The Little Boy atomic bomb explosion recorded at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, on a wristwatch found in the ruins in Hiroshima, Japan. (Anonymous/AP)
Eighty years ago, a group of B-29 bombers flew a world-altering mission. Here are memories of the crew.
This oral history is adapted from Garrett M. Graff’sbook“The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb,” which published on Tuesday.
Many many moons ago I met a guy who was tail gunner with Paul Tibbets when he was doing his first tour in Europe. He was back in the States instructing at gunnery school when he bumped into his former skipper again . After the usual greetings PT asked if he was interested in joining a crew. When PT said the crew would be operational “ Sarge” declined stating that he had done his bit for uncle Sam but thank you for asking.
PT then went on to drop the atom bomb on Hiroshima.
Sarge owned a C 152 that was polished aluminium and shone like a new pin
He had lost his medical to fly some year earlier due to deafness but other folk at the airfield would take him flying, or as one character said “ I just sit in the other seat and let him do his thing”
He did lend me his copy of the B17 Pilots operating manual which was stamped Classified then stamped over declassified.
I for many years have been a member of the Sally B preservation society that keeps the last B17 in Europe flying.
She was the star of the film Memphis Belle although a later model of the B17 she was modified for the film to look historically accurate and to this day still has The Memphis Belle nose art on the Starboard side.
My association with Sally B is a bit of an accident due to the previous name of my boat which is now the same as the aircraft and also bears a large decal on the stern of the B17
