Sunday, August 5, 1945. Enola Gay and Necessary Evil.
The 20th Air Force dropped 720,000 leaflets over twelve Japanese cities. Conventional bombing raids continued.
Gen. LeMay officially confirmed the atomic mission for the next day.
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Paul Tibbets named the lead plane in the Hiroshima bombing mission the Enola Gay, after his mother. This was done over the objection of the planes normal designated pilot, Robert Lewis, who wanted to name the plane "The Pearl Harbor," "The Avenger," or "The USS Indianapolis". Lewis also wasn't happy about being moved to the co-pilot's seat for the mission.
Lewis would return to civilian life after the war, and died in 1983 at age 65.
The B-29 that would take photos on the mission would be named Necessary Evil. It featured, as many plans did, a buxom woman, albeit one clothed in a bikini, as nose art.
The Chinese 13th Army captured the town of Tanchuk. The Chinese 58th Division took Hsinning (Changchun).
Paul Ferdonet, the "Radio Traitor" of Stuttgart, was executed in France.
His pro Nazi broadcast had actually dwindled after 1942.
Oddly enough, today would have been Loni Anderson' birthday. She passed away yesterday.
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