A Japanese officer points out the target to the artillery observer where to direct the fire during the war with China.

War with China

I have previously commented on the farcical US weapon, the "bat bomb". This might seem equally farcical - apart from the fact that it worked, apparently spectacularly.

 This device was one of the products of the infamous Japanese specialist "Unit 731", well-known for its horrific human vivisection experiments, as well as other "initiatives" in chemical and biological warfare. The "flea bomb" was, apparently, a project in which the Unit's director, Shiro Ishii, took a personal interest.

 The basic concept was simple. A bomb, or cage, was designed with the "active" element of a vast number of human-preying fleas infected with bubonic plague, or some similarly unpleasant disease. This would then be dropped on a civilian population or other target. Dispersal of the fleas could be assisted with the aid of an explosive charge in the air at low level - fleas were more robust than bats when it came to surviving explosions. A number of bomb/cage types were tried including, apparently, artillery shells and ceramic bombs for aerial use.

 Unlike the US bat bomb, it seems certain that this baby was actually used - in China. Two experimental use of "flea munitions" took place. It is claimed that each caused veritable plagues in the target areas, with fatalities running into six figures. A slight drawback was that Japanese fatalities ran into five figures in relation to at least one of these experimental attacks - it is not clear whether this resulted from the distribution of "aerial" fleas, or whether the difficulty in handling flea-armed artillery shells was involved.

 There was an obvious attraction in the idea of using these weapons in an attack - probably suicidal - on the west coast of the USA. This appears to have been prevented by the progress of the war, and by fear of devastating US reaction to a Japanese distribution of the Black Death in Los Angeles - - a pretty standard reservation limiting the use of chemical and biological warfare on all sides in WW2. Pity for them that it did not apply to the unfortunate Chinese ... Best regards, JR. 

Not-so-wacky weapon - the flea bomb.

Japanese bicycle troops cycle through Malaya, past what is probably an oilfield installation burned by the retreating British, 1942.  Best regards, JR.