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Lot 74
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Enola Gay, 3x signed black and white photo by Hiroshima mission pilots
Enola Gay, 3x signed black and white photo by Hiroshima mission pilots
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Description:

Enola Gay

 3x Signed Black and White photo by Hiroshima mission pilots

 

A spectacular Black and White glossy photo of Hiroshima after the bombing on August 6, 1945, 10" x 8." Boldly signed and inscribed by three of the significant pilots from the event, in black ink, George W. Marquardt, as "Gge Marquardt/Pilot #91 "Necessary Evil," in blue ink, Paul Tibbets as "Paul Tibbets/Pilot "Enola Gay," and in blue ink, Major Charles W. Sweeney as "Charles Sweeney/Pilot "The Great Artiste." Near fine.

 

An incredible three times signed iconic photo of the devastation created after the release of "Little Boy," the atomic bomb  carried on board the Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, which targeted Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, Major Charles W. Sweeny was to command the mission carrying the second A-Bomb, "Fat Man" to Kokura in his plane The Great Artiste. But The Great Artiste was still outfitted with scientific gear left over from being the support plane for the Hiroshima mission and there wasn't time to outfit it to carry Fat Man. So Sweeney and his crew took over Captain Frederick C. Bock, Jr.'s plane "Bock's Car," while Bock's crew switched to "The Great Artiste." Difficult weather conditions resulted in the  "Fat Man", being dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. "Necessary Evil", referred to as Plane #91 and piloted by Marquardt, was assigned as a camera plane to photograph the explosion and effects of the bomb and to carry scientific observers.

 

The Hiroshima mission may have gone without a hitch, but Nagasaki's mission was riddled with complications. The details of the 2 events could not be more bifurcated.

 

From the beginning the mission that resulted in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima overshadowed Nagasaki.

When a second mission was approved, Kokura was the primary target Nagasaki was the secondary target. 

The Hiroshima mission went off smoothly, the flight was uneventful, the weather cooperated, and, at 8:15 A.M. bombardier Major Thomas W. Ferebee released Little Boy. The Enola Gay landed uneventfully at Tinian. The crew was greeted by an excited crowd.  Pilot Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Spaatz. Following the ceremony the fliers were feted at a star-studded debriefing where General LeMay told the men, "Kids, go eat, take a good shower, and sleep as much as you want!"

The Nagasaki mission couldn't have been more different. Originally scheduled for August 11, 1945, the mission was advanced to August 9 due to weather concerns. That day, when one would have expected all attention to be focused on the Nagasaki strike, yet another ceremony took place to honor Tibbets and the crew of the Enola Gay. 

There was some confusion at the outset of the Nagasaki mission. Major Charles W. Sweeny was to command the mission in his plane "The Great Artiste". But "The Great Artist" was still outfitted with scientific gear left over from being the support plane for the Hiroshima mission and there wasn't time to outfit it to carry "Fat Man." So Sweeney and his crew took over Captain Frederick C. Bock, Jr.'s plane Bock's Car, while Bock's crew switched to The Great Artiste.

 

Fat Man was aptly named. Bock's Car was overloaded by the heavy bomb. The plane lumbered down the runway. Everyone on Tinian had seen B-29s overloaded with mines and explosives crash and explode at the end of the runway when just one engine failed. The crew must have been holding their breadth watching the plane loaded with the bomb finally lift off.  Sweeney and his crew were under orders to only bomb visually. When they got to Kokura they found the haze and smoke obscuring the city as well as the large ammunition arsenal that was the reason for targeting the city. They made three unsuccessful passes, wasting more fuel, while anti-aircraft fire zeroed in on them and Japanese fighter planes began to climb toward them. The B-29s broke off and headed for Nagasaki.  However because the city was built in hilly, almost mountainous terrain, it was a much more difficult target than Hiroshima. Clouds covered Nagasaki when "Bock's Car" arrived. Contrary to orders, weaponeer Ashworth determined to make the drop by radar if they had to due to their short fuel supply. At the last minute a small window in the clouds opened and bombardier Captain Kermit K. Beehan made the drop at 10:58 A.M. Nagasaki time. "Fat Man" exploded at 1,840 feet above Nagasaki and approximately 500 feet south of the Mitsubishi Steel and Armament Works with an estimated force of 22,000 tons of TNT.  Unlike Hiroshima, there was no firestorm at Nagasaki. Despite this, the blast was more destructive to the immediate area, due to the topography and the greater power of Fat Man.

 

The crew of Bock's Car should have felt some release from tension, but they had only 300 gallons of fuel remaining—not enough to get them back to Tinian, and perhaps not even to Okinawa. Sweeney had his radio operator, Sergeant Abe M. Spitzer, contact the air-sea rescue teams to alert them to the possibility of ditching. There was no answer. The rescue teams had shut down, apparently deciding Bock's Car had long returned to Tinian. When they reached Okinawa, repeated attempts to raise the tower for landing instructions went unanswered. Sweeney watched other planes taking off and landing, but knew he didn't have enough gas for protracted circling. He set off flares and finally somebody on the ground noticed. Bock's Car landed at two P.M. local time. The number two engine ran out of fuel while they were on the runway.

 

They had a total of seven gallons of fuel left.

 

No one was on hand to greet them. There was no ceremony. No one had even thought to have food ready for the famished crews who hadn't eaten in almost twenty-four hours.

 

An incredible photo signed by three significant pilots from the Hiroshima mission, a very thought provoking time in history. To this day it still begs the question regarding how this event should have, or could have been handled. However the intended result was achieved, after the second bombing and Japan announced its surrender to the Allies on August 15, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki.


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