TOKYO (JAPAN) – The country on Thursday will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the devastating atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima and three days later the one on Nagasaki during World War Two.
On August 6, 1945, 8:15 am (2315 GMT, Aug. 5) US bomber B-29 Enola Gay dropped a bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” flattening the southwestern city of Hiroshima, killing 140,000 out of 350,000. Thousands died later of injuries and the after-effects of radiation.
Three days later, the United States dropped “Fat Man” on Nagasaki, which is 420 kilometres (261 miles) to the south killing more than 75,000 people beneath a mushroom cloud that grew to a height of 9,000 metres (30,000 feet).
Six days later, the Japanese empire surrendered to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II.
Vintage footage of Hiroshima reveals that it was a thriving city with men in Western attire -top heats and suits – boarding trams while women in kimonos and school children walking beneath cherry blossoms.
The blast reduced it to a pile of debris with rubble and twisted metal stretching for miles at a stretch. A few buildings bereft of windows, power poles and bare trees were all that remained.
In previous years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and mayors of both cities used to attend memorial services and renew the pledge for a world free of nuclear weapons. Bells would toll and a minute’s would be observed in both the cities.
However, this year, the commemoration event would be scaled back because of the pandemic.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field