The first two photos are of models in the Peace Memorial Museum that show Hiroshima before and after the blast. I have tried to mark the position of the ‘A Dome’ for you.
The target for the bomb was in fact the bridge on which our bus stopped to drop us off and from which I took the first photo I showed of the dome in a previous posting. The bomb was exploded some 600 metres above the ground (See the red ball in the third photo) and some 300 metres to the left of the A Bomb Dome. The last is a photo of a photo looking in the same direction as the models but giving even more graphic detail.
Let me give you some idea of the damage and suffering caused by the explosion:
Blast Damage: The high-pressure wave created at the point of explosion was equal to several hundreds of thousand atmospheres. The blast pressure even 500 metres from the epicentre was 19 tons per square metre.
Heat Rays: at the point of detonation the temperature was over a million degrees Celsius and the resulting fireball extended to its maximum range of 280meters in less than 1 second. The burns suffered by those who were not killed instantly must have been horrendous.
Radiation: the cause of the most sinister and long lasting injuries to the human body. Radiation affected those within about a kilometre of the blast centre, so the helpful pamphlet that I referred to previously tells me. Many of those within this radius who received fatal doses of radiation, died within a few days. Others developed symptoms such as nausea, diarrhoea, bleeding, loss of hair and severe fatigue and many more went on to suffer with keloids (Accumulations of a hard fatty material around the joints which had to be removed surgically), leukaemia and many other forms of cancer. Many survivors are still living with the long-term affects of radiation as, for example, the Father of our Tour Guide.
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