A particularly poignant artifact from the Lewis archive, this plan undoubtedly derives from their final briefing with William "Deak" Parsons on the afternoon of 3 August 1945 when the pilots and navigators met with Parsons and Ramsay, at which Parsons presented the gathered crews with sketches of the turn-around maneuver at 30,000 feet in order to escape the blast and shock waves from the bomb. The plan shows the air burst at under half a mile up over the city and the subsequent shock waves that the explosion would create, verso blank and unlined.Īn important Enola Gay bombing plan. The stylized plan shows the Enola Gay approaching Hiroshima from the left at 30,000 feet, and on dropping the bomb at 2 miles short of the target, veering and turning 150 degrees to the right to return at 28,500 feet. LewisĪ single sheet of light-blue lined graph paper, drawn in pencil and in blue, black and red inks by Robert Lewis. Lewis, co-Pilot, Enola Gay, 6 August 1945 and then as a gift to Steven K. Lewis' Manuscript Bombing Plan for the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, His collection included his personal manuscript flying logs, plans and notes for the mission, personal photographs, and two pilot log books filled in by Lewis.Ĭapt.
ENOLA GAY ATOMIC BOMB IMAGES ARCHIVE
One of the top lots was an extraordinary archive belonging to Robert Lewis, co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It has been the third annual World War II auction at Bonhams (New York, USA) to offer artefacts, documents and memorabilia relating to historic events of World War II and it took place on April 29.
To commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the ending of World War II in 1945, the sale at Bonhams focused on material from battlefields.