A diagram with a first-hand drawing of the first ever atom bomb explosion and the autographs of two of the pilots from the historic, deadly missions are for sale at a British collectibles dealer.
The explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki were among the final acts in World War II.
They shaped the world we live in today.
They killed as many as 250,000 people in total.
Theodore Van Kirk saw the first explosion, of Little Boy at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 from the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb.
Van Kirk was the navigator, a key figure in this tragic, momentous day.
A drawing by Kirk is being sold by Paul Fraser Collectibles.
On it, he has drawn the mushroom cloud of the bomb’s explosion and written his observations: “Remember that this had never been done before – it was a great unknown. After the bomb exploded there was a great sense of relief – it had worked and it didn’t destroy or damage the airplane.”
He adds: “I pray no man will have to witness that sight again. Such a terrible waste, such a loss of life. We unleashed the first atomic bomb, and I hope there will never be another. I pray that we have learned a lesson for all time. But I’m not sure that we have.”
These are men whose actions changed the world. Image courtesy of Paul Fraser Collectibles.
Paul Fraser, chairman of Paul Fraser Collectibles, who are selling the piece says: “This was written by the same hand that plotted the Enola Gay’s fateful course through the clouds to Hiroshima.
“It is a truly profound and exceptionally rare autograph and it merits a place in any 20th century or military history collection.”
Mr Fraser’s company have also listed a photograph showing the pilots of each of the planes to carry the bombs to Japan. It is signed by both men: Captain Paul Tibbets and Major Charles Sweeney.
Tibbets named his plane after his mother, Enola Gay.
Military history collectors are parttciularly focussed on the end of World War II in the 70th anniversary of that war’s finish.
As long ago as 1996, a copy of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was auctioned for nearly $30,000 in New York.
Last year, some major sales were made to coincide with the anniversary of D-Day in 1944. A Stars and Stripes from the landings made over $45,000. A car used by Field Marshall Montgomery in the final years of the war made over £100,000 earlier this year.
Both the Atomic bomb items are for sale now at Paul Fraser Collectibles.
