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Atom Bomb No. 4, Nicknamed Gilda, Would Alter the Seascape of Bikini

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Atom Bomb No. 4, Nicknamed Gilda, Would Alter the Seascape of Bikini Chronicling Crossroads mericans could appear brash and The fact that the Soviet Union had at Atom bomb No. 4, nicknamed Gilda, maybe occasionally juvenile to least nominally been a US ally during the would alter the seascape of Bikini Atoll the Allies during World War II. war could not defl ect a growing postwar in a peacetime 1946 test that promised Yet the vigor with which the US concern that the Soviets wanted expansion closer scientifi c scrutiny than had been prosecuted that war to victory, of their sphere of infl uence and would use possible with the previous missions. Gilda Apunctuated by two atom bomb drops military means to achieve this. It has been also offered the opportunity for suffi cient that astonished even Americans who suggested the two atomic attacks on Japan media coverage to ensure that the world had closely followed the war, produced in August 1945 had a pointed secondary understood the portent of the weapon only a postwar atmosphere that was at once goal of impressing the Soviets, who de- the United States had—at the time. heady and sobering. clared war on Japan only in the closing Gilda would plunge toward Bikini It would be decades before pundits be- spasms of the Japanese empire. Atoll’s lagoon on Able Day, as part of gan calling the 20th century the American When Japan surrendered uncondition- Operation Crossroads. The United States Century. Nonetheless, in 1946 the United ally at the end of World War II, only three put great thought and planning into the States was the world’s sole nuclear power, atomic bombs had exploded. The original photographic coverage of Operation Cross- and unlike most combatants it had emerged test device near Alamogordo, N.M., fol- roads and recruited cinematographers and from the war with its industry and infra- lowed by two combat drops over Hiroshima still photographers with impressive and structure largely intact. and Nagasaki. colorful résumés. Crossroads proved to be 58 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2015 Photo from Library of Congress Chronicling Crossroads By Frederick A. Johnsen Photo and fi lm adventurers of the day recorded the Bikini Atoll atomic tests. The Baker explosion, shown here, was the fi rst un- derwater nuclear detonation. The bomb was placed deep beneath the surface of the Bikini Atoll lagoon, suspended from a mechanized landing craft. the next great adventure for many whose At Roswell, the organization that would offi cial funds. The books enjoyed greater lives had slipped back into a peacetime document Operation Crossroads coalesced or lesser degrees of offi cial sanction. routine less demanding than the recently as Air Photo Unit 1.52 (Provisional). The volumes answered a basic human concluded world war. In 1946, people could not pull a smart- desire for photos to say, “I was there.” The phone from a cargo pants pocket and photo operations offi cer for Crossroads’ TIME-HONORED TRADITION show hundreds of images of the shared air photo unit was Lt. Col. Richard J. Operation Crossroads was a joint Navy- event, even if they had been allowed to Cunningham, whose brief biography in Army effort; the Army Air Forces was photograph the scene—which most were the Army Air Forces Operation Crossroads still part of the Army in 1946. While not. A tradition, an expectation, grew. That book says tersely: “Film editor in movie other aspects of the military were winding expectation was the creation of a yearbook- industry before war.” down in the postwar months, by February style leatherette hardbound volume with By May 1, 1946, no personal cameras 1946, the trains steaming into Roswell, many photos, to commemorate a shared were allowed on Kwajalein or Eniwetok, N.M., were fi lled with men recruited for event among the participants. the islands hosting Operation Crossroads. a secret mission. Roswell was home to Air Force bomb groups, fi ghter groups, The book would have to be the memory- the 509th Composite Group, the same training schools, and all manner of orga- keeper for everyone. nuclear-equipped B-29 outfi t that had nizations produced these, typically by For books like Operation Crossroads, delivered the two A-bombs over Japan. subscription since they were not to use the offi cial photographers and their fi les AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2015 59 were indispensable, after they ran the gauntlet of security reviews and censors. It is said more than 300 offi cial cameras were trained on the Able Day bomb drop of July 1, 1946. “The purpose of these tests was to determine the effect of atomic bombs against naval vessels,” the book explained, “to gain true appraisals of the strategic implications of the atomic bomb.” The AAF Crossroads book had offi cial blessing. In addition to a morale memento for participants, it may have been viewed as a positive unclassifi ed document of the scope and magnitude of the Army Air Maj. James Gaylord Maj. John Craig Forces’ efforts to support the operation. Executive Offi cer Deputy Movie Director Maj. James L. Gaylord led a team of 13 offi cers, enlisted members, and civilians in compiling and publishing what they of 1940s fl amboyance and of Hollywood’s occupation? It conjures lost images of called the “Crossroads Yearbook.” golden age—individuals who were look- globe-trotting travel before the Internet The book used abridged accounts and ing for their next great adventure and and the airlines diminished the luster and cleared photos to tell the stories of the two who found it with atomic bomb tests at a panache of such endeavors. atomic blasts of Operation Crossroads. remote Pacifi c atoll. The adventure wasn’t One of the grand old men of the opera- The men chronicling Operation Cross- limited to recording atomic bomb blasts. tion was aerial movie photographer Louis roads today appear almost as time capsules As the book notes, the chroniclers were Hagemeyer, a civilian whose bragging also “battling rain, fl ooded streets, decayed rights included “aerial photographer since Below: An iconic mushroom cloud and coral-fi lled buildings.” World War I.” Hagemeyer “photographed begins to form after a nuclear General ‘Billy’ Mitchell’s bombs vs. ships explosion at Bikini Atoll in 1946. A COLORFUL CAST experiments in 1921 and 1923,” the Cross- Of the ships surrounding the atoll, The outfi t’s deputy movie director, roads book noted. How could he possibly many were sunk, and those that remained afl oat were twisted and Maj. John D. Craig, was described in stay back in Dayton, Ohio, when the most torn and contaminated by radiation. swashbuckling terms that put 21st century titanic airplane-vs.-ships test of all time Below right: Hundreds of offi cially descriptions to shame: “Former adven- demanded documentation? sancttioned cameras were trained turer, deep sea diver, and author. Veteran For Able Day, “at 0430, exactly on on the action in the Pacifi c, includ- ing movie cameras such as these of 36 combat missions in Europe.” Who schedule, the command plane, with Gen- two mounted in a modifi ed C-54. wouldn’t want to list “adventurer” as one’s erals LeMay and Power aboard … rolled DOD photo DOD Photo from the Gene Furnish collection Gene Furnish the from Photo 60 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2015 Lt. Col. Richard Cunningham Maj. Daniel Forbes Jr. Capt. Norman Dick Photo Operations Offi cer Deputy Operations Offi cer Reports Offi cer down the fi eld and took off into the dawn, Maj. Henry G. Ross of Santa Monica, above the notation: “Plans to open hunting followed, one by one, by the eight F-13 Calif., worked for MGM in a former life. and fi shing lodge after discharge.” photoplanes (modifi ed B-29s), responsible Capt. H. Clark Ramsey’s rakishly The Crossroads book is part Bing for recording on fi lm the appalling effects trimmed mustache belongs on a man who Crosby’s “White Christmas” movie, part of the atom bomb when dropped on the “entered the Army July 1942, right out of “South Pacifi c” musical camaraderie, and target fl eet,” the book noted with charac- the motion picture industry.” Ramsey’s thoroughly reassuring about the grit of teristic fl air. At 5:54 a.m., the B-29 Dave’s biography in the Crossroads book says he those who came before. Dream “took off on its awesome mission “makes his home in Hollywood and plans into the morning sun, with ‘Gilda,’ its a return to motion pictures.” ABLE, BAKER, SORRY CHARLIE frightening cargo, secured in its bomb bay.” The even-toothed smile of 1st Lt. Ed- The fi rst underwater nuclear detona- The book described the events as vividly ward J. Guill, the group’s assistant lab tion took place July 25, designated Baker as words ever could: commander, captures all the hope and Day. “Several fathoms below the surface “A blinding fl ash which virtually blotted pride of postwar Americans. His bio tells of the lagoon, suspended from an LCM out the morning sun marked the detonation us: “Prior to entering the Army, he was [mechanized landing craft] anchored in the of the world’s fourth atomic bomb. ... A employed by Technicolor in Hollywood midst of the Guinea Pig Fleet, the atomic brilliant fi reball emerged, supported by a and plans to return.” bomb awaited radio-controlled detonation. fl aming stem which reached down into the Not everyone was a confessed Hol- At 0835 a.m., the vast area of Bikini La- water. As the fl aming fi reball subsided, the lywood insider or an adventurer, but goon arose with terrifi c speed and boiling mushroom cloud development began, ... the ranks were fi lled with manly men of violence.
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