Diana Preston - Before the Fallout

“hoped… the other”: Quoted in Keegan, The Second World War, p. 575.

“a royal straight flush play it”; “master card”: H. Stimson’s diary, 14 and 15 May 1945, CUL/S.

“didn’t want to go… test”: The proofs of his book, The Days of Their Power, Davies Papers, box 100, p. 100, quoted in G. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb, p. 153. These files are closed to the public.

“His Majesty’s. the war”: Foreign Relations of the U. S., document 582, p. 876.

“under incredible pressure… meeting”: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission transcript of 1954 hearing In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer, p. 31.

“just standing there”; “dumbfounded” “Look… Mowed up”: Transcript of BBC TV program “The Day the Sun Blowed Up,” 1975.

“be set off accidentally”: Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, p. 666.

“an unbelievable noise”; “hundreds of frogs water”: Segre, Enrico Fermi, p. 146.

“The first grey light… cracked”: J. Chadwick’s note of 23 July 1945 to Sir John Anderson, CAB/126/250, PRO.

“suddenly… switch”; “the impression… boundary”; “a pretty perfect red ball… first one”; “a purplish blue glow”; “quite respectable”; “not quite like thunder… hills”: Otto Frisch’s eyewitness account of the Trinity test, 16 July 1945, CAB/126/250, PRO. J. Chadwick praised it as “the best” description.

“To us… the consequences”: BBC radio broadcast by R. Peierls on “Atomic Energy and Its Present Potentialities,” 1948.

“a little scared… made”: Quoted in F. M. Szasz, The Day the Sun Rose Twice, p. 89.

“I am worlds”: Pharr Davis, Lawrence and Oppenheimer, p. 240.

“walk strut”: Quoted in Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, p. 676.

“only… nothing happened”; “dribbling”; from his hand… away”: Groves, Now It Can Be Told, p. 296.

“Operated expectations”: MED, roll 1, M. 1109, NARA.

“I hope… of it”: H. S. Truman’s diary is quoted in R. H. Ferrell, ed., Off the Record The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman, pp. 52–53.

“Babies are satisfactorily born”; “Now I know same way”: H. Stimson’s diary for 22 July 1945, CUL/S.

“completely… the Russians”: A. Danchev and D. Todman, eds., War Diary of Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, p. 709.

“It is against Japan”: J. Ehrman, Grand Strategy, vol. 6, p. 292.

“I casually mentioned… Japanese’”: H. S. Truman, The Year of Decisions, p. 416.

“Stalin… anything”: Holloway, Stalin and the Bomb, p. 128 .

“The 509 Composite Group… project staff”: The directive to bomb to General C. Spaatz, 25 July 1945, is on roll 1, M 1109 CB, NARA.

“ignore it… the war”: There is considerable debate about the precise translation of Prime Minister Suzuki’s statement of 28 July 1945, cf. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb, pp. 408–9; Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, p. 403; and Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, p. 501. However, the academic consensus is that this translation fairly reflects Susuki’s intentions. Japan would not pursue the peace offer.

“a laughable matter”: Quoted in Kurzman, Day of the Bomb, p. 403.

Quotes from Paul Tibbets are from his book Mission Hiroshima unless otherwise attributed. Similarly, quotes from Bob Caron are from his article in Veterans of Foreign Wars Magazine, November 1959, unless stated otherwise.

“The bathroom… the island”: Leonard Cheshire quoted in R. Morris, Cheshire, p. 196.

“an elongated trash can with fins”: Jacob Beser quoted in Thomas and Morgan Witts, Ruinfrom the Air, p. 266.

“straightened up very special”; “I must have looked… man’s will”: L. Cheshire quoted in Morris, Cheshire, pp. 209—10.

“The main briefing… Truman himself”: The quotes in these two paragraphs come from M. Miller and A. Spitzer, We Dropped the A-Bomb, pp. 10—18.

“They just didn’t have over there”: Quoted in Norris, Racing for the Bomb, p. 418.

“a military funeral cortege”: Quoted in Morris, Cheshire, p. 212.

“very angry”: Quoted in Thomas and Morgan Witts, Ruinfrom the Air, p. 288.

“Guard… end”: Quoted by the New York Times journalist W Laurence, who was assigned to the project and present on Tinian, in Dawn Over Zero, p. 209.

“to ask beforehand”: Thomas and Morgan Witts, Ruinfrom the Air, p. 294.

“One of the crew… accept it”: The quotes in this paragraph are from Miller and Spitzer, We Dropped the A-Bomb, p. 27.

“there was tail”: Quoted in Thomas and Morgan Witts, Ruinfrom the Air, p. 300.

Quotes from Paul Tibbets are from his book Mission Hiroshima unless otherwise attributed. Similarly, quotes from Bob Caron are from his article in Veterans of Foreign Wars Magazine, November 1959, unless stated otherwise.

“It’s Hiroshima”: Tibbets, Mission Hiroshima, p. 220.

“The bomb Knock wood”: Quoted in Laurence, Dawn Over Zero, p. 221. Laurence had asked Lewis to keep the log.

“There will. our target”: Ibid.

“the ring towards us”: Quoted in Thomas and Morgan Witts, Ruinfrom the Air, p. 325.

“beautifully horrible”: Veterans of Foreign Wars Magazine, November 1959.

“A column… smoke”: Ibid., p. 326.

“What a relief it worked”; “My God… done?”: Quoted in Thomas and Morgan Witts, Ruinfrom the Air, p. 326.

“Clear base”: Thomas and Morgan Witts, Ruinfrom the Air, p. 328.

“a withdrawn and meditative”: A. Christman, Target Hiroshima, p. 194.

“Even though warriors”: Laurence, Dawn Over Zero, p. 219.

“I had surrender”: Quoted in Tibbets, Mission Hiroshima, p. 229.

“Mother Will Not Die” and other quotes by Futaba Kitayama are published in Bombing Eye-Witness Accounts by Hiroshima City and are available on the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Web site.

“Why… fall down?”: Hersey, Hiroshima, p. 27. This book contains Mrs. Nakamura’s story.

“Down in the port area… become silent”: Dr. Hiroshi Sawachika’s story is taken from his account at www.inicom.com/hibakusha/hiroshi.html.

“the product of pure physics”: Quoted in Kurzman, Day of the Bomb, p. 418.

“not that powerful a weapon”: Quoted in Rees, Horror in the East, p. 141.

“to continue operations as planned”; “delivered on”: Quoted in Giovannitti and Freed, The Decision to Drop the Bomb, p. 264.

“We tried. war effort”: Ibid., p. 271.

“the colour of sulphur”; “evil kind of luminous quality”: Morris, Cheshire, p. 222.

“not comprise… sovereign ruler”: MAGIC file/1233, 10 August 1945, record group 4C7, NARA.