Episode XIX: Enola Gay
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16th of July – 2nd of September 1945
Ever since the conception of the Solvay Project in Leuven in July of 1940, the involved scientists knew this was going to revolutionize science and technology, but no-one could have known that the power of the atom was this destructive. When a special shipment of uranium from the recently conquered Katanga region in Belgian Congo arrived in the Colorado Desert in February 1944, the atomic programme took a new turn. As the scientists from Belgium, Canada, France and the US worked hard to make a working bomb to use against Germany, they were surprised to learn that on the 7th of May 1945, Germany had already capitulated. Though war still continued to the west of the US, in Far-East Asia. If using the atom bomb was avoidable, then that was fine, but still, the government funding depended on a working and deployable weapon. If after the war someone at the Department of the Treasury or the Department of Defence would see the giant leak of spending to something called the Manhattan Project, questions would be raised about the millions of dollars the tax payer spent on a weapon which was never used. On the 16th of July, on a cold desert morning, the first practical test of the atom bomb was performed. Trinity as it was called exploded with the force of 19 000 tons of TNT, four times bigger than expected. Radioactive particles blasted into the air and transformed the sand of the Colorado Desert into a light green radioactive material dubbed trinitite. Not longer after the first successful test, two additional bombs were ready: Fat Man and Belgian Waffle. With Germany out of the way however, many people in the project were still very hesitant to use the bombs in the field.
Post-war replica’s of the two atomic bombs, Belgian Waffle (top) and Fat Man (bottom).
Things changed after the battle of Okinawa. In that battle, the Japanese gave everything to keep off the Americans. Kamikaze strikes left and right made many casualties on both sides. In the American top ranks, estimates were made of how many more casualties NATO would suffer if they were to invade the Japanese mainland. And then they estimated how many casualties would follow after an atomic bomb on a city. Was this going to be the future? Where millions of lives are outweighed against millions of lives and one man can decide who deserves to live and who has to die to save a nation at war? Quentin Roosevelt knew this was indeed the future and he knew that soon the burden of this choice would also fall on other world leaders. Perhaps the infamous words of Oppenheimer better described the President: “Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.” The burden came hard for Quentin Roosevelt, and it took him several days to consider the options. Either thousands of Americans would die trying to invade mainland Japan while thousands of Japanese soldiers would die trying to defend their nation from an encroaching enemy, not to mention the millions of Japanese citizens who would suddenly find themselves in a battlefield, or with two quick blows to the Japanese mainland the war could be over in a matter of weeks rather than months or even years. It would also mean a massive loss of human lives, but this choice was one between the Pest and Cholera. In the end, Quentin chose the lesser evil, which many of his advisers wanted him to choose. He signed the order to drop two atom bombs on major Japanese targets.
On the 6th of August, an American B-29 bomber called Enola Gay took off from a small island in the Pacific and headed for Hiroshima. At 8:15, Belgian Waffle exploded above the city. Instantaneously, thousands of people lost their lives and thousands more would be affected for years and generations to come. In one massive blow, Hiroshima and its ancient buildings were wiped off the map. It took several hours for the news to reach the outside world. Around noon, President Roosevelt announced on the radio that he had ordered the bombing of Hiroshima with an atomic bomb. At the time, few people knew what that meant. At the same time, the Japanese sent a small airplane to check on the city, as no news at all had come from Hiroshima since that morning. What the pilot never could have expected was now reality. As he approached Hiroshima, he saw plumes of smoke rising through the air. As he came closer, he saw the scale of destruction, which he had never seen before. The entire city lay in ruins, even worse, in some parts the outline of roads was the only thing still visible. Regardless of this terrible news, the Japanese army top still believed in its own peace demands. Territorial conquest was maybe not on the table anymore, but the godly position of the Emperor, Hirohito, was not up to debate. As a result, Roosevelt initiated the second bombing. On the 9th of August, another American bomber took off from somewhere in the Pacific, this time carrying Fat Man, its target: the city of Kokura. Kokura was a city with a large concentration of military industry. Upon arriving in Kokura however, visibility was low due to thick clouds. The leader of the operation decided to fly to Nagasaki, as a second target. Above Nagasaki, visibility was slightly better, but still, clouds prevented a good view of the city below. As a result, Fat Man did not hit the city centre, but instead exploded on the outskirts of the town, in a less populated area. By act of fate, thick clouds had spared Kokura from a devastating attack and had reduced casualties in Nagasaki. But no less, huge amounts of casualties and destruction had struck Japan in a short amount of time.
Map of the atomic bombing of Japan.
It was at this moment, Emperor Hirohito decided he had seen enough. On the 15th of August, he spoke to his people via radio and told them to accept the demands of Potsdam. In Potsdam, NATO and Russia, together with China, had agreed upon the need for an unconditional surrender of Japan. On the 2nd of September 1945, the Japanese surrender was signed in the Bay of Tokyo, on board of the USS Missouri and overseen by General McArthur. In the following days, Japanese regiments all over the Pacific also lay down their arms. The war was over, finally. Now, the map in Asia could be redrawn, to secure peace in the future according to the balance of power now that the Japanese are defeated. Here and there, border corrections were made. Qing China acquired the Japanese territory and puppets on which it had laid claims. The Philippines regained their independence. On Taiwan, the Republic of Formosa was declared. In Korea, a new republic was also declared. Russia annexed Transamur and was able to assert their influence over Korea. The island of Sakhalin was now also fully under Russian control. In the Pacific, Hawaii gained control over the majority of Japan’s possessions in the Pacific. After gaining control over this Polynesian territory, Hawaii declared itself the Kingdom of Polynesia. Curiously, Deutsch Ostasien, the last remaining piece of Imperial German land, was never touched in the war, nor in the peace deal. This strange turn of events probably had its origin in the fact that the colony never officially declared war on NATO. It was preoccupied with solving its internal problems, after the Indochinese Revolution had left the colony in an unstable condition. But the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm III and other high ranking German Imperials in Indochina, made its future uncertain, as both NATO and Russia sought to bring them to justice in Europe for bringing destruction to Europe and the rest of the world. Indonesia gained its independence from Belgium after the colonial forces failed to fend off the Japanese and a strong Indonesian independence movement grew out of this situation.
East Asia after the surrender of Japan.
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So with this chapter we have come to the end of the Tripartite War and the end of this AAR. Be sure to check out the Epilogue which will follow soon. It will give some closure to certain cases, but I'm sure it'll raise more questions than it will answer.
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16th of July – 2nd of September 1945
Ever since the conception of the Solvay Project in Leuven in July of 1940, the involved scientists knew this was going to revolutionize science and technology, but no-one could have known that the power of the atom was this destructive. When a special shipment of uranium from the recently conquered Katanga region in Belgian Congo arrived in the Colorado Desert in February 1944, the atomic programme took a new turn. As the scientists from Belgium, Canada, France and the US worked hard to make a working bomb to use against Germany, they were surprised to learn that on the 7th of May 1945, Germany had already capitulated. Though war still continued to the west of the US, in Far-East Asia. If using the atom bomb was avoidable, then that was fine, but still, the government funding depended on a working and deployable weapon. If after the war someone at the Department of the Treasury or the Department of Defence would see the giant leak of spending to something called the Manhattan Project, questions would be raised about the millions of dollars the tax payer spent on a weapon which was never used. On the 16th of July, on a cold desert morning, the first practical test of the atom bomb was performed. Trinity as it was called exploded with the force of 19 000 tons of TNT, four times bigger than expected. Radioactive particles blasted into the air and transformed the sand of the Colorado Desert into a light green radioactive material dubbed trinitite. Not longer after the first successful test, two additional bombs were ready: Fat Man and Belgian Waffle. With Germany out of the way however, many people in the project were still very hesitant to use the bombs in the field.
Post-war replica’s of the two atomic bombs, Belgian Waffle (top) and Fat Man (bottom).
Things changed after the battle of Okinawa. In that battle, the Japanese gave everything to keep off the Americans. Kamikaze strikes left and right made many casualties on both sides. In the American top ranks, estimates were made of how many more casualties NATO would suffer if they were to invade the Japanese mainland. And then they estimated how many casualties would follow after an atomic bomb on a city. Was this going to be the future? Where millions of lives are outweighed against millions of lives and one man can decide who deserves to live and who has to die to save a nation at war? Quentin Roosevelt knew this was indeed the future and he knew that soon the burden of this choice would also fall on other world leaders. Perhaps the infamous words of Oppenheimer better described the President: “Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.” The burden came hard for Quentin Roosevelt, and it took him several days to consider the options. Either thousands of Americans would die trying to invade mainland Japan while thousands of Japanese soldiers would die trying to defend their nation from an encroaching enemy, not to mention the millions of Japanese citizens who would suddenly find themselves in a battlefield, or with two quick blows to the Japanese mainland the war could be over in a matter of weeks rather than months or even years. It would also mean a massive loss of human lives, but this choice was one between the Pest and Cholera. In the end, Quentin chose the lesser evil, which many of his advisers wanted him to choose. He signed the order to drop two atom bombs on major Japanese targets.
On the 6th of August, an American B-29 bomber called Enola Gay took off from a small island in the Pacific and headed for Hiroshima. At 8:15, Belgian Waffle exploded above the city. Instantaneously, thousands of people lost their lives and thousands more would be affected for years and generations to come. In one massive blow, Hiroshima and its ancient buildings were wiped off the map. It took several hours for the news to reach the outside world. Around noon, President Roosevelt announced on the radio that he had ordered the bombing of Hiroshima with an atomic bomb. At the time, few people knew what that meant. At the same time, the Japanese sent a small airplane to check on the city, as no news at all had come from Hiroshima since that morning. What the pilot never could have expected was now reality. As he approached Hiroshima, he saw plumes of smoke rising through the air. As he came closer, he saw the scale of destruction, which he had never seen before. The entire city lay in ruins, even worse, in some parts the outline of roads was the only thing still visible. Regardless of this terrible news, the Japanese army top still believed in its own peace demands. Territorial conquest was maybe not on the table anymore, but the godly position of the Emperor, Hirohito, was not up to debate. As a result, Roosevelt initiated the second bombing. On the 9th of August, another American bomber took off from somewhere in the Pacific, this time carrying Fat Man, its target: the city of Kokura. Kokura was a city with a large concentration of military industry. Upon arriving in Kokura however, visibility was low due to thick clouds. The leader of the operation decided to fly to Nagasaki, as a second target. Above Nagasaki, visibility was slightly better, but still, clouds prevented a good view of the city below. As a result, Fat Man did not hit the city centre, but instead exploded on the outskirts of the town, in a less populated area. By act of fate, thick clouds had spared Kokura from a devastating attack and had reduced casualties in Nagasaki. But no less, huge amounts of casualties and destruction had struck Japan in a short amount of time.
Map of the atomic bombing of Japan.
It was at this moment, Emperor Hirohito decided he had seen enough. On the 15th of August, he spoke to his people via radio and told them to accept the demands of Potsdam. In Potsdam, NATO and Russia, together with China, had agreed upon the need for an unconditional surrender of Japan. On the 2nd of September 1945, the Japanese surrender was signed in the Bay of Tokyo, on board of the USS Missouri and overseen by General McArthur. In the following days, Japanese regiments all over the Pacific also lay down their arms. The war was over, finally. Now, the map in Asia could be redrawn, to secure peace in the future according to the balance of power now that the Japanese are defeated. Here and there, border corrections were made. Qing China acquired the Japanese territory and puppets on which it had laid claims. The Philippines regained their independence. On Taiwan, the Republic of Formosa was declared. In Korea, a new republic was also declared. Russia annexed Transamur and was able to assert their influence over Korea. The island of Sakhalin was now also fully under Russian control. In the Pacific, Hawaii gained control over the majority of Japan’s possessions in the Pacific. After gaining control over this Polynesian territory, Hawaii declared itself the Kingdom of Polynesia. Curiously, Deutsch Ostasien, the last remaining piece of Imperial German land, was never touched in the war, nor in the peace deal. This strange turn of events probably had its origin in the fact that the colony never officially declared war on NATO. It was preoccupied with solving its internal problems, after the Indochinese Revolution had left the colony in an unstable condition. But the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm III and other high ranking German Imperials in Indochina, made its future uncertain, as both NATO and Russia sought to bring them to justice in Europe for bringing destruction to Europe and the rest of the world. Indonesia gained its independence from Belgium after the colonial forces failed to fend off the Japanese and a strong Indonesian independence movement grew out of this situation.
East Asia after the surrender of Japan.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So with this chapter we have come to the end of the Tripartite War and the end of this AAR. Be sure to check out the Epilogue which will follow soon. It will give some closure to certain cases, but I'm sure it'll raise more questions than it will answer.
