Gordon Thomas - Enola Gay

Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets, December 1960 (Kenneth Leish); September 1966 (Arthur Marmor).

General Nathan F. Twining, November 1965 (Arthur Marmor).

And television documentaries:

“The Building of the Bomb.” BBC-TV, March 1975.

“Hot to Handle.” BBC-TV, September 1966.

Eric Sevareid in “Conversation with John J. McCloy.” CBS News Special in two parts, July 1975.

“The Day the Sun Blew Up.” BBC-TV, October 1976.

Abe, Hiroshi, 115–17, 119, 141, 189–90, 263

Abel, William, 201, 275

Adachi, Dr. Sakyo, 120–21

Aioi Bridge, 220, 256, 257

Alamogordo (New Mexico), test-firing at, 86, 157, 171, 172–75, 178–79, 183

Albury, Don, 32–33

Allison, Charles, 200

Alvarez, Luis, 230–31

Arisue, Seizo, 44–45, 63–64, 99–100, 121–22, 161–63, 164, 168, 193–94, 274

Arnold, Henry, 16, 144, 145, 179, 191

Asada, Dr. Tsunesaburo, 42–43, 119–20, 274

Ashworth, Frederic L., 81, 87, 171

Atkinson, Hugh, 201

Atomic bomb(s)

appearance of, 238–39

“arming” of, 227, 233, 245–46, 250

building of, 38–39, 55–56

chain reaction needed for, 8

console for monitoring, 232, 238, 255

cover names for, 171

description of, 106–7

dome, in Hiroshima, 283

dropping of, 256–57

explosion of, 258, 262

fuzing mechanism for, 87, 103, 112, 230–31, 256

orders to use, 206–7, 217, 225

power of, 12, 72, 207, 228

production schedule after August 1945, 213

scientists “tinkering with,” 115–16

second attack using, 276–77

tactical requirements for delivery of, 49–50

test-firing of, 172–75, 228

worldwide reaction to, 273–74

See also: Interim Committee; Plutonium bomb; Uranium bomb

Atomic strike force

briefings of, 225–29, 236–38

choosing crews for, 32–33

final preparations for, 229–30

Awaya, Sachiyo, 110, 189, 258

Awaya, Senkichi, 60–62, 100, 118, 129, 199, 223–24, 234–35, 263

Balloon bombs, 120–21

Baumgartner, Charles, 200

Beahan, Kermit, 32, 55, 111–13, 256, 276

Beser, Jacob, 28, 31, 48, 49, 111, 236–37, 240, 281

during atomic mission, 244, 249–50, 255, 257, 258, 264, 265

and crews, 67

description of, 25

at Los Alamos, 36–38. 40–41. 86–87

on second strike, 275, 276

and security guard, 54–55, 77, 81

and Target Committee, 132–33

on Tinian, 157–58, 167–68, 181–82, 192–93, 196, 213, 216, 226

Bethe, Hans, 40

Blanchard, William “Butch,” 184–86, 206, 219

Bock, Frederick, 204

Bock’s Car , 204, 276

Bohr, Niels, 8

Bombsight, problems with, 68

Briefings before atomic mission, 225–29, 236–38

Britain

atomic research collaboration with, 91

representatives from, for atomic mission, 197, 225

Brode, Robert, 36

Brugge, Brian, 63

B-24s, 199–201

B-29s, 78–80, 96, 131–32

assignment of, for atomic strike, 227

crashes of, 158, 167, 241

new replacements, 103

pathfinders, 97–98

stripped of guns, 50, 52

Superdumbos, 229

Bubinsky, Joseph, 201, 202, 204

Buscher, Joseph, 24–25, 217–18, 225, 228, 229

Bushfield, David, 200

Byrnes, James F., 91–92, 110, 179, 277

Calipatria (California), 103, 104

Cannon, Clarence, 90

Caron, George “Bob,” 27–28, 29, 46, 49, 139, 147, 281

during atomic mission, 240, 241–42, 245, 248, 254–55, 257, 258, 262, 263, 264

on Tinian, 160, 183, 225, 226, 236

Cartwright, Thomas, 200, 275

Cheshire, Leonard, 197, 225, 275

China, 79, 156

Churchill, Winston, 91

and the atomic bomb, 191–92

in Potsdam, 177–78

CINCPAC, 80

Clark, Mark, 14

Classen, Thomas, 24, 25–26, 28, 29, 77, 180, 181, 218, 226, 234

Code names, 13, 140, 171, 198–99, 207–8

Compton, Arthur, 134, 135

“Coronet,” 140

“Crossroads, the,” 209

Cuba, 55, 77–78

the 509th in, 81, 84–85

Cyanide capsules, 241

Death ray, 43, 120

Dehart, “Pappy,” 113

Doll, Ed, 226, 229, 232, 236

Doolittle, James, 97

Dougherty, Dora, 54, 96

Downey, William, 69–70, 198, 237–38

Dulles, Allen, 64, 99, 100, 121, 122, 168–69, 190–91

Dumbos, 229

Duzenbury, Wyatt, 33, 46, 48–49, 147, 183, 184, 225, 226, 242, 281

during atomic mission, 247, 258

preflight check of Enola Gay , 238–39

Early, Steve, 108

Eatherly, Claude, 56–57, 67, 77–78, 111, 113–14, 204

attempt to bomb Imperial palace, 186–87, 188

description of, 24, 26–27

mental health of, 57, 197

since 1945, 280–81

on Tinian, 183

as weather scout, 217, 252, 253

Eatherly, Joe, 280

866th Bombardment Squadron, 199–202

Einstein, Albert, 7, 65–66

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 14

Ellison, Buford, 201

Enola Gay , 232, 284

controversy over name, 233

crew of, 238, 281

departure of, from Tinian, 239–244

flight of, 244–51, 254–58, 262, 263–65

follow up attack of, 275

return of, to Tinian, 269

Ent, Uzal G., 11–12, 13, 14

Falls, Lawrence, 200

Farrell, Thomas, 175, 207–8, 218, 233, 241, 266, 269

Ferebee, Thomas, 25, 28, 47–48, 67–68, 102–3, 172, 219–20

description of, 31–32

during atomic mission, 244, 255, 256, 257, 258

since 1945, 281

skill of, 185

on Tinian, 179–80, 224–25, 236

Fermi, Enrico, 8, 40, 134

First Ordnance Squadron, 87, 94–96, 103, 112, 167, 232, 234

509th Composite Group, 67

attempts to break up, 179–80, 184

celebration for, following mission, 267–68

in Cuba, 78, 84–85

hostility toward, 166, 198

practice missions over Japan, 186–87, 204–5, 208

reunions of, 281

security of, 165–66

on Tinian, 154–57, 165–66, 180–81, 196–97

in Wendover, 113–14

Flanagin, Rudolph, 200

Formosa, 168

Franck Report, 136

Fuchida, Mitsuo, 18, 118, 251, 268–69, 282

Fujii, Shoji, 115

Full House , 227, 253

Furman, Robert, 169–70, 175–77

Fuzing system, tests of, 103–5, 112–13, 230–31

Gackenbach, Russell, 30, 158, 183

Genda, Minoru, 17–18, 143, 283

Germany, surrender of, 128

Giles, Barney, 13

Ginga bomber, 120

Göring, Hermann Wilhelm, 273

Great Artiste , 204–5, 218, 226, 227, 230, 239, 244, 247, 249, 256, 257, 266, 276

“Great God K, The,” 8

Greenglass, David, 40–41

Grennan, Eugene, 29–30, 183, 253

Gromyko, Andrei, 123

Groves, Leslie, 55, 66, 80–81, 86, 90–93, 123, 124–25, 145–46, 218

and “arming” of bomb, 227, 233–34

and code names, 171, 198–99

description of, 15–16, 30–31

and LeMay, 184

and “publicity” of Enola Gay’s departure, 239

and security, 31, 181

and target selection, 70–72, 92, 134, 136–38, 144, 215

at test-firing of plutonium bomb, 172–74, 175

and time schedules, 72, 115, 213

Guam, 18, 74, 75, 78–79, 81, 126, 209

“Guillotine, The,” 38

Handy, Thomas T., 206–7, 215

Haruna , 199, 200

Hashimoto, Mochitsura, 33–35, 72–75, 126–27, 208–213, 282

Hata, Shunroku, 142–43, 162, 188–89, 193, 199, 201, 224, 234–35, 251, 257, 282

headquarters of, 163–64, 274

Hirohito, Emperor, 61, 161, 169, 190, 194–95, 277, 278

Hiroshima, 22, 102, 115–16, 125–26, 186

air raids on, 100–101, 236, 252

communications conference in, 235, 251–52, 254