Belated Banzai: Japanese Balloon Bomb Blowns Up in B.C.

Just when you thought the last gasp of the Showa Era had been exhaled, an Imperial Japanese Army Balloon Bomb was blown up in the Monashee Mountains in British Columbia earlier this month. Yes, that’s right! An IJA WWII Balloon bomb one of 9000 launched up into the Jet Stream with the intention of exploding over the North American mainland was detonated by a Canadian Bomb Disposal Unit after its discovery by Canadian Forrest Workers. According the RCMP, the bomb was half buried into the dirt and too big for removal. Thus they attached C-4 explosives and detonated the WWII relic which posed a danger to anyone who might encounter it. Originally hatched up as a plan to create havoc upon the forests of the Pacific North West, these Balloon Bombs made their way to North America within three days after launch from the Japanese Home Islands. While the concept seemed ingenious on paper, the plan proved to be ineffective in making any impact on the war effort to delay Japan’s inevitable defeat. As far as history is concerned, one school teacher in Oregon and five of her students were the only recorded casualties from these 9000 bombs which were ironically assembled by Japanese school children.