With the recent release of the movie Oppenheimer there has been renewed interest in the many aspects that came together to make the atomic bombing of Japan a reality.  This artifact spotlight will discuss some of the back story of the development of the atomic bomb, and highlight artifacts we have on display here at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. Much has been written about the reasons for, and decision by, President Harry Truman to use nuclear weapons against Japan; an act that ultimately led to the end of World War II with the unconditional surrender by the Empire of Japan. 

Japanese aircraft prepare to attack Pearl Harbor.

War in the Pacific had been going on since 1937 beginning with the invasion of China by the Japanese. In the following years Japanese expansion spread throughout the Indo-Pacific region. This expansion by the Japanese went unchecked until the United States was brought into the war by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The December 7th, 1941 surprise attack on U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine forces in Hawaii resulted in a declaration of war by the United States.  With this action, the stage was then now set for the global conflict that followed pitting the Allied Forces of Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union against the Axis Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Within this Axis Alliance, Germany was the only country with an active atomic weapons program, and much of the urgency by the Allies to weaponize the power of the atom came from the fact that German scientists had a head start in atomic science and rocketry. Scientists in the United States and Great Britain were advising government and military leadership about the possible devastating results if Germany were first to develop and atomic weapon, and have the ability to deliver that weapon on the head of a rocket. Recognizing the severity of the threat and the urgency of the situation, the U.S. with scientific assistance from Great Britain began what became known as the “Manhattan Project”.

Oppenheimer (left) and Gen. Leslie Groves at ground zero of the Manhatten Project test site.

This almost financially unconstrained industrial and scientific project led by physicist Robert Oppenheimer had the goal of developing an atomic weapon that could be used by the Allies to end World War II. The war in Europe ended without the need for nuclear weapons but Japan fought on, and with the Manhattan Project being ultimately successful, this  gave the allies a weapon that had the potential to end the Pacific war quickly

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Image from the Museum's archives showing the an attack on Japanese positions in the Second World War.

With the defeat of Germany in May of 1945, the only remaining Axis combatant was Japan and the Japanese government while clearly losing the war at that point, refused to surrender. The war in the Pacific had been a difficult one, and by 1945 the U.S. had sacrificed much in lives and cost to bring the Japanese Empire to the brink of defeat. The U.S. Pacific war strategy of an “island hopping” campaign meant that with each successive island taken including Okinawa, the first of 5 “home Islands”,  the U.S. came closer to the remaining 4 Japanese home islands and final victory. While this “island hopping” strategy ultimately set the stage for victory, it had resulted in savage fighting and significant loss of life for both sides. In Allied planning for an attack on the remaining Japanese home islands, code named “Operation Downfall”,  estimates of Allied causalities  (combined killed and wounded), ranged from 1.7 to 4 million. Japanese deaths both civilian and military estimates ranged as high as 5 to 10 million given their previously demonstrated capacity to die for their Emperor rather than surrender.

Video about the Airwar against Japan, including the Japanese surrender.

These staggering estimates of dead and wounded prompted President Truman and the Allies to offer Japan’s leaders the opportunity for unconditional surrender and to drop information leaflets to the people of Japan warning of terrible destruction.  Japanese leaders refused to surrender prompting the President to issue the order to use nuclear weapons as necessary to end the war with Japan.

Artifiacts related to the Manhatten Project on display at the Museum.

This background on the use of nuclear weapons ending World War II brings us to our display at the museum. The artifacts you see in the picture include a scale model of the “Enola Gay” which is the name of the B-29 used to drop the first atomic bomb named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima Japan.

Scale model of the "Little Boy."

Wing of the model of the Enola Gay, signed by General Tibbets.

The real “Enola Gay” is on display in the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly VA. Our display also includes scale model of  “Little Boy”, and various items of memorabilia from the squadron that flew the mission. Included in this memorabilia is a special helmet and set of goggles (protection from the bright flash) used by the navigator who flew both missions delivering nuclear weapons on Japan, Captain Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk.

Capt. Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk's goggles and helmet.

Come by and see our display and as a side note, we have a video running in our World War II section titled “World War II From Space” that has a further discussion on this topic, and an impressive segment replicating the moment the Bomb exploded over Hiroshima, and how the resulting blinding flash might have looked from space.