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The "Enola Gay" is the most widely known B-29 bomber, for its role
in dropping the first atomic bomb used in warfare, in 1945 during
World War II.
After training in Wendover Utah, Col. Paul Tibbets and the crew
of the Enola Gay flew their B-29 to Tinian Island, accompanied on
Tinian by the B-29 "Bocks Car". The components for the two atom
bombs, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" were brought to Tinian by air,
and the critical atomic core was sent by sea (on the Cruiser
Indianapolis). At Tinian, special loading pits were constructed
to load the bombs into the B-29 aircraft.
On August 6, 1945, after Enola Gay was loaded with the Little Boy
atomic bomb, it set off for the city of Hiroshima, in Japan. After
the bomb was dropped, Enola Gay returned to its base in Tinian.
Several days later, Bocks Car departed Tinian and dropped the other
atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
After World War II, Enola Gay was eventually transferred to the
Smithsonian Institution. Parts of the Enola Gay are now on exhibit
at the National Air & Space Museum, in Washington D.C., where these
pictures were taken.
There are numerous other sources of historical information about
the Enola Gay and the atomic bomb missions in World War II, which
can be found on the Internet (using your favorite Internet search
engine).
Some Internet sites with information about the Enola Gay and the
atomic bombs are:
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~enola/welcome.html
This is the homepage of the Enola Gay Perspectives site; initiated
as a group project in Spring 1995 for a class offered by the College
of Library and Information Services at the University of Maryland,
College Park.
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~enola/gall/galltext.html
Photographs scanned from originals that are held at the National
Archives II, College Park, MD and The Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington D.C.
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~enola/enol/enola1.html
The story of Paul Tibbets and the Enola Gay.
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~enola/enol/specs.html
Enola Gay's aircraft specifications.
http://www.cris.com/~ronniem/WWII/ww2pg.htm
Web page with some original photos of B-29's on Tinian, Enola Gay,
and some other Tinian aircraft.
http://www.nasm.edu/GALLERIES/GAL103/gal103.html
Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum webpage about Enola Gay.
Digital photos of Smithsonian Exhibit by Bill
Bezzant.
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