Hiroshima

Hiroshima was the primary target of the first atomic bomb mission. The
mission went smoothly in every respect. The weather was good, and the
crew and equipment functioned perfectly. In every detail, the attack was
carried out exactly as planned, and the bomb performed exactly as expected.

The bomb exploded over Hiroshima at 8:15 on the morning of August 6, 1945.
About an hour previously, the Japanese early warning radar net had detected
the approach of some American aircraft headed for the southern part of
Japan. The alert had been given and radio broadcasting stopped in many
cities, among them Hiroshima. The planes approached the coast at a very
high altitude. At nearly 8:00 A.M., the radar operator in Hiroshima
determined that the number of planes coming in was very small - probably
not more than three - and the air raid alert was lifted. The normal radio
broadcast warning was given to the people that it might be advisable to go
to shelter if B-29's were actually sighted, but no raid was expected beyond
some sort of reconnaissance. At 8:15 A.M., the bomb exploded with a
blinding flash in the sky, and a great rush of air and a loud rumble of
noise extended for many miles around the city; the first blast was soon
followed by the sounds of falling buildings and of growing fires, and a
great cloud of dust and smoke began to cast a pall of darkness over the
city.

At 8:16 A.M., the Tokyo control operator of the Japanese Broadcasting
Corporation noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air. He
tried to use another telephone line to reestablish his program, but it too
had failed. About twenty 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 ten miles of the city
there came unofficial and confused reports of a terrible explosion in
Hiroshima. All these reports were transmitted to the Headquarters of the
Japanese General Staff.

Military headquarters repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in
Hiroshima. The complete silence from that city puzzled the men at
Headquarters; they knew that no large enemy raid could have occurred, and
they knew that no sizeable store of explosives was in Hiroshima at that
time. A young officer of the Japanese General Staff was instructed to fly
immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return to Tokyo
with reliable information for the staff. It was generally felt at
Headquarters that nothing serious had taken place, that it was all a
terrible rumor starting from a few sparks of truth.

The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest.
After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 100 miles from
Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb. In
the bright afternoon, the remains of Hiroshima were burning.

Their plane soon reached the city, around which they circled in disbelief.
A great scar on the land, still burning, and covered by a heavy cloud of
smoke, was all that was left of a great city. They landed south of the
city, and the staff officer immediately began to organize relief measures,
after reporting to Tokyo.

Tokyo's first knowledge of what had really caused the disaster came from
the White House public announcement in Washington sixteen hours after
Hiroshima had been hit by the atomic bomb.


Nagasaki

Nagasaki had never been subjected to large scale bombing prior to the
explosion of the atomic bomb there. On August 1st, 1945, however, a number
of high explosive bombs were dropped on the city. A few of these bombs hit
in the shipyards and dock areas in the southwest portion of the city.
Several of the bombs hit the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works and six bombs
landed at the Nagasaki Medical School and Hospital, with three direct hits
on buildings there. While the damage from these few bombs were relatively
small, it created considerable concern in Nagasaki and a number of people,
principally school children, were evacuated to rural areas for safety, thus
reducing the population in the city at the time of the atomic attack.

On the morning of August 9th, 1945, at about 7:50 A.M., Japanese time, an
air raid alert was sounded in Nagasaki, but the "All clear" signal was
given at 8:30. 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. A few moments later, at 11:00 o'clock, the
observation B-29 dropped instruments attached to three parachutes and at
11:02 the other plane released the atomic bomb.

The bomb exploded high over the industrial valley of Nagasaki, almost
midway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works, in the south, and the
Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works (Torpedo Works), in the north, the two
principal targets of the city.

Despite its extreme importance, the first bombing mission on Hiroshima had
been almost routine. The second mission was not so uneventful. Again the
crew was specially trained and selected; but bad weather introduced some
momentous complications. These complications are best described in the
brief account of the mission's weaponeer, Comdr., now Capt., F. L.
Ashworth, U.S.N., who was in technical command of the bomb and was charged
with the responsibility of insuring that the bomb was successfully dropped
at the proper time and on the designated target. His narrative runs as
follows:

"The night of our take-off was one of tropical rain squalls, and flashes of
lightning stabbed into the darkness with disconcerting regularity. The
weather forecast told us of storms all the way from the Marianas to the
Empire. Our rendezvous was to be off the southeast coast of Kyushu, some
1500 miles away. There we were to join with our two companion observation
B-29's that took off a few minutes behind us. Skillful piloting and expert
navigation brought us to the rendezvous without incident.

"About five minutes after our arrival, we were joined by the first of our
B-29's. The second, however, failed to arrive, having apparently been
thrown off its course by storms during the night. We waited 30 minutes and
then proceeded without the second plane toward the target area.

"During the approach to the target the special instruments installed in the
plane told us that the bomb was ready to function. We were prepared to
drop the second atomic bomb on Japan. But fate was against us, for the
target was completely obscured by smoke and haze. Three times we attempted
bombing runs, but without success. Then with anti-aircraft fire bursting
around us and with a number of enemy fighters coming up after us, we headed
for our secondary target, Nagasaki.

"The bomb burst with a blinding flash and a huge column of black smoke
swirled up toward us. Out of this column of smoke there boiled a great
swirling mushroom of gray smoke, luminous with red, flashing flame, that
reached to 40,000 feet in less than 8 minutes. Below through the clouds we
could see the pall of black smoke ringed with fire that covered what had
been the industrial area of Nagasaki.

"By this time our fuel supply was dangerously low, so after one quick
circle of Nagasaki, we headed direct for Okinawa for an emergency landing
and refueling".