Rare Hiroshima mission logbook could fetch $500,000 at auction

By Dean Murray

A mission-used logbook written by the co-pilot of the Hiroshima atomic bombing mission could fetch $500,000 at auction.

Capt. Robert A. Lewis kept notes aboard the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay as the events of Aug. 6, 1945, unfolded, followed by three pages of later notes and verse.

In a later inserted page containing his reflection on the mission, Lewis wrote: "I honestly have the feeling of groping for words to explain this or I might say 'My God what have we done'. If I live a hundred years I'll never quite get these few minutes out of my mind."

Lewis began recording the mission from the pre-flight briefing and take-off from Tinian island in the Pacific Ocean, noting that the aircraft left the ground at exactly 2:45 a.m.

As the Enola Gay approached Hiroshima, he wrote: "At 0730 we are loaded, the bomb is now alive and it's a funny feeling knowing it's right in back of you. Knock wood... Well folks it's not long now."

Lewis ran out of ink midway through the flight and continued writing in pencil.

After Major Thomas Ferebee released the bomb, Lewis recorded that "for the next minute no one knew what to expect."

He described a blinding flash, "two very distinct slaps on the ship," and "a large column of white cloud" rising to an estimated 50,000 feet.

The notebook also contains Lewis's pencil sketch of the Hiroshima mushroom cloud on the back cover, marked "Various Colors," "40,000 Ft Plus" and "09:30 8/6/45."

The logbook is offered in Boston-based RR Auction's Remarkable Rarities sale, which concludes Sept. 24.