Hiroshima: BBC History of World War II
Encyclopedia
Hiroshima is a dramatized
BBC
television special
documentary film
that premiered on August 5, 2005, marking the eve of the sixtieth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The program was also aired on the Discovery Channel
in the United States. The documentary features reenactments using firsthand eyewitness accounts and computer-generated imagery
of the explosion. The film won an Emmy and BAFTA awards in 2006.
(the aircraft that dropped the bomb) and inside the exploding bomb.
a doctor at a military hospital and 17 year old city bank clerk Akiko Takakura.
From the United States the interviewees are; Paul Tibbets
who was the commanding officer and pilot of the Enola Gay, Theodore Van Kirk
the navigator of the aircraft, Morris R. Jeppson
the weapon test officer and Russell Gackenbach who was the navigator of the accompanying photographic aircraft Necessary Evil. Whitehouse Map Room Duty Officer George Elsey
is interviewed as an eyewitness to the Potsdam Conference
.
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
that premiered on August 5, 2005, marking the eve of the sixtieth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The program was also aired on the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
in the United States. The documentary features reenactments using firsthand eyewitness accounts and computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
of the explosion. The film won an Emmy and BAFTA awards in 2006.
Summary
The documentary recounts the world's first nuclear attack and examines the alarming repercussions. Covering a three-week period from the Trinity test to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the program chronicles America's political gamble and the planning for the momentous event. Archival film, dramatizations, and special effects feature what occurred aboard the Enola GayEnola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
(the aircraft that dropped the bomb) and inside the exploding bomb.
Eyewitness interviews
Five Japanese survivors are interviewed; Kinuko Laskey who was a nurse in a communications hospital, Army cadet Morio Ozaki, 16 year old tram driver Toruko Fujii, Thomas Takashi Tanemori who was an 8 year old schoolboy, Dr Shuntaro HidaShuntaro Hida
Dr Shuntaro Hida was an eyewitness to the dropping of the Little Boy Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay on 6 August 1945...
a doctor at a military hospital and 17 year old city bank clerk Akiko Takakura.
From the United States the interviewees are; Paul Tibbets
Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb, code-named Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima...
who was the commanding officer and pilot of the Enola Gay, Theodore Van Kirk
Theodore Van Kirk
Theodore Van Kirk is a former United States Army Air Force navigator. He is famous as the navigator of the Enola Gay when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima...
the navigator of the aircraft, Morris R. Jeppson
Morris R. Jeppson
Morris Richard Jeppson was born in Logan, Utah and was a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He served as assistant weaponeer on the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945.-Early life:Jeppson studied physics at the University...
the weapon test officer and Russell Gackenbach who was the navigator of the accompanying photographic aircraft Necessary Evil. Whitehouse Map Room Duty Officer George Elsey
George Elsey
George Elsey was a military advisor to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S Truman. A commander in the U.S...
is interviewed as an eyewitness to the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
.
Alternate titles
- Hiroshima
- Hiroshima: The First Weapon of Mass Destruction
- Hiroshima: BBC History of World War II
See also
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiAtomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiDuring the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
- HibakushaHibakushaThe surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are called , a Japanese word that literally translates to "explosion-affected people"...
- White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and NagasakiWhite Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and NagasakiWhite Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an HBO documentary film that was directed and produced by Steven Okazaki and was released on August 6, 2007 on HBO, marking the 62nd anniversary of the first atomic bombing...
- Paul TibbetsPaul TibbetsPaul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb, code-named Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima...