They were accompanied by two other B-29 bombers which carried instrumentation and photography equipment. The crew was instructed that Hiroshima was to be their primary target if Hiroshima could not be reached for any reason, including foul weather, Kokura or Nagasaki was to be chosen as alternate targets.
#ENOLA GAY DEFINITION WW2 CODE#
Ww2dbaseThe B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay of USAAF 393rd Bombardment Squadron, commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 509 Composite Bombardment Group, XX Air Force, lifted off from North Field of Tinian of the Mariana Islands on with their cargo code named "Little Boy". The purpose of such flights were to wear down the alertness of Japanese anti-aircraft defense crew, whether gunners or fighter pilots, so that when the atomic bomb attacks arrived, perhaps some of the Japanese would let their guards down. Ww2dbasePrior to the bombing, the United States Army conducted many missions over Japanese cities that were composed of very few B-29 bombers. Ww2dbaseUS Secretary of War Henry Stimson voiced successfully against the selection of Kyoto as a target, arguing that the city held cultural importance to the world he also had a personal attachment to the city as he and his wife traveled to Kyoto on their honeymoon many years prior. The mountains surrounding Hiroshima also contributed to Hiroshima being among one of the top choices among the short list of potential targets, for that the mountains might contain the destructive forces of an atomic blast in the target area, increasing the level of destruction. It was also an important port in southern Japan and a communications center. As a military target, Hiroshima was a major army base that housed the headquarters of the Japanese 5th Division and the 2nd Army Headquarters. Ww2dbaseHiroshima was chosen as the first target due to its military and industrial values. The committee eventually arrived at the recommendation of four targets: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and Kokura.
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Ww2dbaseBetween 10 and, Oppenheimer led a committee which came up with a list of cities most potentially suitable as targets of atomic attacks.
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The scientists presented them with two such weapons, while the military sought uranium to produce a third. Truman, unwilling to risk the huge amount of lives that might be lost on both sides should the Allies invade the Japanese home islands, ordered the usage of the new technology. Ww2dbaseOn, while President of the United States Harry Truman was at Potsdam, Germany to meet with his Allied counterparts, long-waited results reached him: The Manhattan Project, the American effort at building the atomic bomb, successfully detonated the first bomb during a test at Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States.
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For details on the conventional bombing of Japan, please see the article Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities. Ww2dbaseThis article covers the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.