apanese construction,
consisting of wood or wood-frame buildings, with wood walls with or
without plaster, and tile roofs. Many of the smaller industries and
business establishments were also housed in wooden buildings or
flimsily built masonry buildings. Nagasaki had been permitted to grow
for many years without conforming to any definite city zoning plan and
therefore residences were constructed adjacent to factory buildings and
to each other almost as close as it was possible to build them
throughout the entire industrial valley.

THE ATTACKS

Hiroshima

Hiroshima was the primary target of the first atomic bomb mission. The
mission went smoothly in every respect. The weather was good, and the
crew and equipment functioned perfectly. In every detail, the attack
was carried out exactly as planned, and the bomb performed exactly as
expected.

The bomb exploded over Hiroshima at 8:15 on the morning of August 6,
1945. About an hour previously, the Japanese early warning radar net
had detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the
southern part of Japan. The alert had been given and radio
broadcasting stopped in many cities, among them Hiroshima. The planes
approached the coast at a very high altitude. At nearly 8:00 A.M., the
radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of planes coming
in was very small--probably not more than three--and the air raid alert
was lifted. The normal radio broadcast warning was given to the people
that it might be advisable to go to shelter if B-29's were actually
sighted, but no raid was expected beyond some sort of reconnaissance.
At 8:15 A.M., the bomb exploded with a blinding flash in the sky, and a
great rush of air and a loud rumble of noise extended for many miles
around the city; the first blast was soon followed by the sounds of
falling buildings and of growing fires, and a great cloud of dust and
smoke began to cast a pall of darkness over the city.

At 8:16 A.M., the Tokyo control operator of the Japanese Broadcasting
Corporation noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air.
He tried to use another telephone line to reestablish his program, but
it too had failed. About twenty minutes later the Tokyo railroad
telegraph center realized that the main line telegraph had stopped
working just north of Hiroshima. From some small railway stops within
ten miles of the city there came unofficial and confused reports of a
terrible ex