Did the Pilots Know About the Atomic Bomb?
The decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, has been surrounded by controversy for decades. One of the most frequent questions asked about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks is: "Did the pilots know about the atomic bomb?" The answer, however, is complex, and the truth lies between a simple yes and a simple no.
Contents
Background Information
To understand the context, it’s essential to know that the bombs were dropped from American B-29 bombers: the Bockscar (plane 79) on Hiroshima on August 6 and Bock’s Car (plane 44) on Nagasaki on August 9. The United States had developed the first atomic bombs during World War II, under the codes "Little Boy" (the Hiroshima bomb) and "Fat Man" (the Nagasaki bomb) as part of the Manhattan Project.
The Bockscar and Bock’s Car were commanded by officers who had undergone intensive briefing and training to deliver and detonate these novel explosive devices. These pilots did not know about the extent of the bombs’ destructiveness, as this knowledge was classified to a group of high-level military commanders and scientists only.
What Did the Pilots Know?
Pilot Briefings
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas W. Ferebee, the crew commander of the Bockscar, testified before a Congressional committee in 1985 that:
" we didn’t exactly know what was going on. We didn’t really know what an atomic bomb was. We had vague ideas, but we had no idea about the sheer destructive power … The first impression we got of it (the bomb’s impact on Hiroshima) was incredible. We saw nothing – no fire, no mushroom cloud, nothing – nothing like that at all before ".
Ferebee, whose plane dropped the “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, and his co-pilot, Captain Claude W. Eatherly (also known as “Strongbox”), admitted to their ignorance about the extent of the bomb’s power: “We did not grasp the full horror of nuclear war until years after dropping the bomb”. The duo, along with their whole crew, believed the device was a conventional one and considered it a large “Blockbuster” type bomb based on their knowledge at that time.
The briefers at the base informed Captain Kermit W. Perry, the co-pilot of the Bock’s Car, on **what they thought were standard mission parameters**; nothing significant was mentioned to Perry at that time:
“The people who briefed me never described the bomb. It might have been discussed verbally as an ‘A-bomb’ or a ‘device’, but they did not describe its specific details…”.
The Military’s Secrecy Cover-Up
Some military personnel at that level, like those briefed immediately before the mission, believed the bomb’s effect and impact would be “extremely severe.” Forcing pilots to take oaths of secrecy (classified personnel), they were ordered not to discuss the project in either written or verbal communications at the time of the test. This reinforced a self-censoring system under which pilots never dared spread information about what the Manhattan Project was undertaking or fully understand the sheer might hidden within the small bomb the size of an “F-4” tank turret.
A Post-bombing Clarification or Lack Thereof
Some American observers were initially informed and misinformed during post-aircraft missions that nuclear-powered explosives were nothing less potent than conventional explosions but failed to grasp that full story until years passed when full information became widely public
The pilots flew a subsequent mission to bomb military industries in Japan as per wartime protocol. Some aircraft experienced engine failure (likely brought on by inclement and heavy weather at such considerable altitudes. Pilot recovery procedures were successful.
However, the U.S authorities’ secrecy efforts worked diligently, and some records at the time never discussed ‘Little Boy’, for official purposes, making even historical documentation incomplete. When full realization of the **power magnitude** of both these experiments came to surface as global information, pilot stories reflected a mix of curiosity without complete understanding for most regarding the atomic explosions of Tokyo.
