Enola Gay and Bockscar Crews, August 1945
Enola Gay - Hiroshima, 6 August 1945
Paul Warfield Tibbets - born 23 February 1915, Illinois; died 1 November 2007, Ohio. Pilot, Lt Col, commander
Robert Alvin Lewis - born 18 October 1917, Brooklyn, New York; died 18 June 1983, Virginia. Co-pilot, Captain
Theodore Jerome Van Kirk - born 27 February 1921, Pennsylvania; died 28 July 2014, Georgia. Navigator
Jacob Beser - born 15 May 1921, Baltimore; died 17 June 1992, Maryland. Radar, 1st Lt, electronics
Joseph Stiborik - born 21 December 1914, Texas; died 30 June 1984, Texas. Radar, Sergeant
Richard Hedeen Nelson - born 26 April 1927, Moscow, Idaho; died 1 February 2003, California. VHF radio
Morris Richard Jeppson - born 23 June 1922, Utah; died 30 March 2010, Las Vegas. Electronics, ordnance
Wyatt Duzenbury - born 6 April 1913, Michigan; died 31 August 1992, Georgia. Sergeant technician, flight engineer
Thomas Wilson Ferebee - born 9 November 1918, North Carolina; died 16 March 2000, Florida. Major, bombardier
George Robert Caron - born 31 October 1919, Brooklyn, New York; died 3 June 1995, Denver, Colorado. Tail gunner
William Sterling Parsons - born 26 November 1901, Chicago; died 5 December 1953, Bethesda. Captain, weaponeer
Bockscar - Nagasaki, 9 August 1945
Charles William Sweeney - born 27 December 1919, Massachusetts; died 16 July 2004, Boston, Massachusetts. Pilot, Major, commander
Charles Donald Albury - born 12 October 1920, Miami, Florida; died 23 May 2009, Orlando, Florida. Co-pilot, Captain
James Van Pelt - born 7 July 1918, West Virginia; died 10 December 1994, California. Captain, navigator
Jacob Beser - born 15 May 1921, Baltimore; died 17 June 1992, Maryland. Radar, 1st Lt, electronics
Abe Spitzer - born 20 March 1912, New York; died 24 May 1984, New York. Radio
Albert Travis Dehart - born 8 August 1915, Texas; died 31 December 1976, Louisiana. Tail gunner
Edward Kenneth Buckley - born 16 August 1913, Ohio; died 26 June 1981, Georgia. Radar
Raymond Gallagher - born 19 October 1921, Chicago; died 2 May 1999, Chicago. S/Sgt, flight engineer
Kermit King Beahan - born 9 August 1918, Missouri; died 9 March 1989, Texas. Captain, bombardier
Frederick Lincoln Ashworth - born 24 January 1912, Massachusetts; died 3 December 2005, Phoenix, Arizona. Weaponeer (later Vice Admiral)
John Donald Kuharek - born 3 April 1914, Pennsylvania; died 24 April 2001, Tampa, Florida. S/Sgt, flight engineer
Frederick John Olivi - born 26 January 1922, Chicago; died 8 April 2004, Illinois. Third pilot
Research compiled by COFEPOW member Donald Sammons
On 6 August 1945 the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, on 9 August 1945, the B-29 Bockscar dropped the second bomb on Nagasaki. Japan's surrender followed on 15 August 1945, VJ-Day, and with it came liberation for the Far East prisoners of war and civilian internees still held across South-East Asia and Japan.
Allied prisoners of war were in Nagasaki itself when the bomb fell. Fukuoka POW Camp 14, around 1,850 metres from the hypocentre, held Dutch, Australian and British prisoners who were made to work at the Mitsubishi foundry. The camp was destroyed, and records show that seven of its prisoners were killed in the bombing.
Donald has recorded the crew of each aircraft, with dates and places of birth and death and each man's role as he noted it. Jacob Beser flew on both missions. Scans of his original handwritten pages, including his research into the crews' families, can be downloaded from this page.
Transcribed from Donald Sammons' handwritten notes.
Source for Fukuoka Camp 14: Center for Research, Allied POWs under the Japanese (mansell.com)