Everyone’s heard the basic substantive version of the end of World War II in the Pacific in August 1945: Two atomic bombs, dropped three days apart on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, accelerated the Japanese into surrendering.
But the story is much fuller than that, with intrigue and drama leading up to brief consideration of using a third atomic weapon on Tokyo.
And inseparable is the use of aviation, from the B-29 Superfortress bombers that delivered the bombs, to a specially painted duo of Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bombers that carried Japan’s peace negotiators to the American base at Ie Shima on Aug. 19, 1945. The Japanese emissaries were whisked to Manila from Ie Shima in a silver Army Air Forces C-54.
The B-29s Enola Gay and Bockscar dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki three days later. They were part of a cadre of Superfortresses identified as Silverplate aircraft, built and modified under contract by Martin in Omaha, Nebraska, to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
The stir created by the operational use of nuclear bombs on Japan accelerated the activity of factions within the Japanese government that either favored surrender or argued against it. In the days following the Aug. 9 bombing of Nagasaki, conventional bombing of Japan continued by as many as 800 B-29s. Word came from Japan that surrender was near.
But surrender talks did not come quickly. Years later, in a January 1970 interview with historian Murray Green, Enola Gay pilot Paul W. Tibbets said he was asked how quickly a third atomic bomb could be available. According to the unpublished interview, Tibbets had a B-29 pilot waiting at Wendover Army Airfield with the third bomb in a B-29, ready to fly to the Pacific if tasked.
Tibbets is quoted as saying “…we had another unit at Wendover all assembled and ready to go, but the nuclear component for that bomb would have come by a different airplane…”
This aerial delivery of the third bomb in two pieces would get it to the Pacific the quickest, in case Japan stalled in its peace efforts.
When contemplating a third atomic mission against Japan, some planners suggested Tokyo. And consideration was given to making this a night mission, when the overwhelming flash from the blast was figured to have its own effect in tipping the scales toward surrender.
But that third strike never came. On Aug. 19, 1945, Japanese peace emissaries flew to Ie Shima in a pair of stout Mitsubishi G4M bombers (Allied code name Betty) that carried special markings to ensure their safe passage into Allied airspace. Hastily painted white overall, the Japanese bombers carried green crosses instead of red disk national insignia.
In preparation for the arrival of the Japanese aircraft on Ie Shima, the Americans specified the bombers’ call signs would be BATAAN ONE and BATAAN TWO, recalling the infamous Bataan Death March of Allied prisoners. When Japan responded with different call signs, they were rebuffed.
The two Betty bombers made their way to Ie Shima along a route clearly delineated in a Japanese message to the Allied Command. While inbound to Ie Shima, the surrender planes were met by U.S. P-38s and B-25s. To make certain the Japanese fliers landed at the correct airstrip, huge white crosses were painted to show the proper place.
The fate of Japan and the Allies hinged on the outcome of this flight. Suddenly a loss of radio contact sent both of the white bombers into a holding pattern until it was resolved. On Ie Shima, the American airmen crowded against a hastily-erected barbed wire fence to get a first look at the arriving Japanese negotiators.
Walter Schurr, a B-24 instrument technician with the 90th Bomb Group, said the crowd was largely silent as the Japanese deplaned. Silent until one member of the Japanese delegation emerged from his bomber carrying a bouquet of flowers. At that moment some in the crowd told him, in succinct terms, just what he could do with his flowers. Four years of war were pent up in the men watching history unfold before them.
Less than an hour after arriving at the American base, the Japanese were aboard a shiny C-54 Skymaster on its way to Manila to arrange the surrender.
The pilots of the painted Japanese bombers remained with their aircraft on Ie Shima, visibly and understandably edgy about being on a huge American air base under those circumstances.
When the delegation returned, their exit to Japan was marred when one of the Betty bombers ran into a ditch, rendering it unflyable. The remaining aircraft left with the surrender documents, but a fuel leak put it down in the surf near the Japanese coast. The Japanese surrender delegates aboard that airplane finally made it home.
Even more so than with the recently-concluded war in Europe, the Pacific war came in on the wings of an attacking Japanese force and exited with the urgency brought on by airpower over the Japanese home islands. It was a war bookended by aviation.
This year, the 75th anniversary of VJ-Day — Victory over Japan — will be commemorated at Pearl Harbor, where the war began for America, and where the battleship USS Missouri is a museum with a spot on its deck marking the site of the official Japanese surrender treaty-signing in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945.
Warbirds have already been shipped to Hawaii for flyovers that week honoring the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Roger, I agree with you!! An excellent article and pictures. Having several in my family that served during WWll I agree what a special group they were. So were our military people serving in Korea, Nam and right thru to Iraq/Afghanistan.
You are correct also, I believe, that our nation and people are utterly lost, and it scares me. The ONLY way to fix it is to return to a Godly nation! 🙏🏼
Aviation has been the medium for much positive that has been accomplished in this country since the days of the Wright Brothers and the best is yet to come. Maybe not in my lifetime but sooner than we believe there will be advances in aviation that we can not imagine today. It would be appreciated if some of the naysayers could focus on all the positives we have in this country instead of deriding or condemning all that has been and will be accomplished.
I missed participating in WWII by a few years, born in 1940, but do recall a few instances from that time. I agree with Roger, the Greatest Generation was made up of individuals like there had never been before or since, most particularly in this day and time. I’m not sure the present generation could win a major world war or if the politicians and military leaders of today could successfully lead the nation in such a conflict. Sadly this nation has turned into a bunch of self serving individuals who think of nothing other than themselves and how to gain power over the citizens while enriching themselves beyond imagination.
Had Japan not surrendered on August 15, 1945, they would have been hit by a third plutonium fusion bomb more powerful than the Nagasaki bomb less than a week later, likely on Tokyo. Then, eventually, an additional barrage of up to twelve nuke attacks in the following eight weeks targeting every major city. Over 230,000 Japanese were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even after 100,000 were killed in the incindiary raids on Tokyo…a third nuke there would have killed 200 to 300k more, even by low estimates. but those numbers are dwarfed by what Japan did to China (the post Doolittle retributions in China saw 250k murdered by the Japanese) and what the Germans did to the Russians (near 17m killed).
This is not quite right. The world’s first fusion bomb was not tested until 1952. The third bomb that would have been used on Japan was a ‘Fat Man’ fission bomb like the one dropped on Nagasaki.
The photos are incredible. Just imagine being there on that hot tropical island, watching that Japanese delegation come and go. I wish I had been part of that generation, who had so much courage and resolve. Today, sadly, our nation and its people are utterly lost..