The American Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On the 6th August, 1945, the Enola Gay flew over the industrial, military city of Hiroshima. According to American government officials and those involved with the dropping of the bomb – Little Boy – the city was forewarned that they would be bombed. However, Japanese officials, citizens and those broadcasting on the radio countered this, and said that there was no warning – a bomb was dropped and the lives of citizens and the environment were changed forever.

On August 9th, 1945, the Bockscar flew over Japan again with an initial target as Kokura, and Nagasaki as the secondary target. The morning of the raids and the cloudy weather meant that Kokura was ‘invisible’ to the site of those onboard the B-29s and the bomb – Fat Man – was dropped on Nagasaki. Thirty percent of the city was destroyed, the destruction mostly contained to the industrial areas of the city.

Through these two bombings, the world was introduced to a new age of technology and warfare – the nuclear age of warfare. The bombings had deadly consequences on the turf they were dropped on, yet on the turf of those who made the decision to drop the bomb, and those who did, there was nothing but an alleviation of sorts – until people were still dying months later in Japan.

It has never been clear as to why President Harry Truman made the decision to drop two different bombs on two different cities on two different days. There have been justifications made, such as the fact that the dropping of the bombs would make an end to the war and save the lives of those fighting – American and Japanese alike. However, this has been countered with the idea that Japan was ready to surrender to the Allied forces, and that they wouldn’t have been able to continue fighting much longer with their losses. Regardless, the droppings were seen as a means to end the war. It has also been hinted that this was also a race to show global power. At the time of the creation of the atomic bomb, rumours told of Germany and Russia developing their own bombs. With this argument, it is apparent that the atomic bomb was not necessarily developed and created with Japanese cities in mind. However, the Manhattan Project – started in 1939 – allowed America to assert their global dominance in 1945, and see that Japanese forces surrendered to them and them alone.

After the initial bombings, American citizens were assured that no major harm would come to those in the affected areas. However, by 1950 estimates for the deaths of those in Hiroshima reached 200,000 and those in Nagasaki had reached 80,000. The rising death counts, the radiation within the city and the precautions made to keep reporters safe during their brief encounters within the cities indicated that the atomic bombs had caused more destruction than initially perceived and in this regards, saw a significant loss of human life that was seemingly difficult to justify. Australian newspaper ‘The Argus’ reported on the 9th August: “The terrific effects of the atomic bomb were admitted by Tokyo radio yesterday when it reported that all living things, both human and animal, were seared to death by the bomb.” The newspaper article then goes on to say that “they were burned beyond recognition...and authorities were unable to assess the civilian causalities because the city was a disastrous ruin.” The aftermath of the bombings left people with injuries stemmed from burns, radiation and mechanical injuries such as buildings collapsing and debris harming those nearby. The aftermath was only perceived to be something that would remain strictly after the bombings.

A month later, however, reporters were coming in from around the world and witnessing the long-term effects that the American government hadn’t warned anyone about. Wilfred Burchett, an Australian reporter for the ‘Townsville Daily Bulletin’ was one of the few reporters outside of America who was able to report about Hiroshima. “In the day I stayed In Hiroshima over a month after the bombing—100 people died. They were some of the 13,000 seriously wounded who are dying at the rate of 100 daily, and will probably all die. Forty thousand people were slightly injured. Counted dead number 53,000 another 30,000 are missing, which means they are certainly dead.” Burchett also alluded to a mysterious illness that was killing citizens at a high daily rate. As the decades have passed, it is common belief that leukemia has become the main cause of death due to the gamma rays and the lasting radiation, “three years following the radiation exposure, leukemia rates peaked in Japan... although leukemia is a rare disease, accounting for only 4% of all cancer deaths in the world, leukemia deaths constitute about 20% of the total excess cancers reflected by the study in Japan.”

Throughout the days after the atomic bombings, and the months following, those who had worked on the Manhattan Project began to sense that what they had created was something they never thought would wreak utter destruction on human life. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientific researcher of the atomic bomb, was at first ready to defend his creation, but later was struck at the monstrosity he had created, hinting at President Truman that they had blood on their hands – something more than an end to the war. Instead, the American government brought the world into the nuclear age, and increased the fear of what humans are truly capable of creating and causing – mass destruction and mass death.

Sources:
Atomic Bomb Havoc in Hiroshima: The Argus
The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Atomic Bomb - A Study of Aftermath
The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki