Lot 942
Van Kirk, Dutch.-Atomic Bomb Manuscript with Handwritten Notations. Nine-page document entitled "The Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - How the Atomic Bomb Works" signed by Enola Gay navigator Van Kirk. Giving many details, tables and explanation on the dropping of the atomic bomb, with eleven separate handwritten notes by Van Kirk in the margins, including an illustration of a mushroom cloud. The document discusses the Blast, Radiation, Heat, and the Atomic Bomb compared to other weapons.
In part: "Out of the stories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki can be built up, detail by detail, the picture of how the atomic bomb works … In these factors is the real story of what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, … the energy released is of such magnitude and from so concentrated a source that it sets entirely new problems in its use or in protection against it…" Van Kirk writes in part: "We did practice for the bomb drop by dropping pumpkins the same size, weight and shape as Fatman but no nuclear charge" and "The Enola Gay was hit by a strong jolt. This was the shock wave of the Atomic Explosion." Signed twice (probably to confirm the handwritten changes) once in blue ink and another in black ink, each in full, "Dutch Van Kirk -Navigator- Enola Gay - 6 Aug. 1945 - Hiroshima." Excellent condition.
Estimated Value $800 - 1,000.
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