It killed about 80,000 people, more than 30 per cent of the city’s population. Then it detonated, obliterating nearly everything within a 10-square kilometre radius. It took just 43 seconds for the bomb to travel more than 30,000 feet.
The plane arrived over the target about 8am local time before preparing to drop the bomb, codenamed “Little Boy”. It took off from North Field, six hours from Japan, on August 6, 1945, alongside The Great Artiste and an aircraft later named Necessary Evil. It’s also a reminder of the human toll of war, both for the victims of conflict and those who commit it. It’s message is powerful and timely given Japan is about to commemorate 70 years to the day that chaos reined down on Hiroshima. The original note sold for eight times that amount in 2002. He followed with “My God what have we done?”Ī copy of the note sold for $50,000 at auction on Thursday. “Just how many Japs did we kill?” he wrote in a letter addressed to “Mom and Dad” because there was no official record of the bombing at the time. PILOT Robert Lewis was one of 12 men aboard the plane that dropped a bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, killing 140,000 people and effectively ending World War II.īut a note he wrote in a log book reveals his heavy heart and the regret he felt immediately after.
