The Evening Star (July 13, 1946)
Captured pilot’s story hurried Jap surrender
By the Associated Press
How a captured B-29 Super Fortress pilot helped the Japanese make up their minds to surrender last August was disclosed today by the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey.
A rumor that an atomic bomb was to be dropped on Tokyo August 12 got started after questioning of the pilot, unidentified in the report.
Japan’s first overture toward acceptance of the Potsdam surrender terms was cabled to the United States via Switzerland August 10.
The story, made public at the White House, said: “Indubitably the Hiroshima bomb and the rumor derived from interrogation of an American prisoner (B-29 pilot), who stated that an atom bomb attack on Tokyo was scheduled for 12 August introduced urgency in the minds of the government and magnified the pressure behind its moves to end the war.”
The 20th Air Force, in charge of all B-29 operations, would not give out the pilot’s name. Refusing to comment on the truth or falsity of the story of a Tokyo bombing plan, Air Force officials said the question of whether the pilot gave information to the enemy was involved.