Enola Gay: The Song, The B-29 Plane and The Hiroshima Bomb
Enola Gay by OMD
Enola Gay, you should have stayed at home yesterday
Aha words can't describe the feeling and the way you lied
These games you play, they're gonna end in more than tears someday
Aha Enola Gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today
Aha this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away
Enola Gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
Aha Enola Gay, it shouldn't fade in our dreams away
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today
Aha this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away
The B-29 Plane and the Hiroshima Bomb
At first glance the lyrics of Enola gay appear to be a typical love song highlighting a lovers tiff.
However, this could not be further from the truth.
The Enola Gay, was the B-29 plane used to drop the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima on the 6th August 1945. The bomb was dropeed at 8.15am.
The pilot, Paul Tibbets, named the plane Enola Gay after his mother. He was later reported to have said he regretted having associated his mothers name with such an atrocious event. But at the time the pilot and crew were unaware of the devastation their mission would unleash.
The 9,700-pound uranium bomb "little boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, located on Honshu Island facing the Inland Sea. Hiroshima had a civilian population of almost 300,000 and approximately 43,000 soldiers.
Exact figures are unknown butit is estimated some 70,000 people died as a result of the initial blast. A further 30,000 have thought to have perished from the following fires and radiation. Five years after the act it is believed cancer and other side effects brought the total death toll to 200,000.
The pilot radioed through to his commanders when the mission was complete stating that "conditions are normal" this could not have been further from the truth.
The words of the Enola Gay song are disturbing yet poignant. When played alongside the awful truth of the atomic bomb, it is far from a simple love song.
Flight crew of Enola gay
Col. Paul W. Tibbets, 509th Group CO and pilot
Capt. Robert A. Lewis, co-pilot
Lt. Jacob Beser, radar countermeasure officer
Navy Capt. William "Deak" Parsons, Manhattan Project Scientist
Sgt. Joseph S. Stiborik, radar operator
S/Sgt. George R. Caron, tail gunner
Pfc. Richard H. Nelson, radio operator
Sgt. Robert H. Shumard, assistant engineer
S/Sgt. Wyatt E. Duzenbury, flight engineer
Lt. Col. John Porter, ground maintenance officer
Capt. Theodore J. Van Kirk, navigator
Maj. Thomas W. Ferebee, bombardier
