Offered is an autograph and inscription by Paul Tibbets, the pilot on the historic Enola Gay U.S. Army Air Corps flight that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. On an 8 x 10 inch black and white photograph of the Enola Gay on the ground surrounded by flight crew and base personnel, Tibbets has written, in blue marker, “The stunning success of this completed 6.Aug.1945 A-Bomb strike against Hiroshima, convinced me of an inevitable victory over Japan. Paul Tibbets C.O. 509th COMP.GP.” Col. Tibbets was the Commanding Officer of the 509th Composite Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps, with 225 officers and 1,542 enlisted men, deployed to Tinian, an island in the northern Marianas within striking distance of Japan, and posted at North Field on the island. The B-29 Super-Fortress departed North Field for Hiroshima, Japan at 2:45 a.m. on August 6, 1945, with Tibbets at the controls, and the atomic bomb, code-named “Little Boy,” was dropped over Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. Japan time. This item is accompanied by a LOA from PSA/DNA (AB12742).

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