On 6 August 1945, at 8.15am, the nuclear bomb ‘Little Boy’ was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima killing instantly an estimated 80,000 people.
By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought the total number of deaths to 90,000–166,000.
On the 70th anniversary of this world-changing event SalfordOnline.com are re-running our incredible 2011 interview with a Salford-born ex-Royal Navy seaman who saw the devastation first-hand.
The act by the crew of the Enola Gay aircraft on 6 August 1945 brought an end to the Second World War, where Japan had stubbonly refused to surrender.
It changed forever the psychology of a country and the psychology of war.
Jimmy Rushby, now 89, was still just a teenager when he stepped off the HMS Anson onto the Japanese shoreline just 12 days after the bombing.
Born in Regent Road in Salford, he had joined the Royal Navy two years earlier at the tender age of 17.
He experienced much heartache and pain during his service, but nothing would prepare him for seeing the devastation of a city wiped out in a single blow.
At the time, Jimmy was docked on board his ship at Kure naval barracks, a major naval seaport some 12 miles from the epicentre of the blast.
He was one of 500 selected to visit the aftermath of the bombing in Hiroshima.
“A message came over the tannoy telling us we would be taken to see the city.
“A boat pulled alongside and we were taken there with strict instructions, not to stray away from our escort or to touch anything or pick anything up.
“When we landed we were given black paper boilersuits and black paper shoes to wear, that was the only protection given to us.
“To be honest we didn’t know what to expect, we just knew that something big had happened.
“I stood there for a while and had a look around and the only building that I could see standing was the structure of what I was told was a cinema, the rest of the city was completely flattened.
“I recall seeing an old type motorcycle that had been left leaning against a lampost, I looked and noticed that the heat had welded the motorcycle to the metal.
“I never saw any civilians, the place was derelict, nothing to be seen, a ghost town.
“A group of us were talking and looking around for any sign of life but we could see nothing but rubble as far as the eye could see.”
Talking to Jimmy amazingly he didn’t seem to upset about what he had seen.
He mentioned that he recalled the Manchester and Salford Blitz when he was younger and the sky turning a “fiery purple colour with the flames”.
“I do remember thinking at the time, well Manchester and Salford have had a pasting and now it’s your turn. It seems callous but that’s how we thought about it at the time, I had friends and close family killed in the war.”
Jimmy is still with us and now lives in Peel Green, Eccles. He is a truly remarkable man with a truly remarkable memory.
You can hear more of Jimmy’s eyewitness accounts in the second part of this interview, Kyoto: Memories of a Salford Seaman.
Jimmy would visit the Japanese capital Tokyo later in the winter of 1945. The city was still recovering from the bombings which caused unprecendented firestorms. Jimmy has a fascinating insight into the comparisons between Japan at the 1940 Salford and Manchester Blitz.
