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When it was sold at Christie's in March 2002 after Forbes's death, the original log was purchased by an anonymous buyer who has yet to display the copy in public. It is said he worked long into the night for several months perfecting the exactness of the copies. Lewis had decided that before he relinquished his original log, he would make 6 fair copies of the document for his wife and 5 children, to serve as a personal record of his part in the action of that fateful day in 1945. Lewis may have been encouraged to sell as he saw both Tibbets and Van Kirk cashing in on their celebrity status, doing special signings and even redrawing their original documents. On Wednesday, two of his wartime flight log books, Hiroshima bombing plans, mission notes and other items are up for sale during an auction of World War II material. B-29 Superfortress dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima 70 years ago this summer, none knew the four-engine bomber better than Capt. During his life he only sold one item from his personal collection, the original of this log, which was sold at auction in 1971 for $37,000, purchased by a dealer who sold it on to Malcolm Forbes in 1978. (AP) Of the 12 men who flew aboard the Enola Gay the day the U.S. Lewis was very aware throughout his life of his central role in the training and creation of the team that manned the plane that was to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, an act that changed the world completely. On Forbes' death, the original log was subsequently sold at Christies for $391,000 in 2002. Lewis.Ī fair copy of Lewis's famous log, the original having been sold by Lewis at auction for $37,000 in 1971 and subsequently sold on in 1978 to Malcolm Forbes for $85,000 (a record at that time for a piece of manuscript Americana). Lewis, co-pilot, Enola Gay, 6 August 1945 and thence as a gift to his son, Steven K. Tibbets guided the plane, named after his mother Enola Gay, from Tinian Island in the Pacific Ocean towards its intended target the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This "fair copy No 6" was given to his youngest son in 1971, before the occasion of the auction sale of the original log in 1971. In it he disguises his report of the mission in a letter home to "Mom and Dad," and as the mission was top secret, there was to be no official account of the mission from the Enola Gay during the flight, excepting Lewis's original clandestine manuscript. The original log was written out on the morning of the 6th August 1945 as Lewis flew out from Tinian Island to Hiroshima, and back to Tinian on August 6 1945.
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Upper cover titled "Bombing of Hiroshima Aug 6 -1945," inside front cover copying his statement of saying that this log was a last minute request of William Lawrence, Science Editor, New York Times, followed by 3 and a half pages in ink, with final 4 and a half pages in pencil (as in the original), the back cover with a pencil sketch of the mushroom cloud and initialled and dated 8/6/45, as in the original. Enola Gay navigator Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, the last surviving crew member, died in Georgia in 2014.Manuscript fair copy of Lewis' original 1945 log of the flight of the Enola Gay, 8 pp, small 4to. He also autographed copies of his book 'The Return of the Enola Gay,' during a book-signing event in the. Robert Lewis died in Virginia in 1983, Tibbets in 2007 in Ohio. Tibbets talks about his experience flying a B-29 Superfortress, known as the Enola Gay, and dropping the first atomic bomb used as a weapon during World War II. Japan surrendered six days later, ending the war. Three days after the Hiroshima bombing, another U.S. “People don’t realize how many times he flew aboard the Enola Gay,” Steven Lewis said. But Tibbets only flew the Enola Gay a couple of times, while Lewis had piloted the aircraft 16 times during test flights leading up to the Hiroshima mission. The move made Tibbets a household name after his crew completed the world’s first atomic bombing mission, which destroyed much of the Japanese city and killed tens of thousands of its citizens. Paul Tibbets was also the pilot of the Enola Gay, relegating the lower-ranked Lewis to co-pilot. Paul Tibbets and the crew of the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb over. “Any records of that mission would be significant.”Īs commander of the Hiroshima mission, Col. Olivi then underwent officers training, in hopes of becoming a pilot. “The Enola Gay was the most significant aircraft of World War II,” said Larry Starr, collections manager at the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, N.Y.