Why Engineering Was so Important During World War Ii

Ever since people stopped living as nomads, humanity has faced a consistent need to build shelters and other facilities. Why engineering has been an important part of our lives is revealed in the essay. However, that does not mean that it was always used with good intentions. As war spread around the world, engineering was gradually incorporated in forgeries, battle camps and even in the battlegrounds. Ironically, the science of construction and civil progress transformed into a destructive force. This paper will attempt to analyze the impact of engineering in the battlefield during World War II.

The birth of military engineering. Humans, ancient and modern, are driven by their lust for power. Romans were the first to tap into the idea of polymerizing engineering and the art of war. Their military tactics were supreme compared to those of any other nations. This allowed them to expand their empire and never be threatened by any other army. However, as eras swapped places and as civilizations evolved, so did military engineering. Every century was accompanied by innovations and improvements of old techniques or weaponry. Nevertheless nothing had prepared the world for what was going to happen come the twentieth century.

The sub-disciplines of military engineering. After the impact that military engineering had in World War I, almost every army had separate battalions made up of engineers. There were three types of engineering battalions. The first ones to appear were the combat engineers. Their primary objective was to increase the mobility in the battlefield. Cities, such as Freiburg, were destroyed just to provide the army with convenient areas full of trenches and camouflage zones to screen gun positions. Schools and hospitals were turned into storages for ammo, medical supplies and food. Fields full of crops, such as “The Black Forest” in Baden-Wurttemberg were completely obliterated and turned into hot spots full of mines and iron barbs to slow down the enemy forces.

The second edition to military engineering departments was the strategic support. Their priority was the maintenance of communication points and transporting facilities. Lots of airfields and docks were built, mostly while under fire. For the construction of Mulberry harbor, it took two months of underwater demolition of obstacles in order to ensure safe docking for all boats. This also had a toll on the environment as many animals went near extinction while others as the Wake Island Rail were completely extinct.

The third type of military engineering was ancillary support. They focused mostly in mapmaking and minesweeping. Seeing how many soldiers were falling victims to mines placed on the battlefields these engineers came up with a disturbing solution. They would train dogs to locate mines in the battlefield which resulted in a lot of casualties. Most of the dogs would die in an instant because of the explosions and the injured ones were euthanized.

Now let's think about new weaponry. World War II is quite notorious for the introduction of heavy and light machine guns which provided constant fire at the cost of accuracy. They would so much damage, that while used in battle, the mortality rate of soldiers would be nearly double that of walking through a minefield. Fragmentation grenades were also an innovation of this war. Not only would they cause large area damage, but also upon exploding, its case would burst into little shards that could injure people within a 50-yard radius and kill anyone closer than 30 yards to it. However none of these two above could match the damage of a bazooka. Created as a countermeasure for tanks, the bazooka would fire missiles with high precision and devastating results. All of these weapons were mass produced, so when battle fronts would change, anyone going into the previous battlefields could get their hands on them. That is if they could get past the mines without activating them.

It did not stop there though. Next in line were the war machines. The most famous is the Boeing flying fortress, a humongous plane equipped with ten machine guns and almost ten thousand pounds of explosives. These planes dropped around seven hundred thousand bombs on Germany and battlefields near the Pacific Ocean. Another horrific creation of military engineering was the M4 Sherman tank. Also produced in America, they were not quite the powerhouse that their Nazi counterparts were, but what they lacked in size, they made up for in speed and efficiency. Moreover they were quite inexpensive which lead to a mass production of them. Lastly hovercrafts were created to aid in amphibious operations. These machines could float on water and transport camouflaged soldiers into enemy camps for surprise attacks. They were also equipped with two turrets in case the enemy would discover the troops in the hovercraft. These operations had a very high mortality rate because even if the enemy soldiers were not eliminated, by destroying their food storages, they would starve to death.

The nuclear bomb. As unbelievable that it may sound, the worst was yet to come. Word had spread across the world that the Germans were experimenting on a nuclear energy-based weapon. Thus, in fear of such terrifying event, the United States of America decided to work on constructing a functional atomic bomb. This led to the creation of the “Manhattan Project”, which brought together famous scientists and engineers from all over the country. It took them three years in order to create a stable bomb that was functional. After running a test drop in New Mexico the world witnessed a new behemoth of destruction. The bomb extinguished everything within its radius also leaving nuclear waste behind. This weapon was too powerful for humankind to control. Unfortunately, that did not stop humans from using it though.

While the European war had come to an end, Japan had not yet surrendered and was still in an armed conflict with the United States of America. Thus, in order to bring an end to this war too, America requested Japan to surrender. After rejecting their request, Japan came face to face with what will be remembered as one of the biggest genocides of human history. At first it was Hiroshima, where the first bomb took the lives of over eighty thousand people on contact. The deaths caused by nuclear residue however, are thought to be twice as high. As Japan did not immediately surrender, three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki, taking the lives of another forty thousand people instantly. After these events the Japanese emperor decided to surrender thus concluding World War II. A truly horrific end to a truly horrific war.

In conclusion, having analyzed all the casualties of this war and even the impact it had on later generations we can say that such events should never again occur in the future. Engineering genius was misused crafting weapons of mass destruction which led to nothing but loss of human lives. Civilizations were completely annihilated, soldiers killed, kids orphaned and even animals were killed to extinction. In the end there are no real winners and this should serve as a lesson as what could happen if engineering knowledge is used with malicious intent.