Chilling documents detailing Hiroshima bombing revealed
Collection belonging to co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atom bomb, to be auctioned off this month
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Drawings, log books and letters by the co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the American plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, have been publicly displayed for the first time before going on auction, 70 years after the fateful mission.
The documents, which are part of a collection belonging to the late Robert Lewis, co-pilot of the Enola Gay B-29 Superfortress, detail the plans for dropping the first atom bomb and reveal his feelings immediately thereafter, according to a Saturday report by the Daily Mail.
“My God, what have we done? How many did we kill?” Lewis wrote later in the month. “I am certain the entire crew felt this experience was more than anyone human had ever thought possible… If I live a hundred years I’ll never quite get those few minutes out of my mind.”
Captain Lewis died in 1983, choosing to stay out of the limelight and remain largely silent about the incident. The papers were compiled by his son Stephen, and are due to be put up for auction later this month in New York City.
Appraisers have valued the collection at almost $450,000.
The archive includes hand drawn plans Lewis drafted before the mission, pre-flight notes, two log books, a report of the operation and the captain’s account of the devastation that was originally disguised as a letter to his parents.
Each of the items is to be auctioned separately.
“When my father retired in 1979 he decided to do something significant about his World War II experiences,” Stephen Lewis told the Daily Express.
“It was then that he began to write down all the things he had records of concerning his military career from Aviation Cadet up to and including the first atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
“I have decided that now is the appropriate time to reveal my unique collection to the world for consideration.”
The destruction of Hiroshima was followed three days later with the dropping of a plutonium bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Japan surrendered to the United States on August 15.
It is believed that the two bombings, the only uses of atomic weapons in warfare, were responsible for the deaths for an estimated 250,000 people.
The Times of Israel Community.