, do you want an incendiary device? You're surrounded by them, but you don't even give it a second thought. You probably carry one daily. All it takes to turn a smartphone into a fire bomb is the wrong (or right) update to the firmware controlling the battery charging circuit. You probably already know how volatile Li-Ion batteries are, from that whole scandal regarding the Samsung Note 7 bursting into flames and them having to recall LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM and issue them firmware updates that literally prevented them from charging in any possible way (yes that happened). And that was a MISTAKE. What if you do that but on purpose? If you're specific enough about how that firmware update is delivered (as in make sure it only goes to one specific phone), you could probably use that as a vector to potentially deliver an assassination attack. I'm incredibly uncomfortable with that knowledge.

[@Michael-ex8lk]

What happens if an E4 gets a PHD?

[@DK-Design]

​@@Michael-ex8lk🤯

[@TextualDeviant]

This has to be the most prime example of "If it's stupid and it works, then it's a war crime."

[@FatesKarma.]

Army: Sounds to crazy and dangerous shut it down. Marines: Hold up. Sounds like our kinda party. 😂

[@jackdanielles09]

As a person with "tactical fluff" I am 137% on board for a fried chicken vending machine.

[@twinly92]

Seven months late, but they have those in japan. They're freaking fantastic.

[@ChemEDan]

@@twinly92 👀 do they use that thingamajig to load mail planes in Japan too?

[@csonracsonra9962]

TACTICAL FLUFF 😂😂😂😂😂

[@puresyclone5163]

@@twinly92 go on

[@rexjrd963]

They exist in Japan funnily enough. Not very good fried chicken though.

[@TheMajorActual]

People are continually mystified at our ability to "think sideways" - this is why we are feared.

[@TheBlbeemer]

Well that,...and your insanity...

[@TheMajorActual]

@@TheBlbeemer It's why we ultimately win -- it just occasionally takes a while.

[@julianskilton200]

@@TheBlbeemer Can't predict or strategize counter tactics if there are no sane tactics to plan against, because practically everything is improvised then written down. Our children's toys get converted into weapons, we get more dangerous the less commanding officers there are, and default roe simplifies to "make whatever's being hostile into a mushroom cloud ASAP."

[@grimreminder5038]

As dark as that is...they really put a lot of thought into that and what a nightmare would it be to watch that unfold at dawn, plus PETA would only get mad because they wouldn't get to euthanize those bats first.

[@iamaloafofbread8926]

You mistyped, " Get to eat those bats first." :v

[@ghomerhust]

or break into the place where the bats were being kept and breaking them out and killing all of them and and and and... i hate those morons haha

[@grimreminder5038]

@@iamaloafofbread8926 Nah, I was being nice by not adding the fact that they'd leave the corpses in any nearby dumpster like the puppies among other orphaned/stolen pets they took. Eating the bats would be out of character since the bodies wouldn't be going to waste

[@Rekhan4242]

Imagine the psychological terror every time they see a swarm of bats, just wondering if it's another bomb. The entire city bursting into flames, giving an entire city PTSD when they see a bat, or a building burning at dawn.

[@christophermire3872]

Was PETA around back then?

[@TSTD_Punisher]

"somehow the marines ended up more deadly" this makes total sense

[@pvppenguinFPS]

It is the marines

[@deadmantwen]

Marines are second to none, and clearly the scientists were going to be first until this.

[@trailblazer632]

I feel like this is a fairly regular thought....

[@matthewiskra771]

"I don't need PETA coming after me with the frail, anemic wraith." THAT had me ROFL, and it goes in the quote file.

[@jayduncan8994]

Sounds a lot like one of the things St. Olga of Kiev did. She was laying siege to a city and offered them peace terms that required they give her a bunch of birds. She let the birds free after fastening a piece of smoldering cloth to their legs. They promptly flew back to the city, to their nests, and burned the city to the ground.

[@isaacgraff8288]

Was thinking that too

[@Singledadlifegabbysworld]

Wow never herd of this but shit she was a fuqin genius for that shit damn😮😮😮

[@Gabryal77]

@@Singledadlifegabbysworld look her up, that was like her sixth insane warcrime studies project

[@internetzenmaster8952]

@@Gabryal77 I mean, 'warcrimes' was more or less "sidequest objectives" during St. Olga's time in Slavic Europe.

[@ultimaxkom8728]

Game and novel authors take notes.

[@michaelyoung7261]

Thank you for teaching the weird rabbit holes of history that don’t get covered in school.

[@ghomerhust]

he honestly would probably make a fantastic history teacher. he has fun cadence, and obviously enjoys it.

[@BU1Lander]

@@ghomerhust if it's history about blowing shit up... which, to be perfectly honest, is the best kind of history.

[@lokei1326]

Like Vojek (spelling) the polish bear grunt.

[@irabullrider]

It's been on the history channel many times back when they had history on the history channel.

[@hurricaneace143]

​@@lokei1326didn't he retire as a sergeant?

[@lord_queso]

As a son of a Marine, a brother to a Marine and having several cousins achieve the proud distinction of becoming a Marine, I must insist on never stating, "That's impossible, it'll never work" to a Marine

[@letsexplainit5479]

Marine when someone says it's impossible: WANNA FUCKING BET JUNIOR? ILL THROW DOWN 100$ SAYING OTHERWISE

[@snteevveetns]

Marines are red necks on steroids and testosterone!

[@halo129830]

It’s impossible to make a mortar out of wood you can’t just dl that!

[@GhostBear3067]

Marine: "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!"

[@titankaltaris]

@lord_queso No, that's the best way to get them to do it

[@Sober-stig]

Dude these “hidden/forgotten” history videos are amazing.

[@the_fat_electrician]

More to come!

[@montarakid1943]

@@the_fat_electrician Absolutely! 😄

[@mlyness100]

Quickly becoming one of my favorite KZbinrs

[@Goulmy86]

I feel like I know way to many of these "forgotten " stories already 😂 Long live the internet

[@jimmyhughes5392]

i learnt about this a while back but recently watched a video of numerous Ebikes, Escooters and EV's burning down entire houses all over the west and it made me think of the batbomb, giving the fact everything is wifi enabled to send and receive data and the CCP control the manufacturing in China it probably wouldn't be hard to get them to push an update and have all connected devices rapid discharge

[@BarkingCur]

Army First Sergeant: "Outstanding! The bat bomb test went off without a hitch! And a big 'atta boy to Charlie company for getting all those bats disarmed in time for the demonstration!" Army Private: "Uh...what?" *BOOM!!!!!!*

[@paulvamos7319]

😂

[@ThirtytwoJ]

@@paulvamos7319 General "MY CHEVY!!!! ...wow, that's a lotta fire."

[@paulvamos7319]

@@ThirtytwoJ Yep, that it is! 🤣

[@AzraelThanatos]

Well, less BOOM and everything bursting into flames with a few occasional, smaller booms.

[@Shrkn8r]

“Frail anemic wrath” is my new favorite insult to PETA now

[@Archadies]

Brother, I have to throw it out that your niche comedy/history is still 100% on point. Nothing else comes close.

[@the_fat_electrician]

thank you!!!

[@altortugas5979]

Idk, Brandon Herrera’s idiotic attempt at practical history (recreating the homemade shotgun that killed Shinzo Abe) was pretty hilarious.

[@RavenGTR79]

I second and support this message as facts 🤜🤛

[@harrymu148]

man going back to some other regular content on youtube is like going back to caffeine after a diet of pure cocaine its not the same anymore.

[@the_fat_electrician]

@@harrymu148 LOL 😆 😂

[@zacharymarentette5269]

Japan: *sinks some boats* America: "I'm fluent in over 6 million ways of kicking your ass"

[@generaljedi8691]

We will also double that number before the conflict has ended. You have been warned

[@delphy2478]

historically sinking american boats has been what led to a LOT of destruction. The Barbary pirates basically got razed to the ground twice, becuase Europe couldn't handle them, then they attacked american shipping and america put them in the ground. the didn't learnt he lesson the first time, and they dind't get a second chance

[@silverbloodborne9495]

Now anyone can attack us and we probably wont be able to do much . God i hope something happens to wake AMARICA the fuck up

[@GetDougDimmadomed]

"We sank like three of their boats, they dropped the sun on us twice"

[@robinbarton3430]

​@@GetDougDimmadomed actually if you count the firebombing I believe that might actually be three times

[@ghomerhust]

can we just get a round of applause for the term "tactical fluff?"

[@the_fat_electrician]

lol 😆 🤣

[@brandonseyfried1251]

I just drank to that.

[@athelwulfgalland]

My personal favorite was "Jungle Jelly!" 🤣

[@athelwulfgalland]

My personal favorite was "Jungle Jelly!" 🤣

[@seashantier1593]

My beer gut is Level IIIA rated.

[@CodyRushDriving]

And 75 years later, the bats finally got their revenge. What a story.

[@monkeykidd420]

If you're inferring to covid that was made in a lab by a man not given to people by bats. Come on now

[@drewholmes7356]

Man…

[@SirMevan]

I laughed at this WAY harder than I should XD

[@chordalharmony]

@@SirMevanwhat’s the context for this?

[@SirMevan]

@@chordalharmony Covid

[@redrust3]

My grandma would have been grateful, had she known. She was one of the survivors of the April 9-10 American incendiary bombing of Tokyo. She eventually relocated to the US to spend the last 17 years of her life living with my brother and me. We looked after her until she died in 1998, age 102.

[@julieenslow5915]

Forgive the question, remember when asking is painful, don't answer. Did your Grandma ever forgive us? Did she find anything at all in our country to be - good or pretty or anything? I wasn't alive during WW2, born in 1952, but whether you like it or not, if you are American - whether you were there or approved or not - we did it. Now while the harm didn't go away - the US did what we could for the Japanese - we taught them capitalism. Whether it helped or harmed more - the Japanese took it, made it theirs (changed it to work for them) and it helped them rebuild. Yes we get the blame / thanks for that too. And the biggest amazing fact of all: we became friends with the Japanese, and our respect for them has grown exponentially. I much more prefer this relationship than that we had before. Friends fits, but I think it's more than that. I just can't define it, maybe someone else can.

[@FourOf92000]

@julieenslow5915 Guilt is taken up by persons, not by nations. I didn't do jack.

[@far2ez]

@@julieenslow5915 If I'm supposed to feel guilty for actions of other people, then this opens up so many other opportunities. America brought the internet and much more to the world. I'll accept my pay check any day now.

[@bologna640]

I read somewhere we considered putting plastic explosives on rats and putting them in fox and spider holes idk if its real or actually happened but the thought of Charls entertainment cheese's cousin blowing up your tiny tunnel your trying to sleep in is just terrifying

[@SsgtTucker]

The Russians tried something similar in WW2 with dogs trained to blow up tanks. And then God intervened by having the Russians get a taste of their own medicine. I mean, really! Sending the goodest bois with tnt at a tank is just asking for God to destroy your country

[@Texasplit]

There’s a scene in the movie “wanted” where a dude feeds rats peanut butter mixed with c4, and gives them all little watch band detonators

[@tsukishiro70]

@@Texasplit Great film, and one of the best scenes. And the really scary bit is that it is really plausible as a mass casualty inducing attack tactic.

[@mr.teacherguy]

Yup allies did this in WWII and would leave a dead rat with a mercury fuse. When the rat was moved...boom!

[@Texasplit]

@@tsukishiro70 yea imagine the damage that could be done to ny (if it actually works like that) Some special ops guys set up in a sewer, with non lethal rat traps. Collect a large mass (or he’ll even bring your rats (byor? Lol) They rig up rats on like 12-24 hour timers, and start releasing them Even if their was no direct human casualties, they are gonna damage water and sewer systems, sever communication and subway lines Imagine a rat bomb just slightly warping a subway track (that’s a ton of bodies when the next train rolls through) All you would need is like a van and two dudes…

[@MrPlainsflyer]

That is one of the most historically accurate, and horrifying, methods to end a siege. Saint Olga of Kiev approves

[@the13inquisitor59]

Now there's an obscure reference.

[@stratigangames508]

I'd pay to see him cover her in a video.

[@jameswells554]

The original Sparrow missile

[@snippyJ]

​@@stratigangames508 as would I!!

[@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286]

I just want a woman like Saint Olga, is that so much?

[@justindavis6406]

5:30 I'd like to believe the very same marine that saved the project, named it "x-ray" because he had it confused with echolocation

[@mikehancho5286]

This is on top of my "I do not want to be on the receiving end" list. It bumped off "I ran out of Cope Marines" who got into a tic, and Doc got hit.

[@jrev2284]

As someone who loves history, military history, and historical weapons/inventions your channel never stops giving great lessons with the added benefit of being one of the best comedians on youtube. Keep up the good work!

[@the_fat_electrician]

thank you I'm glad you like um!!

[@c.s.oneill2079]

Yardsticks work too. Kinda.

[@frankhinkle5772]

May I recommend the book Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat by Giles Milton. About the British SOE and what they came up with out of a candy store.

[@pissyellowporchcouch]

@@the_fat_electrician in the birth of what would become Russia. The Queen of Ukraine, later given sainthood by the Pope... Not the epic part. Starts off with her Husband being killed and dragged through the street... Ends with sweet revenge *the Queen told all of new Subjects to please collect and provide as many local Birds as possible. As a gift to her as the new Queen.. blah. Okay thanks so she ordered her men to gather up all of the birds the townspeople had caged. Her instructions were to Cup an ember in cotton and tie them to the birds foot. Since they're from the community they go where they know be released they just went back to the normal spot and went to bed for the night

[@lydiamurugi6812]

@@the_fat_electrician Thank you for your educational and comedic view on war history. You make my day whenever I randomly remember one of your videos.

[@kabob0077]

5:23 There's no more terrifying a prospect than hearing a Marine say they'll do it instead.

[@Ryvaken]

Yes there is. The marine could say "I know how to fix this."

[@jarheadcharlie2315]

@@Ryvaken even worse... a marine CWO could say "Get a load of this shit..."

[@brentkalmbacher9092]

Of gods forbid a marine use the phrase "Here hold my beer."

[@gryphonosiris2577]

@@brentkalmbacher9092 Or a Marine shouting "SEMPER FI!!!" before charging at anything.

[@ThirtytwoJ]

You... havent dated my exs then.

[@zachaliles]

I sent this video to my son. He's a D&D DM. He came up with a version for the game. "The hellfire bat. A seemingly normal bat that has been driven mad by the plane of fire and is now consumed with the urge and given the ability to watch the world burn." I'm going to try to use it the next time him and I get into our campaign.

[@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286]

That's just the bats from Terraria.

[@tsamoka6496]

I love this idea and will shamelessly be stealing it for my next campaign. =^x^=

[@TheCrusaderKing]

As a fellow DM I am TOTALLY stealing this!

[@andreww2657]

Playing d&d with your son is goals lol

[@ThirtytwoJ]

Funny, now i wanna make another psychopathic Wildfire Druid.

[@JohnDoe-zl6ph]

Every time I hear you talk about Marines it makes me smile. I am a Former Fleet Marine Force Corpsman (ie..doc), it was good times being stationed with the USMC. Sempre Fi to all the Marines out there.

[@MrGeorge514131]

I do love the “forgotten” stories that somehow don’t get told, can’t imagine why !! Great show, I am sure there are enough of these to keep you in business for years

[@dannydersman8932]

The fact that they let the water grunts have access to a bat bomb is amazing. You know the air force was mad about not having "The Spicey Squeak" device in their arsenal. Or maybe the "BATastrophic Boomy Boy"? 😂

[@aikidodude05]

what i love is that in screwing up they gave the actual prefect test but because its was a own goal though it was a failure. hey this bomb caused a nightmare of a firestorm it must be a failure of a fire bomb. 😂

[@earldennis8100]

RLMAO, so the corpse made a small bombing run proving otherwise

[@earldennis8100]

Let me think, army aircorps, isn't that what we now call the air force?

[@ShmuckCanuck]

I mean there was no us airforce yet so

[@ShmuckCanuck]

Americans know the airforce wasn’t created till like after world war 2 rifht Like you had planes before that But you barely had an army it took you a whole war to realize you should probably copy the eurroans and make the Air Force it’s own thjng

[@huttonmr]

As these videos get more obscure they are also getting exponentially better. Keep up the good work

[@mervmartin2112]

A Bat is a triple oxymoron. A flying mammal, that hunts at night, finding it's prey with it's own silent scream. One of my favorite WW2 stories. Now shall shall we make pigeon guided bat cluster munitions?

[@margaretconnor5623]

Oh you mean the Kamikazi Pigeons, aka Project Pigeon. Yeah, they already did xD

[@butterw55]

> A Bat is a triple oxymoron. The platypus would like a word.

[@mervmartin2112]

@@butterw55 lol

[@msihcs8171]

@@margaretconnor5623If we combine the Kamikazi pigeons with the Bat Bombs we could then have pigeons flying in bats to bomb the enemy, I see no flaws with this logic and I'm not even a Marine 🤣

[@Miked1332]

Your explanation of a bat just blew my mind. I never thought of it like that. A squirrel with wings that isn't a rodent somehow, that hunts in the dark of night with poor(ish) eyesight but uses its own silent scream to hear that scream bounce off of tiny insects... What a nightmare. Lol

[@mia1shooter]

dude that transition into the sponsor with the perceived justification of peta backlash was absolute gold!

[@heathb4319]

Paused at 3:30 to say... His mail hook led directly to the Skyhook recovery system to be able to rescue downed pilots, special forces, etc etc.. An awesome system seen in James Bond and Batman movies.

[@richardkowan99]

You need to do a video on Operation Paul Bunyon. Where an American soldier was shot trying to trim a tree in the Korean DMZ and where we then made sure that tree was chopped down.

[@the_fat_electrician]

that is a good one

[@gryphonosiris2577]

And the US military didn't "over-react"... they just called in a shit ton of soldiers, some armor, and had a B-52 orbiting on station because "just in case".

[@badrobot2478]

2 US soldiers beaten to death by a platoon of North Koreans,with the axe they were using while trying to cut the tree down,not shot at.

[@Randomfactsofwar]

@@gryphonosiris2577 nuclear armed B52 by the way

[@nickseitz668]

You know what's crazy? There is a "children's" book series called Silverwing that taught me about "Bat Bombs" when I was like 10. If I remember correctly, specifically the second book in the series

[@louiseckstark31]

Yep it was the second book

[@iankirkwood2772]

Great books

[@michaelbonyak3517]

Thank god im not crazy. For years i thought i just imagined reading those 2 books. Definitely need to see if i can find copies of them.

[@sithlordzach8418]

I remember learning about this on a History Channel Weird Weapons of History episode.

[@Cragified]

A fun bit of trivia. The firebombing of Tokyo (Operation Meetinghouse) was so intense several unique things happened. 1. The inferno caused updrafts that caused the last elements of the attack to be pushed up several thousand feet when they were already 30,000 ft high causing them to drop their bombs just where ever near the giant flaming X through Tokyo. 2. Fire tornados were a real thing from the inferno. 3. Only the largest bodies of water saved some people as the heat actually made smaller ones start to boil and being us human beings need air that means those trying to seek refuge in it had to be near the surface... which was boiling. 4. 267,000 buildings were destroyed. Over 1 million left homeless and best estimates where around 100,000 dead, and 130,000 wounded. Many wounded never recovered and the follow on deaths from burns and exposure may have been another quarter of a million. 5. Emperor Hirohito toured the destruction in March of 1945 and likely was the the thing that put him on the path to realizing that to fight to the end would lead to the complete destruction of the Japanese people and culture.

[@wolfofwallgreens]

Wow. I knew a little of that but wow ! Then to think they had an atomic bomb to still look forward too. Thanks for sharing.

[@CallanElliott]

@lurkingcarrier8736 If you look at the chronology of events, Japan actually issued two declarations of surrender. One to the Home Islands which emphasised the bombings and the nukes particularly, and the other to the military forces in China, which emphasised the Soviets. So both are true, but given the people we're dealing with here have the same level of thinking as those who condemn the US for dropping the nukes... not sure how much this will help.

[@JohnDoe-wt9ek]

@@CallanElliott Potential History addressed this in a video. The two pleas were meant to meet the situational position that the Homeland and the last bits of the Army on the mainland of Asia were facing. But ultimately, it was a reservation of Hirohito and some of his War Cabinet that they would not be able to perform their overall strategy of "bleeding the enemy into peace talks" when they were doing all the bleeding, and the Allies were doing all the winning, untouched. You have the fire bombings which, like Germany, was horribly effecting the homefront. Then you have the Russians, now released from fighting their war on the Ostfront, now able to centralize their troops in Manchuria, and began beating seven shades of fecal matter out of the Japanese who were, in the same breath, beginning to lose ground to the Chinese Nationalists while SIMULTANEOUSLY getting bushwhacked by Chinese Communists in their occupied zones, specifically, in the rural country areas they could not pacify. And in that SAME period, 2 atomic bombs were released on the Japanese Homeland. However, there was an attempted coup (an uncoordinated, horribly executed one at that) to stop the Emperor's recorded message of surrender getting put on the radio and thrown towards the Americans by other Japanese Officers and their followers. One letter, to the Homeland, essentially said "We are being bombed into oblivion, and I, the Emperor, cannot stomach the idea of watching our nation, our families, and our culture and people being wiped off the face of the earth. If not the fire bombings, then the Atomic weapons," to which the citizens and those troops in Japan agreed. But it would not work on the Japanese military forces deployed because they would not believe that such a weapon as the Atomic Bombs was even feasible. And the Fire Bombings were such a regular basis to be heard of that they really had hardened their own hearts to the plight the homeland was facing. Which meant the second letter was to those on the frontlines, which essentially said "We can't maintain our held ground, we're losing everywhere. We can't resupply you, let alone maintain command and control when you're constantly being forced back. While you are courageous and brave in the face of the odds arrayed against you, there is no hope for victory, and to throw away your lives needlessly when the enemy is not feeling the sting of the strategy we have set upon, is not working nor effecting the peace talks we are desiring. The only options before us are extinction, or unconditional surrender..." And because it was the Emperor addressing the whole of the Japanese people, it had the intended affect that was hoped for. Japan would surrender unconditionally. However, when they did surrender, they were surprised, even overjoyed, at how the Americans both treated them, and how they treated the closure of the conflict. Because, for the Japanese, if they were the ones receiving the US' unconditional surrender, they would not have been merciful or fair, let alone humane (considering their views on the warrior culture and the idea of surrender, itself, being an act of cowardice, considering that afterwards they had several generals who were tried and convicted for their crimes in the treatment of POW's). Essentially, America, especially MacArthur's speech, heavily emphasized a new world where peace would reign, and that we would work together to rebuild the nations we had conquered, rather than subjugate them to permanent slavery, subjugation, or to destruction and dismantling.

[@CallanElliott]

@@JohnDoe-wt9ek I don't disagree and I watched the same video, I just wasn't writing this much to confirm that two declarations were made citing different reasons for different people.

[@Isometrix116]

​@@CallanElliottHonestly, I empathize with people who condemn the nukes being dropped. From a pure utilitarian and loss of life standpoint, given everything the US knew, it was absolutely the correct choice. However, it's hard to reconcile that with the fact that this was up there for the worst things humans have done. You are literally dropping the sun on people. And while there were legitimate military targets within the cities, there were also countless civilians, including children, who were vaporized. We want to believe that right = good and wrong = bad. When right = bad and wrong = good, it's this whole moral conundrum. We can logic it out through utilitarianism but it just feels... Cold. Uncaring. Obviously, yes, the nukes were the right choice given everything. But it was also horrific. It's something that should be solemnly remembered, not celebrated. I grew up where the nukes were made. Well, one of the places. We... Talked about it a lot. It's hard to reconcile it all, culturally. We have a foreign exchange program with Japan in our high schools, we show them what we saw, why we did what we did. They show us the human cost. The family members lost, the scars on the cities and people. How the event is culturally etched into their history. It gives us a lot to think about and talk about regarding the topic.

[@tristanmathieson2540]

There's a book by Kenneth Oppel called Sunwing, where the Bat Bomb project plays a major part of the plot. I thought it was just something the author made up for the story... nope, it turns out it was all true. Just wild!

[@brianp5564]

The best part of your history lessons is the delivery, awesome work sir!

[@the_fat_electrician]

Glad you like them!

[@KingDubb420]

The mid air mail collection thing actually ended up being used for Special Operations and especially in Antarctica

[@RobCalhounPGH]

Skyhook

[@mcarrowtime7095]

the dude making these is a certified unhinged genius

[@paulvamos7319]

They use it in Alaska too when they have nowhere to land!

[@8RedBear5]

That moment you realize that a Dentist high on his own sedative's and a bunch of Marines are more deadly then a Bunch of PhD Nuclear Physicists and their tree hill laboratory. [insert, It always has been, Meme]

[@spliffingrat5469]

the marine standing in the middle of the burning place "amazing, how effective this is, i want this"

[@bradbrandon2506]

Just saying that advertisement legitimately made me want that product... I don't even have a gun!

[@Endless_Jaguar]

I've been pointing this out for YEARS. Thanks for covering the fact that nuking Japan was the lesser of three evils.👍

[@bogustoast22none25]

Invasion, nuke or fire bats.

[@Meowthix]

It's honestly a huge reason I respect Japan so much. Literally bombing their country was more globally sound than trying to civilly war with them. We would have quite literally needed to kill every living person on that island to get them to surrender, even then, i'm sure we'd need to get back to work on Nazi anti ghost warfare to stop their spirits from continuing to war with the living. I respect that level of bull-headedness. They refused to lose.

[@Gabryal77]

I wonder how different history would be if America had used bat bombs instead of Atomic ones

[@austinftwXD]

​@@Gabryal77 man, thats gotta be a wild timeline

[@kurtvonfricken6829]

@@Meowthix Unfortunately, the inability to surrender got millions of people killed that didn’t need to be.

[@HeisenbergFam]

7:24 you know its deadly serious when Fat Electrician, the big brain says "it makes me question everything"

[@626Pennywise]

I had actually heard about this project before, but I hadn't heard that the Marines took it over after the bats burned down an airfield.

[@Arv.99]

If the DC universe had a multiverse... we all know some dark batman version has the supper power to control bats, and then proceeded to turn them into bat bombs

[@jamesstechcon6192]

Allright, @ 4 mark 20 I've (again) gotta up-load a (😂) for ur delivery ...

[@REBELS-SLNDERMAN]

As a Marine, that sounds about right, we can build the best weapons with the worst items to use

[@RG-di8ni]

Congratulations on winning the rifle from Matt.

[@the_fat_electrician]

thank you!!! it was fun

[@baseballjustin5]

Once you caught up with Admin lol

[@RG-di8ni]

@@the_fat_electrician just a thought BAT BANG t shirt

[@LeafyMouse4478]

The only animal based weapon. Me looking at the video a few weeks back about pigeon guided bombs

[@Volvith]

Also weaponized dolphins. Those exist.

[@Ultrox007]

Don't forget the failed russian anti-tank dogs.

[@thurin84]

[angry soviet dog ied noises]

[@thurin84]

[angry pigeon guided bomb noises]

[@thurin84]

[angry porpoise limpet bomb noises]

[@andrewzamora2689]

"Lowest lifeform in earth" immediately followed by "flies faster and can carry more than birds"

[@ZachPrime]

I'm really torn up on this one. Part of me really wishes that this was implemented. Not only for its drastic effectiveness but the lack of radiation potential in the world, I want that. But on the other side of that particularly burnt coin, is now the threat of animal warfare on a scale that can drop a city and would be damn near undetectable for a very long time

[@theAsterisk]

". . . damn near undetectable . . ." Secondary proposal as part of Project X-ray was to let the bats loose near the Japanese coast from a submarine at dusk or at night. You know, in case the USAAF wouldn't play nice with the Marines, but the Navy would.

[@sithlordzach8418]

@@theAsteriskWasn't the USAF not a thing back then? It was just part of the Army in WW2 and the Army was dealing with the war in Europe. The navy would likely be the ones dropping the bat bombs on Japan anyway.

[@theAsterisk]

@@sithlordzach8418 Read again - USAAF, two "A"'s, as in U S Army Air Force. The USAAF very much did the strategic bombing of Japan- explosive, incendiary, and nuclear. Initial plans for the bat bomb involved the USAAF; the USMC picked it up after the USAAF dropped it, but the Marines were dependent on either (1) smaller, shorter range aircraft, or (2) the Navy getting them there or (3) as a part of the Department of the Navy (to this day, though their grunts don't like to hear it or admit it), collaboration with Navy leadership. Only the USAAF had true long-range strategic bombers, and only those could reach the Japanese home islands reliably until very, very late in the war. As for the Army "dealing with the war in Europe", the Army was very much present in the Pacific, too. There were parallel campaigns, even, since MacArthur and Navy leadership engaged in a perpetual pissing match over who had theater command, with Roosevelt basically drawing a line through the theater and telling each to stay on his side of the room. (Most of the fighting in the west of the theater, up north of Australia, was an Army affair.) After a point, both Army and Marines were involved in the same battles. This actually lead to conflict in command style and animosity between Army and Marine forces, notably at Iwo Jima (where the Ohio National Guard served) and on Okinawa, with Army and Marine officers threatening fist fights with each other over doctrinal differences. Each swore the other were suicidal idiots for their preferred methods of artillery support, flank defence, infantry employment, etc. The Marines also had a habit of taking Army-assigned targets without bothering to inform the Army they had done so, which at least once almost lead to a US airstrike on a Marine-held Japanese fortification. (Marines there only alerted the Army and Army Air Force that they held the position when the put up a Confederate flag, since they'd taken no US flag with them when they seized the Army objective as a target of opportunity.) More Army served and died on Okinawa than Marines. And to make it messier, at Okinawa, a joint-unified "Air Force" of combined Army and Marine origin was created and placed under unified Army-Marine command. What's more, the whole shebang was ultimately, strategically a Navy-run operation, under USN admiralty (Admiral Turner? I think?), though granted an operational autonomy once landed ashore. The assault to retake the Philippines was overwhelmingly Army, not Marine, too, though that's related to the aforementioned pissing match between MacArthur and Naval leadership, again.

[@SuperSpiffy]

You should do one on the russian mine dogs where the misconceptions are that the Russians accidentally trained them to run under russian tanks but in reality they just never got desperate enough. Guess it takes more in dog chow to train a dog than it does in bat feed to let natural instincts do what you want.

[@Volvith]

If it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid. However, in times of war, it's never stupid. _Just an idea that has yet to reach maturity._ *_Bat Bombs literally got nuked though._*

[@generaljedi8691]

Just goes to show nukes weren’t the only end game plan. There were plenty of back ups in development.

[@Nightmare-cr3iw]

Gave up KZbin for lent. Immediately went to your channel and watched the backlog. I was NOT disappointed! Keep it up Nick!

[@the_fat_electrician]

Welcome back!

[@michaelyoung7261]

Good job on the completion

[@panther-nk2hn]

You are one strong mf'er. I would not have been capable.

[@robr286]

Found this channel the other day and binged most of the videos at work. It's great. It's like a military history version of Mr Ballen

[@slughunter20]

Loved your appearance on Demolition Ranch. Keep up the great work. Awesome channel!

[@terryhiggins5077]

After the pigeon targeting system, I knew it was only matter of time till the bat bombs were covered

[@KenBober]

The way you explain history makes me want to learn more and more. Love the content and the longer videos. I probably would have payed more attention in high school if I had teachers like you instead of "Beuller.......Beuller.........Beuller......" My teachers were just counting the days until retirement. I salute you and everyone in the comments who served!

[@stephanieleigh_SassyGunGal]

I LOOK FORWARD TO ANY VIDEO OF YOURS!!! Thank you for teaching me so many interesting facts about military history!! And thank you for making my Wednesday a bit better 😊

[@killianshelton6457]

Ok so I just binged a bunch of your videos and this was the last one I landed on, but hear me out... The amount of times you actually knife-hand air in your videos is hilarious. Most of the time there's a picture, screenshot, or label, but honestly, as a Marine, I don't do math in public. However, the general amount of times I've noticed it has me dying laughing. It's equivalent to counting a COs pet words during a safety brief. My point is, as a big humongous fan of yours, I think a compilation of you knife-handing nothing in all your videos would be hilarious. Anyways, love what ya do brother, keep it up! 🤙🏻

[@countrygirl7402]

I'm telling you as a kud from a military family, This... is 100% believable. The ideas and ingenuity of the American military is absolutely amazing.

[@shotmagnet3224]

My question is did it burn the evidence? Imagine the chaos if you couldn't find a cause. All these fires "magically" start, the psyops value might equal the destructive. Thanks for the vid brother, funny and informative as always.

[@Czarisyn]

Can you imagine the tales they would have told? "The wide eyed Americans had summoned fire bats from Hell! They were not a sleeping giant, instead they are a slumbering Demon Lord!"

[@Seven_Leaf]

Or the flip side, Japanese futilely trying to find, kill and disarm thousands of bats within a couple of hours at the crack of dawn if they did find out.

[@mikeklinger1712]

Huh there's a big cylinder full of bat shit next to each one of these torched cities 😂

[@cavebear7261]

Have you thought about making a video on the KABAR knife? I think there's some fun content you can find in it, like how they changed the name because someone supposedly killed a bear with it.

[@ryanoakley8426]

Great video idea

[@TacPhoenix]

That's exactly why I own one and keep it within arms reach at almost all times.

[@plumbershack1692]

Love the content. Nothing says USMC like a low budget version of WMDs.

[@TheCrackedFirebird]

Gotta make due with less.

[@jedijam91]

They wrote a children's book that referenced this and I had to read it in middle school. The novel Sunwing, sequel to Silverwing, involved the main character Shade, who was a bat, being used as one of the bats in one of those bombing runs.

[@labrat810]

I'm all for intertwining real history with childrens' tales, but... Holy Crap! that's morbid. *shrug* gotta deal w/ it someday.

[@michaelbonyak3517]

​@@labrat810for a childrens book it gets morbidly dark at that part. I remember at one point they end up chewing through their flesh to remove the bombs. Again this is a childrens book. Like younger than hunger games childrens book

[@cocoworldwideoriginal998]

Bro I'm kind of glad I didn't like reading and only got through 1/4 of the first book as a kid. That shit is dark.

[@hurricaneace143]

Ok BULLSHIT! You can't be serious?!😮😢

[@SupersuMC]

@@hurricaneace143 They're serious.

[@mikealsewnarine9549]

man i love these videos. i legit never thought i would end up enjoying military escapades so much.

[@timothyrobinson5656]

My understanding of the United States plan (a) to end the war in the Pacific was an invasion of the Japanese main Islands. We anticipated at least 1 million US casualties, estimates were always low (I think ~30% of actual casualties), therefore US casualties probably would have been closer to 3-4 million. I personally speculate that Japanese losses would have been at least 50-70% of the population including the military.

[@Johnrich395]

And we are still using the Purple Hearts that were made for that invasion plan, thank God for The Bomb.

[@JX02123]

So I lived in a house in PA that ended up getting bats in it. 1 I can understand how this dentist didn't like bats after this experience I kind of agree with him. 2 no one could do anything to the bats because they were all protected because some damn dentist lit a shit ton of them on fire.

[@-LastStand-]

The alternate real reason for the bats being protected: those bats are to be preserved for when we need them.

[@frankhinkle5772]

One of the most interesting history books that I have read was Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat by Giles Milton. The group of armatures who came together and formed the S.O.E. had great effect on all of the war in all of the theaters. We were sinking Japanese submarines because of these British kitchen sink inventors. What amazing people, may God bless them all. I highly recommend it for anyone who thinks they know something about WWII.

[@MrKnickers12]

You know you're from the Midwest when your go-to bat deterrent is a tennis racket. To this day, that is the only reason why I own one. Thank you for the great content!

[@the_fat_electrician]

😄 🤣

[@ahelpinghound2009]

I've seen an old guy stand under a street light with a cane-pole and spin the lure in circles to "catch bats" he said his Dad did it during the Depression 😮 Definitely makes you appreciate things

[@timh6845]

Whacking the ones with NAPALM canisters may not end well for you…

[@MrFarmer110]

I don't use mine for bats, I use it for carpenter bees chewing holes in my porch beams.

[@altortugas5979]

Or you love John Candy movies and have seen The Great Outdours.

[@stevenowens4511]

re: Lytle S. Adams, have you done a video on "human pick-up"? If not, it'd probably be a blast to see your take on it. Lytle's patents were acquired by Richard du Pont, founder of All American Airlines (which later became US Air). AAA further developed it and used it for airmail... and were asked by the War Department to figure out how to use it for humans during WWII. According to my uncle (who died a few years back in his 90s, after spending his life working for the company) the technique was used in WWII on some number of occasions for evacuating spies and a modified form was used for evacuating wounded via gliders during D-Day (google tells me it was called "glider snatch pick-up").

[@danielbrown6334]

VMFA-242, a Marine Corps F-18 squadron. Stationed in Japan to this day. Their symbol? A BAT!

[@3fingerfarm73]

As a former USMC I totally get it. Adapt, overcome, hand me a bat!!!!

[@ltcphantom2763]

Why do I sense you mean both meanings of "bat"

[@Syn_1]

this isn't the only animal-based WMD, although probably the only one built specifically for an animal. If I recall the British thought about using nuclear mines in Germany should the cold war get hot. To keep them from freezing in the winter they planned to bury chickens in a box with the nuke so it would keep them warm.

[@Liam_Patton]

Did this comment become the reason for his video a month later?

[@Syn_1]

@@Liam_Patton probably not but i like to think it did.

[@Talvasin]

So happy you did this one. I have always knew about it and found it so funny

[@MrSebesta]

And another gem put together by the legendary Rotund Wireman!! Bravo, Sir!!!👏🏽 The reason they titled the project "Ooeration Xray" was bc FDR liked it and told his minions to "Look into it!" The CT scan and the MRI had yet to be a hit. That's a true story...... but if it's not, it should be!! 5:36

[@1982jeepcj8]

Part of the reason the army dropped this idea, is the truck carrying the bats, wrecked, overturned and all the bats escaped...........wait for it, weaponized, Bat bombs burned down a large area of Pennsylvania farms for weeks afterwards

[@svenanderson06]

I love your comedy, keep up the amazing work!❤

[@the_fat_electrician]

Thank you! Will do!

[@aking-plums6985]

@@the_fat_electrician Two videos in a row and there has been no animal / imperial measurement combo, how am I going to release my hatred of the metric system without them?

[@RoughNek72]

It's not comedy, it's completely true. 😆 🤣 😂

[@gerrottdean1058]

Just found you today from a Brandon Herrera video and your content is top tier. Super interesting content

[@ElegantMessTechPC]

Actually your recent co-lab with Demolition Ranch made me think of a video idea, the deadliest group/MOS in hand to hand combat...or instances of. As always so much to watch, & the best way for me to learn. Introduce comedy & that shit will stick with me forever !

[@Randy_From_Work]

Most epic video yet! When he said 12x I was like holy shit! But then when he explained what at scope that would probably mean, I was in aw. Fantastic mind blowing video! And best of all, it’s so crazy good that I can share it with even more people than the ones I know that would only appreciate the funny military/history ones. Great job, give yourself a POB for this one Nick!

[@rfaero70]

The only thing you missed was why the bombs were never actually used. As per Wikipedia- "More tests were scheduled for mid-1944, but the program was canceled by Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King when he heard that it would likely not be combat ready until mid-1945. By that time, it was estimated that $2 million (equivalent to $32.5 million today) had been spent on the project. It is thought that development of the bat bomb was moving too slowly, and was overtaken in the race for a quick end to the war by the atomic bomb project. Adams maintained that the bat bombs would have been effective without the devastating effects of the atomic bomb: "Think of thousands of fires breaking out simultaneously over a circle of forty miles [64 km] in diameter for every bomb dropped. Japan could have been devastated, yet with small loss of (American) lives."

[@josephvarno5623]

Entertaining. I had heard of this and the predecessor Russian Tsarina Olga firebombing. And I've known enough combat veteran Marines to know that if a thing would be a confusing cacophony of death and fire, Marines are overjoyed to employ it against an enemy. It's just the rules.

[@willmorgan956]

Dude! Love the videos! Especially weird military history. You should do one on the McLean Farm and House. The first battle of Bull run was fought on this dude’s farm. He moves to a house in an area of Virginia, to escape the war. Well that area is called Appomattox Court House. 'The war started in his front lawn and ended in his front parlor'.

[@thekingmoose8004]

Ok you gotta do the cat guided bombs that they designed for the navy. The lads in RnD during ww2 were some special shit.

[@jrmorris8140]

These videos are epic and always filled with great military education. Awesome content!

[@GenX1964]

7:00. Ah. Nuclear bonds. Not chemical bonds. When you start rippin protons out of an element, not electrons, it's new kinda fireworks show.

[@sentinalMuse]

Not the only animal bomb. The pigeon guided missile was another one.

[@m2hmghb]

I've been waiting for you to do a video on this one!! One of the most interesting ideas, but creepy as hell.

[@Thatdudebigttv]

I swear you need your own podcast . I could watch these videos all day

[@Raccoonactual]

I was wondering if this would get covered at some point, and it didn't disappoint. Great execution as always brother. Side note. Essentially WW2 was just America's excuse to start throwing every idea at the wall and see what stuck. TAC at it's finest.

[@SynchronizorVideos]

It wasn't just the U.S. The Nazis had all kinds of crazy stuff they were trying that are pretty well documented, the British were doing their own shenanigans with earthquake bombs and the home guard scooting around on roller skates armed with slingshots, the French resistance found all manner of creative ways to sabotage the occupying forces, and so on. Even the Japanese got pretty inventive, although unfortunately their creative ideas were less about fun and wacky gadgets and more along the lines of weaponizing cholera for use against Chinese civilians and convincing their own people to blow themselves up for a small chance at taking an American with them.

[@Mikanoes]

If you take a military scientist and outfit him like a marine, it will instill no fear. But, as this has shown, if you so much as hand a marine a lab coat, nothing but pure terror and chaos will follow.

[@hanisk2]

Hold up..hold up.. a fried chicken vending machine?!?! You need to make a video on that. That’s the most American thing I’ve ever heard of.

[@diabeticjesus87]

There was a Queen named Olga who ordered one bird from every house and had her soldiers tie sulfur bombs to hundreds of birds. The birds then flew back to where they came from and burned the entire city to the ground.

[@austinstubblefield5810]

I don't think I can watch one of your videos without laughing until my face hurts 😂. Love the content.

[@the_fat_electrician]

Glad you like them!

[@victorpapaavp]

literally an hour ago: "I think we're overdue for a Fat Electrician video..." Impeccable timing!

[@the_fat_electrician]

haha ya I'm late lol

[@victorpapaavp]

@@the_fat_electrician It's ok, the content was worth the wait

[@burnonedown2day]

I'm not a military man and just recently found your channel but I have to say that I love your sense of humor and really enjoy your videos! Fuck yeah Bud!

[@oldgus01]

"A dentist taught the Marines how to turn bats into a WMD" sounds more like someone's play in Cards Against Humanity than US History, and yet here we are.