On August 6, at 2:45 local time, the bomber code-named Enola Gay with the uranium bomb Little Boy on board took off towards Japan from the island of Tinian.
Enola Gay reached Hiroshima at an altitude of 10,000 meters, and a little after 8 o’clock Little Boy was dropped on the town. Devices to determine effectiveness were parachuted after the bomb.
Fat Man.
B-29 Box Car.
Before dawn on August 9, the B-29 known as Box Car took off from Tinian with the Fat Man plutonium bomb on board. Its main target was the town of Kokura (today’s Kitakusu), and its back-up target Nagasaki. Approaching Kokura, the pilot discovered that, contrary to the information provided by meteorological service plane, the sky over the town was covered with a thick layer of clouds and visual bombardment was impossible. Nagasaki was also covered in clouds, but at the last moment the aircraft’s crew found a gap and dropped the plutonium bomb from a height of 8800 meters.
Atomic explosion over Hiroshima.
Only scorched earth and sparse shells of buildings remained in Hiroshima’s place.
The consequences of those events were awful. Already on the verge of ruin, the Japanese Army and Navy did not become any weaker. The atomic explosion in Hiroshima alone killed about 80,000 people instantly. In its aftermath, over 14,000 were missing, over 37,000 severely wounded, and 235,000 injured by fireballs and penetrating radiation. The general number of killed, wounded and injured in the two towns exceeded half a million people, not counting those victims who suffered and will suffer from residual radiation. The Japanese people still feel the impact of the atomic bombardments to this day.
Aerial photos of Hiroshima before and after the atomic bombardment.
Upon receiving a detailed report of the consequences of that strike, the Emperor Hirohito ordered the Japanese government to terminate the war immediately.
On August 10, at roughly the same time, the government of Japan conveyed to America through the Government of Switzerland a protest, in which it was proposed to immediately stop using atomic bombs in the war against Japan, as they presented an unprecedentedly powerful inhuman weapon, use of which constituted an humanitarian outrage.
The response of the US to that protest is not known. The day of Japan’s awful tragedy, the day in which thousands of Japanese civilians perished was the day of the Americans long-awaited triumph and a symbol of their power.
Crew of Enola Gay.
Crew of Box Car.
General Spaatz presents Colonel Tibitz with the Distinguished Service Cross.
But the atomic bombardment provoked vehement denunciation all over the world and initiated a new arms race – this time a nuclear one.
“Atomic Bomb Dome," a section of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
“If only I had known that the Germans would not manage to invent an atomic bomb, I would not have lifted a finger”. said Albert Einstein after the war
And here is the opinion of an eyewitness to the atomic bombardment, John Siemes, a priest and Professor of Philosophy of Tokyo Catholic University, “I think it logical that those who support universal war of destruction, usually do not complain of actions against the civilians. The problem is if such war could ever be justified as it is, even if it pursues righteous aims. Whether this material and spiritual evil has consequences surpassing any possible benefit? When will our philosophers be able to give a clear answer to this question?”
