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Lewis, aircraft commander) took delivery of the bomber and flew it from Omaha to the 509th's base at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah on 14 June 1945. The aircraft was accepted by the USAAF on and assigned to the 393d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, 509th Composite Group. Tibbets, Jr., commander of the 509th Composite Group, on, while still on the assembly line. Enola Gay was personally selected by Colonel Paul W. These modifications included an extensively modified bomb bay with pneumatic doors, special propellors, modified engines and the deletion of protective armor and gun turrets. Enola Gay was one of 15 B-29s with the "Silverplate" modifications necessary to deliver atomic weapons. Martin Company (now Lockheed Martin) at its Bellevue, Nebraska plant, at what is now known as Offutt Air Force Base.
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The Enola Gay (B-29-45-MO, AAF Serial Number 44-86292, Victor number 82) was built by the Glenn L. Since 2003, the entire restored B-29 has been on display at NASM's Steven F. The exhibit was changed due to a controversy over original historical script displayed with the aircraft. The Enola Gay gained additional attention in 1995 when the cockpit and nose section of the aircraft were exhibited during the bombing's 50th anniversary at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution in downtown Washington, D.C. The bomb, code-named "Little Boy", was targeted at the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and caused unprecedented destruction. On 6 August 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb on an enemy target in a war. It was standardized as a bombardment group and redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 10 July 1946.Įnola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel (later Brigadier General) Paul Tibbets. In the postwar era, the 509th Composite Group was one of the original ten USAAF bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946, the only one equipped with specially-configured B-29 Superfortress capable of delivering atomic bombs. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. The following day was declared `Victory over Japan’ or VJ Day, although it was not until 2nd September that the final Japanese surrender was signed, thereby bringing the Second World War to a formal close.The 509th Composite Group (509th CG) was a United States Army Air Forces unit created during World War II, and tasked with operational deployment of nuclear weapons. On 14th August it finally accepted the demand for unconditional surrender. On 10th August the Japanese government indicated its readiness to accept defeat, subject to certain conditions. The two atomic explosions had the effects desired by the Allies. Nonetheless, over 2 square miles of the city were pulverized and some 73,000 people killed.
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Although it was even more powerful than `Little Boy’, the destruction caused by this bomb was less than at Hiroshima due to the nature of the terrain (the original target had been the city of Kokura, but the B29 carrying the bomb had been diverted to Nagasaki because of heavy cloud cover). Three days later, just after 11 on the morning of 9th August, a second atomic bomb nicknamed `Fat Man’ exploded above the city of Nagasaki. Many were instantly vaporized by the explosion, others died afterwards from the effects of burns and radiation. Delivering the equivalent of around 12.5 kilotons of TNT, the bomb reduced 5 square miles of the city center to ashes and caused the deaths of an estimated 120,000 people within the first four days following the blast. The bomb, nicknamed `Little Boy’, was dropped from the USAAF B29 bomber `Enola Gay’ and exploded some 1,800 feet above the city. The entire piece measures 14.25 inches by 12.5 inches.Īt 8:15 on the morning of 6th August 1945, the Japanese city of Hiroshima was devastated by the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon of war. Nelson, and First Lieutenant Jacob Beser. “Bob” Caron, Major Thomas Ferebee, Pilot Colonel Paul W. Signed and inscribed by six members of the crew: Navigator Captain Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, Sergeant George R. Item Number: 106032īlack and white photograph of the entire crew of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb. Jeppson Thomas Ferebee Dutch Van Kirk George R. Caron Richard Nelson Jacob Beser.