After
the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6,
1945, “a city died, and 70,000 of its inhabitants.” The B-29 bomber
stayed airborne, hovering above a terrifying mushroom cloud.
This
“dreadful instant,” as TIME once put it, helped speed the end of World
War II, launched the atomic age and began an ethical debate over the
decision to use nuclear weapons that has continued for more than 70
years — and that has extended to questions about the plane itself.
The
Enola Gay is a B-29 Superfortress, which pilot Paul Tibbets named after
his mother, and which had been stripped of everything but the
necessities, so as to be thousands of pounds lighter than an ordinary
plane of that make. In 1945, it was given an important task. “It was
just like any other mission: some people are reading books, some are
taking naps. When the bomb left the airplane, the plane jumped because
you released 10,000 lbs.,” Theodore Van Kirk, the plane’s navigator,
later recalled. “Immediately [Tibbets] took the airplane to a 180° turn.
We lost 2,000 ft. on the turn and ran away as fast as we could. Then it
exploded. All we saw in the airplane was a bright flash. Shortly after
that, the first shock wave hit us, and the plane snapped all over.”
The
plane returned to Tinian Island, from which it had come. A few days
later, on Aug. 9, the U.S. dropped another atomic bomb, this time on
Nagasaki. While it did not drop the bomb on Nagasaki, the Enola Gay did
take flight to get data on the weather in the lead-up to the second
strike on Japan.
After the war, the airplane took flight a few
more times. In the aftermath of World War II, the Army Air Forces flew
the Enola Gay during an atomic test program in the Pacific; it was then
delivered to be stored in an airfield in Arizona before being flown to
Illinois and transferred to the Smithsonian in July 1949. But even under
the custody of the museum, the Enola Gay remained at an air force base
in Texas.
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It
took its last flight in 1953, arriving on Dec. 2 at Andrews Air Force
Base in Maryland. As the Smithsonian recounts, it stayed there until
August of 1960, until preservationists grew worried that the decay of
the historic artifact would reach a point of no return if it stayed
outside much longer. Smithsonian staffers took the plane apart into
smaller pieces and moved it inside.
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By
the time the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan
approached, the Smithsonian had already spent nearly a decade restoring
the plane for exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air
and Space Museum. But when the nearly 600-page proposal for the exhibit
was seen by Air Force veterans, the anniversary started a new round of
controversy over the plane, as TIME explained in 1994:
The
display, say the vets, is tilted against the U.S., portraying it as an
unfeeling aggressor, while paying an inordinate amount of attention to
Japanese suffering. Too little is made of Tokyo’s atrocities, the sneak
attack on Pearl Harbor or the recalcitrance of Japan’s military leaders
in the late stages of the war — the catalyst for the deployment of
atomic weapons. John T. Correll, editor in chief of Air Force Magazine,
noted that in the first draft there were 49 photos of Japanese
casualties, against only three photos of American casualties. By his
count there were four pages of text on Japanese atrocities, while there
were 79 pages devoted to Japanese casualties and the civilian suffering,
from not only the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki but also
conventional B-29 bombing. The Committee for the Restoration and Display
of the Enola Gay now has 9,000 signatures of protest. The Air Force
Association claims the proposed exhibition is “a slap in the face to all
Americans who fought in World War II” and “treats Japan and the U.S. as
if their participation in the war were morally equivalent.”
Politicians are getting in on the action. A few weeks ago, Kansas
Senator Nancy Kassebaum fired off a letter to Robert McCormick Adams,
secretary of the Smithsonian. She called the proposal “a travesty” and
suggested that “the famed B-29 be displayed with understanding and pride
in another museum. Any one of three Kansas museums.”
Adams,
who is leaving his job after 10 relatively controversy-free years, sent
back a three-page answer stiffly turning down her request for the Enola
Gay. The proposed script, he says, was in flux, and would be
“objective,” treat U.S. airmen as “skilled, brave, loyal” and would not
make a judgment on “the morality of the decision [to drop the bomb].”
Meanwhile curators Tom Crouch and Michael Neufeld, who are responsible
for the content of the display, deny accusations of political
correctness. Crouch claims that the critics have a “reluctance to really
tell the whole story. They want to stop the story when the bomb leaves
the bomb bay.” Crouch and Neufeld’s proposed display includes a “Ground
Zero” section, described as the emotional center of the gallery. Among
the sights: charred bodies in the rubble, the ruins of a Shinto shrine, a
heat-fused rosary, items belonging to dead schoolchildren. The curators
have proposed a PARENTAL DISCRETION sign for the show.
The
veterans, for their part, say they are well aware of the grim nature of
the subject. They are not asking for a whitewash. “Nobody is looking for
glorification,” says Correll. “Just be fair. Tell both sides.”
Eventually,
the criticism from veterans, Congress and others resulted in major
changes to the exhibition. “[The show] will no longer include a long
section on the postwar nuclear race that veterans groups and members of
Congress had criticized. The critics said that the discussion did not
belong in the exhibit and was part of a politically loaded message that
the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan began a dark chapter in human
history,” the New York Times reported. That version of the exhibition
opened in 1995, displaying more than half of the plane, the restoration
of which was still unfinished.
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But
the exhibition proved popular. When it closed in 1998, about four
million people had visited it, according to a report by Air Force
Magazine‘s Correll — the most ever to visit an Air and Space Museum
special exhibition to that point.
It would take until 2003 for
the full plane to be displayed, at the Air and Space Museum’s location
in Chantilly, Va. That opening again provoked protest, but it can still
be seen there.
Demonstrators protest at the Enola Gay exhibit at the
the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center , on its opening day, Dec. 15, 2003 in Chantilly, Va.
Demonstrators
protest at the Enola Gay exhibit at the the Smithsonian National Air
and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center , on its opening day,
Dec. 15, 2003 in Chantilly, Va.
Joyce Naltchayan—AFP/Getty Images
And
as long as it is on display, the questions it raises are likely to
continue — after all, they have been with the Enola Gay since it first
became a household name.
Even on board, the men who flew the
plane knew as much. Van Kirk, the navigator, later described the crew as
having had the immediate thought that, “This war is over.” And copilot
Robert A. Lewis kept a personal log of the mission, which — when it was
later made public — offered a look at what else they were thinking. “I
honestly have the feeling of groping for words to explain this,” he
wrote of the moments after the mushroom cloud rose, “or I might say My
God what have we done.”
Enola Gay (song)
"Enola Gay"
Enola Gay - OMD - CD Single.jpg
Cover of the original 7" single, designed by Peter Saville.
Single by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
from the album Organisation
B-side "Annex"
Released 26 September 1980
Format
7" vinyl12" vinyl
Recorded Ridge Farm Studio, Dorking
Genre Synth-pop[1][2]
Length 3:33
Label Dindisc
Songwriter(s) Andy McCluskey
Producer(s)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkMike Howlett
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark singles chronology
"Messages"
(1980) "Enola Gay"
(1980) "Souvenir"
(1981)
Alternative cover
Cover of the 12" remix single released in 2003.
Cover of the 12" remix single released in 2003.
"Enola
Gay" is an anti-war song by the British synth-pop group Orchestral
Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and the only single from the band's 1980
album Organisation. The track addresses the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
by the aircraft Enola Gay on 6 August 1945, toward the conclusion of
World War II. It was written by vocalist/bass guitarist Andy McCluskey.
"Enola
Gay" has been described—along with 1986's "If You Leave"—as OMD's
signature song. The single was an international success, selling more
than 5 million copies, while the track became an enduring hit.
Contents
Composition
Arrangement
Typical
of early OMD compositions, the track does not feature a vocal
chorus,[3] and is recognisable by its strong,[4] distinctive[5] lead
synthesizer hook and ambiguous lyrical content.[6] Most of the melodic
parts were recorded on a Korg Micro-Preset, and the drum machine sound
was "about the last thing to go on" the recording.[6] The song is based
on the 50s progression, which repeats throughout the entire song.
Keyboardist
Paul Humphreys and OMD manager Paul Collister were not fans of "Enola
Gay" (the latter originally threatened to resign if it were released as a
single). Collister did, however, believe it was a surefire hit – a view
that drummer Malcolm Holmes did not share. Initially proud of the song,
McCluskey's confidence wavered: he re-recorded his vocal, but was
dissatisfied with the final mix of the track.[7]
Title
The
song is named after the Enola Gay, the USAAF B-29 Superfortress bomber
that carried Little Boy, the first atomic bomb to be used in an act of
war, dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, killing
more than 100,000 of its citizens. The name of the bomber itself was
chosen by its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets, who named it after his
mother, Enola Gay Tibbets (1893–1983), who had been named after the
heroine of the novel Enola; or, Her fatal mistake.[N 1]
Lyrics
The
lyrics to the song reflect on the decision to use the bomb and ask the
listener to consider whether the bombings were necessary ("It shouldn't
ever have to end this way").[9] The phrase, "Is mother proud of Little
Boy today?", is an allusion to both the nickname of the uranium bomb, as
well as the fact that pilot Paul Tibbets named the aircraft after his
mother. The phrase, "It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always
been", refers to the time of detonation over Hiroshima at 8:15 am JST;
as many timepieces were "frozen" by the effects of the blast, it becomes
"the time that it's always been". The song was also released during
controversy surrounding Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to
allow US nuclear missiles to be stationed in Britain.[10] McCluskey
stated that he "wasn't really politically motivated to write the song",
which was informed by a fascination with World War II bombers. He hoped
the track "conveyed an ambivalence about whether it was the right or the
wrong thing to do".[11]
Reception and legacy
"Enola Gay" met
with enthusiastic reviews on release; Lynden Barber of Melody Maker
called it "the perfect follow-up to 'Messages'."[7] It was, however,
misperceived by some as a homosexual love song.[2][7] As such, the track
was banned from being played on popular BBC1 children's programme Swap
Shop.[7]
The BBC noted that despite its dark subject matter, the
single was released at "a time of passionate anti-nuclear feeling", and
became an "unlikely", "long-lasting" hit.[11] A sleeper success, the
track entered the UK Singles Chart at number 35,[12] but climbed 27
places over the next 3 weeks to reach a peak of number 8,[13] thus
becoming the group's first Top 10 hit in their home country. It topped
the charts in Italy and in Spain.[14][15] Worldwide sales reached 5
million.[16]
In a retrospective review, Dave Thompson of AllMusic
called "Enola Gay" a "perfect synth-dance-pop extravaganza".[10]
Colleague Ned Raggett lauded the track as "astounding... a flat-out pop
classic – clever, heartfelt, thrilling, and confident, not to mention
catchy and arranged brilliantly".[17] It featured in a 2009 list of "The
40 Greatest Synth Tracks Ever" by MusicRadar, who noted that the song
"includes some of the biggest synth hooks of all time".[18] In 2012, NME
listed the track among the "100 Best Songs of the 1980s", describing
McCluskey's vocal as "brilliantly quizzical" and the song as a "pop
classic".[19]
"Enola Gay" has been described – along with 1986's
"If You Leave"[20] – as OMD's signature song.[16][21] The track was
selected by Danny Boyle for use during the opening ceremony of the 2012
Summer Olympics in London.[22]
Music video
The music video
begins by showing speeded-up footage of clouds passing through the sky.
After the opening riff, which is shown as just the keyboardist's hands
playing it whilst being animated using digital rotoscoping, it shows a
transparent video image of McCluskey vocalising and playing a bass
guitar. The still photo from the Organisation album cover is taken from
the video.
B-side
The B-side on the UK release of "Enola Gay"
was a track entitled "Annex". The song was not included on the ensuing
Organisation album and remained unique to this release until being
included in the 2001 compilation album Navigation: The OMD B-Sides and
the 2003 remastered edition of Organisation. Although the track was
basically an improvisation "made up on the spot", Paul Humphreys
described it in a 1980 interview as "the best thing we've done all
year";[23] AllMusic critic Aaron Badgley called it a "brilliant"
song.[24]
Track listing
1980 original release
Side oneNo. Title Length
1. "Enola Gay" 3:33
Side twoNo. Title Length
1. "Annex" 4:33
The 12" single contained the same tracks as on the 7".
2003 remix 12"
Side oneNo. Title Length
1. "Enola Gay" (Dancefloor Killa Remix) 9:02
Side twoNo. Title Length
1. "Enola Gay" (dub remix) 6:57
2. "Enola Gay" (radio edit) 3:05
Charts and certifications
Chart positions
Chart (1980–1981) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[25] 47
France (IFOP)[26] 6
Ireland (IRMA)[27] 14
Italy (FIMI)[14] 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[28] 31
Spain (AFE)[15] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 2
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[13] 8
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[30] 34
Certifications and sales
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[31] Silver 250,000^
^shipments figures based on certification alone
Alternate versions
In
1998, David Guetta & Joachim Garraud and Sash! made remixed
versions of the song for the intended second disc of The OMD Singles.
The second disc was dropped, and eventually only the Sash! remix
appeared on The OMD Remixes EPs. In 2003 the double disc version was
released in France only, which included the remixed versions by Guetta
and Garraud as well.[32] The Guetta and Garraud remixes were released on
a limited 12" to promote the compilation album.[33]
An early
version of the song with a slightly different arrangement appears on the
group's Peel Sessions 1979–1983 album. A live performance, recorded at
the Guildhall in Portsmouth, England on 19 September 1980, is featured
in the film Urgh! A Music War.[34]
Cover versions
Serbian punk
rock band KBO! recorded a version on their 2001 cover album (Ne)
Menjajte Stanicu ((Do Not) Change The Station).[35] Also in 2001,
American band The Faint covered the song on Messages: Modern Synthpop
Artists Cover Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.[36] In June 2007, José
Galisteo released a cover on his debut album, Remember.[37] German
techno group Scooter also covered the song on their 2007 album Jumping
All Over the World.[38] Musician Howard Jones covered the track during
early live performances.[39]
Home computer influence
The song
is popular with early home computer enthusiasts being used in popular
computer demos such as Swinth (Commodore 64).[40] Hackers also enjoy
Enola Gay; it can be found as the "music bed" for numerous mega-demos
and "cracktro" found on releases by warez groups like the Beastie
Boys).[41]
16-Bit computers brought with them the popular music tracker format where no fewer than a dozen versions exist.[42]
Mash ups
In
2010, Katy Perry's hit song "Teenage Dream" was "mashed up" with Enola
Gay by the group DJs From Mars under the title "Teenage Gay".[43]
Use in movies
The
song was featured in the critically acclaimed 2008 Israeli film Waltz
with Bashir, directed by Ari Folman, which documented the experiences of
Folman as a young soldier in the 1982 Lebanon War. The track also
features on the Max Richter soundtrack of the film.
It was also used in the films Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and Ex Machina.
See also
List of anti-war songs
List of number-one hits of 1981 (Italy)
List of number-one singles of 1981 (Spain)
Notes
Enola; or, Her fatal mistake(sic) (1886), by Mary Young Ridenbaugh is the only novel of the period to use "Enola".[8]
References
Houghtaling,
Adam Brent (2012). This Will End in Tears: The Miserabilist Guide to
Music. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-0617-1967-7. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in
the Dark (OMD) made the haunting shadows left behind by the flashburnt
victims of the first atomic bombs into the synthpop hit "Enola Gay,"
which imagines an eternal kiss that is "never gonna fade away""
Pirnia, Garin (12 June 2012). "Enola Gay". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
"Interview:
Andy McCluskey, OMD". PRS for Music. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 1 October
2013. "[PRS:] 'They are best known for their trademark synth-led
choruses and abstract lyrics' (...) [McCluskey:] 'Many of our songs use
the synth melody as the chorus. There are verses but generally the
melody is the chorus. If you think of 'Electricity', 'Enola Gay',
'Souvenir' – in a lot of our songs the melody was the chorus'."
Lindgren,
Hugo (10 May 2013). "The 'OMG, Who Is O.M.D.?' Playlist". The 6th Floor
Blog. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 23 July 2013. "...a dance
song with a great keyboard hook."
Mansfield, Brian (4 April 2013).
"On the Road Again: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". USA Today.
Retrieved 5 October 2013. "It's that Korg [Micro-Preset] that plays the
distinctive keyboard hook in the band's early hit 'Enola Gay'."
Watkins,
Jack (7 January 2013). "How we made: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
on Enola Gay". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
Waller, Johnny (1987). Messages. Sidgwick & Jackson. pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-283-99234-4.
Ridenbaugh, Mary Young (1886). Enola; or, Her fatal mistake. For the Author.
"Songwords – Enola Gay". Archived from the original on 18 July 2009..
Thompson, Dave. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Enola Gay". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"Enola Gay". The One Show. BBC One. 26 January 2010.
"Official Singles Chart Top 75 – 05 October 1980 – 11 October 1980". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"Singoli
– I numeri uno (1959–2006) (parte 3: 1980–1990)". It-charts.150m.com
(in Italian). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
Salaverri,
Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in
Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
Eames, Tom (11 September 2018). "The top 25 greatest 1980s synthpop songs". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
Raggett, Ned. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Organisation". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"The 40 greatest synth tracks ever: pt 1, 1974-1986". MusicRadar. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"100 Best Songs of the 1980s". NME. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"'Now
I'm bored and old': 27 deliberately confounding follow-ups to popular
successes". The A.V. Club. 17 August 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
O'Brien, Jon. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Live in Berlin". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
"Ceremony's
throbbing soundtrack adds aural excitement to a visual spectacular".
The Guardian. Press Association. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
PaulB (5 August 2015). "Club 66 : Annex". Omd-messages.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
Badgley, Aaron. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Navigation: The OMD B-Sides". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 224. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
"Le
Détail par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Orchestral
Manoeuvres in the Dark" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 15 May
2016.
"The Irish Charts – Search Results – Enola Gay". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"Charts.nz – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) – Enola Gay". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"Swisscharts.com – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) – Enola Gay". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"British
single certifications – OMD – Enola Gay". British Phonographic
Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the
Certification field. Type Enola Gay in the "Search BPI Awards" field and
then press Enter.
"Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – The OMD Singles (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
"Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Enola Gay (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
"Various – URGH! A Music War (Vinyl, LP)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
"KBO! – (Ne) Menjajte Stanicu (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
"Various – Messages: Modern Synthpop Artists Cover Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
"Jose Galisteo – Remember (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
"Scooter – Jumping All Over The World (CD, Album)". Retrieved 9 June 2010.
Murphy,
Tom (12 October 2011). "Howard Jones on performing Human Lib and Dream
Into Action in their entirety on this tour". Westword. Retrieved 14
November 2016.
Swinth Demo (Commodore 64) Enola Gay. YouTube. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
"Terramex by Beastie Boys". Pouet.net. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
"Browsing by Filename (E)". The Mod Archive. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
Katy Perry VS OMD - Teenage Dream vs Enola Gay (Djs From Mars Bootleg
Remix) – YouTube. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
External links
"Enola Gay" at Discogs (list of releases)
Enola Gay music video on YouTube
vte
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Andy McCluskey Paul Humphreys Martin Cooper Stuart Kershaw
Dave Hughes Malcolm Holmes Michael Douglas Graham Weir Neil Weir Phil Coxon Nigel Ipinson Abe Juckes
Studio albums
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Organisation Architecture &
Morality Dazzle Ships Junk Culture Crush The Pacific Age Sugar Tax
Liberator Universal History of Modern English Electric The Punishment of
Luxury
Compilation albums
The Best of OMD The OMD Singles The OMD Remixes Navigation: The OMD B-Sides Messages: Greatest Hits
Live albums
Peel Sessions 1979–1983 OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More
Singles and EPs
"Electricity" "Red Frame/White Light" "Messages" "Enola Gay" "Souvenir"
"Joan of Arc" "Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)" "Genetic
Engineering" "Telegraph" "Locomotion" "Talking Loud and Clear" "Tesla
Girls" "Never Turn Away" "So in Love" "Secret" "La Femme Accident" "If
You Leave" "(Forever) Live and Die" "We Love You" "Shame" "Dreaming"
"Brides of Frankenstein" "Sailing on the Seven Seas" "Pandora's Box"
"Then You Turn Away" "Call My Name" "Stand Above Me" "Dream of Me"
"Everyday" "Walking on the Milky Way" "Universal" "If You Want It"
"Sister Marie Says" "History of Modern (Part I)"
Videography
The Best of OMD OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More
Messages: Greatest Hits Electricity: OMD with the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra
Related articles
Discography The Id Dalek I Love You The Listening Pool Onetwo Atomic Kitten
Categories:
1980 singles1980 songsOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark songsNumber-one
singles in ItalySong recordings produced by Mike HowlettAnti-war
songsSongs about World War IISongs about nuclear war and weaponsSongs
about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiSongs written by Andy
McCluskey
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Part of the Pacific War of World War II
Two aerial photos of atomic bomb mushroom clouds, over two Japanese cities in 1945
Atomic bomb mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)
Date August 6 and August 9, 1945
Location
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States
Manhattan Project:
United Kingdom
Canada Japan
Commanders and leaders
United States William S. Parsons
United States Paul W. Tibbets Jr.
United States Robert A. Lewis
United States Charles Sweeney
United States Frederick Ashworth Empire of Japan Shunroku Hata
Units involved
Manhattan District: 50 U.S., 2 British
509th Composite Group: 1,770 U.S. Second General Army:
Hiroshima: 40,000 (5 Anti-aircraft batteries)
Nagasaki: 9,000 (4 Anti-aircraft batteries)
Casualties and losses
1 British, 7 Dutch, and 12 American prisoners of war killed
Hiroshima:
20,000 soldiers killed
70,000–126,000 civilians killed
Nagasaki:
39,000–80,000 killed
At least 150 soldiers killed
Total killed:
129,000–226,000
vte
Pacific War
The
United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, with the
consent of the United Kingdom, as required by the Quebec Agreement. The
two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom
were civilians, and remain the first and only uses of nuclear weapons in
armed conflict.
In the final year of World War II, the Allies
prepared for a very costly invasion of the Japanese mainland. This
undertaking was preceded by a conventional and firebombing campaign
which devastated 67 Japanese cities. The war in Europe had concluded
when Germany signed its instrument of surrender on May 8, 1945, and the
Allies turned their full attention to the Pacific theater. The Allies
called for the unconditional surrender of the Imperial Japanese armed
forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945, the alternative
being "prompt and utter destruction". Japan ignored the ultimatum and
the war continued.
By August 1945, the Allies' Manhattan Project
had produced two types of atomic bombs, and the 509th Composite Group of
the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was equipped with the
specialized Silverplate version of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that
could deliver them from Tinian in the Mariana Islands. The Allies issued
orders for atomic bombs to be used on four Japanese cities on July 25.
On August 6, one of the modified B-29s dropped a uranium gun-type bomb
("Little Boy") on Hiroshima. Another B-29 dropped a plutonium implosion
bomb ("Fat Man") on Nagasaki three days later. The bombs immediately
devastated their targets. Over the next two to four months, the acute
effects of the atomic bombings killed between 90,000 and 146,000 people
in Hiroshima and 39,000 and 80,000 people in Nagasaki; roughly half of
the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. Large numbers of
people continued to die for months afterward from the effects of burns,
radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness and
malnutrition. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians, although
Hiroshima had a sizable military garrison.
Japan surrendered to
the Allies on August 15, six days after the Soviet Union's declaration
of war and the bombing of Nagasaki. The Japanese government signed the
instrument of surrender on September 2 in Tokyo Bay, which effectively
ended World War II. Scholars have extensively studied the effects of the
bombings on the social and political character of subsequent world
history and popular culture, and there is still much debate concerning
the ethical and legal justification for the bombings.
Background
Pacific War
Main article: Pacific War
A map of East Asia and the Western Pacific during World War II
Situation
of the Pacific War on August 1, 1945. Areas still controlled by Japan
(in white and green) included Korea, Taiwan, Indochina, and much of
China, including most of the main cities, and the Dutch East Indies.
Allied-held areas are in red, with the neutral Soviet Union and Mongolia
in grey.
In 1945, the Pacific War between the Empire of Japan
and the Allies entered its fourth year. Most Japanese military units
fought fiercely, ensuring that the Allied victory would come at an
enormous cost. The 1.25 million battle casualties incurred in total by
the United States in World War II included both military personnel
killed in action and wounded in action. Nearly one million of the
casualties occurred during the last year of the war, from June 1944 to
June 1945. In December 1944, American battle casualties hit an all-time
monthly high of 88,000 as a result of the German Ardennes Offensive.
America's reserves of manpower were running out. Deferments for groups
such as agricultural workers were tightened, and there was consideration
of drafting women. At the same time, the public was becoming war-weary,
and demanding that long-serving servicemen be sent home.[1]
In
the Pacific, the Allies returned to the Philippines,[2] recaptured
Burma,[3] and invaded Borneo.[4] Offensives were undertaken to reduce
the Japanese forces remaining in Bougainville, New Guinea and the
Philippines.[5] In April 1945, American forces landed on Okinawa, where
heavy fighting continued until June. Along the way, the ratio of
Japanese to American casualties dropped from 5:1 in the Philippines to
2:1 on Okinawa.[1] Although some Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner,
most fought until they were killed or committed suicide. Nearly 99% of
the 21,000 defenders of Iwo Jima were killed. Of the 117,000 Okinawan
and Japanese troops defending Okinawa in April–June 1945, 94% were
killed;[6] 7,401 Japanese soldiers surrendered, an unprecedentedly large
number.[7]
As the Allies advanced towards Japan, conditions
became steadily worse for the Japanese people. Japan's merchant fleet
declined from 5,250,000 gross tons in 1941 to 1,560,000 tons in March
1945, and 557,000 tons in August 1945. Lack of raw materials forced the
Japanese war economy into a steep decline after the middle of 1944. The
civilian economy, which had slowly deteriorated throughout the war,
reached disastrous levels by the middle of 1945. The loss of shipping
also affected the fishing fleet, and the 1945 catch was only 22% of that
in 1941. The 1945 rice harvest was the worst since 1909, and hunger and
malnutrition became widespread. U.S. industrial production was
overwhelmingly superior to Japan's. By 1943, the U.S. produced almost
100,000 aircraft a year, compared to Japan's production of 70,000 for
the entire war. By the middle of 1944, the U.S. had almost a hundred
aircraft carriers in the Pacific, far more than Japan's twenty-five for
the entire war. In February 1945, Prince Fumimaro Konoe advised Emperor
Hirohito that defeat was inevitable, and urged him to abdicate.[8]
Preparations to invade Japan
Main article: Operation Downfall
Even
before the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, plans were
underway for the largest operation of the Pacific War, Operation
Downfall, the Allied invasion of Japan.[9] The operation had two parts:
Operation Olympic and Operation Coronet. Set to begin in October 1945,
Olympic involved a series of landings by the U.S. Sixth Army intended to
capture the southern third of the southernmost main Japanese island,
Kyūshū.[10] Operation Olympic was to be followed in March 1946 by
Operation Coronet, the capture of the Kantō Plain, near Tokyo on the
main Japanese island of Honshū by the U.S. First, Eighth and Tenth
Armies, as well as a Commonwealth Corps made up of Australian, British
and Canadian divisions. The target date was chosen to allow for Olympic
to complete its objectives, for troops to be redeployed from Europe, and
the Japanese winter to pass.[11]
Uncle Sam holding a spanner, rolling up his sleeves
U.S.
Army propaganda poster depicting Uncle Sam preparing the public for the
invasion of Japan after ending war on Germany and Italy
Japan's
geography made this invasion plan obvious to the Japanese; they were
able to predict the Allied invasion plans accurately and thus adjust
their defensive plan, Operation Ketsugō, accordingly. The Japanese
planned an all-out defense of Kyūshū, with little left in reserve for
any subsequent defense operations.[12] Four veteran divisions were
withdrawn from the Kwantung Army in Manchuria in March 1945 to
strengthen the forces in Japan,[13] and 45 new divisions were activated
between February and May 1945. Most were immobile formations for coastal
defense, but 16 were high quality mobile divisions.[14] In all, there
were 2.3 million Japanese Army troops prepared to defend the home
islands, backed by a civilian militia of 28 million men and women.
Casualty predictions varied widely, but were extremely high. The Vice
Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Takijirō
Ōnishi, predicted up to 20 million Japanese deaths.[15]
On June
15, 1945, a study by the Joint War Plans Committee,[16] who provided
planning information to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated that
Olympic would result in 130,000 to 220,000 U.S. casualties, with U.S.
dead in the range from 25,000 to 46,000. Delivered on June 15, 1945,
after insight gained from the Battle of Okinawa, the study noted Japan's
inadequate defenses due to the very effective sea blockade and the
American firebombing campaign. The Chief of Staff of the United States
Army, General of the Army George Marshall, and the Army Commander in
Chief in the Pacific, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, signed
documents agreeing with the Joint War Plans Committee estimate.[17]
The
Americans were alarmed by the Japanese buildup, which was accurately
tracked through Ultra intelligence.[18] Secretary of War Henry L.
Stimson was sufficiently concerned about high American estimates of
probable casualties to commission his own study by Quincy Wright and
William Shockley. Wright and Shockley spoke with Colonels James
McCormack and Dean Rusk, and examined casualty forecasts by Michael E.
DeBakey and Gilbert Beebe. Wright and Shockley estimated the invading
Allies would suffer between 1.7 and 4 million casualties in such a
scenario, of whom between 400,000 and 800,000 would be dead, while
Japanese fatalities would have been around 5 to 10 million.[19][20]
Marshall
began contemplating the use of a weapon that was "readily available and
which assuredly can decrease the cost in American lives":[21] poison
gas. Quantities of phosgene, mustard gas, tear gas and cyanogen chloride
were moved to Luzon from stockpiles in Australia and New Guinea in
preparation for Operation Olympic, and MacArthur ensured that Chemical
Warfare Service units were trained in their use.[21] Consideration was
also given to using biological weapons against Japan.[22]
Air raids on Japan
Main article: Air raids on Japan
Black
and white photo of a four engined World War II-era aircraft being
viewed from above while it is flying over a city. A large cloud of smoke
is visible immediately below the aircraft.
A B-29 over Osaka on June 1, 1945
While
the United States had developed plans for an air campaign against Japan
prior to the Pacific War, the capture of Allied bases in the western
Pacific in the first weeks of the conflict meant that this offensive did
not begin until mid-1944 when the long-ranged Boeing B-29 Superfortress
became ready for use in combat.[23] Operation Matterhorn involved
India-based B-29s staging through bases around Chengdu in China to make a
series of raids on strategic targets in Japan.[24] This effort failed
to achieve the strategic objectives that its planners had intended,
largely because of logistical problems, the bomber's mechanical
difficulties, the vulnerability of Chinese staging bases, and the
extreme range required to reach key Japanese cities.[25]
Brigadier
General Haywood S. Hansell determined that Guam, Tinian, and Saipan in
the Mariana Islands would better serve as B-29 bases, but they were in
Japanese hands.[26] Strategies were shifted to accommodate the air
war,[27] and the islands were captured between June and August 1944. Air
bases were developed,[28] and B-29 operations commenced from the
Marianas in October 1944.[29] These bases were easily resupplied by
cargo ships.[30] The XXI Bomber Command began missions against Japan on
November 18, 1944.[31] The early attempts to bomb Japan from the
Marianas proved just as ineffective as the China-based B-29s had been.
Hansell continued the practice of conducting so-called high-altitude
precision bombing, aimed at key industries and transportation networks,
even after these tactics had not produced acceptable results.[32] These
efforts proved unsuccessful due to logistical difficulties with the
remote location, technical problems with the new and advanced aircraft,
unfavorable weather conditions, and enemy action.[33][34]
A vast devastated area with only a few burned out buildings standing
The
Operation Meetinghouse firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 9–10,
1945, was the single deadliest air raid in history;[35] with a greater
area of fire damage and loss of life than either of the atomic bombings
of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.[36][37]
Hansell's successor, Major
General Curtis LeMay, assumed command in January 1945 and initially
continued to use the same precision bombing tactics, with equally
unsatisfactory results. The attacks initially targeted key industrial
facilities but much of the Japanese manufacturing process was carried
out in small workshops and private homes.[38] Under pressure from United
States Army Air Forces (USAAF) headquarters in Washington, LeMay
changed tactics and decided that low-level incendiary raids against
Japanese cities were the only way to destroy their production
capabilities, shifting from precision bombing to area bombardment with
incendiaries.[39] Like most strategic bombing during World War II, the
aim of the air offensive against Japan was to destroy the enemy's war
industries, kill or disable civilian employees of these industries, and
undermine civilian morale.[40][41]
Over the next six months, the
XXI Bomber Command under LeMay firebombed 67 Japanese cities. The
firebombing of Tokyo, codenamed Operation Meetinghouse, on March 9–10
killed an estimated 100,000 people and destroyed 16 square miles (41
km2) of the city and 267,000 buildings in a single night. It was the
deadliest bombing raid of the war, at a cost of 20 B-29s shot down by
flak and fighters.[42] By May, 75% of bombs dropped were incendiaries
designed to burn down Japan's "paper cities". By mid-June, Japan's six
largest cities had been devastated.[43] The end of the fighting on
Okinawa that month provided airfields even closer to the Japanese
mainland, allowing the bombing campaign to be further escalated.
Aircraft flying from Allied aircraft carriers and the Ryukyu Islands
also regularly struck targets in Japan during 1945 in preparation for
Operation Downfall.[44] Firebombing switched to smaller cities, with
populations ranging from 60,000 to 350,000. According to Yuki Tanaka,
the U.S. fire-bombed over a hundred Japanese towns and cities.[45] These
raids were devastating.[46]
The Japanese military was unable to
stop the Allied attacks and the country's civil defense preparations
proved inadequate. Japanese fighters and anti-aircraft guns had
difficulty engaging bombers flying at high altitude.[47] From April
1945, the Japanese interceptors also had to face American fighter
escorts based on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.[48] That month, the Imperial
Japanese Army Air Service and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service stopped
attempting to intercept the air raids to preserve fighter aircraft to
counter the expected invasion.[49] By mid-1945 the Japanese only
occasionally scrambled aircraft to intercept individual B-29s conducting
reconnaissance sorties over the country, to conserve supplies of
fuel.[50] In July 1945, the Japanese had 1,156,000 US barrels
(137,800,000 l) of avgas stockpiled for the invasion of Japan. About
604,000 US barrels (72,000,000 l) had been consumed in the home islands
area in April, May and June 1945.[51] While the Japanese military
decided to resume attacks on Allied bombers from late June, by this time
there were too few operational fighters available for this change of
tactics to hinder the Allied air raids.[52]
Atomic bomb development
Leslie Groves, Manhattan Project director, with a map of Japan
Main article: Manhattan Project
The
discovery of nuclear fission by German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz
Strassmann in 1938, and its theoretical explanation by Lise Meitner and
Otto Frisch, made the development of an atomic bomb a theoretical
possibility.[53] Fears that a German atomic bomb project would develop
atomic weapons first, especially among scientists who were refugees from
Nazi Germany and other fascist countries, were expressed in the
Einstein-Szilard letter. This prompted preliminary research in the
United States in late 1939.[54] Progress was slow until the arrival of
the British MAUD Committee report in late 1941, which indicated that
only 5 to 10 kilograms of isotopically enriched uranium-235 were needed
for a bomb instead of tons of natural uranium and a neutron moderator
like heavy water.[55]
The 1943 Quebec Agreement merged the
nuclear weapons projects of the United Kingdom and Canada, Tube Alloys
and the Montreal Laboratory, with the Manhattan Project,[56][57] under
the direction of Major General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers.[58] Groves appointed J. Robert Oppenheimer to
organize and head the project's Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico,
where bomb design work was carried out.[59] Two types of bombs were
eventually developed, both named by Robert Serber. Little Boy was a
gun-type fission weapon that used uranium-235, a rare isotope of uranium
separated at the Clinton Engineer Works at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.[60]
The other, known as a Fat Man device, was a more powerful and efficient,
but more complicated, implosion-type nuclear weapon that used plutonium
created in nuclear reactors at Hanford, Washington.[61]
There
was a Japanese nuclear weapon program, but it lacked the human, mineral
and financial resources of the Manhattan Project, and never made much
progress towards developing an atomic bomb.[62]
Preparations
Organization and training
Three men in military fatigues, without jackets or ties.
The
"Tinian Joint Chiefs": Captain William S. Parsons (left), Rear Admiral
William R. Purnell (center), and Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell
(right)
The 509th Composite Group was constituted on December 9,
1944, and activated on December 17, 1944, at Wendover Army Air Field,
Utah, commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets.[63] Tibbets was assigned to
organize and command a combat group to develop the means of delivering
an atomic weapon against targets in Germany and Japan. Because the
flying squadrons of the group consisted of both bomber and transport
aircraft, the group was designated as a "composite" rather than a
"bombardment" unit.[64] Working with the Manhattan Project at Los
Alamos, Tibbets selected Wendover for his training base over Great Bend,
Kansas, and Mountain Home, Idaho, because of its remoteness.[65] Each
bombardier completed at least 50 practice drops of inert or conventional
explosive pumpkin bombs and Tibbets declared his group
combat-ready.[66] On April 5, 1945, the code name Operation Centerboard
was assigned. The officer responsible for its allocation in the War
Department's Operations Division was not cleared to know any details of
it. The first bombing was later codenamed Operation Centerboard I, and
the second, Operation Centerboard II.[67]
Color photo of three silver four engined World War II-era aircraft neatly lined up alongside a runway
Aircraft
of the 509th Composite Group that took part in the Hiroshima bombing.
Left to right: Big Stink, The Great Artiste, Enola Gay
The 509th
Composite Group had an authorized strength of 225 officers and 1,542
enlisted men, almost all of whom eventually deployed to Tinian. In
addition to its authorized strength, the 509th had attached to it on
Tinian 51 civilian and military personnel from Project Alberta,[68]
known as the 1st Technical Detachment.[69] The 509th Composite Group's
393d Bombardment Squadron was equipped with 15 Silverplate B-29s. These
aircraft were specially adapted to carry nuclear weapons, and were
equipped with fuel-injected engines, Curtiss Electric reversible-pitch
propellers, pneumatic actuators for rapid opening and closing of bomb
bay doors and other improvements.[70]
The ground support echelon
of the 509th Composite Group moved by rail on April 26, 1945, to its
port of embarkation at Seattle, Washington. On May 6 the support
elements sailed on the SS Cape Victory for the Marianas, while group
materiel was shipped on the SS Emile Berliner. The Cape Victory made
brief port calls at Honolulu and Eniwetok but the passengers were not
permitted to leave the dock area. An advance party of the air echelon,
consisting of 29 officers and 61 enlisted men flew by C-54 to North
Field on Tinian, between May 15 and May 22.[71] There were also two
representatives from Washington, D.C., Brigadier General Thomas Farrell,
the deputy commander of the Manhattan Project, and Rear Admiral William
R. Purnell of the Military Policy Committee,[72] who were on hand to
decide higher policy matters on the spot. Along with Captain William S.
Parsons, the commander of Project Alberta, they became known as the
"Tinian Joint Chiefs".[73]
Choice of targets
map of Japan and the
Marianas Islands indicating the routes taken by the raids. One goes
straight to Iwo Jima and Hiroshima and back the same way. The other goes
to the southern tip of Japan, up to Kokura, down to Nagasaki, and the
southwest to Okinawa befofore heading back to Tinian.
The mission runs of August 6 and 9, with Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Kokura (the original target for August 9) displayed
In
April 1945, Marshall asked Groves to nominate specific targets for
bombing for final approval by himself and Stimson. Groves formed a
Target Committee, chaired by himself, that included Farrell, Major John
A. Derry, Colonel William P. Fisher, Joyce C. Stearns and David M.
Dennison from the USAAF; and scientists John von Neumann, Robert R.
Wilson and William Penney from the Manhattan Project. The Target
Committee met in Washington on April 27; at Los Alamos on May 10, where
it was able to talk to the scientists and technicians there; and finally
in Washington on May 28, where it was briefed by Tibbets and Commander
Frederick Ashworth from Project Alberta, and the Manhattan Project's
scientific advisor, Richard C. Tolman.[74]
The Target Committee
nominated five targets: Kokura (now Kitakyushu), the site of one of
Japan's largest munitions plants; Hiroshima, an embarkation port and
industrial center that was the site of a major military headquarters;
Yokohama, an urban center for aircraft manufacture, machine tools,
docks, electrical equipment and oil refineries; Niigata, a port with
industrial facilities including steel and aluminum plants and an oil
refinery; and Kyoto, a major industrial center. The target selection was
subject to the following criteria:
The target was larger than 3 mi (4.8 km) in diameter and was an important target in a large city.
The blast would create effective damage.
The target was unlikely to be attacked by August 1945.[75]
These
cities were largely untouched during the nightly bombing raids, and the
Army Air Forces agreed to leave them off the target list so accurate
assessment of the damage caused by the atomic bombs could be made.
Hiroshima was described as "an important army depot and port of
embarkation in the middle of an urban industrial area. It is a good
radar target and it is such a size that a large part of the city could
be extensively damaged. There are adjacent hills which are likely to
produce a focusing effect which would considerably increase the blast
damage. Due to rivers it is not a good incendiary target."[75]
The
Target Committee stated that "It was agreed that psychological factors
in the target selection were of great importance. Two aspects of this
are (1) obtaining the greatest psychological effect against Japan and
(2) making the initial use sufficiently spectacular for the importance
of the weapon to be internationally recognized when publicity on it is
released. ... Kyoto has the advantage of the people being more highly
intelligent and hence better able to appreciate the significance of the
weapon. Hiroshima has the advantage of being such a size and with
possible focussing from nearby mountains that a large fraction of the
city may be destroyed. The Emperor's palace in Tokyo has a greater fame
than any other target but is of least strategic value."[75]
Edwin
O. Reischauer, a Japan expert for the U.S. Army Intelligence Service,
was incorrectly said to have prevented the bombing of Kyoto.[75] In his
autobiography, Reischauer specifically refuted this claim:
... the only person deserving credit for saving Kyoto from destruction
is Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War at the time, who had known and
admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades
earlier.[76][77]
On May 30, Stimson asked Groves to remove Kyoto
from the target list due to its historical, religious and cultural
significance, but Groves pointed to its military and industrial
significance.[78] Stimson then approached President Harry S. Truman
about the matter. Truman agreed with Stimson, and Kyoto was temporarily
removed from the target list.[79] Groves attempted to restore Kyoto to
the target list in July, but Stimson remained adamant.[80][81] On July
25, Nagasaki was put on the target list in place of Kyoto. It was a
major military port, one of Japan's largest shipbuilding and repair
centers, and an important producer of naval ordnance.[81]
Proposed demonstration
In
early May 1945, the Interim Committee was created by Stimson at the
urging of leaders of the Manhattan Project and with the approval of
Truman to advise on matters pertaining to nuclear energy.[82] During the
meetings on May 31 and June 1, scientist Ernest Lawrence had suggested
giving the Japanese a non-combat demonstration.[83] Arthur Compton later
recalled that:
It was evident that everyone would suspect
trickery. If a bomb were exploded in Japan with previous notice, the
Japanese air power was still adequate to give serious interference. An
atomic bomb was an intricate device, still in the developmental stage.
Its operation would be far from routine. If during the final adjustments
of the bomb the Japanese defenders should attack, a faulty move might
easily result in some kind of failure. Such an end to an advertised
demonstration of power would be much worse than if the attempt had not
been made. It was now evident that when the time came for the bombs to
be used we should have only one of them available, followed afterwards
by others at all-too-long intervals. We could not afford the chance that
one of them might be a dud. If the test were made on some neutral
territory, it was hard to believe that Japan's determined and fanatical
military men would be impressed. If such an open test were made first
and failed to bring surrender, the chance would be gone to give the
shock of surprise that proved so effective. On the contrary, it would
make the Japanese ready to interfere with an atomic attack if they
could. Though the possibility of a demonstration that would not destroy
human lives was attractive, no one could suggest a way in which it could
be made so convincing that it would be likely to stop the war.[84]
The
possibility of a demonstration was raised again in the Franck Report
issued by physicist James Franck on June 11 and the Scientific Advisory
Panel rejected his report on June 16, saying that "we can propose no
technical demonstration likely to bring an end to the war; we see no
acceptable alternative to direct military use." Franck then took the
report to Washington, D.C., where the Interim Committee met on June 21
to re-examine its earlier conclusions; but it reaffirmed that there was
no alternative to the use of the bomb on a military target.[85]
Like
Compton, many U.S. officials and scientists argued that a demonstration
would sacrifice the shock value of the atomic attack, and the Japanese
could deny the atomic bomb was lethal, making the mission less likely to
produce surrender. Allied prisoners of war might be moved to the
demonstration site and be killed by the bomb. They also worried that the
bomb might be a dud since the Trinity test was of a stationary device,
not an air-dropped bomb. In addition, although more bombs were in
production, only two would be available at the start of August, and they
cost billions of dollars, so using one for a demonstration would be
expensive.[86][87]
Leaflets
Leaflet showing B-29s dropping bombs. There are 12 circles with 12 Japanese cities named in Japanese writing.
Various
leaflets were dropped on Japan, three versions showing the names of 11
or 12 Japanese cities targeted for destruction by firebombing. The other
side contained text stating "...we cannot promise that only these
cities will be among those attacked ..."[88]
For several months,
the U.S. had warned civilians of potential air raids by dropping more
than 63 million leaflets across Japan. Many Japanese cities suffered
terrible damage from aerial bombings; some were as much as 97%
destroyed. LeMay thought that leaflets would increase the psychological
impact of bombing, and reduce the international stigma of area-bombing
cities. Even with the warnings, Japanese opposition to the war remained
ineffective. In general, the Japanese regarded the leaflet messages as
truthful, with many Japanese choosing to leave major cities. The
leaflets caused such concern that the government ordered the arrest of
anyone caught in possession of a leaflet.[88][89] Leaflet texts were
prepared by recent Japanese prisoners of war because they were thought
to be the best choice "to appeal to their compatriots".[90]
In
preparation for dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the
Oppenheimer-led Scientific Panel of the Interim Committee decided
against a demonstration bomb and against a special leaflet warning.
Those decisions were implemented because of the uncertainty of a
successful detonation and also because of the wish to maximize shock in
the leadership.[91] No warning was given to Hiroshima that a new and
much more destructive bomb was going to be dropped.[92] Various sources
gave conflicting information about when the last leaflets were dropped
on Hiroshima prior to the atomic bomb. Robert Jay Lifton wrote that it
was July 27,[92] and Theodore H. McNelly wrote that it was July 30.[91]
The USAAF history noted that eleven cities were targeted with leaflets
on July 27, but Hiroshima was not one of them, and there were no leaflet
sorties on July 30.[89] Leaflet sorties were undertaken on August 1 and
August 4. Hiroshima may have been leafleted in late July or early
August, as survivor accounts talk about a delivery of leaflets a few
days before the atomic bomb was dropped.[92] Three versions were printed
of a leaflet listing 11 or 12 cities targeted for firebombing; a total
of 33 cities listed. With the text of this leaflet reading in Japanese
"...we cannot promise that only these cities will be among those
attacked..."[88] Hiroshima was not listed.[93][94]
Consultation with Britain and Canada
General Thomas Handy's order to General Carl Spaatz ordering the dropping of the atomic bombs
In
1943, The United States and the United Kingdom signed the Quebec
Agreement, which stipulated that nuclear weapons would not be used
against another country without mutual consent. Stimson therefore had to
obtain British permission. A meeting of the Combined Policy Committee,
which included one Canadian representative, was held at the Pentagon on
July 4, 1945.[95] Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson announced that
the British government concurred with the use of nuclear weapons
against Japan, which would be officially recorded as a decision of the
Combined Policy Committee.[95][96][97] As the release of information to
third parties was also controlled by the Quebec Agreement, discussion
then turned to what scientific details would be revealed in the press
announcement of the bombing. The meeting also considered what Truman
could reveal to Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, at the
upcoming Potsdam Conference, as this also required British
concurrence.[95]
Orders for the attack were issued to General
Carl Spaatz on July 25 under the signature of General Thomas T. Handy,
the acting Chief of Staff, since Marshall was at the Potsdam Conference
with Truman.[98] It read:
The 509th Composite Group, 20th
Air Force will deliver its first special bomb as soon as weather will
permit visual bombing after about 3 August 1945 on one of the targets:
Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata and Nagasaki. To carry military and civilian
scientific personnel from the War Department to observe and record the
effects of the explosion of the bomb, additional aircraft will accompany
the airplane carrying the bomb. The observing planes will stay several
miles distant from the point of impact of the bomb.
Additional bombs will be delivered on the above targets as soon as made
ready by the project staff. Further instructions will be issued
concerning targets other than those listed above.[99]
That day, Truman noted in his diary that:
This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I
have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military
objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and
children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic,
we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop that
terrible bomb on the old capital [Kyoto] or the new [Tokyo]. He and I
are in accord. The target will be a purely military one.[100]
Potsdam Declaration
Main article: Potsdam Declaration
The
July 16 success of the Trinity Test in the New Mexico desert exceeded
expectations.[101] On July 26, Allied leaders issued the Potsdam
Declaration, which outlined the terms of surrender for Japan. The
declaration was presented as an ultimatum and stated that without a
surrender, the Allies would attack Japan, resulting in "the inevitable
and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as
inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland". The atomic
bomb was not mentioned in the communiqué.[102]
On July 28,
Japanese papers reported that the declaration had been rejected by the
Japanese government. That afternoon, Prime Minister Suzuki Kantarō
declared at a press conference that the Potsdam Declaration was no more
than a rehash (yakinaoshi) of the Cairo Declaration and that the
government intended to ignore it (mokusatsu, "kill by silence").[103]
The statement was taken by both Japanese and foreign papers as a clear
rejection of the declaration. Emperor Hirohito, who was waiting for a
Soviet reply to non-committal Japanese peace feelers, made no move to
change the government position.[104] Japan's willingness to surrender
remained conditional on the preservation of the kokutai (Imperial
institution and national polity), assumption by the Imperial
Headquarters of responsibility for disarmament and demobilization, no
occupation of the Japanese Home Islands, Korea or Formosa, and
delegation of the punishment of war criminals to the Japanese
government.[105]
At Potsdam, Truman agreed to a request from
Winston Churchill that Britain be represented when the atomic bomb was
dropped. William Penney and Group Captain Leonard Cheshire were sent to
Tinian, but found that LeMay would not let them accompany the mission.
All they could do was send a strongly worded signal to Wilson.[106]
Bombs
The
Little Boy bomb, except for the uranium payload, was ready at the
beginning of May 1945.[107] There were two uranium-235 components, a
hollow cylindrical projectile and a cylindrical target insert. The
projectile was completed on June 15, and the target insert on July
24.[108] The projectile and eight bomb pre-assemblies (partly assembled
bombs without the powder charge and fissile components) left Hunters
Point Naval Shipyard, California, on July 16 aboard the cruiser USS
Indianapolis, and arrived on Tinian on July 26.[109] The target insert
followed by air on July 30, accompanied by Commander Francis Birch from
Project Alberta.[108] Responding to concerns expressed by the 509th
Composite Group about the possibility of a B-29 crashing on takeoff,
Birch had modified the Little Boy design to incorporate a removable
breech plug that would permit the bomb to be armed in flight.[107]
The
first plutonium core, along with its polonium-beryllium urchin
initiator, was transported in the custody of Project Alberta courier
Raemer Schreiber in a magnesium field carrying case designed for the
purpose by Philip Morrison. Magnesium was chosen because it does not act
as a tamper.[110] The core departed from Kirtland Army Air Field on a
C-54 transport aircraft of the 509th Composite Group's 320th Troop
Carrier Squadron on July 26, and arrived at North Field July 28. Three
Fat Man high-explosive pre-assemblies, designated F31, F32, and F33,
were picked up at Kirtland on July 28 by three B-29s, two from the 393d
Bombardment Squadron plus one from the 216th Army Air Force Base Unit,
and transported to North Field, arriving on August 2.[111]
Hiroshima
Hiroshima during World War II
A
Silver aircraft with "Enola Gay" and "82" painted on the nose. Seven
men stand in front of it. Four are wearing shorts, four are wearing
T-shirts, and the only ones with hats have baseball caps. Tibbets is
distinctively wearing correct uniform.
The Enola Gay dropped the
"Little Boy" atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Paul Tibbets (center in
photograph) can be seen with six of the aircraft's crew.
At the
time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of industrial and military
significance. A number of military units were located nearby, the most
important of which was the headquarters of Field Marshal Shunroku Hata's
Second General Army, which commanded the defense of all of southern
Japan,[112] and was located in Hiroshima Castle. Hata's command
consisted of some 400,000 men, most of whom were on Kyushu where an
Allied invasion was correctly anticipated.[113] Also present in
Hiroshima were the headquarters of the 59th Army, the 5th Division and
the 224th Division, a recently formed mobile unit.[114] The city was
defended by five batteries of 7-cm and 8-cm (2.8 and 3.1 inch)
anti-aircraft guns of the 3rd Anti-Aircraft Division, including units
from the 121st and 122nd Anti-Aircraft Regiments and the 22nd and 45th
Separate Anti-Aircraft Battalions. In total, an estimated 40,000
Japanese military personnel were stationed in the city.[115]
Hiroshima
was a supply and logistics base for the Japanese military.[116] The
city was a communications center, a key port for shipping, and an
assembly area for troops.[78] It was a beehive of war industry,
manufacturing parts for planes and boats, for bombs, rifles, and
handguns.[117] The center of the city contained several reinforced
concrete buildings and lighter structures. Outside the center, the area
was congested by a dense collection of small timber workshops set among
Japanese houses. A few larger industrial plants lay near the outskirts
of the city. The houses were constructed of timber with tile roofs, and
many of the industrial buildings were also built around timber frames.
The city as a whole was highly susceptible to fire damage.[118] It was
the second largest city in Japan after Kyoto that was still undamaged by
air raids,[119] primarily because it lacked the aircraft manufacturing
industry that was the XXI Bomber Command's priority target. On July 3,
the Joint Chiefs of Staff placed it off limits to bombers, along with
Kokura, Niigata and Kyoto.[120]
The population of Hiroshima had
reached a peak of over 381,000 earlier in the war but prior to the
atomic bombing, the population had steadily decreased because of a
systematic evacuation ordered by the Japanese government. At the time of
the attack, the population was approximately 340,000–350,000.[121]
Residents wondered why Hiroshima had been spared destruction by
firebombing.[122] Some speculated that the city was to be saved for U.S.
occupation headquarters, others thought perhaps their relatives in
Hawaii and California had petitioned the U.S. government to avoid
bombing Hiroshima.[123] More realistic city officials had ordered
buildings torn down to create long, straight firebreaks.[124] These
continued to be expanded and extended up to the morning of August 6,
1945.[125]
Bombing of Hiroshima
Hiroshima was the primary
target of the first atomic bombing mission on August 6, with Kokura and
Nagasaki as alternative targets. The 393d Bombardment Squadron B-29
Enola Gay, named after Tibbets' mother and piloted by Tibbets, took off
from North Field, Tinian, about six hours' flight time from Japan. Enola
Gay was accompanied by two other B-29s: The Great Artiste, commanded by
Major Charles Sweeney, which carried instrumentation, and a
then-nameless aircraft later called Necessary Evil, commanded by Captain
George Marquardt, which served as the photography
aircraft.[126][clarification needed]
A typed page of instructions
Strike order for the Hiroshima bombing as posted on August 5, 1945
Special Mission 13, Primary target Hiroshima, August 6, 1945[126][127] Aircraft Pilot Call Sign Mission role
Straight Flush Major Claude R. Eatherly Dimples 85 Weather reconnaissance (Hiroshima)
Jabit III Major John A. Wilson Dimples 71 Weather reconnaissance (Kokura)
Full House Major Ralph R. Taylor Dimples 83 Weather reconnaissance (Nagasaki)
Enola Gay Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Dimples 82 Weapon delivery
The Great Artiste Major Charles W. Sweeney Dimples 89 Blast measurement instrumentation
Necessary Evil Captain. George W. Marquardt Dimples 91 Strike observation and photography
Top Secret Captain Charles F. McKnight Dimples 72 Strike spare—did not complete mission
After
leaving Tinian, the aircraft made their way separately to Iwo Jima to
rendezvous with Sweeney and Marquardt at 05:55 at 9,200 feet (2,800
m),[128] and set course for Japan. The aircraft arrived over the target
in clear visibility at 31,060 feet (9,470 m).[129] Parsons, who was in
command of the mission, armed the bomb in flight to minimize the risks
during takeoff. He had witnessed four B-29s crash and burn at takeoff,
and feared that a nuclear explosion would occur if a B-29 crashed with
an armed Little Boy on board.[130] His assistant, Second Lieutenant
Morris R. Jeppson, removed the safety devices 30 minutes before reaching
the target area.[131]
Another view of the mushroom cloud forming, from further away.
The Hiroshima atom bomb cloud 2–5 minutes after detonation[132]
During
the night of August 5–6, Japanese early warning radar detected the
approach of numerous American aircraft headed for the southern part of
Japan. Radar detected 65 bombers headed for Saga, 102 bound for
Maebashi, 261 en route to Nishinomiya, 111 headed for Ube and 66 bound
for Imabari. An alert was given and radio broadcasting stopped in many
cities, among them Hiroshima. The all-clear was sounded in Hiroshima at
00:05.[133] About an hour before the bombing, the air raid alert was
sounded again, as Straight Flush flew over the city. It broadcast a
short message which was picked up by Enola Gay. It read: "Cloud cover
less than 3/10th at all altitudes. Advice: bomb primary."[134] The
all-clear was sounded over Hiroshima again at 07:09.[135]
At
08:09, Tibbets started his bomb run and handed control over to his
bombardier, Major Thomas Ferebee.[136] The release at 08:15 (Hiroshima
time) went as planned, and the Little Boy containing about 64 kg (141
lb) of uranium-235 took 44.4 seconds to fall from the aircraft flying at
about 31,000 feet (9,400 m) to a detonation height of about 1,900 feet
(580 m) above the city.[137][138] Enola Gay traveled 11.5 mi (18.5 km)
before it felt the shock waves from the blast.[139]
Due to
crosswind, the bomb missed the aiming point, the Aioi Bridge, by
approximately 800 ft (240 m) and detonated directly over Shima Surgical
Clinic.[140] It released the equivalent energy of 16 kilotons of TNT (67
TJ), ± 2 kt.[137] The weapon was considered very inefficient, with only
1.7% of its material fissioning.[141] The radius of total destruction
was about 1 mile (1.6 km), with resulting fires across 4.4 square miles
(11 km2).[142]
Enola Gay stayed over the target area for two
minutes and was ten miles away when the bomb detonated. Only Tibbets,
Parsons, and Ferebee knew of the nature of the weapon; the others on the
bomber were only told to expect a blinding flash and given black
goggles. "It was hard to believe what we saw", Tibbets told reporters,
while Parsons said "the whole thing was tremendous and awe-inspiring ...
the men aboard with me gasped 'My God'". He and Tibbets compared the
shockwave to "a close burst of ack-ack fire".[143]
Events on the ground
People
on the ground reported a pika (ピカ)—a brilliant flash of light—followed
by a don (ドン)—a loud booming sound.[144] Some 70,000–80,000 people,
around 30% of the population of Hiroshima at the time, were killed by
the blast and resultant firestorm,[145][146] and another 70,000 were
injured.[147] It is estimated that as many as 20,000 Japanese military
personnel were killed.[148] U.S. surveys estimated that 4.7 square miles
(12 km2) of the city were destroyed. Japanese officials determined that
69% of Hiroshima's buildings were destroyed and another 6–7%
damaged.[149]
Some of the reinforced concrete buildings in
Hiroshima had been very strongly constructed because of the earthquake
danger in Japan, and their framework did not collapse even though they
were fairly close to the blast center. Since the bomb detonated in the
air, the blast was directed more downward than sideways, which was
largely responsible for the survival of the Prefectural Industrial
Promotional Hall, now commonly known as the Genbaku (A-bomb) dome. This
building was designed and built by the Czech architect Jan Letzel, and
was only 150 m (490 ft) from ground zero (the hypocenter). The ruin was
named Hiroshima Peace Memorial and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site
in 1996 over the objections of the United States and China, which
expressed reservations on the grounds that other Asian nations were the
ones who suffered the greatest loss of life and property, and a focus on
Japan lacked historical perspective.[150] The bombing started intense
fires that spread rapidly through timber and paper homes, burning
everything in a radius of 2 kilometers (1.2 mi).[151] As in other
Japanese cities, the firebreaks proved ineffective.[152]
Hiroshima bombing
A devastated area very similar to the one of Tokyo above
Hiroshima in the aftermath of the bombing
Ruins of Hiroshima
People sitting and lying on the ground
Injured civilian casualties
A burned out domed building surrounded by rubble
The Hiroshima Genbaku Dome after the bombing
A woman's back, with chequered-shaped burns
The clothes pattern, in the tight-fitting areas on this survivor, shown burnt into the skin.
Direct, thermal flash burns
22-year old victim Toyoko Kugata being treated at the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital (October 6, 1945)
Newly-discovered photo of the bombing of Hiroshima
The
air raid warning had been cleared at 07:31, and many people were
outside, going about their activities.[153] Eizō Nomura was the closest
known survivor, being in the basement of a reinforced concrete building
(it remained as the Rest House after the war) only 170 meters (560 ft)
from ground zero at the time of the attack.[154][155] He died in 1982,
aged 84.[156] Akiko Takakura was among the closest survivors to the
hypocenter of the blast. She was in the solidly-built Bank of Hiroshima
only 300 meters (980 ft) from ground-zero at the time of the
attack.[157]
For decades this "Hiroshima strike" photo was
misidentified as the mushroom cloud of the bomb that formed at c.
08:16.[158][159] However, due to its much greater height, the scene was
identified by a researcher in March 2016 as the firestorm-cloud that
engulfed the city,[159] a fire that reached its peak intensity some
three hours after the bomb.[160]
Over 90% of the doctors and 93%
of the nurses in Hiroshima were killed or injured—most had been in the
downtown area which received the greatest damage.[161] The hospitals
were destroyed or heavily damaged. Only one doctor, Terufumi Sasaki,
remained on duty at the Red Cross Hospital.[152] Nonetheless, by early
afternoon the police and volunteers had established evacuation centres
at hospitals, schools and tram stations, and a morgue was established in
the Asano library.[162]
Most elements of the Japanese Second
General Army headquarters were undergoing physical training on the
grounds of Hiroshima Castle, barely 900 yards (820 m) from the
hypocenter. The attack killed 3,243 troops on the parade ground.[163]
The communications room of Chugoku Military District Headquarters that
was responsible for issuing and lifting air raid warnings was located in
a semi-basement in the castle. Yoshie Oka, a Hijiyama Girls High School
student who had been mobilized to serve as a communications officer,
had just sent a message that the alarm had been issued for Hiroshima and
neighboring Yamaguchi, when the bomb exploded. She used a special phone
to inform Fukuyama Headquarters (some 100 kilometers (62 mi) away) that
"Hiroshima has been attacked by a new type of bomb. The city is in a
state of near-total destruction."[164]
Since Mayor Senkichi Awaya
had been killed while eating breakfast with his son and granddaughter
at the mayoral residence, Field Marshal Shunroku Hata, who was only
slightly wounded, took over the administration of the city, and
coordinated relief efforts. Many of his staff had been killed or fatally
wounded, including a Korean prince of the Joseon Dynasty, Yi U, who was
serving as a lieutenant colonel in the Japanese Army.[165][166] Hata's
senior surviving staff officer was the wounded Colonel Kumao Imoto, who
acted as his chief of staff. Soldiers from the undamaged Hiroshima Ujina
Harbor used Shinyo-class suicide motorboats, intended to repel the
American invasion, to collect the wounded and take them down the rivers
to the military hospital at Ujina.[165] Trucks and trains brought in
relief supplies and evacuated survivors from the city.[167]
Twelve
American airmen were imprisoned at the Chugoku Military Police
Headquarters, about 1,300 feet (400 m) from the hypocenter of the
blast.[168] Most died instantly, although two were reported to have been
executed by their captors, and two prisoners badly injured by the
bombing were left next to the Aioi Bridge by the Kempei Tai, where they
were stoned to death.[169][170] Eight U.S. prisoners of war killed as
part of the medical experiments program at Kyushu University were
falsely reported by Japanese authorities as having been killed in the
atomic blast as part of an attempted cover up.[171]
Japanese realization of the bombing
Hiroshima before the bombing
Hiroshima after the bombing and firestorm
The
Tokyo control operator of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation noticed
that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air. He tried to
re-establish his program by using another telephone line, but it too had
failed.[172] About 20 minutes later the Tokyo railroad telegraph center
realized that the main line telegraph had stopped working just north of
Hiroshima. From some small railway stops within 16 km (10 mi) of the
city came unofficial and confused reports of a terrible explosion in
Hiroshima. All these reports were transmitted to the headquarters of the
Imperial Japanese Army General Staff.[173]
Military bases
repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima. The
complete silence from that city puzzled the General Staff; they knew
that no large enemy raid had occurred and that no sizable store of
explosives was in Hiroshima at that time. A young officer was instructed
to fly immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return
to Tokyo with reliable information for the staff. It was felt that
nothing serious had taken place and that the explosion was just a
rumor.[173]
The staff officer went to the airport and took off
for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still
nearly 160 km (100 mi) from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great
cloud of smoke from the bomb. After circling the city to survey the
damage they landed south of the city, where the staff officer, after
reporting to Tokyo, began to organize relief measures. Tokyo's first
indication that the city had been destroyed by a new type of bomb came
from President Truman's announcement of the strike, sixteen hours
later.[173]
Events of August 7–9
See also: Mokusatsu
Truman announcing the bombing of Hiroshima
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0:00
President Truman announces the bombing of Hiroshima, which he describes as "a military base".
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After
the Hiroshima bombing, Truman issued a statement announcing the use of
the new weapon. He stated, "We may be grateful to Providence" that the
German atomic bomb project had failed, and that the United States and
its allies had "spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific
gamble in history—and won". Truman then warned Japan: "If they do not
now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the
like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack
will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have
not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well
aware."[174] This was a widely broadcast speech picked up by Japanese
news agencies.[175]
Brownish leaflet covered in Japanese writing
Leaflet
AB12, with information on the Hiroshima bomb and a warning to civilians
to petition the Emperor to surrender was dropped over Japan beginning
on August 9, by the 509th Composite Group.[176] An AB11 is in the
possession of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.[177]
The
50,000-watt standard wave station on Saipan, the OWI radio station,
broadcast a similar message to Japan every 15 minutes about Hiroshima,
stating that more Japanese cities would face a similar fate in the
absence of immediate acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration
and emphatically urged civilians to evacuate major cities. Radio Japan,
which continued to extoll victory for Japan by never surrendering,[88]
had informed the Japanese of the destruction of Hiroshima by a single
bomb.[178] Prime Minister Suzuki felt compelled to meet the Japanese
press, to whom he reiterated his government's commitment to ignore the
Allies' demands and fight on.[179]
Soviet Foreign Minister
Vyacheslav Molotov informed Tokyo of the Soviet Union's unilateral
abrogation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact on August 5. At two
minutes past midnight on August 9, Tokyo time, Soviet infantry, armor,
and air forces had launched the Manchurian Strategic Offensive
Operation.[180] Four hours later, word reached Tokyo of the Soviet
Union's official declaration of war. The senior leadership of the
Japanese Army began preparations to impose martial law on the nation,
with the support of Minister of War Korechika Anami, to stop anyone
attempting to make peace.[181]
On August 7, a day after Hiroshima
was destroyed, Dr. Yoshio Nishina and other atomic physicists arrived
at the city, and carefully examined the damage. They then went back to
Tokyo and told the cabinet that Hiroshima was indeed destroyed by a
nuclear weapon. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, the Chief of the Naval General
Staff, estimated that no more than one or two additional bombs could be
readied, so they decided to endure the remaining attacks, acknowledging
"there would be more destruction but the war would go on".[182] American
Magic codebreakers intercepted the cabinet's messages.[183]
Purnell,
Parsons, Tibbets, Spaatz, and LeMay met on Guam that same day to
discuss what should be done next.[184] Since there was no indication of
Japan surrendering,[183] they decided to proceed with dropping another
bomb. Parsons said that Project Alberta would have it ready by August
11, but Tibbets pointed to weather reports indicating poor flying
conditions on that day due to a storm, and asked if the bomb could be
readied by August 9. Parsons agreed to try to do so.[185][184]
Nagasaki
Nagasaki during World War II
Formal
picture of ten men in uniform. The five standing are wearing ties, and
all but one of the ten wears a peaked cap or garrison cap.
The Bockscar and its crew, who dropped a Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki
The
city of Nagasaki had been one of the largest seaports in southern
Japan, and was of great wartime importance because of its wide-ranging
industrial activity, including the production of ordnance, ships,
military equipment, and other war materials. The four largest companies
in the city were Mitsubishi Shipyards, Electrical Shipyards, Arms Plant,
and Steel and Arms Works, which employed about 90% of the city's labor
force, and accounted for 90% of the city's industry.[186] Although an
important industrial city, Nagasaki had been spared from firebombing
because its geography made it difficult to locate at night with
AN/APQ-13 radar.[120]
Unlike the other target cities, Nagasaki
had not been placed off limits to bombers by the Joint Chiefs of Staff's
July 3 directive,[120][187] and was bombed on a small scale five times.
During one of these raids on August 1, a number of conventional
high-explosive bombs were dropped on the city. A few hit the shipyards
and dock areas in the southwest portion of the city, and several hit the
Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works.[186] By early August, the city was
defended by the 134th Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the 4th Anti-Aircraft
Division with four batteries of 7 cm (2.8 in) anti-aircraft guns and two
searchlight batteries.[115]
A photo of the harbor at Nagasaki in August 1945 before the city was hit with the atomic bomb
The harbor at Nagasaki in August 1945 before the city was hit with the atomic bomb
In
contrast to Hiroshima, almost all of the buildings were of
old-fashioned Japanese construction, consisting of timber or
timber-framed buildings with timber walls (with or without plaster) and
tile roofs. Many of the smaller industries and business establishments
were also situated in buildings of timber or other materials not
designed to withstand explosions. Nagasaki had been permitted to grow
for many years without conforming to any definite city zoning plan;
residences were erected adjacent to factory buildings and to each other
almost as closely as possible throughout the entire industrial valley.
On the day of the bombing, an estimated 263,000 people were in Nagasaki,
including 240,000 Japanese residents, 10,000 Korean residents, 2,500
conscripted Korean workers, 9,000 Japanese soldiers, 600 conscripted
Chinese workers, and 400 Allied prisoners of war in a camp to the north
of Nagasaki.[188]
Bombing of Nagasaki
Responsibility for the
timing of the second bombing was delegated to Tibbets. Scheduled for
August 11 against Kokura, the raid was moved earlier by two days to
avoid a five-day period of bad weather forecast to begin on August
10.[189] Three bomb pre-assemblies had been transported to Tinian,
labeled F-31, F-32, and F-33 on their exteriors. On August 8, a dress
rehearsal was conducted off Tinian by Sweeney using Bockscar as the drop
airplane. Assembly F-33 was expended testing the components and F-31
was designated for the August 9 mission.[190]
A page of typed instructions
Strike order for the Nagasaki bombing as posted August 8, 1945
Special Mission 16, Secondary target Nagasaki, August 9, 1945[191] Aircraft Pilot Call Sign Mission role
Enola Gay Captain George W. Marquardt Dimples 82 Weather reconnaissance (Kokura)
Laggin' Dragon Captain Charles F. McKnight Dimples 95 Weather reconnaissance (Nagasaki)
Bockscar Major Charles W. Sweeney Dimples 77 Weapon delivery
The Great Artiste Captain Frederick C. Bock Dimples 89 Blast measurement instrumentation
Big Stink Major James I. Hopkins, Jr. Dimples 90 Strike observation and photography
Full House Major Ralph R. Taylor Dimples 83 Strike spare—did not complete mission
At
03:49 on the morning of August 9, 1945, Bockscar, flown by Sweeney's
crew, carried Fat Man, with Kokura as the primary target and Nagasaki
the secondary target. The mission plan for the second attack was nearly
identical to that of the Hiroshima mission, with two B-29s flying an
hour ahead as weather scouts and two additional B-29s in Sweeney's
flight for instrumentation and photographic support of the mission.
Sweeney took off with his weapon already armed but with the electrical
safety plugs still engaged.[192]
During pre-flight inspection of
Bockscar, the flight engineer notified Sweeney that an inoperative fuel
transfer pump made it impossible to use 640 US gallons (2,400 l; 530 imp
gal) of fuel carried in a reserve tank. This fuel would still have to
be carried all the way to Japan and back, consuming still more fuel.
Replacing the pump would take hours; moving the Fat Man to another
aircraft might take just as long and was dangerous as well, as the bomb
was live. Tibbets and Sweeney therefore elected to have Bockscar
continue the mission.[193][194]
This time Penney and Cheshire
were allowed to accompany the mission, flying as observers on the third
plane, Big Stink, flown by the group's operations officer, Major James
I. Hopkins, Jr. Observers aboard the weather planes reported both
targets clear. When Sweeney's aircraft arrived at the assembly point for
his flight off the coast of Japan, Big Stink failed to make the
rendezvous.[192] According to Cheshire, Hopkins was at varying heights
including 9,000 feet (2,700 m) higher than he should have been, and was
not flying tight circles over Yakushima as previously agreed with
Sweeney and Captain Frederick C. Bock, who was piloting the support B-29
The Great Artiste. Instead, Hopkins was flying 40-mile (64 km) dogleg
patterns.[195] Though ordered not to circle longer than fifteen minutes,
Sweeney continued to wait for Big Stink for forty minutes. Before
leaving the rendezvous point, Sweeney consulted Ashworth, who was in
charge of the bomb. As commander of the aircraft, Sweeney made the
decision to proceed to the primary, the city of Kokura.[196]
The
before image looks like a city. In the after image, everything has been
obliterated and it is recognisable as the same area only by the rivers
running through it, which form an island in the centre of the
photographs.
Nagasaki before and after the bombing and the fires had long since burnt out
After
exceeding the original departure time limit by nearly a half-hour,
Bockscar, accompanied by The Great Artiste, proceeded to Kokura, thirty
minutes away. The delay at the rendezvous had resulted in clouds and
drifting smoke over Kokura from fires started by a major firebombing
raid by 224 B-29s on nearby Yahata the previous day.[197] Additionally,
the Yahata Steel Works intentionally burned coal tar, to produce black
smoke.[198] The clouds and smoke resulted in 70% of the area over Kokura
being covered, obscuring the aiming point. Three bomb runs were made
over the next 50 minutes, burning fuel and exposing the aircraft
repeatedly to the heavy defenses around Kokura, but the bombardier was
unable to drop visually. By the time of the third bomb run, Japanese
anti-aircraft fire was getting close, and Second Lieutenant Jacob Beser,
who was monitoring Japanese communications, reported activity on the
Japanese fighter direction radio bands.[199]
After three runs
over the city, and with fuel running low because of the failed fuel
pump, Bockscar and The Great Artiste headed for their secondary target,
Nagasaki.[192] Fuel consumption calculations made en route indicated
that Bockscar had insufficient fuel to reach Iwo Jima and would be
forced to divert to Okinawa, which had become entirely Allied-occupied
territory only six weeks earlier. After initially deciding that if
Nagasaki were obscured on their arrival the crew would carry the bomb to
Okinawa and dispose of it in the ocean if necessary, Ashworth agreed
with Sweeney's suggestion that a radar approach would be used if the
target was obscured.[200][201] At about 07:50 Japanese time, an air raid
alert was sounded in Nagasaki, but the "all clear" signal was given at
08:30. When only two B-29 Superfortresses were sighted at 10:53, the
Japanese apparently assumed that the planes were only on reconnaissance
and no further alarm was given.[202]
A few minutes later at
11:00, The Great Artiste dropped instruments attached to three
parachutes. These instruments also contained an unsigned letter to
Professor Ryokichi Sagane, a physicist at the University of Tokyo who
studied with three of the scientists responsible for the atomic bomb at
the University of California, Berkeley, urging him to tell the public
about the danger involved with these weapons of mass destruction. The
messages were found by military authorities but not turned over to
Sagane until a month later.[203] In 1949, one of the authors of the
letter, Luis Alvarez, met with Sagane and signed the letter.[204]
At
11:01, a last-minute break in the clouds over Nagasaki allowed
Bockscar's bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan, to visually sight the
target as ordered. The Fat Man weapon, containing a core of about 5 kg
(11 lb) of plutonium, was dropped over the city's industrial valley. It
exploded 47 seconds later at 1,650 ± 33 ft (503 ± 10 m), above a tennis
court,[205] halfway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works in the
south and the Nagasaki Arsenal in the north. This was nearly 3 km (1.9
mi) northwest of the planned hypocenter; the blast was confined to the
Urakami Valley and a major portion of the city was protected by the
intervening hills.[206] The resulting explosion released the equivalent
energy of 21 ± 2 kt (87.9 ± 8.4 TJ).[137] Big Stink spotted the
explosion from a hundred miles away, and flew over to observe.[207]
Urakami Tenshudo (Catholic Church in Nagasaki) destroyed by the bomb, the dome/bell of the church, at right, having toppled off
Bockscar
flew on to Okinawa, arriving with only sufficient fuel for a single
approach. Sweeney tried repeatedly to contact the control tower for
landing clearance, but received no answer. He could see heavy air
traffic landing and taking off from Yontan Airfield. Firing off every
flare on board to alert the field to his emergency landing, the Bockscar
came in fast, landing at 140 miles per hour (230 km/h) instead of the
normal 120 miles per hour (190 km/h). The number two engine died from
fuel starvation as he began the final approach. Touching down on only
three engines midway down the landing strip, Bockscar bounced up into
the air again for about 25 feet (7.6 m) before slamming back down hard.
The heavy B-29 slewed left and towards a row of parked B-24 bombers
before the pilots managed to regain control. Its reversible propellers
were insufficient to slow the aircraft adequately, and with both pilots
standing on the brakes, Bockscar made a swerving 90-degree turn at the
end of the runway to avoid running off it. A second engine died from
fuel exhaustion before the plane came to a stop.[208]
Following
the mission, there was confusion over the identification of the plane.
The first eyewitness account by war correspondent William L. Laurence of
The New York Times, who accompanied the mission aboard the aircraft
piloted by Bock, reported that Sweeney was leading the mission in The
Great Artiste. He also noted its "Victor" number as 77, which was that
of Bockscar.[209] Laurence had interviewed Sweeney and his crew, and was
aware that they referred to their airplane as The Great Artiste. Except
for Enola Gay, none of the 393d's B-29s had yet had names painted on
the noses, a fact which Laurence himself noted in his account. Unaware
of the switch in aircraft, Laurence assumed Victor 77 was The Great
Artiste,[210] which was in fact, Victor 89.[211]
Events on the ground
A pile of rubble surmounted by a statue of Buddha
The Nagasaki Prefecture Report on the bombing characterized Nagasaki as "like a graveyard with not a tombstone standing".[212]
Although
the bomb was more powerful than the one used on Hiroshima, its effects
were confined by hillsides to the narrow Urakami Valley.[213] Of 7,500
Japanese employees who worked inside the Mitsubishi Munitions plant,
including "mobilized" students and regular workers, 6,200 were killed.
Some 17,000–22,000 others who worked in other war plants and factories
in the city died as well.[214] Casualty estimates for immediate deaths
vary widely, ranging from 22,000 to 75,000.[214] At least 35,000–40,000
people were killed and 60,000 others injured.[215][216] In the days and
months following the explosion, more people died from their injuries.
Because of the presence of undocumented foreign workers, and a number of
military personnel in transit, there are great discrepancies in the
estimates of total deaths by the end of 1945; a range of 39,000 to
80,000 can be found in various studies.[121]
Unlike Hiroshima's
military death toll, only 150 Japanese soldiers were killed instantly,
including 36 from the 134th AAA Regiment of the 4th AAA Division.[115]
At least eight Allied prisoners of war (POWs) died from the bombing, and
as many as thirteen may have died. The eight confirmed deaths included a
British POW, Royal Air Force Corporal Ronald Shaw,[217] and seven Dutch
POWs.[218] One American POW, Joe Kieyoomia, was in Nagasaki at the time
of the bombing but survived, reportedly having been shielded from the
effects of the bomb by the concrete walls of his cell.[219] There were
24 Australian POWs in Nagasaki, all of whom survived.[220]
Partially
incinerated child in Nagasaki. Photo from Japanese photographer Yōsuke
Yamahata, one day after the blast and building fires had subsided. Once
the American forces had Japan under their military control, they imposed
censorship on all such images including those from the conventional
bombing of Tokyo; this prevented the distribution of Yamahata's
photographs. These restrictions were lifted in 1952.[221][222]
The
radius of total destruction was about 1 mi (1.6 km), followed by fires
across the northern portion of the city to 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the
bomb.[142][223] About 58% of the Mitsubishi Arms Plant was damaged, and
about 78% of the Mitsubishi Steel Works. The Mitsubishi Electric Works
suffered only 10% structural damage as it was on the border of the main
destruction zone. The Nagasaki Arsenal was destroyed in the blast.[224]
Although many fires likewise burnt following the bombing, in contrast to
Hiroshima where sufficient fuel density was available, no firestorm
developed in Nagasaki as the damaged areas did not furnish enough fuel
to generate the phenomenon. Instead, the ambient wind at the time pushed
the fire spread along the valley.[225]
As in Hiroshima, the
bombing badly dislocated the city's medical facilities. A makeshift
hospital was established at the Shinkozen Primary School, which served
as the main medical centre. The trains were still running, and evacuated
many victims to hospitals in nearby towns. A medical team from a naval
hospital reached the city in the evening, and fire-fighting brigades
from the neighboring towns assisted in fighting the fires.[226] Takashi
Nagai was a doctor working in the radiology department of Nagasaki
Medical College Hospital. He received a serious injury that severed his
right temporal artery, but joined the rest of the surviving medical
staff in treating bombing victims.[227]
Plans for more atomic attacks on Japan
Memorandum
from Groves to Marshall regarding the third bomb, with Marshall's
hand-written caveat that the third bomb not be used without express
presidential instruction.
Groves expected to have another "Fat
Man" atomic bomb ready for use on August 19, with three more in
September and a further three in October;[87] a second Little Boy bomb
(using U-235) would not be available until December 1945.[228][229] On
August 10, he sent a memorandum to Marshall in which he wrote that "the
next bomb ... should be ready for delivery on the first suitable weather
after 17 or 18 August." Marshall endorsed the memo with the
hand-written comment, "It is not to be released over Japan without
express authority from the President",[87] something Truman had
requested that day. This modified the previous order that the target
cities were to be attacked with atomic bombs "as made ready".[230] There
was already discussion in the War Department about conserving the bombs
then in production for Operation Downfall, and Marshall suggested to
Stimson that the remaining cities on the target list be spared attack
with atomic bombs.[231]
Two more Fat Man assemblies were readied,
and scheduled to leave Kirtland Field for Tinian on August 11 and
14,[232] and Tibbets was ordered by LeMay to return to Albuquerque, New
Mexico, to collect them.[233] At Los Alamos, technicians worked 24 hours
straight to cast another plutonium core.[234] Although cast, it still
needed to be pressed and coated, which would take until August 16.[235]
Therefore, it could have been ready for use on August 19. Unable to
reach Marshall, Groves ordered on his own authority on August 13 that
the core should not be shipped.[230]
Surrender of Japan and subsequent occupation
Main articles: Surrender of Japan and Occupation of Japan
Until
August 9, Japan's war council still insisted on its four conditions for
surrender. The full cabinet met on 14:30 on August 9, and spent most of
the day debating surrender. Anami conceded that victory was unlikely,
but argued in favour of continuing the war nonetheless. The meeting
ended at 17:30, with no decision having been reached. Suzuki went to the
palace to report on the outcome of meeting, where he met with Kōichi
Kido, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan. Kido informed him that
the emperor had agreed to hold an imperial conference, and gave a
strong indication that the emperor would consent to surrender on
condition that kokutai be preserved. A second cabinet meeting was held
at 18:00. Only four ministers supported Anami's position of adhering to
the four conditions, but since cabinet decisions had to be unanimous, no
decision was reached before it ended at 22:00.[236]
Calling an
imperial conference required the signatures of the prime minister and
the two service chiefs, but the Chief Cabinet Secretary Hisatsune
Sakomizu had already obtained signatures from Toyoda and General
Yoshijirō Umezu in advance, and he reneged on his promise to inform them
if a meeting was to be held. The meeting commenced at 23:50. No
consensus had emerged by 02:00 on August 10, but the emperor gave his
"sacred decision",[237] authorizing the Foreign Minister, Shigenori
Tōgō, to notify the Allies that Japan would accept their terms on one
condition, that the declaration "does not comprise any demand which
prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a Sovereign ruler."[238]
On
August 12, the Emperor informed the imperial family of his decision to
surrender. One of his uncles, Prince Asaka, then asked whether the war
would be continued if the kokutai could not be preserved. Hirohito
simply replied, "Of course."[239] As the Allied terms seemed to leave
intact the principle of the preservation of the Throne, Hirohito
recorded on August 14 his capitulation announcement which was broadcast
to the Japanese nation the next day despite a short rebellion by
militarists opposed to the surrender.[240]
In his declaration,
Hirohito referred to the atomic bombings, and did not explicitly mention
the Soviets as a factor for surrender:
Despite the best that
has been done by every one—the gallant fighting of military and naval
forces, the diligence and assiduity of Our servants of the State and the
devoted service of Our one hundred million people, the war situation
has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage, while the general
trends of the world have all turned against her interest. Moreover, the
enemy now possesses a new and terrible weapon with the power to destroy
many innocent lives and do incalculable damage. Should we continue to
fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration
of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction
of human civilization. Such being the case, how are we to save the
millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed
spirits of our imperial ancestors? This is the reason why we have
ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the joint declaration of the
powers.[241]
In his "Rescript to the Soldiers and Sailors"
delivered on August 17, however, he stressed the impact of the Soviet
invasion on his decision to surrender.[242]
Reportage
See also: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in popular culture
File:342-usaf-11075 Physical Damage-Hiroshima.webmPlay media
The Hiroshima ruins in March and April 1946, by Daniel A. McGovern and Harry Mimura
On
August 10, 1945, the day after the Nagasaki bombing, Yōsuke Yamahata,
correspondent Higashi, and artist Yamada arrived in the city with orders
to record the destruction for maximum propaganda purposes, Yamahata
took scores of photographs, and on August 21, they appeared in Mainichi
Shimbun, a popular Japanese newspaper.[243] Leslie Nakashima filed the
first personal account of the scene to appear in American newspapers. A
version of his August 27 UPI article appeared in The New York Times on
August 31.[244]
Wilfred Burchett was the first western journalist
to visit Hiroshima after the bombing, arriving alone by train from
Tokyo on September 2. His Morse code dispatch, "The Atomic Plague", was
printed by the Daily Express newspaper in London on September 5, 1945.
Nakashima's and Burchett's reports were the first public reports to
mention the effects of radiation and nuclear fallout—radiation burns and
radiation poisoning.[245][246] Burchett's reporting was unpopular with
the U.S. military, who accused Burchett of being under the sway of
Japanese propaganda, and suppressed a supporting story submitted by
George Weller of the Chicago Daily News. Laurence dismissed the reports
on radiation sickness as Japanese efforts to undermine American morale,
ignoring his own account published one week earlier.[247]
A
member of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, Lieutenant Daniel McGovern,
used a film crew to document the effects of the bombings in early 1946.
The film crew shot 90,000 ft (27,000 m) of film, resulting in a
three-hour documentary titled The Effects of the Atomic Bombs Against
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The documentary included images from hospitals
showing the human effects of the bomb; it showed burned-out buildings
and cars, and rows of skulls and bones on the ground. It was classified
"secret" for the next 22 years.[248][249] Motion picture company Nippon
Eigasha started sending cameramen to Nagasaki and Hiroshima in September
1945. On October 24, 1945, a U.S. military policeman stopped a Nippon
Eigasha cameraman from continuing to film in Nagasaki. All Nippon
Eigasha's reels were confiscated by the American authorities, but they
were requested by the Japanese government, and declassified.[249] The
public release of film footage of the city post-attack, and some
research about the effects of the attack, was restricted during the
occupation of Japan,[250] but the Hiroshima-based magazine, Chugoku
Bunka, in its first issue published on March 10, 1946, devoted itself to
detailing the damage from the bombing.[251]
File:342-usaf-11080 Hiroshima-Blast Effects.webmPlay media
Life
among the rubble in Hiroshima in March and April 1946. Film footage
taken by Lieutenant Daniel A. McGovern (director) and Harry Mimura
(cameraman) for a United States Strategic Bombing Survey project.
The
book Hiroshima, written by Pulitzer Prize winner John Hersey, which was
originally published in article form in the popular magazine The New
Yorker,[252] on August 31, 1946, is reported to have reached Tokyo in
English by January 1947, and the translated version was released in
Japan in 1949.[253][254][255] It narrated the stories of the lives of
six bomb survivors from immediately prior to, and months after, the
dropping of the Little Boy bomb.[252] Beginning in 1974, a compilation
of drawings and artwork made by the survivors of the bombings began to
be compiled, with completion in 1977, and under both book and exhibition
format, it was titled The Unforgettable Fire.[256]
The bombing
amazed Otto Hahn and other German atomic scientists, whom the British
held at Farm Hall in Operation Epsilon. Hahn stated that he had not
believed an atomic weapon "would be possible for another twenty years";
Werner Heisenberg did not believe the news at first. Carl Friedrich von
Weizsäcker said "I think it's dreadful of the Americans to have done it.
I think it is madness on their part", but Heisenberg replied, "One
could equally well say 'That's the quickest way of ending the war'".
Hahn was grateful that the German project had not succeeded in
developing "such an inhumane weapon"; Karl Wirtz observed that even if
it had, "we would have obliterated London but would still not have
conquered the world, and then they would have dropped them on us".[257]
Hahn
told the others, "Once I wanted to suggest that all uranium should be
sunk to the bottom of the ocean".[257] The Vatican agreed; L'Osservatore
Romano expressed regret that the bomb's inventors did not destroy the
weapon for the benefit of humanity.[258] Rev. Cuthbert Thicknesse, the
Dean of St Albans, prohibited using St Albans Abbey for a thanksgiving
service for the war's end, calling the use of atomic weapons "an act of
wholesale, indiscriminate massacre".[259] Nonetheless, news of the
atomic bombing was greeted enthusiastically in the U.S.; a poll in
Fortune magazine in late 1945 showed a significant minority of Americans
(23%) wishing that more atomic bombs could have been dropped on
Japan.[260][261] The initial positive response was supported by the
imagery presented to the public (mainly the powerful images of the
mushroom cloud).[260] During this time in America, it was a common
practice for editors to keep graphic images of death out of films,
magazines, and newspapers.[262]
Post-attack casualties
See also:
Epidemiology data for low-linear energy transfer radiation, Acute
radiation syndrome § History, Radiobiology, Hiroshima (book), and
Terufumi Sasaki
File:342-usaf-11034 Medical Aspects-Hiroshima.webmPlay media
Silent
film footage taken in Hiroshima in March 1946 showing survivors with
severe burns and keloid scars. Survivors were asked to stand in the
orientation they were in at the time of the flash, to document and
convey the line-of-sight nature of flash burns, and to show that, much
like a sunburn, thick clothing and fabric offered protection in many
cases. The sometimes extensive burn scar contracture is not unusual,
being common to all 2nd and 3rd degree burns when they cover a large
area of skin.
Frequent estimates are that 140,000 people in
Hiroshima (39% of the population) and 70,000 people in Nagasaki (28% of
the population) died in 1945, though the number which died immediately
as a result of exposure to the blast, heat, or due to radiation, is
unknown. One Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission report discusses 6,882
people examined in Hiroshima, and 6,621 people examined in Nagasaki, who
were largely within 2000 meters from the hypocenter, who suffered
injuries from the blast and heat but died from complications frequently
compounded by acute radiation syndrome (ARS), all within about 20–30
days.[263][264] The most well known of these was Midori Naka, some 650
meters from the hypocenter at Hiroshima, who would travel to Tokyo and
then with her death on August 24, 1945 was to be the first death
officially certified as a result of radiation poisoning, or as it was
referred to by many, "Atomic bomb disease". It was unappreciated at the
time but the average radiation dose that will kill approximately 50% of
adults, the LD50, was approximately halved, that is, smaller doses were
made more lethal, when the individual experienced concurrent blast or
burn polytraumatic injuries.[265] Conventional skin injuries that cover a
large area frequently result in bacterial infection; the risk of sepsis
and death is increased when a usually non-lethal radiation dose
moderately suppresses the white blood cell count.[266]
In the
spring of 1948, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) was
established in accordance with a presidential directive from Truman to
the National Academy of Sciences–National Research Council to conduct
investigations of the late effects of radiation among the survivors in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[267] In 1956, the ABCC published The Effect of
Exposure to the Atomic Bombs on Pregnancy Termination in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.[268] The ABCC became the Radiation Effects Research Foundation
(RERF), on April 1, 1975. A binational organization run by both the
United States and Japan, the RERF is still in operation today.[269]
Cancer increases
Cancers
do not immediately emerge after exposure to radiation; instead,
radiation-induced cancer has a minimum latency period of some 5+ years
and Leukemia some 2+ which peaks around 6–8 years later.[270] Dr Jarrett
Foley published the first major reports on the significant increased
incidence of the latter among survivors. Almost all cases of leukemia
over the following 50 years were in people exposed to more than
1Gy.[271] In a strictly dependent manner dependent on their distance
from the hypocenter, in the 1987 Life Span Study, conducted by the
Radiation Effects Research Foundation, a statistical excess of 507
cancers, of undefined lethality, were observed in 79,972 hibakusha who
had still been living between 1958–1987 and who took part in the
study.[272] As the epidemiology study continues with time, the RERF
estimates that, from 1950 to 2000, 46% of leukemia deaths which may
include Sadako Sasaki and 11% of solid cancers of unspecificed lethality
were likely due to radiation from the bombs or some other post-attack
city effects, with the statistical excess being 200 leukemia deaths and
1,700 solid cancers of undeclared lethality. Both of these statistics
being derived from the observation of approximately half of the total
survivors, strictly those who took part in the study.[273]
Birth defect investigations
While
during the preimplantation period, that is 1–10 days following
conception, interuterine radiation exposure of "at least 0.2 Gy" can
cause complications of implantation and death of the human embryo.[274]
The number of miscarriages caused by the radiation from the bombings,
during this radiosensitive period, is not known.
One of the early
studies conducted by the ABCC was on the outcome of pregnancies
occurring in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and in a control city, Kure,
located 18 mi (29 km) south of Hiroshima, to discern the conditions and
outcomes related to radiation exposure.[275] James V. Neel led the study
which found that the overall number of birth defects was not
significantly higher among the children of survivors who were pregnant
at the time of the bombings.[276] He also studied the longevity of the
children who survived the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, reporting
that between 90 and 95 percent were still living 50 years later.[277]
While
The National Academy of Sciences raised the possibility that Neel's
procedure did not filter the Kure population for possible radiation
exposure which could bias the results.[278] Overall, a statistically
insignificant increase in birth defects occurred directly after the
bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima when the cities were taken as wholes,
in terms of distance from the hypocenters however, Neel and others
noted that in approximately 50 humans who were of an early gestational
age at the time of the bombing and who were all within about 1 kilometre
(0.62 mi) from the hypocenter, an increase in microencephaly and
anencephaly was observed upon birth, with the incidence of these two
particular malformations being nearly 3 times what was to be expected
when compared to the control group in Kure, were approximately 20 cases
were observed in a similar sample size.[279]
In 1985, Johns
Hopkins University geneticist James F. Crow examined Neel's research and
confirmed that the number of birth defects was not significantly higher
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[280] Many members of the ABCC and its
successor Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) were still
looking for possible birth defects among the survivors decades later,
but found no evidence that they were significantly common among the
survivors, or inherited in the children of survivors.[277][281]
Investigations into brain development
See also: Radiation-induced cognitive decline § Radiation Therapy
Despite
the small sample size of 1,600 to 1,800 persons who came forth as
prenatally exposed at the time of the bombings, that were both within a
close proximity to the two hypocenters, to survive the in utero
absorption of a substantial dose of radiation and then the malnourished
post-attack environment, data from this cohort does support the
increased risk of severe mental retardation (SMR), that was observed in
some 30 individuals, with SMR being a common outcome of the
aforementioned microencephaly. While a lack of statistical data, with
just 30 individuals out of 1,800, prevents a definitive determination of
a threshold point, the data collected suggests a threshold interuterine
or fetal dose for SMR, at the most radiosensitive period of cognitive
development, when there is the largest number of undifferentiated neural
cells (8 to 15 weeks post-conception) to begin at a threshold dose of
approximately "0.09" to "0.15" Gy, with the risk then linearly
increasing to a 43% rate of SMR when exposed to a fetal dose of 1 Gy at
any point during these weeks of rapid Neurogenesis.[282][283]
However
either side of this radiosensitive age, none of the prenatally exposed
to the bombings at an age less than 8 weeks, that is prior to
synaptogenesis or at a gestational age more than 26 weeks "were observed
to be mentally retarded", with the condition therefore being isolated
to those solely of 8–26 weeks of age and who absorbed more than
approximately "0.09" to "0.15" Gy of prompt radiation energy.[284][285]
Examination
of the prenatally exposed in terms of IQ performance and school
records, determined the beginning of a statistically significant
reduction in both, when exposed to greater than 0.1 to 0.5 Gray, during
the same gestational period of 8–25 weeks. However outside this period,
at less than 8 weeks and greater than 26 after conception, "there is no
evidence of a radiation-related effect on scholastic performance."[286]
The
reporting of doses in terms of absorbed energy in units of (Gy and rad)
rather than the use of the biologically significant, biologically
weighted Sievert, in both the SMR and cognitive performance data is
typical.[285] The reported threshold dose variance between the two
cities, is suggested to be a manifestation of the difference between
X-ray and neutron absorption, with Little Boy emitting substantially
more neutron flux, whereas the Baratol that surrounded the core of Fat
Man, filtered or shifted the absorbed neutron-radiation profile, so that
the dose of radiation energy received in Nagasaki, is mostly that from
exposure to x-rays/gamma rays, in contrast to the environment within
1500 meters of the hypocenter at Hiroshima, were instead the in-utero
dose more depended on the absorption of neutrons, which have a higher
biological effect per unit of energy absorbed.[287] From the Radiation
dose reconstruction work, which were also informed by the 1962 BREN
Tower-Japanese city analog, the estimated dosimetry at Hiroshima still
has the largest uncertainty as the Little Boy-bomb design was never
tested before deployment or afterward, therefore the estimated radiation
profile absorbed by individuals at Hiroshima had required greater
reliance on calculations than the Japanese soil, concrete and roof-tile
measurements which began to reach accurate levels and thereby inform
researchers, in the 1990s.[288][289][290]
Many other
investigations into cognitive outcomes, such as Schizophrenia as a
result of prenatal exposure, have been conducted with "no statistically
significant linear relationship seen", there is a suggestion that in the
most extremely exposed, those who survived within a kilometer or so of
the hypocenters, a trend emerges akin to that seen in SMR, though the
sample size is too small to determine with any significance.[291]
Hibakusha
Main article: Hibakusha
The
survivors of the bombings are called hibakusha (被爆者, Japanese
pronunciation: [çibakɯ̥ɕa]), a Japanese word that literally translates
to "explosion-affected people". The Japanese government has recognized
about 650,000 people as hibakusha. As of March 31, 2019, 145,844 were
still alive, mostly in Japan.[292] The government of Japan recognizes
about 1% of these as having illnesses[ambiguous] caused by
radiation.[293][better source needed] The memorials in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki contain lists of the names of the hibakusha who are known to
have died since the bombings. Updated annually on the anniversaries of
the bombings, as of August 2019, the memorials record the names of more
than 500,000 hibakusha; 319,186 in Hiroshima[294] and 182,601 in
Nagasaki.[295]
If they discuss their background, Hibakusha and
their children were (and still are) victims of fear based discrimination
and exclusion when it comes to prospects of marriage or work[296] due
to public ignorance about the consequences of radiation sickness or that
the low doses that the majority received were less than a routine
diagnostic x-ray, much of the public however persist with the belief
that the Hibakusha carry some hereditary or even contagious
disease.[297] This is despite the fact that no statistically
demonstrable increase of birth defects/congenital malformations was
found among the later conceived children born to survivors of the
nuclear weapons used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or indeed has been found
in the later conceived children of cancer survivors who had previously
received radiotherapy.[298][299][300] The surviving women of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, that could conceive, who were exposed to substantial
amounts of radiation, went on and had children with no higher incidence
of abnormalities/birth defects than the rate which is observed in the
Japanese average.[301][302][303] A study of the long-term psychological
effects of the bombings on the survivors found that even 17–20 years
after the bombings had occurred survivors showed a higher prevalence of
anxiety and somatization symptoms.[304]
Double survivors
Perhaps
as many as 200 people from Hiroshima sought refuge in Nagasaki. The
2006 documentary Twice Survived: The Doubly Atomic Bombed of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki documented 165 nijū hibakusha (lit. double
explosion-affected people), nine of whom claimed to be in the blast zone
in both cities.[305] On March 24, 2009, the Japanese government
officially recognized Tsutomu Yamaguchi as a double hibakusha. He was
confirmed to be 3 km (1.9 mi) from ground zero in Hiroshima on a
business trip when the bomb was detonated. He was seriously burnt on his
left side and spent the night in Hiroshima. He arrived at his home city
of Nagasaki on August 8, the day before the bombing, and he was exposed
to residual radiation while searching for his relatives. He was the
first officially recognized survivor of both bombings.[306] He died on
January 4, 2010, at the age of 93, after a battle with stomach
cancer.[307]
Korean survivors
See also: Anti-Korean sentiment § Japan
During
the war, Japan brought as many as 670,000 Korean conscripts to Japan to
work as forced labor.[308] About 5,000–8,000 Koreans were killed in
Hiroshima and another 1,500–2,000 died in Nagasaki.[309] For many years,
Korean survivors had a difficult time fighting for the same recognition
as Hibakusha as afforded to all Japanese survivors, a situation which
resulted in the denial of the free health benefits to them in Japan.
Most issues were eventually addressed in 2008 through lawsuits.[310]
Memorials
Hiroshima
Hiroshima
was subsequently struck by Typhoon Ida on September 17, 1945. More than
half the bridges were destroyed, and the roads and railroads were
damaged, further devastating the city.[311] The population increased
from 83,000 soon after the bombing to 146,000 in February 1946.[312] The
city was rebuilt after the war, with help from the national government
through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law passed in
1949. It provided financial assistance for reconstruction, along with
land donated that was previously owned by the national government and
used for military purposes.[313] In 1949, a design was selected for the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial
Promotion Hall, the closest surviving building to the location of the
bomb's detonation, was designated the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was opened in 1955 in the Peace
Park.[314] Hiroshima also contains a Peace Pagoda, built in 1966 by
Nipponzan-Myōhōji.[315]
Panoramic view of Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Park. The Genbaku Dome can be seen in the center left of the image. The
original target for the bomb was the "T"-shaped Aioi Bridge seen in the
left of the image.
Nagasaki
Torii, Nagasaki, Japan. One-legged torii in the background
Nagasaki
was also rebuilt after the war, but was dramatically changed in the
process. The pace of reconstruction was initially slow, and the first
simple emergency dwellings were not provided until 1946. The focus on
redevelopment was the replacement of war industries with foreign trade,
shipbuilding and fishing. This was formally declared when the Nagasaki
International Culture City Reconstruction Law was passed in May
1949.[312] New temples were built, as well as new churches owing to an
increase in the presence of Christianity. Some of the rubble was left as
a memorial, such as a torii at Sannō Shrine, and an arch near ground
zero. New structures were also raised as memorials, such as the Nagasaki
Atomic Bomb Museum, which was opened in the mid-1990s.[316]
A
rectangular column rises above a dark stone base with Japanese writing
on it. It sits atop a grass mound with is surrounded by alternating
circles of stone path and grass. The is a wall around the whole
monument, and bushes beyond.
Panoramic view of the monument marking the hypocenter, or ground zero, of the atomic bomb explosion over Nagasaki
Debate over bombings
Main article: Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The
role of the bombings in Japan's surrender, and the ethical, legal, and
military controversies surrounding the United States' justification for
them have been the subject of scholarly and popular debate.[317] On one
hand, it has been argued that the bombings caused the Japanese
surrender, thereby preventing casualties that an invasion of Japan would
have involved.[6][318] Stimson talked of saving one million
casualties.[319] The naval blockade might have starved the Japanese into
submission without an invasion, but this would also have resulted in
many more Japanese deaths.[320]
Japanese historian Tsuyoshi
Hasegawa argued that the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against
Japan "played a much greater role than the atomic bombs in inducing
Japan to surrender because it dashed any hope that Japan could terminate
the war through Moscow's mediation".[321] A view among critics of the
bombings, that was popularized by American historian Gar Alperovitz in
1965, is the idea of atomic diplomacy: that the United States used
nuclear weapons to intimidate the Soviet Union in the early stages of
the Cold War. Although not accepted by mainstream historians, this
became the position in Japanese school history textbooks.[322]
Those
who oppose the bombings give other reasons for their view, among them: a
belief that atomic bombing is fundamentally immoral, that the bombings
counted as war crimes, and that they constituted state terrorism.[323]
Legacy
Main article: Nuclear warfare
Like
the way it began, the manner in which World War II ended cast a long
shadow over international relations for decades to come. By June 30,
1946, there were components for only nine atomic bombs in the US
arsenal, all Fat Man devices identical to the one used in the bombing of
Nagasaki.[324] The nuclear weapons were handmade devices, and a great
deal of work remained to improve their ease of assembly, safety,
reliability and storage before they were ready for production. There
were also many improvements to their performance that had been suggested
or recommended, but that had not been possible under the pressure of
wartime development.[325] The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy had decried the use of the atomic bombs
as adopting "an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark
Ages",[326] but in October 1947, he reported a military requirement for
400 bombs.[327]
The American monopoly on nuclear weapons lasted
only four years before the Soviet Union detonated an atomic bomb in
September 1949.[327] The United States responded with the development of
the hydrogen bomb, a nuclear weapon a thousand times as powerful as the
bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[328] Such ordinary
fission bombs would henceforth be regarded as small tactical nuclear
weapons. By 1986, the United States had 23,317 nuclear weapons, while
the Soviet Union had 40,159. By 2017, nine nations had nuclear
weapons,[329] but Japan was not one of them.[330] Japan reluctantly
signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in
February 1970,[331] but it is still sheltered under the American nuclear
umbrella. American nuclear weapons were stored on Okinawa, and
sometimes in Japan itself, albeit in contravention of agreements between
the two nations.[332] Lacking the resources to fight the Soviet Union
using conventional forces, the Western Alliance came to depend on the
use of nuclear weapons to defend itself during the Cold War, a policy
that became known in the 1950s as the New Look.[333] In the decades
after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States would threaten to use
its nuclear weapons many times.[334]
Notes
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Williams 1960, p. 307.
Williams 1960, p. 532.
Williams 1960, p. 527.
Long 1963, pp. 48–49.
Brooks & Stanley 2007, pp. 41–44.
Appleman et al. 1948, pp. 462–467.
Coox 1969, pp. 2540–2544.
Giangreco 2009, pp. 32–34.
Giangreco 2009, pp. 125–130.
Giangreco 2009, pp. 169–171.
Giangreco 2009, pp. 45–48.
Giangreco 2009, p. 21.
Giangreco 2009, pp. 70–72.
Giangreco 2009, pp. 121–124.
"The Final Months of the War With Japan. Part III (note 24)". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
Carroll 2007, p. 48.
Drea 1992, pp. 202–225.
Giangreco 2009, pp. 98–99.
Frank 1999, p. 340.
Giangreco 2009, p. 112.
Schaffer 1985, pp. 164–165.
Craven & Cate 1953, p. 4.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 22–24.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 169–175.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 29–31.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 507–509.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 514–521.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 548–551.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 536–545.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 558–560.
Craven & Cate 1953, p. 566.
Sandler 2001, pp. 24–26.
Craven & Cate 1953, pp. 574–576.
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Further reading
Allen, Thomas; Polmar, Norman (1995). Code-Name Downfall. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80406-4.
Alperovitz, Gar; Tree, Sanho (1996). The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb. New York: Vintage. ISBN 978-0-679-76285-0.
The Committee for the Compilation of Materials on Damage Caused by the
Atomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1981). Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
The Physical, Medical, and Social Effects of the Atomic Bombings. New
York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02985-3.
Delgado, James P.
(2009). Nuclear Dawn: the Atomic Bomb, from the Manhattan Project to the
Cold War. New York: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-396-4. OCLC 297147193.
Gordin, Michael D. (2007). Five Days in August: How World War II Became
a Nuclear War. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN
978-0-691-12818-4. OCLC 70630623.
Gosling, Francis George (1994).
The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb. Washington, D.C.: United
States Department of Energy, History Division. OCLC 637052193.
Krauss, Robert; Krauss, Amelia (2005). The 509th Remembered: A History
of the 509th Composite Group as Told by the Veterans Themselves.
Buchanan, Michigan: 509th Press. ISBN 978-0-923568-66-5. OCLC 59148135.
Merton, Thomas (1962). Original Child Bomb: Points for Meditation to be
Scratched on the Walls of a Cave. New York: New Directions. OCLC
4527778.
Murakami, Chikayasu (2007). Hiroshima no shiroi sora (The White Sky in Hiroshima). Tokyo: Bungeisha. ISBN 978-4-286-03708-0.
Ogura, Toyofumi (2001). Letters from the End of the World: A Firsthand
Account of the Bombing of Hiroshima. Tokyo: Kodansha International. ISBN
978-4-7700-2776-4.
Sekimori, Gaynor (1986). Hibakusha: Survivors
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company. ISBN
978-4-333-01204-6.
Ward, Wilson (Spring 2007). "The Winning
Weapon? Rethinking Nuclear Weapons in Light of Hiroshima". International
Security. 31 (4): 162–179. doi:10.1162/isec.2007.31.4.162. ISSN
1531-4804.
Warren, Stafford L. (1966). "Manhattan Project". In
Ahnfeldt, Arnold Lorentz (ed.). Radiology in World War II. Washington,
D.C.: Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army. pp.
831–922. OCLC 630225.
External links
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
at Wikipedia's sister projects
Media from Wikimedia Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Present day
Are Nagasaki and Hiroshima still radioactive? – No. Includes explanation.
Decision
"Order from General Thomas Handy to General Carl Spaatz authorizing the
dropping of the first atomic bomb". Wikisource. 2015.
"Documents
on the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb". Harry S. Truman Presidential
Library and Museum. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
"President Truman
Defends Use of Atomic Bomb, 1945:Original Letters". Shapell Manuscript
Foundation. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
"Correspondence Regarding Decision to Drop the Bomb". Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
Effects
"The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". U.S.
Strategic Bombing Survey. Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and
Museum. 1946. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
"Scientific Data of the
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Disaster". Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki
University. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
"Tale of Two Cities: The Story of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". National Science Digital Library. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
"The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". Atomic Archive. 1946. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
"The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II" (PDF). National Security Archive. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
The short film Children of Hiroshima (Reel 1 of 2) (1952) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
The short film Children of Hiroshima (Reel 2 of 2) (1952) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
"Photo gallery of aftermath pictures". Time-Life. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
Video footage of the bombing of Nagasaki (silent) on YouTube
Video footage of the bombing of Hiroshima on YouTube
The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Archives
"Nagasaki Archive". Google Earth mapping of Nagasaki bombing archives. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
"Hiroshima Archive". Google Earth mapping of Hiroshima bombing archives. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
Bibliographies
"Annotated bibliography for atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki".
Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
Commemoration
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall For The Atomic Bomb Victims
Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall For The Atomic Bomb Victims
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
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Categories:
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JapanExplosions in 1945August 1945 eventsHistory of the Manhattan
Project1945 in military history
World War II represents a
dark time in modern history: a second plunge into devastation that ought
never to have been repeated after World War I. Within the space of a
generation, Europe and the world had entered a second world war. This
time the trenches would be traded for u-boats, planes and the deadliest
weapons technology could produce. And this time the horrors of
concentration camps, death marches and the systematic persecution
perpetrated by Nazi forces would be condemned by all at the war’s end.
“There
is a hush over all Europe, nay, over all the world … Alas! It is the
hush of suspense, and in many lands it is the hush of fear. Listen! No,
listen carefully, I think I hear something - yes, there it was quite
clear. Don’t you hear it? It is the tramp of armies crunching the gravel
of the parade grounds, splashing through rain-soaked fields, the tramp
of two million German soldiers and more than a million Italians - ‘going
on manoeuvres’- yes, only on manoeuvres!” – Winston S. Churchill,
broadcast of 8 August 1939
Beginning in September 1939, World War
II was instigated when Germany invaded Poland in its quest for
Lebensraum; two days later Britain and France declared war on the Nazi
state. Over the following six years the Nazi war machine would encompass
the bulk of Europe, parts of Africa and the Middle East, and would
knock menacingly on Britain’s door.
The Blitz of 1940–41 saw the
destruction of many British streets, but nowhere more so than in London.
Children were evacuated to the countryside to try to take them out of
harm’s way, while bomb shelters and blackouts became the norm of British
life. It was a time when a siren would send a city underground and much
of that wartime spirit kicked into action: songs were sung and
community was vital. Overhead Spitfires and Hurricanes worked hard to
defend Britain’s skies. In all, two million houses were destroyed and
over 40,000 civilians lost their lives during this period.
However,
the situation was much more dire in France, where Axis forces took
control in 1940 and the infamous Vichy government established an
authoritarian regime. This led to a strong French resistance network and
the Allied espionage effort was focused there. Such characters as
Violette Szabo and Nancy Wake operated here, right under the noses of
the Gestapo. Sadly, Violette was not to survive the war – as was the
case for a good many of the operatives on foreign soil.
Famously,
American entry into World War II happened in response to the attack on
Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, who were one of the Axis powers. Their
fight against the Japanese was to last until 2 September 1945 – VJ Day.
The Japanese surrendered in the wake of the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, when the total devastation of the atomic bomb was realised.
Although the bombs were indiscriminate in their victims and the human
effects were shocking, their use ended World War II. It is a testament
to the destruction the bombs wrought that the A-bomb has never been used
in active service since.
By the end of the war, in 1945, the
barbarity of Hitler’s regime was laid bare, as concentration camps were
found and liberated, the gas ‘showers’ and incinerators were discovered
and skeletal victims of the persecution were rescued. The primary
victims of the Holocaust were Jews from all over Nazi-occupied Europe,
but other minorities also suffered the same fate: the disabled,
non-heterosexual people, non-Europeans, non-white and political
opponents to the Nazi Party, to name a few. The philosophy of eugenics
had been brought to a horrifying conclusion under Adolf Hitler.
With
the loss of 6 million Jews over the period of the war, a number of
memorials focus upon this catastrophic decimation of the Jewish
population of Europe. Yad Veshem is the largest of these, and its
website provides a great resource for Remembrance. However, it is vital
that all those who gave their lives to resist, fight or simply exist
under the bone-crushing force of the Nazi war machine are remembered.
Never forget the men and women who helped Jews escape persecution, those
women who stepped up on the Home Front to help the armed forces, those
people who gave their lives to make Europe safe for all once more.