Hiroshima bombing's 68th anniversary

Over nine days in August 1945, the United States and its allies dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese soil, demanded and received the surrender of Japan's forces and ended the Second World War.

Following the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, the U.S. and United Kingdom prepared to invade Japan. The Japanese countered with defensive preparations, and the Americans predicted an invasion would cause hundreds of thousands of Allied deaths, and twice as many Japanese.

While carrying out an air raid campaign against the Japanese, Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall considered using chemical weapons to reduce Allied casualties and began stockpiling mustard and tear gas, phosgene and cyanogen chloride.

By July 26, the Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration, demanding the Japanese surrender, or else bring about the "inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland."

The Japanese government rejected the ultimatum, ignoring it all together, at which point the Allies agreed to proceed with the plans to use the nuclear bombs.

On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay, piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets, carried the "Little Boy" bomb from Tinian in the Mariana Islands to Japan and dropped it over Hiroshima.

The bomb detonated at 8:15 a.m. Hiroshima time, instantly killing 70,000 people and injuring a similar number.

When Japan still failed to respond to the Potsdam Declaration, on August 9, Major Charles W. Sweeney flew the Bockscar and dropped the "Fat Man" bomb over the sea port Nagasaki at 11:01 a.m., killing as many as 75,000 people instantly.

On August 14, Emperor Hirohito announced Japanese surrender.

The following is United Press coverage from the days between the bombing of Hiroshima and Japan's surrender, 68 years ago.

Truman says atomic bomb used against Japan WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 1945 (UP) - The most terrifying engine of destruction ever devised by man - an atomic bomb carrying the explosive force of more than 20,000 tons of TNT - was turned loose against

Japan Sunday (Monday Japan time) as American airmen opened a "surrender or else" assault on the Japanese homeland.

One of the bombs was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima Sunday (Monday in Japan) and the results are still not known, but military men here said the bomb's potentialities stagger the imagination. It is the first time known that atomic energy has been harnessed for such purposes outside laboratories. In making the announcement of the bomb, President Truman plainly intimated the bomb's secret is known only to United States and Great Britain experts and military officials and that the Japanese will not be able to copy it. There was a faint murmur on the Georgetown university seismograph at 6:22 p.m. Sunday of the same day that the bomb was dropped on Japan but seismologists were reluctant to attribute it to the bombing, saying it was "highly improbable" that the explosion would register halfway around the globe. The war department said the first atomic test firing immediately vaporized a steel tower from which the weapon was suspended and sent a massive cloud billowing 40,000 feet upward with a "tremendous power" and said "a blinding flash lighted the whole area brighter than the brightest sunlight." A mountain range three miles from the observation point stood out clearly. There came a tremendous, sustained roar and a heavy pressure wave knocked down two men outside the control tower 10,000 yards from the explosion. Immediately thereafter a huge multi-colored surging cloud boiled up at an altitude of more than 40,000 feet.

Clouds in its path disappeared. Soon shifting stratosphere winds dispersed the narrow gray mass. The steel tower from which the bomb was suspended was entirely vaporized. Where the tower stood was a huge, sloping crater. The scientists were dazed but relieved at the success of the tests and promptly marshaled their forces to estimate the strength of America's new weapon. The answer to their findings rests in the destruction effected upon Japan. The bomb was tested the first time at 5:30 a.m. on July 16, 1945, in a remote section of the Alamagordo air base, 120 miles southwest of Albuquerque, N.M.

American bombers and fighters rake Japan GUAM, Aug. 7, 1945 (UP) - American Superforts and fighters raked Japan with bombs and strafing fire in what Tokyo radio indicated may have included another atomic bomb attack. Disclosure of the new strikes came only a few hours after front dispatches reported that more than 400 fighters and bombers of Gen. George C. Kenny's Okinawa based Far Eastern air force demolished a Japanese "mystery town" Sunday in what may have been an attack on newly developed Japanese rocket launching installations. Tokyo radio reported that 100 American planes, including heavy bombers and fighters, attacked Toyokawa naval arsenal this morning, and language of the report, which was similar to an imperial headquarters communique announcing Monday's atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, led to a belief that Toyokawa may also have been a target for the new weapon. Shortly before the Tokyo report, Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, commander of the United States strategic air force in the Pacific, announced that 125 Superforts hit Toyokawa with 880 tons of high explosive bombs. Toyokawa 35 miles southeast of Nagoya on the south-central Honshu coast. Spaatz' announcement made no hint that the raid included an atomic bomb attack, but preliminary reports indicated that excellent results were achieved in pinpoint bombing. The attack was made at noon, the first Superfort daylight strike in recent weeks, and the silvery giants were escorted by Iwo-based fighters. Toyokawa is the main surviving source of Japan's naval ammunition. The arsenal also turned out machineguns, aircraft, cannon, antiaircraft guns and rifles. Tokyo radio admitted that "some damage" was caused during the 90-minute raid. "However," the broadcast continued, ''a report on the exact extent of damage done is as yet unavailable." Tokyo radio also said 40 Iwo-based Mustang fighter bombers bombed and strafed military installations and urban areas in the Tokyo-Yokohama area for an hour for the fourth time in five days. Several British planes participated in the Tokyo raid, according to the enemy broadcast. If confirmed, it would be the first time British land-based places have been in action against the enemy homeland. Belated dispatches from Okinawa, released by Gen. MacArthur's communique announcing Sunday's attack on Taramuzu in southern Kyushu, said 400 bombers and fighters of the Far Eastern air force utterly demolished what appeared to be robot plane launching installations and other military targets there. Airmen said the city of Taramuzu itself was left a sea of flames. Liberators, Mitchells, Invaders, Mustangs and Thunderbolts participated in the strike, the heaviest yet made against Japan by the Far Eastern air force. Returning pilots told of seeing a huge catapult-like machine extending over the water. It appeared to be similar to the rocket-launching devices used by the Germans in their bombardment of Britain.

They also reported seeing a number of small planes which looked like the rocket robots the Germans used. Taramuzu, an aircraft center and city of 17,000 on the east shore of Kagoshima bay, lies only about 350 miles from Okinawa and it would be possible that the Japanese were preparing a rocket campaign against that American base. United Press War Correspondent Russell Annabel reported from Okinawa that veteran pilots who flew in Europe said the destruction of Taramuzu, on which tons of jellied gasoline bombs were dropped, was the most complete they had ever seen. He quoted officers as saying all military objectives were "utterly demolished."

Atom age poses questions for diplomats WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 1945 (UP) -- Diplomats raised the question today of what the development of the atomic bomb would mean in connection with United States' relations with Russia. It was noted that no mention was made of Russia in any of the official releases concerning the atomic bomb. The project was strictly Anglo-American from start to finish. "This makes academic any talk of a British-American federation -- it's already here," said one diplomat. What appeared last week to be important items in national security may be secondary factors in the future. Will oil reserves be as important as deposits of uranium, the ore which is used in construction of the atomic bomb? Of what value is the world's largest army, navy and super bomber fleet to a nation without the atomic bomb? These are some of the questions being asked in foreign offices throughout the world. The world's diplomats must gear themselves for the atomic age. Diplomatic quarters said development of the atomic bomb made imperative the demands of peace-loving peoples that there be no more wars. It placed in the hands of the United Stated an instrument whose threat may deter any future aggressors, but it places also on the United States a great responsibility and immense problems of how this weapon of utter destruction can be used to keep the peace. Scientists throughout the world know a lot about the theory of atomic energy. Sooner or later they are certain to make the same discovery American and British scientists made in developing the bomb. Misused, the atomic bomb probably could destroy civilization. It is the most terrible engine of destruction every conceived. Well used, it should enable the great English speaking nations to assure a world of peace. The threat of the bomb alone might be enough to prevent any saber rattling. The immediate hope is that the bomb will persuade the Japanese to surrender and escape utter destruction. That they face that choice alone was reiterated yesterday by President Truman in his announcement that the bomb had been used for the first time. "If they do not accept our terms," he said, "they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." The bomb was described as having the power of 20,000 tons of TNT, more than 2,000 times the blasting power of the British "Grand Slam" bomb, the largest ever used in warfare. But the effect of the bomb is almost beyond imagination. It is likely that no eye witness will be able to give an accurate account of its power since no one close enough to obtain such a description could live. Observers in Washington, frankly awed by the bomb's implications, believed the Japanese this time - if they have any reason left - must see the light and accept the United States' demand for surrender. But the size of the army will not be reduced now because the new weapon is in use. It may be that many more bombs will have to be dropped on Japan, and invasion troops may have to follow the bombs. Announcements on the bomb by President Truman, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Prime Minister Clement Attlee and former Prime Minister Winston Churchill signaled what the war department called "man's entrance into a new physical world." It means that man, at least to some extent, has harnessed the power which binds the atom's infinitesimal "solar system" together, the power which is the source of all the sun's radiation. So vast are the prospects now opened up that use of atomic power to defeat Japan appears by comparison to be merely a short range goal, although the paramount one at present. The present trustees of this power are the Anglo-American allies. One of the first questions raised was will they make the new discovery available to the United Nations organization? The United States and Britain now know the most about it, and the United States has a monopolistic head start in facilities for its production. The answer to the question about its immediate use is that this country probably will use the atomic bomb in the interest of the United Nations but will keep under its own direction the secrets of its development and the experience gained in producing it. The United States congress will have the last word on that. Mr. Truman has promised that congress will be responsible for the control of both production and use of atomic power within the United States.

Tokyo radio says Hiroshima hit by parachute atomic bombs GUAM, Aug. 7, 1945 (UP) - Tokyo radio said today that parachute-borne atomic bombs caused such destruction at Hiroshima Monday that the Japanese still had not learned the full extent of the damage more than 36 hours after the enemy army center became the first target for the most deadly weapon in history. Official American details of the results of the attack still were a secret, but Japanese broadcasts said the bombs exploded before reaching the ground. Although Washington said one bomb was dropped, enemy reports referred to them in the plural. Despite the bombardment and radio broadcasts from Allied stations warning Japan of the horrible fate in store for it, there was no immediate indication that the enemy might be considering accepting the Allied surrender terms offered in the tri-power Potsdam ultimatum. Instead, frantic Japanese home broadcasts asked that the blockaded, bomb battered residents of Japan steel themselves against further use of the new super explosive "since it is presumed that enemy planes will continue to use this new bomb. Authorities will point out measures to cope with it immediately. "Until these measures are set forth, it is necessary that the people of the nation in general more than ever strengthen their present air defense structure." There was no indication from American sources when the next attack would be made or whether it would be in greater strength. Possible targets suggested were Tokyo, Nagoya or Osaka, Japan's three largest cities, although they already have been hit by Superfort incendiary raids. Tokyo radio said the atomic bombs dropped at Hiroshima caused such great devastation that the weapon "is sufficient to brand the enemy in the ages to come as the destroyer of mankind." The enemy broadcast said the United States, by its use of the bomb, becomes "public enemy number one of social justice." Tokyo said an investigation is under way into the extent of the destruction. First reports showed a "considerable number of houses demolished while fires broke out in several places." A broadcast 36 hours after the raid, which was made Monday morning Japan time, said the destructive power of the new weapon "can not be slighted," but claimed that Japan already is working on counter measures. "The history of wars shows that new weapons, however effective, eventually lose their power as opponents are bound to find methods to nullify its effects," the broadcast said. Tokyo radio said a small number of American planes dropped a "few" of the new type bombs. President Truman's announcement of the development of the bomb said only one was dropped. Apparently the Japanese did not believe a single plane and a single bomb could cause such destruction. Tokyo attributed the United States' use of the atomic bomb to impatience over the "slow progress of the enemy's much vaunted invasion of Japan's mainland. In view of the gallant resistance of Japanese forces as exemplified in the battles of Iwo and Okinawa, the enemy's hope for a quick decision in the forthcoming battle for Japan's homeland has been well nigh frustrated. "In these circumstances, the enemy began to employ a barbaric method as a last desperate resort. By employing a new weapon destined to massacre innocent civilians, the Americans have opened the eyes of the world to their sadistic nature." Hiroshima's factories turned out arms, munitions, diesel engines, electrical equipment and aircraft. In 1940 it had a population of 343,968. Since Hiroshima never before had been attacked, reconnaissance photos should provide conclusive evidence of the results. Specially trained air crews are expected to carry the new bombs, but no announcement has been made regarding the type of planes which will be used to sow them over Japan unless the Japanese submit to the Allied surrender ultimatum. Accurate assessment of the destruction wrought at Hiroshima must await reconnaissance photographs. But Japanese broadcasts reported cancellation of trains into the area as a result of air raid damage. The first photographic planes over the area after the raid were unable to penetrate the dense dust and smoke which covered it. Text of the Japanese imperial headquarters communiquÈ on the raid, issued at 3:30 p.m. Japan time: "1. Considerable damage was caused in Hiroshima city as the result of an attack made by a small number of B-29s yesterday, August 6. "2. The enemy appears to have employed new type bombs in this attack. However, details now are under investigation." Tokyo radio also reported that the Japanese cabinet met to discuss transportation of materials from China and other "internal and foreign affairs." These presumably included the atomic bomb raid. Hiroshima lies 15 miles north of Kure on the Honshu coast of the inland sea. In addition to its place as an industrial center, it also is a port and major communications hub on the main route to Kyushu from Tokyo.

Tokyo admits Hiroshima destroyed by atomic bomb By WILLIAM F. TYREE GUAM, Aug. 8, 1945 (UP) - Tokyo conceded today that a single atomic bomb completely destroyed most of the town of Hiroshima Monday morning and said the blasted and blistered corpses in the town which once had a population of 348,000 were too numerous to count. An enemy broadcast said what once was Hiroshima was now a littered ruins. The impact of the atomic bomb was so terrific that practically all living things - human and animal - literally were seared in a bath of tremendous heat and pressure engineered by the blast. Reconnaissance photos confirmed that 4.1 square miles or 60 per cent of the built-up areas of Hiroshima vanished almost without a trace in the world's greatest man-made explosion, which was caused by a single atomic bomb dropped from a high flying Superfort. Unofficial American sources estimated that Japanese dead and wounded might exceed 100,000. Five major war plants and scores of smaller factories, office buildings and dwellings were known to have been leveled. Tokyo broadcasts said only a few skeletons of concrete buildings remained in the obliterated area. In addition, damage outside the totally destroyed section still was being assessed. Breaking a silence of more than 60 hours which has been maintained since the atomic bomb dropped Monday morning, except for a brief announcement that the town had been hit, Tokyo said an "indescribable destructive power" crushed big buildings and small dwellings alike in an unparalleled holocaust. Most of the bodies found in the area of devastation were so badly battered it was impossible to distinguish men from women. The broadcast quoted authorized Tokyo sources as saying the United States violated Article 22 of the Hague convention by showing a disregard for humanity. It did not mention the fact that Japan has not subscribed to the Hague convention nor that Japan on numerous occasions has violated it. Tokyo radio disclosed that the cabinet met in special session Wednesday morning to hear a report on the raid and also that Emperor Hirohito received Dr. Hiroshi Himomura, president of the Japan board of information. Enemy broadcasts quoted authorized sources as stating that international law lays down the principle that belligerent nations are not entitled to unlimited choice of means to destroy their opponents. "This is made clear in article 22 of the Hague convention," the radio said. "Consequently, any such attack against open towns and defenseless citizens is an unforgivable action. "The United States ought to remember that at the beginning of the fighting in China, they protested in the name of humanity against smaller raids Japan carried out." Despite reference to Hiroshima as an open city, it is known to be a quartermaster depot and garrison town of considerable military importance. In describing the destruction wrought in Hiroshima, Tokyo radio said both dead and wounded were beyond recognition and confessed that authorities still were unable to obtain a definite check on civilian casualties. "Those outdoors burned to death, while those indoors were killed by the indescribable pressure and heat," the broadcast said. It called the city a "disastrous ruin." "Medical relief agencies that were rushed from the neighboring districts were unable to distinguish, much less identify, the dead from the injured," the broadcast continued. "The impact of the bomb was so terrific that practically all living things, human and animals, literally were seared to death by the tremendous heat and pressure engendered by the blast. "With houses and buildings crushed, including the emergency medical facilities, the authorities are having their hands full in giving every available relief possible under the circumstances." The broadcast referred to the atom missile merely as a "new type bomb." Gen. Carl A. Spaatz said reconnaissance photos showed that fires touched off by the almost unbelievable heat generated by the explosion of the bomb leaped blockwide streams and spread to the outskirts of the city. Hiroshima appeared desolate in the photographs. Bridges across seven channels of the Motoyasu river delta within the city were damaged. It appeared the entire force of the bomb, which Tokyo said was dropped by parachute and exploded in the air, was expended horizontally across the city. The photographs showed no crater. Hiroshima had an average of 26,500 persons per square mile and few, if any, of the more than 100,000 persons in the totally devastated four square miles were believed to have escaped death or injury. The blast alone could kill persons within a four-mile range, and it was likely there were many casualties outside the utterly destroyed section.

Atomic bomb destroys Japanese city of Nagasaki GUAM, Aug. 9, 1945 (UP) - The second mighty new atomic bomb to rock Japan fell on the teeming war city of Nagasaki at noon today and first reports indicated that the attack was as successful as the explosion that devastated Hiroshima. The 11th largest city of Japan, Nagasaki, was struck by the same type of weapon which crushed buildings like matchboxes at Hiroshima and killed almost every living thing within its range. For the second time in four days Japan felt the stunning effect of the terrible weapon. Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, commander of the Strategic Air Forces, announced the second use of the atomic bomb in a brief special communiquÈ which said: "The second use of the atomic bomb occurred at noon of Aug. 9 at Nagasaki. Crew members reported good results. No further details will be available until the mission returns." How destructive is the atomic bomb had been grimly demonstrated at Hiroshima. In Nagasaki's jammed shipyards and war plants the most terrible explosive force ever loosed by man would find greater targets than those used for the first war test of the bomb. Nagasaki has a population of more than 250,000. It is located on Kyushu, Japan's southernmost home island. Tokyo said disastrous and utter ruin struck Hiroshima Monday when a lone Superfortress unleashed the first new bomb on the important imperial army base. It appeared probable that Nagasaki also has been turned into a desolated area of destruction. Sixty per cent of Hiroshima's built-up area was leveled Monday and as many as 200,000 of that city's 340,000 residents perished or were injured under the impact of history's greatest explosion. There was little doubt that the second atomic blast would prove every bit as effective as the first. The second bomb fell on Nagasaki, site of great ship-building yards, while Japan still sought to survey the seared and blistered corpses -- "too numerous to count" -- scattered amid the wreckage of what was once Hiroshima. Testifying to the magnitude of Hiroshima's disaster, the enemy reported that as late as Thursday morning-four days after the attack -- they still were unable to ascertain the full extent of the damage inflicted by the parachute-borne bomb. A special meeting of the Japanese Cabinet was called at the residence of Premier Baron Kantaro Suzuki to hear a preliminary report on the devastation, but there was no indication in Japanese propaganda that enemy military leaders are considering surrender. Still avoiding use of the word atomic, Tokyo said the "new-type" bomb had "completely destroyed" Hiroshima. "The impact of the bomb was so terrific that practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death by the tremendous heat and pressure engendered by the blast," Tokyo said. "All of the dead and injured were burned beyond recognition." "The effect of the bomb was widespread. Those outdoors burned to death, while those indoors were killed by the indescribable pressure and heat. Medical relief agencies that rushed from the neighboring districts were unable to distinguish, much less identify, the dead from the injured. "With houses and buildings crushed, including the emergency medical facilities, the authorities are having their hands full in giving every available relief possible under the circumstances." The newspaper Asahi issued a "strong appeal" to the people of Japan to remain calm and to renew pledges to continue the fight. It said the new bomb was aimed at the "subjugation of our people's fighting spirit and complete destruction of our country." Japan anticipated "fresh psychological warfare" -- possibly a new unconditional surrender ultimatum from the Allies -- in the wake of America's first use of the universe's harnessed power for military purposes. "It is imperative to work out countermeasures to protect civilians from the enemy's deliberate attack upon them," Domei News Agency said, while "authorized quarters" in Tokyo charged that the United States had violated the Hague Convention by unleashing its new weapon. Calling America "the eternal enemy of humanity" and the bombing a "sadistic atrocity," Tokyo newspapers said the United States had overstepped Article 22 of the Hague Convention which "lays down the principle the belligerent nations are not entitled to unlimited choice in the means by which to destroy their opponents." United States reconnaissance photographs taken of Hiroshima after the cloud of smoke and dust drifted away indicated much of the city was destroyed. Five major industrial targets -- not otherwise identified -- were devastated. Unofficial American sources estimated Japanese dead and wounded might exceed 100,000. This estimate may be conservative in view of Japan's report that "practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death." Hiroshima was known to be a quartermaster depot and barracks center of the Japanese army.

Pall rising 20,000 feet over Nagasaki; Japan warned of more GUAM, Aug. 10, 1945 (UP) - The city of Nagasaki, blasted yesterday in the war's second atomic bomb attack, was left covered with a 20,000-foot pall of smoke and dust, it was announced today, as the United States high command solemnly warned the enemy that it would continue to use the pulverizing bomb "again and again" unless the Japanese stop the war.

Photographs taken three and a half hours after the raid on Nagasaki, on the northwestern tip of Kyushu, showed scattered fires outside the smoke area, Gen. Carl Spaatz, chief of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, announced. Spaatz said no further results were available but it was almost certain that the most destructive weapon in history had scored again after Monday's initial attack which all but wiped the Honshu city of Hiroshima from the map. As Japan reeled under its second attack by atomic bombs, each of which packs the explosive force of 20,000 tons of T.N.T., Allied planes scattered millions of leaflets over the enemy homeland warning the Jap people to "stop this useless" war and thus halt the disintegration attacks. Some 3,000,000 leaflets were dropped by Guam-based planes, threatening to unleash the dreaded A-bomb in even greater numbers and urging Nipponese to petition Emperor Hirohito to surrender the nation. Nagasaki, important shipping center with a population of 252,630 crammed into 12 square miles, was struck at noon yesterday. It is 200 miles southwest of Hiroshima. Returning crewmen said that results were good and the preliminary reconnaissance pictures indicated that a good part of Nagasaki was destroyed. Hiroshima, a city with almost 100,000 more residents than Nagasaki, was 60 per cent destroyed by the first atomic bomb. U.S. Strategic Air Forces headquarters meanwhile announced that two fleets of Superforts continuing their relentless pounding of Japan, ripped up the Tokyo and Osaka areas in a twin-pronged assault. Seventy B-29's dropped one-ton demolition bombs on the sprawling Tokyo arsenal area shortly before noon in the second assault on that area in 48 hours. The bombers were escorted by Iwo-based Mustang and Thunderbolt fighters. Ninety Superforts earlier dropped demolition bombs on the Nippon oil refinery at Amagasaki in the Osaka area in a predawn attack. All planes returned from today's twin Superfortress strike which made a total of 562 giant bombers over Japan in five missions in 48 hours, with a total of 3250 tons of bombs dropped. About 950 tons were dropped today. Brig. Gen. Thomas F. Farrell, in charge of the atomic bomb project in the Marianas, directed the leaflet "raids." The leaflets read in part: "To the Japanese people: America asks that you take immediate heed to what we say on this leaflet. We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs actually is the equivalent to the explosive power of what 2,000 of our giant B-29's can carry on a single mission. "This awful fact is one for you to ponder, and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate. "We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened at Hiroshima, when just one bomb fell on that city. "Before using this bomb again and again to destroy every resource of the military whereby they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. "Our President outlined for you 13 consequences of honorable surrender. We urge you to accept these consequences and begin work of building a new and better peace-loving Japan. You should take steps now to cease military resistance, otherwise we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all of our other superior weapons promptly and forcefully to end the war." Throughout Thursday and early Friday, Japanese broadcasts failed to mention the Nagasaki raid. Indeed, the enemy suddenly stopped talking about the devastation at Hiroshima, where relief workers were reported attempting to identify the seared bodies of countless victims littered through the wreckage of crushed buildings. Nagasaki lies on the southwestern coast of Kyushu, less than 200 miles from the southern tip of Korea. The 11th largest city of Japan, it has an important navy yard, shipyards, aircraft factories, steel works, aircraft plants and electric works of the Mitsubishi industries.

Japan surrenders unconditionally, world at peace WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 1945 (UP) - Japan surrendered unconditionally tonight, bringing peace to the world after the bloodiest conflict mankind has known. Peace came at 7 p.m. (E.W.T.) when President Truman announced that Tokyo accepted the Allied capitulation terms with no "qualification" and that Allied forces have been ordered to cease firing. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, "the man who came back," was named supreme Allied commander to receive the formal Japanese surrender. V-J Day will not be proclaimed officially until after the instruments of surrender are signed - probably in two or three days. And tonight for the first time in history Emperor Hirohito broadcast to his stricken people telling them that he had accepted the Allied terms, describing the "cruel bomb" which the Allies had turned upon the Jap homeland and warning the people they face "great hardships and suffering." World War II was at an end, except for the formality of signing surrender documents. America's three allies in the Pacific war - Great Britain, Russia and China - will be represented at the signing by high-ranking officers. Mr. Truman proclaimed the tidings after he received Tokyo's formal reply to the Allied surrender terms. Summoning reporters to his office, he read a statement which said: "I deem this reply a full acceptance of the Potsdam declaration which specified the unconditional surrender of Japan. "In the reply there is no qualification." Tokyo informed Mr. Truman that Emperor Hirohito is prepared "to authorize and insure the signature by the Japanese government and the imperial general headquarters of the necessary terms for carrying out the provisions of the Potsdam declaration. "His Majesty is also prepared to issue his commands to all the military, naval and air authorities of Japan and all the forces under their control wherever located to cease active operations, to surrender arms and to issue such other orders as may be required by the supreme commander of the Allied forces for the execution of the above mentioned terms." Tonight, another note went out to Tokyo. It directed the Japanese government to:

1-Order prompt cessation of hostilities and inform MacArthur of the effective date and hour.

Advertisement

2-Send emissaries at once to MacArthur with full power to make all arrangements necessary for MacArthur to arrive at the place designated by him for the formal surrender.

3-Acknowledge notification that MacArthur will name the time, place and other details for the formal surrender.

The formal surrender will take place either aboard an American battleship - probably the Missouri - or somewhere on Okinawa.

Thus was the "infamy" of Pearl Harbor fully avenged three years, eight months and seven days after Jap planes struck a nearly mortal blow against the United States without warning.

Japan had paid the full penalty for the treachery that plunged the United States into a two-front war - the costliest in all history.

In terms of blood and treasure, the great conflict had cost the United States more than 1,000,000 casualties and $300,000,000,000. The cost to the world was more than 55,000,000 casualties and a trillion dollars in money, materials and resources. World War II ended six years - less 17 days - after Germany precipitated it by marching into Poland. The end was announced calmly by Mr. Truman, who declared a two-day holiday - tomorrow and Thursday - for all Federal employees throughout the nation. He also declared those days legal holidays so that war-plant workers could be paid time and one-half. He authorized Selective Service to reduce draft inductions immediately from 80,000 to 50,000 per month as a result of Japan's capitulation. Only men 26 or under will be drafted to fill that quota. Bedlam broke loose in usually reserved Washington the moment the White House flashed the word that "it's all over." A snowstorm of ticker tape went cascading into the streets. Horns tooted endlessly. Firecrackers exploded. Crowds boiled out of restaurants, office buildings, hotels and taverns - shrieking and singing. Within a few minutes a tremendous crowd gathered in front of the White House and in Lafayette Park across the street. Harry S. Truman, the Missouri boy who became the No. 1 man of the land, stepped out on the lawn of the Executive Mansion with the First Lady. A thundering cheer went up. Mr. Truman, speaking into a microphone hitched to a public address system, had a few words to say extemporaneously. "This is a great day," he began. "This is the day we've been looking for since Dec. 7, 1941. "This is the day when Fascist and police governments cease to exist in the world. This is the day for democracy. "It is the day when we can start the real task - the implementation of free government in the world. "We face a real emergency ... I know we can meet it. "We face the greatest task ever faced - the greatest emergency since Dec. 7, 1941. And it is going to take the help of all of you to do it. "I know we are going to do it." Thus did the President speak at one of the greatest - and most triumphant - moments in American history. The finish of Japan - hastened by the fury of the atomic bomb, but long since assured by the sweat and blood and tears of an Allied people - came after endless hours of waiting for the Jap reply that carried the inevitable message: "Surrender." Japan's doom was all but sealed when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima Aug. 5 (Aug. 6 in Japan). Then - four days later - Russia threw the weight of her mighty armies into the conflict. On Aug. 10 Japan sued for peace. She offered to surrender provided that the sovereign prerogatives of the Emperor were not compromised. But the Big Four - the United States, Britain, Russia and China - would brook no compromise. They so informed Tokyo in a note dispatched from Washington at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Japan, they said, must surrender unconditionally. The Emperor could remain, but he must take orders from the supreme Allied commander - MacArthur. Tokyo pondered the fateful issue. It stalled. It sparred for time - and then it yielded. Japan's defeat was the first in more than 2,000 years of her history. She fell before the greatest concentration of might in all history. For the Allies, the road to victory - and peace - was long and hard and bloody. Japan had hoped to conquer all of Asia; to rule all the Pacific - and divide up the world with Germany. This was her hope on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, when her warplanes streaked in over Pearl Harbor while her emissaries talked "peace" in Washington. This was their hope when the Jap naval leader - Isoruku Yamamoto - said after Pearl Harbor that he would dictate peace from the White House. The peace was dictated from the White House, but not by Yamamoto, who is long since dead. It was dictated by President Truman in collaboration with Allied leaders. When Japan hit Pearl Harbor and left most of the American battle Fleet a blazing shambles, she thought the war was over then and there. But she reckoned without the fighting spirit of America. Prior to Pearl Harbor the United States was divided on the issue of having to go to war. But the "infamy" of Pearl Harbor was Japan's greatest mistake as Hitler's was the invasion of Russia. In its darkest hour the United States emerged completely united and answered the threat to her very existence, answered it with a miracle of might and production such as the world never dreamed of. Out of the ashes of Pearl Harbor there came the mightiest Fleet in all history. There came the greatest aerial armada. And there came an unbeatable array of ground forces. For six months after Pearl Harbor, the Jap navy roamed the Pacific at will. American possessions were gobbled up. Tiny Wake Island and Guam were the first to go. Then came the Philippines. The glory and the agony of Bataan and Corregidor. Japan, which also had devoured Malaya, Singapore and the Dutch East Indies, thought then that she had the United States licked. But the United States was just starting. The home front took another hitch in its belt. It produced a bridge of ships; a multitude of warplanes. It produced weapons not only for American boys fighting two wars half a world apart, but for their Allied comrades on two global fronts. On the fighting fronts, the American boy dug in and stemmed Japan's advance. Japan's imperial fleet was slowed down in the Coral Sea Battle of May, 1942. It was gravely wounded in an abortive invasion attempt at Midway Island the following month. That turned the tide. Then, on Aug. 7, 1942, the United States went on the offensive. Marines invaded Guadalcanal. There followed the New Guinea campaign, bloody Tarawa, the Marshalls, Guam, the Aleutians, MacArthur's return to the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa. By land, sea and air, Allied forces poured it on. B-29 Superfortresses blasted Japan. American and British warships swept within sight of the enemy homeland and let the enemy have it. Allied land forces moved closer and closer to Japan. They were poised for an invasion of Japan when the first atomic bomb fell. While Tokyo assessed the destruction wrought by the atomic bomb, Russia hurled her might against the foe. Last Friday she made her conditional surrender offer. The Big Four countered this the next day with counterterms - unconditional surrender. Then, the world waited for Tokyo's reply. It waited all day Sunday and Monday. There was no answer. It began to appear that Japan was stalling. Allied impatience was growing thin. Superfortresses, which had observed an unofficial "truce," roared over Japan again today. At 1:49 a.m. today, there came the first word - unofficially - that Tokyo had decided. Tokyo radio announced at that hour that Japan would accept the Allied surrender terms. But still there was no official reply from Tokyo. Then, this afternoon, it became apparent that the long, agonizing wait was over. Switzerland, serving as go-between in the surrender dealings, announced that the Jap reply had arrived at Bern and was being transmitted to Washington. Quickly, then, the tensest drama of the war unfolded. President Truman stood by at the White House to receive the note which would bring an end to World War II. Swiss Charge d'Affaires Max Grassli left for the State Department shortly before 6 p.m. to deliver the Japanese reply to Secretary of State James F. Byrnes. He arrived at the State Department at 6:10 p.m., with a portfolio containing the historic answer and went immediately into Byrnes' office. After transmission and decoding were completed, the Japanese note was delivered to Byrnes, who, in turn, took it to Truman. Britain, Russia and China were advised. Then the text was released simultaneously from Washington, London, Moscow and Chungking. Tokyo Radio told its own people that the handwriting was on the wall. It startled the world by interrupting a solemn dissertation on the cure of chilblains to flash this eight-word announcement: "Flash-Tokyo-14/8-learned imperial message accepting Potsdam declaration forthcoming soon." The news raced around the world and touched off wild victory celebrations. But Washington remained calm - waiting for the official reply from Tokyo and not until it was received did the capital celebrate.