Offered is an “Enola Gay” navigator Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk detailed narrative and drawing of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Van Kirk has drawn, in blue pen on white 8 ½ x 11-inch paper, the plume of the “mushroom” cloud after the blast at the left side of the page, with a small drawing of the plane at the right side of the page and a detailed, handwritten narrative of the events of the bombing run made by Van Kirk and the crew of the U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber that led to the end of the war with Imperial Japan in World War II. Van Kirk began his wartime service in 1942 as a flight navigator in the European Theatre and returned to the U.S. in June 1943 after flying a total of 58 missions overseas. He served as an instructor navigator until reuniting with pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Tom Ferebee in the 509th Composite Group at Wendover Field, Utah, in late 1944. From November 1944 to June 1945 they trained continually for the first atomic bomb drop. Van Kirk has signed his name in the lower right of the detailed account “Theodore J. Van Kirk” and inscribed “Navigator – Enola Gay Hiroshima 6 Aug 1945” below his signature. This item comes with a LOA from Beckett Authentication.

Auction Notepad