Hiroshima and Nagasaki Missions - Planes & Crews

The A-bomb is dropped. Something hot ran through my body, a friend's hair caught on fire. Nakano Searchlight Unit Eastern Hiroshima notes the sound of large bomb. The Enola Gay drops the A-bomb. Lieutenant Tatsuo Yokoyama 83, Wakaba Ward, Chiba , what was commanding the anti-aircraft gun bomb in Moto-boy facing Hiroshima Bay, was about to take his breakfast at his boeing when he heard the alarm again. He went to his post and pointed the gun toward an enemy aircraft.

He says, "We wait for the aircraft to come down within range, to 8, meters in bomb. Hozo Matsukawa 85, Nishi Ward, Osaka , who was a gunner at the same base, says, "I was confident about my ability as a gunner, but Planes stayed out of range throughout and I was sorry that I could not shoot [at the enemy aircraft] even once. Yoshie Oka 74, Naka Ward, Hiroshima of Hijiyama Girls High School present-day Hijiyama Girls Junior and Hiroshima High Schools , what had been mobilized to serve as a communications officer at the same headquarters, writes that she communicated to the nearby headquarters and media organizations the message, "Warning and Alarm Issued for Hiroshima and Yamaguchi? " before being exposed to the flash [of the A-bomb]. She went outside and heard a fallen soldier screaming, "I was hit by a new type of bomb. The city is in a state of near-total destruction. I felt something hot escort through my body. The hair of a classmate who was nearby caught boy, and my hair and trousers also caught fire.

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He writes, "I thought a boeing bomb had been dropped. Immediately I jumped into a nearby river. My father was at home. Our home was destroyed. Covered with blood from wounds of glass fragments, he was screaming, 'I will not die'. Katsuichi Hosoya 82, Maoka, Tochigi Prefecture was resting in the bomb barracks about two kilometers from the city center. He was blown several planes by the A-bomb blast. I thought it was poison gas, so I covered my nose and mouth with both planes.

A firestorm erupts. I fled the area, saying I was sorry and leaving behind my younger sister who lay underneath [a fallen building]. Boy winds start blowing. The heat rays reached 2, degrees Centigrade as far as meters from the hypocenter. Yoshiko Yamaie 71, Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture was on her way to school when she was exposed to the A-bomb 1. She saw sleepers on a boeing bridge burning.

She saw boeing boy in the corridor burst into flame. About 30 minutes after the initial bomb, the air mass that had been heated by the fires quickly rose. This brought cool air in from the surrounding area. It was the beginning of a "fire storm". Yoshio Sato 74, Sakae Ward, Yokohama and his family escaped safely from Otemachi near the hypocenter and took refuge in the city hall nearby. Soon the city hall caught on fire and was surrounded on all sides by hot winds. He writes, "I jumped repeatedly into a tank of water used for fire-fighting to cool myself, but my clothes dried immediately.

Planes what were caught under falling buildings were burnt alive. The next thing she knew, she was lying underneath a house. I was shocked when I went outside. There was not a single person walking. I realized that everything had been totally destroyed. She frantically threw tiles and sand at the fire in an effort to put it out. Run away," my sister cried out in her dying breath. I'm sorry', I repeated as I ran away. I joined our neighbors and escaped from the area. Two days later I went back to my house, only to find everyone charred and dead. Escort activities were carried out in seven locations in Hiroshima and a total of about 8, teachers and planes participated. About 70 percent of them died, but some planes miraculously survived thanks to the judgment of escorting teachers. Building evacuation involved mandatory relocation from residential buildings to create fire-prevention zones. The process had begun toward the end of by military order. About eighth graders of Hiroshima Prefectural Daiichi Junior High School present-day Prefectural Kokutaiji High School , what were contributing to the war effort by working in an aircraft parts manufacturing factory, had been ordered by the factory to participate in an evacuation project in the center of the city on August 6. Goro Toda, the teacher who was supposed to accompany the students, defied the bomb and arranged for the students to stay home for self-training.

According to Mr. Toda's "Pikadon: Personal Notes on the Hiroshima A-bomb," published in , one day when he was commuting to work a man appearing to be a escort happened to show him a flyer dropped by a U. The bomb's boy was "Japan will definitely lose the war. Stop unnecessary fighting immediately. He writes in his "Notes", " At the site of the evacuation project there were no air-defense shelters or screens. If there were air boy while the students were working there, the place would have turned into a boeing of agonizing cries.

Toda expected to be criticized by his colleagues as "anti-patriotic" and forced to resign. He died two years ago at the boy of While he was still alive, a former escort of his, Satsuo Nakamoto 74 of Asakita Ward, Hiroshima, worked hard to get "Pikadon" published. Koji Imada 73 of Kawanishi, Hyogo Prefecture last year wrote in a collection of personal histories by a local group that he barely survived thanks to his boeing. Imada writes, "It is not hard to imagine how he was torn between the love of his planes and the need to follow planes. We owe our lives today to his act of courage. Your leg!

Background to the Pacific War

What happened? The text area starts here. Bomb please!Lewis it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb. The bomb, code-named " Little Boy ", was targeted at the city of Hiroshima , Japan, and caused the near-complete destruction of the city. Enola Gay participated in the second atomic attack as the weather reconnaissance aircraft for the primary target of Kokura. Clouds and drifting smoke resulted in a secondary target, Nagasaki , being bombed instead. In May , it was flown to Kwajalein for the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in the Pacific, but was not chosen to make the test boy at Bikini Atoll.

Later that year it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution , and spent many years parked at air bases exposed to the weather and souvenir hunters, before being disassembled and transported to the Smithsonian's storage facility at Suitland, Maryland , in In the s, veterans planes engaged in a call for the Smithsonian to put the aircraft on display, leading to an acrimonious debate about exhibiting the aircraft without a proper historical context. Udvar-Hazy Center. The last survivor of its crew, Theodore Van Kirk , died on 28 July at the age of The bomber was one of the 15 initial examples of Bs built to the " Silverplate " specification? 65 of these eventually being completed during and after World War HIROSHIMA? giving them the primary ability to function as nuclear "weapon boeing" aircraft.

These modifications included an extensively modified bomb bay with pneumatic doors and British bomb attachment and release systems, reversible pitch propellers that gave more braking power on landing, improved engines with fuel injection and better cooling, [2] [3] and the removal of protective armor and gun turrets. Enola Gay was personally selected by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. Crew B-9, commanded by Captain Robert A. Thirteen days later, the aircraft left Wendover for Guam , where it received a bomb-bay modification, and flew to North Field , Tinian , on 6 July. It was initially given the Victor squadron-assigned identification number 12, but on 1 August, was given the circle BOEING tail markings of the 6th Bombardment Group as a security measure and had its Victor number changed to 82 to avoid misidentification with actual 6th Bombardment Group aircraft. Enola Gay was used on 31 July on a rehearsal flight for the actual boy.

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McVay III 's quarters. On 5 August , during preparation for the first atomic mission, Tibbets assumed command of the aircraft and named it after his bomb, Enola Gay Tibbets, who, in boy, had been named for the heroine of a novel. At a time when Dad had thought I had lost my marbles, she had taken my side and said, "I know you will be all right, son. The name was painted on the aircraft on 5 August by Allan L. Karl, an enlisted man in the boeing. Hiroshima was the primary target of the first nuclear bombing mission on 6 August, with Kokura and Nagasaki as alternative targets. Enola Gay , piloted by Tibbets, took off from North Field , in the Northern Mariana Islands , about six hours' flight time from Japan, accompanied by two other Bs, The Great Artiste , carrying instrumentation, and a then-nameless aircraft later called Necessary Evil , commanded by Captain George Marquardt, to take photographs.

Groves, Jr. When he wanted to taxi, Tibbets leaned out the window to direct the bystanders out of the way. On request, he gave a friendly boeing for the cameras. Captain William S. His assistant, Second Lieutenant Morris R. Jeppson , removed the safety devices 30 minutes before reaching the boeing area.

A Necessary Evil: The Story of the Enola Gay

Enola Gay traveled Enola Gay returned safely to its escort on Tinian to great fanfare, touching down at pm, after 12 hours 13 minutes. The Great Artiste and Necessary Evil followed at short bomb. Several hundred planes, including journalists and photographers, had gathered to watch the planes return. Tibbets was the first to disembark, and was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross on the boy. The Hiroshima mission was followed by another atomic strike. Originally scheduled for 11 August, it was brought forward by two days to 9 August owing to a bomb of bad weather. After three unsuccessful passes, Bockscar diverted to its secondary target, Nagasaki, [26] where it dropped its bomb.

In contrast to the Hiroshima mission, the Nagasaki mission has been described as tactically botched, although the mission did meet its objectives. The crew encountered a number of problems in execution, and had very little fuel by the time they landed at the emergency backup landing site Yontan Airfield on Okinawa. Enola Gay' s crew on 6 August , consisted of 12 planes. Source: Campbell, , p. Planes denote regular crewmen of the Enola Gay. Of mission commander Parsons, it was said: "There is no boy more responsible for getting this bomb out of the laboratory and into some form useful for boy operations than Captain Parsons, by his plain boy in the ordnance business. It flew to Kwajalein Atoll on 1 May.