At 8.15am on August 6, 1945, 'Little Boy' was released from Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress captained by Colonel Paul Tibbets Junior.
The first atomic weapon to be used in warfare dropped silently for 43 seconds, with a parachute billowing behind slowing its descent enough to allow Tibbets and his crew to escape the ensuing explosion.
At approximately 1,890feet above the Japanese city of Hiroshima it detonated, unleashing a blinding flash and a force of unprecedented magnitude.
The bomb missed its target by 800 feet, striking above the Shima Surgical Hospital instead of the Aioi Bridge.
The blast obliterated everything within the surrounding square mile. Enola Gay's crew, now six miles away, were rocked by the shockwave.
