Surrender of 4 U-boats-- Part 4: Uranium Oxide Used on 'Little Boy' Atom Bomb Found On One of Them

The two Japanese scientists aboard, however, were not alive as they had taken an overdose of sleeping rather be captured.  The Germans had buried them at sea.

The U.S. government, however, kept part of the U-234's cargo secret:  1,232 pounds of  uranium oxide that was later used in the Manhattan Project  for the Little Boy atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

German General Ulrich Kessler, assigned as the Luftwaffe liaison in Tokyo, made an impression as a typical German officer.  Tall and formal, he wore white gloves, a long gray leather greatcoat, polished leather boots and an Iron Cross around his neck.  He seemed to enjoy the publicity.

Kessler spoke in fluent English with a British accent.   When asked how he felt about surrendering, he said,  "I was in the last World War.  I've been through it before.  I'll probably go through it again."

--GreGen

Bits of War: Winston Churchill's Secret Bunkers and Quonset Huts

**  From the March 9, 2017, Express (U.K.)  "Winston Churchill's SECRET bunkers hidden all over Britain in THESE classified locations.

There was, of course, a serious threat of German invasion in the early 1940s.  There were over 600 secret bunkers spread out over the British landscape.  It was planned to have specially-trained groups of soldiers conduct guerrilla type operations out of them.

**  From the February 17, 2016, Wilmington (NC) Biz  "Proposed Mixed-Use Project Includes Historic Wilmington Structure."

A quonset hut in Wilmington, constructed after World War II is on the path of preservation.  The U.S. Navy used quonset huts a lot during World War II because they were light and easy to build.

Quonset huts were named after Quinset Pointe, a peninsula and former site of a Rhode Island Navy base where they were first made.

--Quon me.  --GreGen

What Happened at Hiroshima-- Part 2: The Impact

Witness accounts run the gamut, but everyone remembers the blinding flash of light.  Schoolgirls saw it through their classroom windows moments before the ceiling crashed down on top of them.  Middle school student Michiko Yamaoka remembers "a very strong light, a flash," just as her face ballooned and her body flew into the air.

The Enola Gay's (the B-29 bomber that dropped the bomb) pilot, Col. Paul Tibbetts, remembers how "the bright light filled the plane ... the whole plane cracked and crinkled from the blast.  We turned back to look at Hiroshima.  The city was hidden by that awful cloud ... mushrooming, terrible and incredibly tall."

--GreGen

What Happened at Hiroshima-- Part 1: Not What Expected

From the May 26, 2016, Chicago Tribune, editorial.

This editorial appeared because of President Obama's visit to Hiroshima, Japan the next day.

"On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was a city of 350,000 well-braced for U.S. bombing raids.  makeshift firelanes snaked through neighborhoods.  Locals built concrete tanks alongside houses and filled them with water-- to extinguish fires but also to leap into as a lifesaving refuge,

"That morning, two or three B-29 bombers were spotted--  but no one ran for shelters--  big bombing raids (the ones where you would take shelter) almost always meant a sky filled with attacking bombers.

Then, at 8:14 a.m., "Little Boy" fell from the  Enola Gay flying at 31,000 feet."

--GreGen

Last Crew Member of the Enola Dies-- Part 2

At the time of that famous mission on August 6, 1945, Theodore VanKirk was 24 and was serving as the navigator on the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan.

He was teamed with pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Tom Ferebee in Tibbetts' fledgling 509th Composite Bomb Group for Special Mission No. 13.

The mission went perfectly according to VanKirk.  He guided the Enola Gay through the night sky, just 15 seconds behind schedule.  As the 9,000-pound bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" fell toward the sleeping city, he and the rest of the crew wondered if they would escape with their lives.

They did not know if the bomb would work, and, if it did, whether the shock waves from it would rip their plane to shreds.  They counted the seconds as they passed by.  They had been told the explosion would take place at 43 seconds, but nothing happened.

VanKirk recalled: "I think everybody in the plane figured it was a dud.  It seemed a lot longer than 43 seconds."

--GreGen