Enola Gay

Hiroshima Mushroom Cloud Photo Signed by Pilot Paul Tibbets


A spectacular 8” x 10” color photograph of the Hiroshima mushroom cloud boldly signed by Enola Gay pilot Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. (1915-2007) as "Paul Tibbets" in blue fine tip marker. Further inscribed in Tibbet's hand at upper right: "PiLOT - ENOLA GAY / HiROSHiMA, 8/6/45." In addition, an illegible blue inked word is located at bottom right near the periphery of the fall-out area, possibly designating a location name. A few light scratches to the glossy surface, else near fine.  

On August 6, 1945, the crew of the B-29 Superfortress Bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" over the southwestern Japanese metropolis of Hiroshima. Tibbets piloted the 12-man crew. The nuclear bomb wiped out 70 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure.  

Two other aircraft, The Great Artiste and Necessary Evil, accompanied Enola Gay on its deadly mission, taking scientific measurements and photographs in the aftermath of the explosion. American physicist Bernard Waldman (1913-1986) is crediting with taking many of these photographs. This shot of the mushroom cloud was taken from approximately 30 miles away. It gives a chilling sense of the enormity of the cloud, whose tower of radioactive gases rose to 60,000 feet within 10 minutes of detonation.  

Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets signs a photo commemorating the first use of the atomic bomb in modern warfare!  



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