Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
The atomic bomb was developed by scientists working under the Manhattan Project. The project was granted funding on December 6, 1941, with American leaders aiming for a new invention that would serve as a wartime weapon. The decision to drop an atomic bomb on Japan had been made by 1943, and a shortlist of candidate target cities was in place in 1945. At the time, it was argued that an atomic bombing would bring about a more rapid end to the war. Hiroshima, the first target, was selected to show the power of America's new weapon. The second bombing, of Nagasaki, was intended to demonstrate that the USA had a large arsenal. At 11:02 A.M. local time on August 9, 1945, the atomic bomb, nicknamed Fat Man as its code name by Robert Serber in the United States (after Sydney Greenstreet's character in "The Maltese Falcon") was dropped on Nagasaki, forever changing the city's landscape. A mushroom cloud rose to an altitude of 45,000 feet above the city.
Ronald Shaw
Shaw was from Edmonton, London, and served as a corporal in the Royal Air Force. He initially served in Egypt before being transferred to the Far East. His plane was shot down by Japanese forces near the island of Java, and he was captured and taken to Japan as a prisoner of war. On 9 August 1945, the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki took place, and the bomb is believed to have exploded close to the area where Shaw was being held prisoner. He was killed when a wall fell on him.