Marines 50 years ago and, in the biggest engineering feat of World War II, was quickly developed into a platform for the world's most devastating air raids.Īfter defeating the Japanese defenders on neighboring Saipan, three miles to the north, more than 15,000 Marines invaded Tinian on July 24, 1944. Less well known is how this formerly Japanese island was captured by U.S. As the world soon learned, the bomb leveled the city, killed more than 75,000 people and led to the surrender of Japan. Tibbets Jr.Īt 2:45 the following morning, the new four-engine long-range bomber took off with its 12-man crew and, 1,700 miles and 6 1/2 hours later, dropped its load over Hiroshima. 5, 1945, that a four-ton atomic bomb code-named 'Little Boy' was winched into the belly of the Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress piloted by Col. A few white-painted markers with plaques are the only reminders that this was once the largest military air base in the world - and that this placid isle is forever bound with the horrors of war and the dawn of the nuclear age.įor it was here, in the late afternoon of Aug.
Where bombers once rumbled, lizards now doze in the sun. The crumbling tarmac in many places has given way to lush tropical vegetation. NORTH FIELD, NORTHERN MARIANAS - The runways are silent now at this World War II base on Tinian.