It was a restless, exciting decade for America, one that quickly faded from memory when the Great Depression struck in 1929. The year was 1927, the same year Babe Ruth would smack an unfathomable sixty home runs for the New York Yankees and “Lucky” Lindbergh would make all of America proud by becoming the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic. His first flying experience was at age twelve when he had joined barnstormer Doug Davis at the Hialeah Race Track in Florida and thrown candy bars down to an excited crowd below. What was no different, however, was the open air that Tibbets navigated his airplane, the Enola Gay, through as he headed north to Hiroshima.įlying in an airplane had been Tibbets’ first love, something that captivated his heart the moment he jumped in a cockpit. The open waters of the seas south of Japan were a stark contrast to the cornfields of Iowa where Tibbets grew up. Tibbets was willing to risk his reputation for a quick end to the war. In his mind, whatever unprecedented horror and damage awaited the people of Hiroshima would be far less than the uncertainty and unpredictability of America launching a military invasion upon Japan. However, in Paul Tibbets’ cargo bay, there hung a new experimental weapon that had the possibility of making an invasion unnecessary. Many believed that invading and taking the Japanese home islands would be the only way to knock Japan out of the war. Now, only the Empire of Japan stood between the world and peace. Germany had surrendered in May, bringing an end to combat operations in the European Theater. Millions of soldiers and civilians had lost their lives. Over the past six years, the world had been embroiled in war. One thing in his mind was far more important than his reputation-ending World War II. However, on the morning of August 6, 1945, when the Enola Gay strained to get off the ground as a result of the 10,000-pound atom bomb that made the B-29 dangerously close to the airplane’s cargo capacity, Colonel Paul Tibbets was not worrying about how history would judge him. He also understood that one day, the pages of history might question his actions. He understood what he was being asked to accomplish. All that was left was to use this new deadly tool in the war zone. The weapon was finally tested in early 1945. The United States hoped the atomic bomb would be so powerful that it would force the Japanese to the negotiating table. scientists were busy working on a secret weapon, the atomic bomb. While the American forces advanced slowly across the Pacific, U.S. Planners feared that the eventual invasion of Japan would be even more costly. Two of the bloodiest battles were on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the first of the Japanese “Home Islands.” Both were fought in 1945, collectively costing nearly 20,000 lives. The closer the Americans got to shores of Japan, the more fierce and costly the conflicts became. Following a strategy known as “Island Hopping,” American troops moved inexorably closer to the Japanese “Home Islands.” As they went, they set up airfields and support bases that helped them expand further and further into the Pacific.
Since mid-1942, the United States had been executing a slow and bloody campaign against the Japanese Imperial forces. The United States had entered in December of 1941 after the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
“He wrote down everything and he kept everything,” said Steven Lewis, 57, of Hampton Township, New Jersey.By 1945, the Second World War had been dragging on for six long years. The younger Lewis said his father recorded details of every flight he took, including the three dozen he made aboard the Enola Gay.
#Who flew the enola gay on its historic mission archive#
The flight logs covering Lewis’ service in the Army Air Forces from 1942-46 are among an extensive archive of his documents handed down to his son, Steven Lewis. A meticulous record-keeper, Lewis’ handwritten entry in his personal flight log for that historic day reads: “No#1 Atomic bomb a huge success.” 6, 1945, bombing mission that changed the world. Lewis, a 27-year-old pilot from Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, logged a total of 36 flights aboard the Enola Gay, including the Aug. The pre-sale estimate for the flight logs is $150,000 to $200,000. On Wednesday, two of his wartime flight log books, Hiroshima bombing plans, mission notes and other items are up for sale during an auction of World War II material being held at Bonhams in Manhattan. B-29 Superfortress dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima 70 years ago this summer, none knew the four-engine bomber better than Capt. (AP) - Of the 12 men who flew aboard the Enola Gay the day the U.S.