Hiroshima

Casualties of the A Bomb   More Casualties   Motor Bike   4 square miles of Hiroshima   Casualties

Hiroshima For decades now, the creation and use of nuclear weapons has been one of the most fiercely debated issues worldwide. Even today, many of the world’s most influential leaders are discussing what action should be taken in order to prevent the future use of nuclear weapons. We know that the bunker here at Troywood, was in use for 40 years, because during the Cold War, the British government felt it necessary to protect the country against the threat of nuclear attack. Fortunately the majority of people living today have never had to experience the devastation caused by the detonation of a nuclear bomb, although most are well aware that if it did happen, the results would be horrific. We know this because scientists, governments and peace campaigners have told us. More importantly, however, we know this because of the accounts and photographs taken by those who actually witnessed and survived the nuclear attacks against Japan in 1945. America made the decision to drop the two atom bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as they believed that less lives would be lost through the dropping of the bombs, than if the Allied Forces had been made to enter Japan. By the end of 1945, however, more than 140,000 people had died in Hiroshima alone. It is believed that the final death toll was nearer 200,000. The vast majority of the victims were innocent men women and children who had been carrying on with their lives as normal the day the bomb was dropped. It was at 8.15am on the 6th August 1945 that the atomic bomb, named “Little Boy” was dropped over Hiroshima. The plane carrying the bomb was a Boeing B-29 bomber and was named the “Enola Gay”, after the pilot’s mother. The heat and light caused by the detonation of the bomb were far stronger than anything experienced before and an area of 4 square miles was completely destroyed, with a further 12 square miles badly damaged. Although most victims of the bomb died instantly, many more died in the weeks, months and years that followed. Even members of the next generation suffered as a result of genetic problems caused by extreme radiation exposure. Here at Scotland’s Secret Bunker, we were recently told of the story of Mr Ferns, a former member of the RAF who in 1946 was sent to Japan to join the British Commonwealth force of occupation. He was stationed just 15 miles away from Hiroshima and witnessed, first hand, the scenes of utter devastation. During his time in Japan, Mr Ferns purchased a set of photographs taken of the city just a day after the bomb had exploded. The Japanese cameraman who took the photographs died as a result of radiation exposure and the film was only developed 6 months after the attack took place. Mr Ferns’ daughter kindly brought copies of the photographs her father had bought, into the bunker. They clearly show the frightening extent of damage that the nuclear bomb caused to the people, the buildings and the landscape of Hiroshima. It seems amazing that anybody was able to survive the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, and equally amazing that anybody who did survive was in the right state of mind to photograph and thus record what they saw and experienced in the days that followed the bomb. Images like the collection purchased by Mr Ferns are extremely disturbing but also incredibly important as they can warn us, more effectively than politicians and scientists, against the use of nuclear weapons in the future. Elizabeth Hazlehurst