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In the early-morning darkness of that historic day 75 years ago, Colonel Tibbets and his 11-man crew boarded the plane and began their preflight preparations. It was all leading to one day that would help end years of bloodshed and change the world forever. Even years before that, development of this revolutionary cargo began in secrecy under the direction of a physicist and an Army general in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. and his crew had practiced dropping dummy concrete bombs on targets in Wendover, Utah. And months before that, pilot Paul Tibbets Jr. Preparations on the tiny Pacific island-about 1,500 miles southeast of the plane’s intended target in Japan-had begun months before on April 3. Hours before the sun would rise over Tinian island on the morning of August 6, 1945, a B-29 airplane was positioned above a specially built bomb-loading pit, as crews readied the aircraft with cargo unlike anything the world had ever known. and others explain, delivering a 10,000-pound bomb to southern Japan was a years-long endeavor that required patience, practice, and precision. The Preserve America program funded a Tooele County project to create a documentary film about WWII home-front training at Wendover Air Force Base. Additionally, funding helped create a master plan to restore the airfield in 2006.On August 6, 1945, the crew of the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb designed at Los Alamos on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Visit the National Park Service Travel American Aviation to learn more about Aviation related Historic Sites. The frame buildings were neglected after the base's closing, and fell into disrepair until the Historic Wendover Air Field Museum restored them for the benefit of the public. The buildings that remain are typical of military buildings constructed during World War II. Wendover Air Force Base was closed by the Air Force in 1963. The American "JB-2," a version of the German V-1 rocket, was also extensively tested at Wendover. Air Force vehicle to break the sound barrier occurred over the Wendover bombing range. National Park Service photo b圜ourtesy of Thomas Peterson, Historian, Historic Wendover Airfield Museumĭuring the final days of World War II and for a short time in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Wendover played a role in the U.S. Interior of B-52 Hangar, Wendover Air Force Base It was Colonel Tibbits, flying his B-29, "Enola Gay," who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945. The base also served as the test and training site for the atomic bomb and the 509th Composite Group under the command of Colonel Paul W. Additionally, members of three bomb groups trained in Wendover won the Medal of Honor. Twenty-one heavy bomb groups trained in Wendover including the 306th BG (first to daylight bomb Nazi Germany), the famed 100th BG (known as the bloody 100th due to aircraft losses) and the Flying Tigers 308th Bomb Group which served in China, Burma and India. On April 6, 1942, the first training unit arrived and found the area ideal for bombing and gunnery practice due to the terrain of the region and lack of large population centers. However, because of grazing commitments to local ranchers and farmers, only one and a half million acres were allocated. Initially the Air Corps desired some three million acres of land of which 90 percent was public domain.
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By 1940 a site was located at Wendover, and work began in November of that year. High on the Air Corps list was the construction of adequate bombing and gunnery ranges. The base was first conceived in 1939 when the Army Air Corps commenced an extensive expansion program. Wendover Air Force Base, located just south of the town of Wendover, Utah, played an important role in training heavy bombardment crews and ushering in the atomic age. Operations Building, Wendover Air Force BaseĬourtesy of Thomas Peterson, Historian, Historic Wendover Airfield Museum