Checklist for Loading Charge in Little Boy Aboard Enola Gay

It was not uncommon for B-29s to crash on takeoff from the airfield at Tinian Island during World War II. Overloaded by gasoline and bombs, the planes would be too heavy to get airborne before the runway ended. The Little Boy bomb weighed a massive 9,700 pounds. If the Enola Gay crashed on takeoff and Little Boy was already armed, the explosion could very well trigger Little Boy to detonate. After witnessing several B-29s crash on takeoff, ordnance expert Capt. William “Deak” Parsons decided it was safer to loading the gunpowder and detonator charges into Little Boy in the air. On August 5 – the day before the first atomic bombing mission was scheduled – Parsons practiced the delicate and difficult task of inserting the charges into an atomic bomb. This checklist shows the procedure for loading the charges in the bomb bay of the plane, and also the checklist to secure the bomb in case of an emergency landing. The bomb was fully armed only after the green plugs had been removed and the red plugs inserted, by Electronic Test Officer Morris Jeppson.