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.
Related Stories
Albert Einstein's 'Magnificent Birthday Gift'
The False Hope of the Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Photo
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.
Get our History Newsletter. Put today's news in context and see highlights from the archives.
Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME.
You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
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.
Spotlight Story
Finding Hope: The TIME 100 Community on Navigating Our New Reality
Here's advice from Margaret Atwood, Sundar Pichai, Stephen Curry, Tsai Ing-wen and others on how to get through the pandemic
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