On 6 August 1945 an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, the first ever to be used in a war. Another was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. Faced with both the destruction and potential for further deaths, already standing at 120,000 in two days, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito forced his government to surrender rather than fighting, as the military had threatened to do, to the last man.

Lasting six years, World War II was the biggest conflict in history. Of the 100 million people that had joined the armed forces, at least 60 million of which had died. Though the war in Europe had finished in May, the US and Allied forces knew that only a huge and costly offensive would end the war in Asia and the Pacific. Conventional mass bombing since March had proved unsuccessful in forcing a surrender and thousands of civilians, prisoners-of-war, as well as armed forces were dying every month. American intelligence estimated that if a planned November land invasion of Japan took place, the Allies would have to expect at least one million casualties. That was politically and militarily unacceptable.

It was thought that the Japanese could amass a "Home Guard" of at least 14 million people prepared to fight to save their Emperor and traditions.

Truman made the decision to use atomic bomb against Japan, and on the 26 July, the U.S.S. Indianapolis had delivered a uranium bomb, Little Boy, to Tinian Island. A committee chose to drop the bomb on Hiroshima based on three factors: Hiroshima was a very industrial city, had a military base, and had not yet been bombed, making it a good target to display the destructive power of the new super bomb. On August 6, Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 509^th bomber crew and pilot of the "Enola Gay" received his orders and set off with Little Boy in his cargo, bound for Hiroshima.

In Hiroshima, people were pouring into the city centre to begin the work day. "Enola Gay" appeared over the city shortly after 8am, and at precisely 8:15am, Little Boy was dropped and it was detonated 43 seconds later, 580m over Shima Hospital in the city’s centre.

The firestorm that erupted was the equivalent of 13,000 tons of TNT, and 900 times hotter than the sun. In an instant, 80,000 people were killed and more than 35,000 injured. Even before the fires began to race out of control, the buildings and other structures within 2km of the blast were almost totally destroyed. Of the 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima when the bomb fell, 62,000 were destroyed.

Two weeks after the bomb had exploded over Hiroshima, the death toll had risen by a further 12,000 reaching 92,233. It rose further over many years from illnesses resulting from radiation. In 1986, the number of identified victims in Hiroshima was put at 138,890, and people were still dying 10 years later.

After the bomb was dropped, Truman again warned Japan of the devastation which was to come if it did not surrender. Japan did not respond and plans went ahead for a second bomb on August 11. But because of predicted bad weather, the date was brought forward two days. Thus it was, at four minutes before two o’clock in the morning of August 9, a second specially adapted B-29 bomber, "Bock’s Car" piloted by Major Charles W. Sweeney, took off from Tinian Island with a second atomic bomb named "Fat Man".

Nagasaki was a major industrial centre with a population of about 270,000, and home to one of the most important shipyards in Japan as well as several factories critical to the war effort. Sweeney had been forced to abandon their primary target, Kokura, because of haze and smoke (his orders were to bomb only if he could see the target) and was running low on fuel as they approached Nagasaki. He released the "Fat Man" bomb through a momentary break in the clouds at 11:02am. It exploded 503m above the Urakami River Valley – 2.5km from the intended target in the centre of the city. In a few moments, more than 40,000 people had died.

The pattern of destruction in Nagasaki was shaped by the geography of the city. The bomb was dropped over the Urakami Valley, a residential and industrial area. As a result of the focusing effect of the surrounding hills, physical destruction in the Urakami Valley was even greater than in Hiroshima. Virtually nothing was left standing.

Many individuals who were close to ground zero in the two cities were never found. Their bodies were consumed by the heat and the blast of the explosion, or burned beyond recognition in the firestorms that followed. Fifty thousand were to die before the end of the year; thirty years later, the full death toll at Nagasaki was calculated at 48,857.

During the afternoon of August 14, the official Japanese news agency sent out an overseas radio bulletin, stating that an Imperial Proclamation was soon to be made, "accepting the Potsdam Proclamation". Unknown to radio listeners, the Emporer had already recorded the Proclamation. Despite an unsuccessful raid on the Imperial Palace by more than a thousand soldiers to prevent the transmission of the message, the Emperors voice was heard for the first time at midday the next day, accepting the provisions of the Joint Declaration. The official surrender ceremonies took place at Tokyo Bay on 2 September, onboard the warship "Missouri". The war in Asia, and World War II, was over.

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