Tibbets, Colonel Paul

1915–

   Tibbets commanded and trained Crew 15, the men who dropped the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and himself piloted the Enola Gay which dropped ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. As a bomber pilot he had been decorated many times and was of the first to fly a B-17 mission over Europe, at a time when the Luftwaffe still ruled the air. He was then transferred back to the US to lead modification work on the new B– 29s. In September 1944 at the age of 29, he was called upon to train Crew 15. He did not accompany Crew 15 to Nagasaki on 9 August. That mission was piloted by ‘Chuck’ Sweeney flying Bock’s Car.