On AugTibbets formally named his B-29 Enola Gay after his mother. In late May 1945, the 509th was transferred to Tinian Island in the South Pacific to await final orders. Flight crews practiced dropping large "dummy" bombs modeled after the shape and size of the atomic bombs in order to prepare for their ultimate mission in Japan.
Tibbets, who had accumulated more flying time on the B-29 than any other pilot in the Air Force, was selected to lead the 509th Composite Group, a fully self-contained organization of about 1,800 men that would be responsible for dropping the first atomic bomb on Japan.įrom September 1944 until May 1945, Tibbets and the 509th Composite Group trained extensively at Wendover Air Force Base in Wendover, Utah. Ramsey, who briefed him about the Manhattan Project. On September 1, 1944, Tibbets met with Lt. In February 1943, Tibbets returned to the United States to help with the development of the B-29 Superfortress bomber. Tibbets quickly earned a reputation as one of the best pilots in the Army Air Force. Clark from Polebook to Gibraltar in preparation for Operation Torch, the allied invasion of North Africa. A few weeks later, Tibbets flew the Supreme Allied Commander, Lieutenant General Dwight D. After leading the first American daylight heavy bomber misson in Occupied France in August 1942, Tibbets was selected to fly Major General Mark W.
As a colonel, he piloted the Enola Gay, which dropped the Little Boy bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.Īfter receiving basic flight training at Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas in 1937, Tibbets quickly rose through the ranks to become commanding officer of the 340th Bombardment Squadron of the 97th Bombardment Group. (1915 – 2007) rose to brigadier general in the United States Air Force.