Destroying the chwinel
From Brigadier M. Calvert
Sir: In 1940 whilst working for Military Intelligence Research I was once brought in to confront the leaders of a British clandestine organisation whose ideas were visionary but impractical. After a few questions I stated that it would appear that they had obtained their ideas on demolition and sabotage from a current strip cartoon since they imagined that they could blow bridges the size of Westminster Bridge with a few sticks of gelignite. Their organisation was subsequently wound up and its members dispersed. John Szemery, in his article 'Too many eggs in one basket' in which he anticipates the destruction of the Channel Tunnel appears also to have learnt from the same school (perhaps the same school which Bomber Thorpe attended?). How could the Channel Tunnel be destroyed? Certainly no 'car, container, suitcase or parcel' could carry enough civil or military explosive to cause any significant damage. A 35-ton truck filled with explosive or inflammable mixture could cause considerable superficial damage but an untamped explosive not in direct contact with the sides of the tunnel would be unlikely to bring down the lining of the tunnel and, in any case, any damage caused could probably be repaired within a few days sufficiently to allow the continuation of traffic.
Presumably the designers will have taken this threat into account and made allowances for it in their calculations. A nuclear device would be a different matter but so it would be in any built up area. Tunnels are quite difficult to destroy and the usual method is by the placing of explosives as a mined charge over the arch at the entrance.
Comparatively few tunnels were destroyed during the last war compared with the number of bridges and docks destroyed as their destruction was not considered worth the expenditure of explosive. Those that were destroyed in Italy and elsewhere were soon repaired by competent sappers.
I think that John Szemery is scaremongering and should state his interests.
Michael Calvert 6a Gregory Place, London W8.
Previous page
