Autographed Enola Gay Aircraft
Creator: Anonymous
Title: Autographed (by Crew) Photograph of the Enola Gay Sitting on an Airfield
Date:1945
Format: Print, Photo
Institution: Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Link: https://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/
view.php?id=26006
It is fascinating to see all of the authors’ signatures in one small picture. The Enola Gay was a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped the famous “Little Boy” on Hiroshima in 1945. This type of massive war machine was common in the United States Air Force, being active for more than 25 years and making numerous bombing attacks on multiple cities targeted, including Nagasaki. Its long-distance travel range of 5230 Km (3250 miles) and high-altitude flight capacity of more than 31,000 feets made the B-29 the perfect aircraft for the Hiroshima imminent Attack.
The Enola Gay had a crew of 12 well-trained men. Some of the most important are:
- Coronel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. - Pilot and aircraft commander
- Captain Robert A. Lewis - Co-pilot
- Major Thomas Ferebee – Bombardier
- Captain William S. Parsons – Mission Commander
- First Lieutenant Jacob Beser – Radar countermeasures and the only man that flew on both nuclear attack missions
