Five foe minesweepers sunk, 4,837 casualties on Tarakan invaders
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Latest U.S. casualties
LISBON (Domei, Aug. 3) – In its weekly war casualty report, the United States War Department yesterday revealed that the American armed forces have now incurred a total of 1,080,727 casualties, according to a Washington dispatch. The latest announcement shows an increase of 18,085 casualties as compared to last week’s figure.
Salzburger Nachrichten (August 6, 1945)
Amerika schreitet voran
Präsident Truman unterzeichnet drei vom Kongress ratifizierte Gesetze von Weltbedeutung
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Erklärung Präsident Trumans
KREUZER „AUGUSTA“ (Radio Paris) – Präsident Truman erklärte an Bord des Kreuzers „Augusta“ Zeitungsberichtern, dass auf der Potsdamer Konferenz kein Geheimvertrag irgendwelcher Art abgeschlossen worden sei.
Italien über Potsdam begeistert
ROM (PW) – Italiens Ministerpräsident Parri brachte in einer Erklärung seine Befriedigung über das Potsdamer Kommuniqué, das einen Friedensvertrag mit Italien vorsehe, zum Ausdruck. „Italiens ehrliche Bestrebungen,“ so sagte er, „sich an die Seite der Vereinten Nationen zu stellen und sein Leben auf demokratischer Grundlage zu gestalten, sind anerkannt worden und ich bin glücklich über diese Anerkennung.“
Göring-Prozess im September
LONDON (BBC) – Die Prozesse gegen deutsche Kriegsverbrecher sollen am 1. September in Nürnberg beginnen. Der Hauptanklagevertreter der Vereinigten Staaten, Richter Jackson, wird sein Hauptquartier in etwa zehn Tagen in Nürnberg aufschlagen. Es wurde beschlossen, die Verhandlungen im Justizpalast durchzuführen. Göring, Ribbentrop und andere Nazi werden während der Verhandlungen im städtischen Gefängnis untergebracht. Die Verhandlungen werden einige Wochen dauern.
Falschmünzer verhaftet
BERLIN (OWI) – Korrespondent Raymond Daniell berichtet, dass 45 deutsche Zivilisten wegen Druckens Millionen falscher Markscheine verhaftet worden seien. Die Razzia gegen diese Falschmünzer ist ein schlagender Beweis für die ständigen Maßnahmen, die in dem amerikanisch besetzten Teil Berlins gegen den schwarzen Markt und andere illegale Handlungen ergriffen werden.
Rommel beging Selbstmord
LONDON (BBC) – Generalfeldmarschall Rommel hat, wie von seinem Sohn Manfred Rommel eidesstattlich erklärt wurde, Selbstmord begangen. Rommel wählte diesen Weg, um dem sicheren Todesurteil des Nazigerichtshofes wegen Teilnahme an dem Attentat auf Hitler am 20. Juli 1944 zu entgehen. Die Nazis versuchten lange Zeit, Rommels Tod geheim zu halten. Schließlich setzten sie unter anderem das Gerücht in Umlauf, Rommel sei auf der Fahrt in einem Militärkonvoi während eines britischen Fliegerangriffes verwundet worden.
Statement by President Truman Announcing the Use of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima
August 6, 1945, 11:30 a.m. EWT
Sixteen hours ago, an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British “Grand Slam” which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.
The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid manyfold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form these bombs are now in production and even more powerful forms are in development.
It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.
Before 1939, it was the accepted belief of scientists that it was theoretically possible to release atomic energy. But no one knew any practical method of doing it. By 1942, however, we knew that the Germans were working feverishly to find a way to add atomic energy to the other engines of war with which they hoped to enslave the world. But they failed. We may be grateful to Providence that the Germans got the V-1s and V-2s late and in limited quantities and even more grateful that they did not get the atomic bomb at all.
The battle of the laboratories held fateful risks for us as well as the battles of the air, land and sea, and we have now won the battle of the laboratories as we have won the other battles.
Beginning in 1940, before Pearl Harbor, scientific knowledge useful in war was pooled between the United States and Great Britain, and many priceless helps to our victories have come from that arrangement. Under that general policy the research on the atomic bomb was begun. With American and British scientists working together we entered the race of discovery against the Germans.
The United States had available the large number of scientists of distinction in the many needed areas of knowledge. It had the tremendous industrial and financial resources necessary for the project and they could be devoted to it without undue impairment of other vital war work. In the United States the laboratory work and the production plants, on which a substantial start had already been made, would be out of reach of enemy bombing, while at that time Britain was exposed to constant air attack and was still threatened with the possibility of invasion. For these reasons Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt agreed that it was wise to carry on the project here. We now have two great plants and many lesser works devoted to the production of atomic power. Employment during peak construction numbered 125,000 and over 65,000 individuals are even now engaged in operating the plants. Many have worked there for two and a half years. Few know what they have been producing. They see great quantities of material going in and they see nothing coming out of these plants, for the physical size of the explosive charge is exceedingly small. We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history-and won.
But the greatest marvel is not the size of the enterprise, its secrecy, nor its cost, but the achievement of scientific brains in putting together infinitely complex pieces of knowledge held by many men in different fields of science into a workable plan. And hardly less marvelous has been the capacity of industry to design, and of labor to operate, the machines and methods to do things never done before so that the brain child of many minds came forth in physical shape and performed as it was supposed to do. Both science and industry worked under the direction of the United States Army, which achieved a unique success in managing so diverse a problem in the advancement of knowledge in an amazingly short time. It is doubtful if such another combination could be got together in the world. What has been done is the greatest achievement of organized science in history. It was done under high pressure and without failure.
We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war.
It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware.
The Secretary of War, who has kept in personal touch with all phases of the project, will immediately make public a statement giving further details.
His statement will give facts concerning the sites at Oak Ridge near Knoxville, Tennessee, and at Richland near Pasco, Washington, and an installation near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Although the workers at the sites have been making materials to be used in producing the greatest destructive force in history, they have not themselves been in danger beyond that of many other occupations, for the utmost care has been taken of their safety.
The fact that we can release atomic energy ushers in a new era in man’s understanding of nature’s forces. Atomic energy may in the future supplement the power that now comes from coal, oil, and falling water, but at present it cannot be produced on a basis to compete with them commercially. Before that comes there must be a long period of intensive research.
It has never been the habit of the scientists of this country or the policy of this Government to withhold from the world scientific knowledge. Normally, therefore, everything about the work with atomic energy would be made public.
But under present circumstances it is not intended to divulge the technical processes of production or all the military applications, pending further examination of possible methods of protecting us and the rest of the world from the danger of sudden destruction.
I shall recommend that the Congress of the United States consider promptly the establishment of an appropriate commission to control the production and use of atomic power within the United States. I shall give further consideration and make further recommendations to the Congress as to how atomic power can become a powerful and forceful influence towards the maintenance of world peace.
Report by Frank Phillips (BBC):
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (August 6, 1945)
Lawrence: Japs also interested in size of our army
By David Lawrence
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U.S. State Department (August 6, 1945)
740.00119 PW/8-645
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs to the Under Secretary of State
[Washington,] August 6, 1945
Subject: COMMENTS ON MEMORANDUM FORWARDED BY SECRETARY OF WAR HENRY L. STIMSON ON ‘OBSERVATIONS ON POST-HOSTILITIES POLICY TOWARD JAPAN’
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The memorandum forwarded by Secretary of War Stimson raises the basic question as to whether the Japanese are to have the major responsibility for running their own country immediately following hostilities with the Allies remaining in the background and exerting a minimum of control, or whether the Allies are to assume supreme authority over Japan in line with a strict interpretation of the term “unconditional surrender” and hence assume the responsibility for all matters in Japan following surrender. The Department of State has in its planning for the post-hostilities treatment of Japan been influenced by the basic fact that until recently this Government has insisted on a rigid interpretation of “unconditional surrender” for Japan and that this policy has been reiterated on several occasions by both President Roosevelt and President Truman. Consequently there was worked out, in conjunction with the War and Navy Departments, basic policy documents and terms of surrender for Japan predicated on the assumption that we would obtain supreme authority over Japan upon its “unconditional surrender” or total defeat.
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With the issuance at Potsdam on July 26, 1945 of the statement by the Heads of the Governments of the United States, United Kingdom and the Republic of China on terms for Japan which would be acceptable to us at the present time, the possibility of a fundamentally different policy program has been raised and the necessity arises for considering a policy from a different point of view.
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The Department has been fully aware of the necessity, as clearly set forth in the memorandum forwarded by Secretary Stimson, of advocating policies (a) which would be particularly applicable to Japan as distinct from Germany; (b) which would be politically acceptable to the American people; (c) which would require a minimum period of control over Japan consistent with the fulfillment of our basic objectives; and (d) which would be compatible with our basic war aims. Consequently, it has been recognized in the Department that any policy for Japan to be successful (1) must rely on the Japanese themselves for the development of democratic institutions; (2) must not interfere with the institution of the emperor so long as the Japanese people demand its retention; and (3) must permit the emergence of Japan as a peace-loving nation and its eventual participation in world trade. The Department attempted to reconcile these basic concepts with our declared intention of the unconditional surrender of Japan in document SC-138a entitled “Initial Post-Defeat Policy for Japan,” approved by the Staff Committee on June 26, 1945.
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In reference to the memorandum forwarded by Secretary Stimson, it should be noted that the views expressed therein are closer to those of the British Foreign Office, as communicated in a memorandum delivered by Mr. Balfour, and are more in line with the Potsdam announcement of July 26, 1945 than are the policies advocated in “Initial Post-Defeat Policy for Japan.” There are obvious disadvantages to both a plan which envisages complete control over Japan by the Allies and to one in which the role of the Allies is largely supervisory. The memorandum forwarded by Secretary Stimson points out many of the weaknesses in the former plan. On the other hand, it must be realized that if a United States policy program is based entirely on the assumption that the Japanese will develop, largely on their own initiative, “a genuine democratic movement” and such a movement does not develop, the Allies will be faced with the choice of either stepping in and taking over more control or leaving the Japanese to develop internally as they see fit. It is doubted, moreover, if the philosophy of militarism can be completely and permanently discredited in the minds of the Japanese people unless the extent of their defeat is brought home to them by the occupation, even if only for a brief period, of a substantial part of their territory. Furthermore, recent public opinion surveys in this country show that a third of those questioned advocate the execution of the Emperor after the war, a fifth voted for his imprisonment or exile, a sixth wanted a court to decide his fate, while only three percent supported his use by the Allies. It is questionable, therefore, whether or not it would be politically practicable for the Allies to use the Emperor to the extent suggested in the memorandum. However, if Japan accepts in the near future the terms as defined at Potsdam on July 29 [26?] 1945, many of the suggestions made in the memorandum forwarded by Secretary Stimson would be more appropriate.
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On the other hand, if Japan does not accept the Potsdam terms and the Allies are forced to fight their way into the main Japanese islands and to defeat the Japanese Army in the homeland, it may be that no central Japanese authority will be in existence and that the Allies may be forced to assume the supreme authority of Japan and to exercise that authority for a limited period.
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If Japan capitulates before an invasion of the homeland or the defeat of her armed forces in the field, however, a compromise plan might be preferable which contained parts of the old concepts of supreme authority and the new concept of a surrender based on specific terms and with the Allies exercising only partial control.
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Such a partial compromise is in fact under consideration by the State, War, Navy Coordinating Sub-Committee for the Par East. Tentative plans for the control of Japan envisage three main periods. The first of these, which would probably not exceed 18 months, would be one in which the Supreme Allied Commander for Japan would assume authority over Japan and would enforce disarmament and demobilization. These military aspects of Japanese surrender might be carried out either through partial or complete occupation of the home islands. The Japanese administrative structure would be used to the fullest possible extent but all policies would be decided by the supreme commander. The Emperor and his immediate family would be placed in protective custody so that the Institution of the Emperor would, in reality, be continued. The second period, as at present envisaged, would be characterized by the transfer of authority in Japan from the supreme commander to an Allied Supervisory Commission, composed of civilian representatives from the major Allies at war with Japan. The policies of the Commission would be implemented by the Japanese themselves. The Commission would support such measures as would facilitate development by the Japanese of democratic institutions. Limited Allied military, naval and air forces would be stationed at points from which the policies of the Supervisory Commission could be enforced when necessary. As the Japanese developed a willingness to follow the suggestions of the Supervisory Commission and increasingly cooperated with the Allies, authority would be turned over to the Japanese. This second period should likewise be limited in duration and such controls as were necessary for a more extended period could be exerted through the control of exports and imports. It is envisaged further that basic differences in policies between ourselves and our Allies could be settled in the proposed Far East Advisory Commission.
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If circumstances warranted it, a more complete compromise might be preferable under which the Allies would exercise supreme authority over Japan during a short initial period with only partial occupation. At the beginning of the second period of control, however, authority in Japan might be transferred from the supreme commander to Japanese governmental authorities and any Allied Supervisory Commission which might be formed to continue control over Japan would have only limited authority. It is believed that such a compromise plan would meet many of the points raised in the above-mentioned memorandum, would be closer to the ideas expressed by the British Foreign Office, would be workable from a practical point of view and would, at the same time, give us reasonable assurance that our basic objectives towards Japan could be achieved.
In summary:
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The United States early announced that it would demand the unconditional surrender of Japan;
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The Potsdam Proclamation, July 26, 1945, announced terms of surrender, which might bring about an early capitulation of Japan;
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The memorandum presented by Secretary Stimson presents a plan which is along the line and in amplification of the Potsdam Proclamation and in harmony with the present views of the British Foreign Office.
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If the Japanese Government should in the near future offer to surrender, the terms of the Potsdam Proclamation, possibly amplified along the lines of the submitted memorandum, would be applicable;
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If, however, it is necessary to invade and conquer Japan, it is possible that, as in the case of Germany, no Japanese Government will be in existence. In such a case the early plans of the Department would naturally come into operation;
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If Japan should surrender at some time before the complete conquest of the main islands, the terms of surrender to be enforced on Japan would depend upon the conditions, political, military and economic, existing at the time.
J[OSEPH] W. B[ALLANTINE]
740.00117 PW/8-645
Memorandum by the Special War Problems Division to the Office of the Legal Adviser and the Division of Japanese Affairs
[Washington,] August 6, 1945
Reference is made to the underlying memorandum of August 4, 1945 from Captain Tonseth of the Navy Department. Captain Tonseth sets forth for the information of the Department of State certain facts with regard to the interception of the Japanese hospital ship Tachibana Maru (Tatibana Maru). It appears to have been ascertained by the interception authorities that the conduct of the vessel was not in accordance with the terms of the Hague Convention of 1907 regarding hospital ships and that in consequence thereof the crew and patients aboard the vessel will be disembarked and the ship held for prize court adjudication.
Subsequent to the receipt of Captain Tonseth’s memorandum, it was discussed by telephone between Captain Tonseth and Mr. Hibbard (of SWP). At that time Captain Tonseth indicated that he wanted to be informed regarding the first reaction of the Department of State to the interception of the vessel and its capture and then stated that he would appreciate an indication whether the Department, on the basis of facts made available, is of the view that the steps taken by the military authorities were improper. He indicated that in the event that they were construed to be improper the Navy Department should be informed immediately.
Mr. Hibbard reminded Captain Tonseth of the Department’s recent discussions with the British on the subject of the interception of hospital ships. On June 16, 1945 the Department informed the British in response to the latter’s inquiry regarding the policy of this Government with respect to the interception of hospital ships in the Pacific that it is the United States military policy to avoid any interference with hospital ships of the enemy unless there is prima facie evidence of flagrant violation of the international conventions. It was further pointed out to the British that it was considered unlikely by the United States Government that the Japanese would resort to interference with Allied hospital ships except in retaliation for attacks by Allied surface forces against Japanese hospital ships.
After informal discussion of the matter with Mr. Bishop of Le, Captain Tonseth was informed that in the event an investigation of the facts established the violation of the Convention with respect to the characteristics required for the immunity of hospital ships there would appear to be no legal objection to the procedure adopted by the military authorities with respect to the Tachibana Maru. In this connection Mr. Bishop cited volume 6, page 459 of Hackworth’s Digest of International Law and volume 3, page 2074 of Hyde’s International Law.
This memorandum is being addressed to Le and JA in order that they might arrange to register immediate objection with the Navy Department in the event that review of the few papers available indicates the action of the military authorities in connection with the Tachibana Maru to have been improper. Captain Tonseth expressed his wishes in approximately the following language: “We don’t want a polite letter saying that the Navy Department is doing well; we only want to know if there is objection.”
U.S. War Department (August 6, 1945)
Press Release
For Immediate Release
August 6, 1945
Mankind’s successful transition to a new age, the Atomic Age, was ushered in July 16, 1945, before the eyes of a tense group of renowned scientists and military men gathered in the desertlands of New Mexico to witness the first end results of their $2,000,000,000 effort. Here in a remote section of the Alamogordo Air Base 120 miles southeast of Albuquerque the first man-made atomic explosion, the outstanding achievement of nuclear science, was achieved at 5:30 a.m. of that day. Darkening heavens, pouring forth rain and lightning immediately up to the zero hour, heightened the drama.
Mounted on a steel tower, a revolutionary weapon destined to change war as we know it, or which may even be the instrumentality to end all wars, was set off with an impact which signalized man’s entrance into a new physical world. Success was greater than the most ambitious estimates. A small amount of matter, the product of a chain of huge specially constructed industrial plants, was made to release the energy of the universe locked up within the atom from the beginning of time. A fabulous achievement had been reached. Speculative theory, barely established in pre-war laboratories, had been projected into practicality.
This phase of the Atomic Bomb Project, which is headed by Major General Leslie R. Groves, was under the direction of Dr. J. R. Oppenheimer, theoretical physicist of the University of California. He is to be credited with achieving the implementation of atomic energy for military purposes.
Tension before the actual detonation was at a tremendous pitch. Failure was an ever-present possibility. Too great a success, envisioned by some of those present, might have meant an uncontrollable, unusable weapon.
Final assembly of the atomic bomb began on the night of July 12 in an old ranch house. As various component assemblies arrived from distant points, tension among the scientists rose to an increasing pitch. Coolest of all was the man charged with the actual assembly of the vital core, Dr. R. F. Bacher, in normal times a professor at Cornell University.
The entire cost of the project, representing the erection of whole cities and radically new plants spread over many miles of countryside, plus unprecedented experimentation, was represented in the pilot bomb and its parts. Here was the focal point of the venture. No other country in the world had been capable of such an outlay in brains and technical effort.
The full significance of these closing moments before the final factual test was not lost on these men of science. They fully knew their position as pioneers into another age. They also knew that one false move would blast them and their entire effort into eternity. Before the assembly started a receipt for the vital matter was signed by Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell, General Groves’ deputy. This signalized the formal transfer of the irreplaceable material from the scientists to the Army.
During final preliminary assembly, a bad few minutes developed when the assembly of an important section of the bomb was delayed. The entire unit was machine-tooled to the finest measurement. The insertion was partially completed when it apparently wedged tightly and would go no farther. Dr. Bacher, however, was undismayed and reassured the group that time would solve the problem. In three minutes’ time, Dr. Bacher’s statement was verified and basic assembly was completed without further incident.
Specialty teams, comprised of the top men on specific phases of science, all of which were bound up in the whole, took over their specialized parts of the assembly. In each group was centralized months and even years of channelized endeavor.
On Saturday, July 14, the unit which was to determine the success or failure of the entire project was elevated to the top of the steel tower. All that day and the next, the job of preparation went on. In addition to the apparatus necessary to cause the detonation, complete instrumentation to determine the pulse beat and all reactions of the bomb was rigged on the tower.
The ominous weather which had dogged the assembly of the bomb had a very sobering affect on the assembled experts whose work was accomplished amid lightning flashes and peals of thunder. The weather, unusual and upsetting, blocked out aerial observation of the test. It even held up the actual explosion scheduled at 4:00 a.m. for an hour and a half. For many months the approximate date and time had been set and had been one of the high-level secrets of the best kept secret of the entire war.
Nearest observation point was set up 10,000 yards south of the tower where in a timber and earth shelter the controls for the test were located. At a point 17,000 yards from the tower at a point which would give the best observation the key figures in the atomic bomb project took their posts. These included General Groves, Dr. Vannevar Bush, head of the Office of Scientific Research and Development and Dr. James B. Conant, president of Harvard University.
Actual detonation was in charge of Dr. K. T. Bainbridge of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He and Lieutenant Bush, in charge of the Military Police Detachment, were the last men to inspect the tower with its cosmic bomb.
At three o’clock in the morning the party moved forward to the control station. General Groves and Dr. Oppenheimer consulted with the weathermen. The decision was made to go ahead with the test despite the lack of assurance of favorable weather. The time was set for 5:30 a.m.
General Groves rejoined Dr. Conant and Dr. Bush, and just before the test time they joined the many scientists gathered at the Base Camp. Here all present were ordered to lie on the ground, face downward, heads away from the blast direction.
Tension reached a tremendous pitch in the control room as the deadline approached. The several observation points in the area were tied in to the control room by radio and with twenty minutes to go, Dr. S. K. Allison of Chicago University took over the radio net and made periodic time announcements.
The time signals, “minus 20 minutes, minus fifteen minutes,” and on and on increased the tension to the breaking point as the group in the control room which included Dr. Oppenheimer and General Farrell held their breaths, all praying with the intensity of the moment which will live forever with each man who was there. At “minus 45 seconds,” robot mechanism took over and from that point on the whole great complicated mass of intricate mechanism was in operation without human control. Stationed at a reserve switch, however, was a soldier scientist ready to attempt to stop the explosion should the order be issued. The order never came.
At the appointed time there was a blinding flash lighting up the whole area brighter than the brightest daylight. A mountain range three miles from the observation point stood out in bold relief. Then came a tremendous sustained roar and a heavy pressure wave which knocked down two men outside the control center. Immediately thereafter, a huge multi-colored surging cloud boiled to an altitude of over 40,000 feet. Clouds in its path disappeared. Soon the shifting substratosphere winds dispersed the now grey mass.
The test was over, the project a success.
The steel tower had been entirely vaporized. Where the tower had stood, there was a huge sloping crater. Dazed but relieved at the success of their tests, the scientists promptly marshalled their forces to estimate the strength of America’s new weapon. To examine the nature of the crater, specially equipped tanks were wheeled into the area, one of which carried Dr. Enrico Fermi, noted nuclear scientist. Answer to their findings rests in the destruction effected in Japan today in the first military use of the atomic bomb.
Had it not been for the desolated area where the test was held and for the cooperation of the press in the area, it is certain that the test itself would have attracted far-reaching attention. As it was, many people in that area are still discussing the effect of the smash. A significant aspect, recorded by the press, was the experience of a blind girl near Albuquerque many miles from the scene, who, when the flash of the test lighted the sky before the explosion could be heard, exclaimed, “What was that?”
Interviews of General Groves and General Farrell give the following on-the-scene versions of the test. General Groves said:
My impressions of the night’s high points follow: After about an hour’s sleep I got up at 0100 and from that time on until about five I was with Dr. Oppenheimer constantly. Naturally he was tense, although his mind was working at its usual extraordinary efficiency. I attempted to shield him from the evident concern shown by many of his assistants who were disturbed by the uncertain weather conditions. By 0330 we decided that we could probably fire at 0530. By 0400 the rain had stopped but the sky was heavily overcast. Our decision became firmer as time went on.
During most of these hours the two of us journeyed from the control house out into the darkness to look at the stars and to assure each other that the one or two visible stars were becoming brighter. At 0510 I left Dr. Oppenheimer and returned to the main observation point which was 17,000 yards from the point of explosion. In accordance with our orders I found all personnel not otherwise occupied massed on a bit of high ground.
Two minutes before the scheduled firing time, all persons lay face down with their feet pointing towards the explosion. As the remaining time was called from the loud speaker from the 10,000-yard control station there was complete awesome silence. Dr. Conant said he had never imagined seconds could be so long. Most of the individuals in accordance with orders shielded their eyes in one way or another.
First came the burst of light of a brilliance beyond any comparison. We all rolled over and looked through dark glasses at the ball of fire. About forty seconds later came the shock wave followed by the sound, neither of which seemed startling after our complete astonishment at the extraordinary lighting intensity.
A massive cloud was formed which surged and billowed upward with tremendous power, reaching the substratosphere in about five minutes.
Two supplementary explosions of minor effect other than the lighting occurred in the cloud shortly after the main explosion.
The cloud traveled to a great height first in the form of a ball, then mushroomed, then changed into a long trailing chimney-shaped column and finally was sent in several directions by the variable winds at the different elevations.
Dr. Conant reached over and we shook hands in mutual congratulations. Dr. Bush, who was on the other side of me, did likewise. The feeling of the entire assembly, even the uninitiated, was of profound awe. Drs. Conant and Bush and myself were struck by an even stronger feeling that the faith of those who had been responsible for the initiation and the carrying on of this Herculean project had been justified.
General Farrell’s impressions are:
The scene inside the shelter was dramatic beyond words. In and around the shelter were some twenty odd people concerned with last-minute arrangements. Included were Dr. Oppenheimer, the Director who had borne the great scientific burden of developing the weapon from the raw materials made in Tennessee and Washington, and a dozen of his key assistants, Dr. Kistiakowsky, Dr. Bainbridge, who supervised all the detailed arrangements for the test; the weather expert, and several others. Besides those, there were a handful of soldiers, two or three Army officers and one Naval Officer. The shelter was filled with a great variety of instruments and radios.
For some hectic two hours preceding the blast, General Groves stayed with the Director. Twenty minutes before the zero hour, General Groves left for his station at the base camp, first because it provided a better observation point and second, because of our rule that he and I must not be together in situations where there is an element of danger which existed at both points.
Just after General Groves left, announcements began to be broadcast of the interval remaining before the blast to the other groups participating in and observing the test. As the time interval grew smaller and changed from minutes to seconds, the tension increased by leaps and bounds. Everyone in that room knew the awful potentialities of the thing that they thought was about to happen. The scientists felt that their figuring must be right and that the bomb had to go off but there was in everyone’s mind a strong measure of doubt.
We were reaching into the unknown and we did not know what might come of it. It can safely be said that most of those present were praying – and praying harder than they had ever prayed before. If the shot were successful, it was a justification of the several years of intensive effort of tens of thousands of people – statesmen, scientists, engineers, manufacturers, soldiers, and many others in every walk of life.
In that brief instant in the remote New Mexico desert, the tremendous effort of the brains and brawn of all these people came suddenly and startlingly to the fullest fruition. Dr. Oppenheimer, on whom had rested a very heavy burden, grew tenser as the last seconds ticked off. He scarcely breathed. He held on to a post to steady himself. For the last few seconds, he stared directly ahead and then when the announcer shouted “Now!” and there came this tremendous burst of light followed shortly thereafter by the deep growling roar of the explosion, his face relaxed into an expression of tremendous relief. Several of the observers standing back of the shelter to watch the lighting effects were knocked flat by the blast.
The tension in the room let up and all started congratulating each other. Everyone sensed “This is it!”. No matter what might happen now all knew that the impossible scientific job had been done. Atomic fission would no longer be hidden in the cloisters of the theoretical physicists’ dreams. It was almost full grown at birth. It was a great new force to be used for good or for evil. There was a feeling in that shelter that those concerned with its nativity should dedicate their lives to the mission that it would always be used for good and never for evil.
Dr. Kistiakowsky threw his arms around Dr. Oppenheimer and embraced him with shouts of glee. Others were equally enthusiastic. All the pent-up emotions were released in those few minutes and all seemed to sense immediately that the explosion had far exceeded the most optimistic expectations and wildest hopes of the scientists. All seemed to feel that they had been present at the birth of a new age – The Age of Atomic Energy – and felt their profound responsibility to help in guiding into right channels the tremendous forces which had been unlocked for the first time in history.
As to the present war, there was a feeling that no matter what else might happen, we now had the means to insure its speedy conclusion and save thousands of American lives. As to the future, there had been brought into being something big and something new that would prove to be immeasurably more important than the discovery of electricity or any of the other great discoveries which have so affected our existence.
The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before. The lighting effects beggared description. The whole country was lighted by a searing light with the intensity many times that of the midday sun. It was golden, purple, violet, gray and blue. It lighted every peak, crevasse and ridge of the nearby mountain range with a clarity and beauty that cannot be described but must be seen to be imagined. It was that beauty the great poets dream about but describe most poorly and inadequately. Thirty seconds after, the explosion came first, the air blast pressing hard against the people and things, to be followed almost immediately by the strong, sustained, awesome roar which warned of doomsday and made us feel that we puny things were blasphemous to dare tamper with the forces heretofore reserved to the Almighty. Words are inadequate tools for the job of acquainting those not present with the physical, mental and psychological effects. It had to be witnessed to be realized.
The Pittsburgh Press (August 6, 1945)
SECRET ATOM BOMBS TO WIPE OUT JAPAN
Quit or die, Truman warns
Weapon has power of 20,000 tons TNT – cost U.S. $2 billion
BULLETIN
WASHINGTON (UP) – The first test firing of an atomic bomb vaporized a steel tower from which the weapon was suspended and sent a massive cloud billowing into the stratosphere with “tremendous power,” the War Department said today.
“At the appointed time,” an official description of the test said, “there was a blinding flash lighting up the whole area brighter than the brightest daylight. A mountain range three miles from the observation point stood out in bold relief.”
“There came a tremendous sustained roar and a heavy pressure wave which knocked down two men outside the control tower 10,000 yards from the explosion.”
WASHINGTON (UP) – The United States has unleashed against Japan the terror of an atomic bomb 2,000 times more powerful than the biggest block-busters ever used in warfare.
President Truman revealed this great scientific achievement today. He warned the Japs that they now face “a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth.”
More and more of these devastating bombs, unlocking the vast hidden energy that lies within the atom, will tumble on Japan if they continue to reject the Potsdam surrender ultimatum.
The new atomic bomb was used for the first time yesterday. An American plane dropped one on the Jap army base at Hiroshima.
Its use marked victory for the Allies in the greatest scientific race in history. The United States put $2 billion and the work of 125,000 persons into the project.
A single bomb has more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It has more than 2,000 times the blast power of the British “grand slam” bomb, the largest ever used previously in the history of warfare.
Improved bomb coming soon
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson disclosed that an improved bomb would be forthcoming shortly that would increase “by several-fold” the present effectiveness of the new weapon.
The War Department said that it was not yet able to make an accurate report of the damage caused by the first bomb.
“Reconnaissance planes state that an impenetrable cloud of dust and smoke covered the target area,” an announcement said. “As soon as accurate details of the result of the bombing become available, they will be released by the Secretary of War.”
Development of the bomb, a victory of American scientists in a desperate race with Germany, is “the greatest achievement of organized science in history,” Mr. Truman said in a statement released at the White House.
The United States, he added, is now prepared “to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city.”
He revealed that the July 26 ultimatum issued to Japan at Potsdam was made “to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction.”
When the ultimatum was rejected, the atomic bomb was sent into action.
‘A rain of ruin from the air’
He said:
If they [the Jap leaders] do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.
Mr. Truman revealed that “two great plants and many lesser works” employing more than 65,000 workers are producing the new atomic bomb. Even more destructive bombs are being developed, he said.
Production centers are located at Oak Ridge, near Knoxville, Tennessee, at Richland, near Pasco, Washington, and near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Mr. Truman’s statement, released while he was still en route home by cruiser from Potsdam, Germany, lifted the secrecy from one of the most closely-guarded enterprises of the war. No mention of atomic power or any possible use of it in warfare has been allowed under the newspaper and radio code of the Office of Censorship.
Mr. Truman said that despite the vast multiplied potency of the bomb, “the physical size of the explosive charge is exceedingly small.”
He said:
It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe.
The force from which the sun draws its power has ben loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.
Mr. Stimson revealed that uranium is the essential ore in the production of the bombs. He added that “steps have been taken and will continue to be taken to insure adequate supplies of this mineral.”
Mr. Stimson said that “we are convinced that Japan will not be in a position to use an atomic bomb in this war.”
**“It is abundantly clear that the possession of this weapon by the United States even in its present form should prove a tremendous aid in the shortening of the war against Japan.” Mr. Stimson said.
Mr. Stimson praised highly the scientists who had developed atomic power.
He declared:
Behind these concrete achievements lie the tremendous contributions of American science. No praise is too great for the unstinting efforts, brilliant achievements and complete devotion to the national interest of the scientists of this country. Nowhere else in the world has science performed so successfully in time of war.
The first atomic bomb was presumably dropped from a B-29 Superfortress.
Truman cites fearful potency
Reviewing the fearful potency of the new bomb, the President said he would recommend that Congress consider the establishment of an appropriate commission to control the production and use of atomic power within the United States.
The President said:
I shall give further consideration and make further recommendations to the Congress as to how atomic power can become a powerful and forceful influence toward the maintenance of world peace.
Mr. Truman revealed that yesterday’s use of the bomb signaled an American victory in a feverish race with German scientists to find some way to harness and release atomic energy.
Before 1939, he said, it was the accepted belief of scientists that it was “theoretically possible” to release atomic energy. But no one then knew any practical method of doing it, he added.
By 1942, however, Mr. Truman continued, “we knew that the Germans were working feverishly to find a way to add atomic energy to the other engines of war with which they hoped to enslave the world.”
‘Battle of laboratories’ won
Mr. Truman said:
But they failed.
We may be grateful to Providence that the Germans got the V-1s and V-2s [rocket bombs which they showered on England] late and in limited quantities and even more grateful that they did not get the atomic bomb at all.
The “battle of the laboratories,” Mr. Truman said, held “fateful risks” for the United States as well as the battles of the air, land and sea.
“And we have now won the battle of the laboratories as we have won the other battles,” he said.
The President said that beginning in 1940 – before Pearl Harbor – the United States and Great Britain pooled their scientific knowledge that would be useful in war and said that “many priceless helps to our victories” came from that arrangement.
With American and British scientists working together, he said, “we entered the race of discovery against the Germans.”
Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the late President Roosevelt agreed that the research should be carried on in the United States because Britain was exposed to constant air attack and was still threatened with invasion.
“We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history – and won,” the President said.
Mr. Truman said the “greatest marvel” was not the size of the enterprise, its secrecy, or its cost, but “the achievement of scientific brains in putting together infinitely complex pieces of knowledge held by many men in different fields of science into a workable plan.”
“And hardly less marvelous,” he continued, “has been the capacity of industry to design, and of labor to operate, the machines and methods to do things never done before so that the brain-child of many minds came forth in physical shape and performed as it was supposed to do.”
The President said that science and industry worked together under the direction of the U.S. Army on the project. The Army, he said, achieved “a unique success” in “managing so diverse a problem in the advancement of knowledge in an amazingly short time.”
The President said that this final harnessing of atomic energy might be used in the future to supplement the power that comes from coal, oil, and waterfalls, but said that at present “it cannot be produced on a basis to compete with them commercially.”
Before that comes, he said there must be “a long period of intensive research.”