Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima-Nagasaki in 1945: The Biggest Tragedy in Modern History

Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 can be accounted as the largest tragedy in modern human history. Fortunately this is the only event of nuclear attack in war till date. Otherwise the repetition of nuclear bombings could have brought a tragic state of complete extinction of human race from the earth.

The United States executed two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6 with the bomb named "Little Boy" and the second one named "Fat man" on August 9, 1945.

The event - At 8:15 A.M. of Hiroshima time the weapon, containing 60 kilograms of Uranium-235 was dropped from a height of about 1,900 feet from a 393d Bombardment Squadron B-29 aircraft named ‘Enola Gay’, piloted and commanded by 509th Composite Group commander Colonel Paul Tibbets.

The “Little Boy” took 43 seconds to reach the ground. Since then ‘The Enola Gay’ had already traveled 18.5 kms where it could observe the shock waves of the blast. The actual target was the Aioi Bridge .But it was missed almost by 800 feet and so the bomb gets dropped directly over Shima Surgical Clinic creating a blast equivalent to about 13 kilotons of Trinitrotoluene.

The effect - The radius of total devastation was about 1.6 km with resulting combustions across 11 kms. Japanese officials determined that 69% of Hiroshima's buildings were destroyed and another 6 to 7% damaged.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy approximately 70,000 people in Hiroshima were killed immediately. However, estimates of total deaths from burns, radiations and related diseases range from 90,000 to 166,000 by the end of 1945. Though, the attack was basically targeted for military fatalities, the majority of the casualties were borne by the innocent civilians.

"Practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death", Japanese radio announcers said in a broadcast received by Allied sources soon after the accident.

The Background - Since 1940, the United States had been working on developing an atomic weapon, after having been warned by Albert Einstein that Nazi Germany was already conducting research into nuclear weapons. President Harry S. Truman, the then President of U.S.A., also had been warned by some of his advisers that any attempt to invade Japan would result in horrific American casualties.

On July 26, Truman and other Allied leaders issued the Potsdam Declaration outlining terms of surrender for Japan. It was presented as an ultimatum and stated that without surrender, the Allies would attack Japan, resulting in "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland".

The atomic bomb was not mentioned in the communique. On July 28, Japanese papers reported that the declaration had been rejected by the Japanese government. Also Emperor Hirohito, who was waiting for a Soviet reply to noncommittal Japanese peace feelers, made no move to change the government position.

In this way finally Truman made the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. His intention in ordering the bombings was to bring about a quick resolution of the war by inflicting destruction and creating fear of further destruction to force Japan to surrender.

Whether the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were an avoidable circumstance or a reasonable military decision is a debate. Those who made the decision, as well as most of the survivors, have already passed away long ago.

The tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was although practically borne by Japan; the whole world got a lesson of the ghastly consequence of nuclear attack. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all the nations to prevent the world from another nuclear disaster for the safety and well-being of all.

The article is nothing but a humble appeal to the people of all the countries of this world, including terrorists, Maoists and the decision makers irrespective of caste, race, origin and religion, to establish peace and international fraternity through constructive positive efforts to save the earth.