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This is the story of the first ever
use of a weapon of mass destruction

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Very recently the weapon
we are about to deliver was
successfully tested in the States.

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We've received orders
to drop it on the enemy.

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It is the most destructive
weapon ever produced.

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The target was an empire
with its own secret weapon:

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the suicide bomber.

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I trained myself
that I could die at any time.

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On the 6th August 1945,
a bomb unlike any other
fell from the skies above Hiroshima.

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The bomb was designed by
some of the world's finest scientists.

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Using it was one of the most
momentous decisions ever made.

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Soldiers and sailors are the target,
not women and children.

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A true soldier would rather die
than surrender!

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This is the story of the Aircrew who
flew the mission, and dropped the bomb.

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I'm not thinking about the people
who got killed or hurt,

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I'm thinking about the ones
that did not get killed or hurt.

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And it's the story
of the people of Hiroshima

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who were the first ever
victims of a nuclear attack.

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When something as devastating as
a nuclear weapon is used,

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people are powerless,
just like ants, or insects.

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The entire city of Hiroshima
was annihilated in just a few seconds.

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The bomb helped bring
the Second World War to an end,

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and it marked the beginning of
a new chapter in Human History.

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Advertise your product or brand here
contact www.OpenSubtitles.org today

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At the top-secret research
facility in Los Alamos, New Mexico,

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a heavily armed convoy
was loaded with parts for
a new kind of bomb.

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This was the start of a journey
that would end in Hiroshima.

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This bomb was the product
of three years' research,

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and had cost $2 billion to develop.

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But at this stage,
the technology was still completely untested.

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Two days later,
there was a chance to find out.

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In the desert of New Mexico,
the scientists and soldiers
of the Manhattan Project

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gathered for the first ever
test explosion of an atomic bomb.

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A hundred to one,
we crack the earth's crust,
and destroy the whole world.

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Fifty to one we ignite the atmosphere,
and only destroy New Mexico.

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Someone shut Thirmy up,
he's frightening the MPs.

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Ten to one it fizzles out.

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If that weapon fizzles out,
each of you can look forward

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to a lifetime testifying in front of
Congressional Investigation Committees!

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Six, five, four, three,

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two, one, zero.

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The explosion vaporised the stainless
steel tower holding the bomb.

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The intense heat
melted the desert sand,

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leaving an area of glass.

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The force of the
explosion was estimated

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to be the equivalent of
67 million sticks of dynamite.

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The bomb had originally been
intended for use against Nazi Germany,

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but its backers now
had another target in mind.

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- I'm very proud of you!
- Thank you.

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Well done.

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The war's over, General.

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Yep! As soon as we've dropped
a few of these things on Japan!

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Good work.

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For Scientific Director,
Robert Oppenheimer,

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it was a moment of terrible truth.

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Now I am become Death,
the destroyer of worlds.

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By July 1945,
the war in Europe was over.

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Nazi Germany was defeated.

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But in the Pacific,
the war against Japan was raging on.

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After the surprise attack
on Pearl Harbor,

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American forces had fought
their way back across the Pacific,

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island by island,
with savage hand-to-hand fighting.

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But Japan's main armies
were still intact, and undefeated.

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The Americans had tried firebombing
the Japanese into submission.

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City after city was reduced to rubble,

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but still the Japanese
refused to surrender.

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So the Allies now faced
the prospect of a full-scale invasion.

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With some estimates putting their losses
as high as a million casualties,

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and many more Japanese.

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In Japan, at the time,
the Emperor was Head of State,

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and also a living god,

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but day-to-day power rested with
the Special War Direction Council.

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Prime Minister Suzuki
and Foreign Minister Togo

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were considering
a negotiated settlement.

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But Army Minister General Koretchika Anami
was determined to fight on.

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Soviet mediation is still our best hope
of holding onto power

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Surrender is out of the question

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We have to find a way to bring
the war to an end quickly

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Why?

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The navy may have failed us

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but the army will show what is
possible in this final battle

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Anami's plan was for an all-out,
final battle.

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When our soldiers make
the glorious final sacrifice

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and attack the invaders head-on
before they leave the beaches

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then we shall win our greatest victory.

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No-one doubts our warrior' spirit

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but spirit is no substitide for ammunition or fuel
nor will it feed our people

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The Americans have no stomach for casualties

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We can break their will to continue the fight

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all we need is courage and determination

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In Hiroshima, as in the rest of Japan,

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soldiers and civilians were being
prepared for the coming invasion.

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The Japanese military were relying
on a powerful weapon:

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people's willingness to die
for the Emperor.

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Ordinary soldiers learned
how to strap bombs to their bodies

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and throw themselves under tanks.

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Dr Shuntaro Hida was working
at the Army Hospital in Hiroshima.

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One of his duties was to train
medical orderlies as suicide bombers.

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The soldiers were trained
to strap bombs to their bodies,

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and throw themselves against the tanks.

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At the military hospital
we had to teach this.

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The officers, in particular,
were resigned to the fact

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that once we had gone to the Front,
we would not return, we would die.

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I trained myself that I could die,
at any time.

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The whole population was to be
part of the battle against the invaders.

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Even schoolgirls were trained to attack
American soldiers with sharpened bamboo spears.

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A bloodbath seemed inevitable.

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The man who would have
to authorise the invasion was

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American President, Harry Truman.

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On 16th July he had just arrived
in Berlin for the Potsdam Conference,

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where he was meeting
his fellow Allied leaders.

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That very night, came news of
the successful New Mexico bomb test.

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Listen to this. Operated on this morning,
the results seem satisfactory.

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The test has already
exceeded expectations.

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They did it!

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Now the boys may be spared
an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.

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I'll drink to that.

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Truman soon received
a more detailed account of the test

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and discussed the news of the bomb
with the british prime minister
Winston Churchill

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Then he decided to tell Stalin

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so on July 24th after the
plenary meeting had ended

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Truman took the soviet leader aside

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On Truman' staff was a young
naval lieutenant George Elsey

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the last surviving witness to these events

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He remarked to Stalin, the US
had a powerful new weapon

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and Stalin said,
what is the effect

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he hoped it would be to put
to good use

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We have developed a new,
very powerful destructive weapon

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which we have tested

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The exchange was so low-key

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that Truman's interpreter
wanted to make sure

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Stalin had understood a really
grasp significance

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that "a powerful new weapon"
really meant such a weapon

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All he said was that
he was very happy to hear it

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and hope we'd make good use of it
against the japanese

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Of course, at that time,
nobody on our side

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knew the depth of soviet penetration
into Los Alamos

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and that Stalin knew perfectly well
what Truman was talking about

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The only thing I'd guess that Stalin did not know
was the Trinity had taken place

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and it's possible that
he even knew that

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But before going ahead
with the new bomb,

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Truman gave the Japanese
one last chance to surrender.

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The Americans had broken
the secret Japanese codes,

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and could decipher military
and diplomatic cables.

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So, they knew their demands for total,

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unconditional surrender had been seen
as a threat to the Emperor.

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Now they decided to alter the terms,

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and give the Japanese a way out.

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The Potsdam Declaration called
upon unconditional surrender.

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It was modified in the light of this,
what we were learning from the intercepts,

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to read, unconditional surrender
of the armed forces of Japan.

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We call upon the government
of Japan to proclaim

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now the unconditional surrender
of all Japanese armed forces.

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That left the door open for
a retention of the Emperor.

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The modified ultimatum
was broadcast to Japan.

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But ironically,
the softening of the surrender terms

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seems to have backfired.

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This is a most promising development

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For the enemy to say something like that

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means circumstances have arisen
that froce them to end of the war

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This is why they are no longer insisting
on full unconditional surrender

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Precisely at a time like this
if we hold firm they will yield before we do

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Prime Minister Suzuki announced
that his government would
ignore the Potsdam Declaration.

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He used the word, nokusatsu,
meaning, to kill with silent contempt.

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From that moment,the dropping of the bomb
on Hiroshima was inevitable.

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The bomb left San Francisco on
board the USS Indianapolis, two hours

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after the successful
Trinity test in New Mexico.

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It travelled across the Pacific on a ten-day voyage
to the island of Tinian,

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just six hours flying time from Japan.

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The island was the biggest air base in the world,
with four large runways,

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and it was home to more than 500
B-29 Super Fortresses.

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It was also home to the
509th Composite Group,

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the men who would drop
the atom bomb on Japan.

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In charge was Commanding Officer,
Colonel Paul Tibbets,

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a veteran of the bombing
campaign against the Germans.

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At 29 years of age I was so shot in the
ass with confidence I didn't think there
was anything I couldn't do.

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The two key members of his crew
were bombardier Tom Ferraby,

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and navigator, Dutch Van Kirk.

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You never heard the word atomic, nuclear,
or anything of that type around the group.

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We always referred to the weapon as,
the gimmick, the weapon, that sort of thing.

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And, if you did figure it out,

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you'd better be smart enough
not to talk about it.

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All right, gentlemen,
cities have been signed off.

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Kyoto is out,
Stimpson likes the temples too much,

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but we've got Nyagada, Kurkurra,
Nagasaki, and Hiroshima.

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They're the only major cities
left we haven't roasted.

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And the primary?
The primary is Hiroshima. All right.

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Have you worked out an aiming point?

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The T-shaped bridge. Here.

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That's the most perfect AP
I've seen in this whole damn war.

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Angle of approach: bomb drop like this.

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Prevailing winds from the north.
You may want to come in this way,

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then you'll be flying with the wind,
and you'll clear the target zone.

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00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:03,713
Too risky. We'll fly into the wind.
That way we're slower and more accurate.

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You may get caught in the blast.

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Once I make the dive turn,
I'll have a tail wind,

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we'll be out quicker.
Anyway, we'll take that risk.

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We want to be as accurate
as possible, don't we?

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Hiroshima was an important military base,
the Headquarters of the Second General Army,

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with a key role in the defence
against the expected invasion.

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Akiko Takakura,who was nineteen,
and working as a bank clerk in the city centre,

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remembers the atmosphere at the time.

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People called it an army city.

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00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:48,511
Everywhere you looked
you saw the army,

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and there were always a lot of ships
transporting soldiers from the port.

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All the major cities of Japan had already
been the targets of bombing raids,

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00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:05,675
so everybody living in Hiroshima expected
that Hiroshima would be targeted soon.

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00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,435
What no one could realise was that
the city had been preserved for a reason:

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the Americans had deliberately
avoided firebombing Hiroshima

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so they could measure the
precise effects of the atom bomb.

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On the evening of 4th August,
Paul Tibbets called his men together.

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The bombing mission was
set for the following night,

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00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,793
when the clouds over Japan
were due to clear.

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00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,789
The moment has arrived.
This is what we've all been working towards.

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00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:04,950
Very recently the weapon we're about to deliver
was successfully tested in the States.

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00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,597
We have received orders
to drop it on the enemy.

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00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,317
There will be three possible targets.

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00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:19,111
In order of priority, they are Hiroshima,
Kurkurra, Nagasaki.

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00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,396
The bomb you are going to drop
is something new in the history of warfare.

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It is the most destructive
weapon ever produced.

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00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,598
We think it's going to knock out
everything within a three-mile area (4,8km).

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00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,310
Roll film. Kill the lights.

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00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:42,916
Weapons specialist Deke Parsons

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had brought film of
the New Mexico explosion.

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00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,916
But the projector jammed.

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The film you are now not about to see

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was made of the only test
we have performed.

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00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,000
I was in a B-29,
looking down on the target,

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in the darkness,
and I can say that it is the brightest

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00:21:07,650 --> 00:21:11,069
and the hottest thing
on this earth since creation.

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This is what happened.

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00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:16,193
The flash of the explosion
was seen for ten miles (16km).

232
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,553
A soldier 10,000 feet (3 km) away
was knocked off his feet.

233
00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:25,112
Another soldier,more than five miles (8 km) away,
was temporarily blinded.

234
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:30,390
Those of us who were there,
knew it was the beginning of a new age.

235
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,153
No one knows exactly what will happen
when the bomb is dropped from the air:

236
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,350
that has never been done before.

237
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,633
We expect a cloud, this shape,

238
00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,997
rise to at least 30,000 feet (9 km),
maybe 60,000 feet (18 km),

239
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:54,070
preceded by a flash of light
much brighter than the sun.

240
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:59,399
A combat version of the bomb
has now been assembled and ready.

241
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,710
All we are waiting for is an end
to the rainstorms over Japan,

242
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,798
so we can see our target.

243
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,076
Right, men, I know some of you
have seen a lot of action already,

244
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,192
and I picked you
because you're the best available,

245
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,197
but let me tell you all,
beside this mission,

246
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,232
whatever you've done before
in this war is small potatoes.

247
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,797
I am personally honoured,
and I'm sure all of you are,

248
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,470
to have been chosen
to take part in this raid,

249
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,034
which will shorten the war
by at least six months.

250
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,030
You're now the hottest crews
in the Air Force.

251
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,400
There will be no talking
about this to anyone.

252
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:41,500
No talking, even among yourselves.
No letters, no writing home.

253
00:22:41,550 --> 00:22:44,500
No mentioning of the
slightest possibility of a mission.

254
00:22:45,100 --> 00:22:48,517
- Is that clear?
- Yes, sir!

255
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:03,400
The next morning, the aircrew on Tinian
woke to a disturbing sound,

256
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,630
once again a B-29
had crashed on the runway.

257
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:26,473
The crash alarmed Parsons,
the weapons specialist.

258
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:28,713
It was the day of the mission,

259
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:33,989
and they were planning to load
the bomb on to the plane, fully armed.

260
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,000
The bomb's firing mechanism
used gunpowder

261
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:42,500
to force two separate pieces
of uranium together,

262
00:23:42,550 --> 00:23:45,634
to start a nuclear reaction.

263
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,149
Parsons' worry was that
if the plane crashed on take off,

264
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:55,034
the firing mechanism would be triggered,
and they would blow up the whole island.

265
00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,674
So, without authorisation,
he changed the plan.

266
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:04,199
I think it's better I load
the powder charges into the gun barrel

267
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,151
after we've cleared the island.

268
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,034
Have you made the assembly
with the powder charges before?
Do you know how to do it?

269
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,917
Nope. But I've got all day and night to learn.

270
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,437
We don't take off till 02:00.
There's time.

271
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:27,155
If Parsons got it wrong,
there was a serious risk the whole mission,

272
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,635
and the bomb, would be wasted.

273
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,395
Parsons sat in that airplane
for several hours,

274
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:39,100
rehearsing exactly what
he was going to have to do,

275
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:44,437
removal of the breechblock,
inserting the powder, hooking up the thing.

276
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,552
He made it, this time is when
he made his detailed check-off list.

277
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,399
And he practised that for half a day,

278
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:09,913
and his hands were beaten up
from handling this thing.

279
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,150
For God's sakes, man! Why don't you let me
lend you a pair of pigskin gloves?

280
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,556
I wouldn't dare!
I've got to feel to touch.

281
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,155
Looks like we'll be bombing
the Japs with dirty hands!

282
00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:32,670
Paul Tibbets had reached a decision of his own:
as commanding officer,

283
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:39,069
he was also planning to pilot the strike plane.
As was traditional, he chose a name for it.

284
00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,513
I said, I'd like to name it
after my mother.

285
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,474
Her name was Enola Gay,
and I know that there'll never be another B-29,

286
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,354
I don't think there'll be an airplane flying,
that will have the name Enola Gay on it.

287
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,755
I think the airplane
will go down in history,

288
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,997
and I want it to be
with a good omen.

289
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,274
Tibbets decision came as
a shock to Captain Bob Lewis.

290
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,632
He had always flown that plane,
and assumed he would be the pilot.

291
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,790
Why the hell are they putting that on
my airplane? What's going on?

292
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,435
Number one, it's not your airplane,
it belongs to United States Air Corps,

293
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,358
and number two,
I'm the organisation commander,

294
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,600
I can do anything I want with any one
of those airplanes, including yours!

295
00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:26,271
He shut up.
That was the only discussion.

296
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:27,753
Dismissed!

297
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,075
For most citizens of Hiroshima,

298
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,350
5th August was uneventful.

299
00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,600
As the day closed,
people prepared themselves

300
00:26:53,650 --> 00:26:58,355
for more air raid sirens,
and more disturbed sleep.

301
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,990
Dr Hida was still on duty
after a busy day.

302
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,313
He remembers the 5th quite clearly.

303
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,197
I returned to the hospital around 8 pm.

304
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,799
An officer on night shift
came and told me

305
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,718
that four guests from Manchuria
were in Hiroshima.

306
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,399
They were high-ranking army doctors.

307
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,314
I was told to look after them.

308
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,500
Eventually I put everybody to bed,
and then I lay down beside them.

309
00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:50,393
Then, in the middle of the night, an old man
from the village come on his bicycle to see me.

310
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,600
Wake up. My granddaughter has heat stroke

311
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,679
There weren't any doctors where he lived,
they were all at the Front.

312
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:13,073
Thinking it couldn't be helped, I went with him,
in the middle of the night.

313
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:17,500
I was very drunk.
There were no cars at that time,

314
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:19,600
and so I sat on the back of the old man's bicycle.

315
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,400
That is how I survived.

316
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,431
Okay, there are three planes
involved in the mission.

317
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:32,670
That night,
in the last minutes before departure,

318
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,100
there was a final briefing for all the crews
who were heading to Hiroshima.

319
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,632
There are three planes
involved in the mission.

320
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:45,158
Number one, the Enola Gay,
carrying the bomb.

321
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:52,392
Number two, the Great Artiste,
carrying recording equipment.

322
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:59,230
Number three, the Necessary Evil,
we were the photographic ship.

323
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,952
Do your jobs, obey orders,
don't cut corners.

324
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:13,233
That is all.

325
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,638
The mission was so secret,

326
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,389
Tibbets was given suicide pills,
in case they fell into Japanese hands.

327
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,995
That evening,
when I came out the mess hall,

328
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,395
the Flight Surgeon gave me the pills.

329
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:47,516
He told me what they were. I hope you don't need them,
but, he said, if you do, they're cyanide.

330
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:51,110
He said, here, if you need them,
one for each man of the crew.

331
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,155
He said, you'll never know anything,
within six minutes, you're gone.

332
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,374
You never feel anything different,
you never feel a thing.

333
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,100
And I told the guys outside the airplane,
before we climbed up,

334
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,400
I'll give any one of you the pill,
if you want the pill.

335
00:30:02,900 --> 00:30:07,835
And nobody said anything,
but Captain Parsons, he said,
I'd like to have one.

336
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,793
And I understood his position,
because he knew more technical stuff

337
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,275
about that bomb than anybody.

338
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,875
When we got to the Enola Gay,
that was our first big surprise,

339
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,639
there were lights all over the place,

340
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,231
And this was not like
any mission we'd ever flown.

341
00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:28,995
You know, this was like
a Hollywood premiere!

342
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:42,955
Photographers and film crew had been ordered
to record the historic mission.

343
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:48,594
We had climbed into the airplanes,
in order to start the engines,
and there were people all around,

344
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,156
there were clegg lights right there,
right in front of the number two engine.

345
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,300
And I couldn't do anything
with that thing there,

346
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,198
so I opened the window, stuck my head out,
I said, stand back!

347
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,751
Move out of the way!

348
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,748
But I just waved my hand like that,
and some guy said,wave at us!

349
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,917
So I waved,
and that's what you got.

350
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:24,840
It was another day, it was another morning up.
And that was it. It was my responsibility.

351
00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:29,228
Dimples eight two to North Tinian tower.

352
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,430
Taxi out and take off instructions.

353
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:39,993
The bomb weighed more than four tons,
making take off even more dangerous than usual.

354
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,993
15 seconds to go!

355
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:50,150
The take off I remember, the most
dangerous part of flying is in take off.

356
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,916
Five seconds! Get ready!

357
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,996
Everyone on board, I'm sure,
felt the same way I did,

358
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,680
waiting for it to lift off.

359
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,312
And it seemed like
it took an inordinate amount of time.

360
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:28,955
I wanted to hold the airplane on the
ground, to get all the air flight over
the tail that I could get.

361
00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:32,300
I held it down
longer than what Bob,

362
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:36,200
used to see an airplane
take off at 140, 145 miles an hour (230 km/h),

363
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:39,270
I held it down till
I was over 150 miles an hour (240 km/h).

364
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:41,516
He reached for the yoke,
tried to pull it back to...

365
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,000
Pull it back! Now!

366
00:32:43,020 --> 00:32:46,790
Get your damn hands off this yoke!
I'm flying this airplane,

367
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:48,911
and he pulled back right quick.

368
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,150
But eventually it lifted off,

369
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,192
an we didn't crash at the end
of the runway, so we were off.

370
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,913
Fifteen minutes after take off,
with the plane still at low altitude,

371
00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:38,998
Parsons was ready
to assemble the bomb.

372
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,033
We're starting!

373
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:51,991
Dimples Eight two to North Tinian tower.
Judge going to work.

374
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,152
I repeat, judge going to work.

375
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:00,000
It's about, eighty-eight inches (8-8 cm) wide
around the outside,

376
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:06,189
to the back end of the weapon,
which had those big fins.

377
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:09,200
Very cramped quarters,

378
00:34:09,220 --> 00:34:14,200
you had to squat down in order to
peer into the back end of this bomb,

379
00:34:14,230 --> 00:34:22,711
and that's the position that Parsons took,
is to work inside these fins.

380
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:29,795
They all knew a mistake
would jeopardise the entire mission.

381
00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:33,750
Unscrewing breech!

382
00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:40,717
Inserting charges!

383
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:47,115
Parsons would then take the powder charges,
about the size of a loaf of bread.

384
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:54,436
He would put those in there, one at a time,
then he'd pick up the breech block,

385
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:59,712
put it into where it was supposed to go
turn it, just make the seal.

386
00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:01,910
Inserting breech!

387
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:06,193
Each one of these manoeuvres
he would check off on his check off list,

388
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:10,108
to ensure that he had made no mistakes.

389
00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:15,597
And retuning home!
Check!

390
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,200
Two hours later, the Enola Gay

391
00:35:23,220 --> 00:35:27,760
met up with the scientific
and photographic planes.

392
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:30,759
They were now
three hours from Hiroshima.

393
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,796
Dawn was breaking, and it's now
just a beautiful, beautiful morning.

394
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,639
We're about 9,000 feet (2.7 km) at that time.

395
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:43,009
And we all remarked about what a beautiful
sunrise it was,that particular morning.

396
00:35:48,100 --> 00:35:51,791
I just want you guys to know we're carrying
a bomb with so much power

397
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,000
we've got a good chance to end the war in one go

398
00:35:55,100 --> 00:35:58,300
What is it Colonel?
Is it some chemistry's nightmare?

399
00:35:58,440 --> 00:35:59,500
Nope, that's not it

400
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,900
Some kind of physicist's nightmare?

401
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:03,000
That's closer

402
00:36:04,001 --> 00:36:06,801
Colonel, are we splitting atoms today?

403
00:36:08,300 --> 00:36:10,000
Yes, we are.

404
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,594
Dick Jepson, Parson's assistant,
had one task left,

405
00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:20,551
to arm the bomb.

406
00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:25,117
Before the plane went to altitude,
I had to climb into the bomb bay,

407
00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:34,000
and remove these three green plugs,
and replace them with three arming plugs,

408
00:36:34,100 --> 00:36:40,500
which enabled the fusing circuit to
fire the weapon, causing it to detonate.

409
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:59,230
And the only time
I felt really nervous on this mission,

410
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:04,679
was the time when I inserted
these red plugs into the bomb.

411
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,917
The bomb was now armed and live.

412
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:20,516
After they were in place,
I breathed a sigh of relief,

413
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:26,000
because nothing had happened
at this point in time.

414
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:32,700
Evidently, with the action of replacing
these plugs, or switching these plugs,

415
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,300
I became the last person to put a hand on this bomb.

416
00:37:38,001 --> 00:37:40,501
I hadn't realised that at the time.

417
00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:05,471
We're at 30,000 feet (9 km).

418
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:20,598
Ahead of the Enola Gay, another B-29
was already flying over Hiroshima,

419
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,957
checking the weather. It triggered an alert.

420
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:39,956
There was an air raid warning.

421
00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:43,117
It was the type that warned
that a raid was a possibility.

422
00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:56,635
As the people waited
in air raid shelters,

423
00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:01,231
the weather plane reported its findings
to the Enola Gay by coded message.

424
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:06,311
Cloud cover less than
three tenths at all altitudes.

425
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,154
Advice: bomb primary.

426
00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:16,151
It's Hiroshima!

427
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:23,468
The weather plane now headed away.

428
00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:26,319
For a time, it seemed
that the threat had passed.

429
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:36,394
About 30 minutes later
they sounded the all clear.

430
00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:41,795
It meant there was not
going to be an air raid,

431
00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:45,589
so everyone went about their business,
going to offices and factories.

432
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:51,078
I think that was the reason
why such a large number died,

433
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:54,192
and could not be found afterwards.

434
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:01,158
On the drill grounds,

435
00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:04,238
thousands of soldiers
were doing their early morning exercises.

436
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:07,393
Among them cadet Morio Ozaki

437
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:15,788
The american planes often flew over
ahead without dropping any bombs

438
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:19,549
but I had the feeling that something
would happen soon.

439
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:27,396
Dr Hida had spent the night
at a farm outside Hiroshima,

440
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,670
looking after the girl with heat stroke.

441
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:38,558
It was just after 8 o'clock when I woke up.
I was already late.

442
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:42,313
I had to go back to the hospital.

443
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,357
I got myself ready,
took the child's pulse,

444
00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:50,030
and then examined her chest
with a stethoscope.

445
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,916
Sixteen-year-old Teruko Fujii
had enlisted as a tram driver,

446
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:13,270
to support the war effort.

447
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:18,593
The men were sent to the Front,
with the army.

448
00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:21,234
Because their numbers
gradually declined,

449
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,552
they wanted students
to drive the trams.

450
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:30,200
Clerk Akiko Takakura and her friend

451
00:41:30,220 --> 00:41:34,158
were the first to arrive
at the bank in central Hiroshima.

452
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:38,671
Just 260 metres from the aiming point,
the T-shaped bridge.

453
00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:43,754
At the bank,
I stamped the arrival book.

454
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:48,956
You would stamp next to your name
when you arrived,so I stamped the book.

455
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,310
In those days, female staff were supposed
to arrive 30 minutes before the men,

456
00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:57,193
to do the cleaning.

457
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:02,551
That sort of thing
would be unthinkable now!

458
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:10,672
Kinuko Doi was working as a nurse at
the communications hospital, also near
the centre of the city.

459
00:42:15,720 --> 00:42:20,077
My first job of the day was
to sterilise the hospital tools,

460
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:22,999
and prepare the patients for surgery.

461
00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:33,752
The weather was beautiful. The sky was
clear blue, not a cloud in sight.

462
00:42:39,240 --> 00:42:44,557
In another part of the city,
eight-year-old Takashi Tanemori
was on his way to school.

463
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,399
Every morning, as soon as we get to school,

464
00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:49,590
we went and played a game of hide and seek.

465
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:55,300
Then we stand,
picking who's going to be It.

466
00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:59,100
And so we ran to the main gate

467
00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:07,511
and I was to become It that morning.

468
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:13,431
Shigai Hiratsuka died in 2002,

469
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:17,588
but her extraordinary story
is taken from her written account.

470
00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:23,999
It had just gone past 8 in the morning,
we had finished breakfast.

471
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:29,117
Our two children
were playing beside us.

472
00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:31,790
My husband was reading the newspaper.

473
00:43:40,300 --> 00:43:43,300
Paul, Tom, Deke and I

474
00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:46,500
were all three up there,
confirming, yes, this was the target,

475
00:43:46,550 --> 00:43:49,832
yes that was bridge,
yes that was the aiming point.

476
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:53,396
You might say we were having
a convention in the nose of the plane.

477
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:57,559
Okay, we're about to start the bomb run!
Put on your goggles!

478
00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:05,392
We were on that bomb run

479
00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:07,351
for three,
three and a half minutes.

480
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:08,629
Tom and I were talking.

481
00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:12,548
Christ, Dutch! We never sat on a bomb
run this long over Germany!

482
00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:15,069
They'd have blasted us out the sky!

483
00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:17,913
He said nothing there!
No opposition, no nothing.

484
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:22,913
Just, going to bomb the target.

485
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:55,009
I saw an aircraft,
like a tiny silver drop,

486
00:44:55,100 --> 00:44:58,031
entering the sky above Hiroshima.

487
00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:04,313
I instantly recognised it
as an American plane,

488
00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:08,832
as no Japanese aircraft
could fly at that altitude at the time.

489
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:15,194
It was just one plane, so I assumed that
it was passing by, as usual.

490
00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:27,111
I was counting.

491
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:38,708
I was wiping the desktop:
that was when the bomb was dropped.

492
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:50,718
Bomb away!

493
00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:16,393
In those days, soldiers were told to take off
their clothes

494
00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:18,033
to avoid damaging them.

495
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:20,953
As it was all clear I went into the baracks

496
00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:23,719
to take my shirt off.

497
00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:39,200
It took about 45 seconds from the time
the bomb left the airplane, until it exploded.

498
00:46:40,020 --> 00:46:44,029
And I think there wasn't a man in the airplane
that wasn't either timing it with his watch,

499
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:51,100
or counting or doing something.
I was sure the bomb was a dud.
I was sure it wasn't going to work.

500
00:47:30,240 --> 00:47:32,310
After falling for 43 seconds,

501
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:36,115
the time and barometric triggers
started the firing mechanism.

502
00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:40,588
A uranium bullet, fired down the barrel,
into a uranium target.

503
00:47:41,120 --> 00:47:44,351
Together they started
a nuclear chain reaction.

504
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:48,272
Solid matter began to come apart,

505
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:51,073
releasing untold quantities of energy.

506
00:47:56,000 --> 00:47:59,999
Enhanced: McHalls, 2007
hufilufi@freemail.hu

507
00:48:00,305 --> 00:48:06,596
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