1945 RememberWhen?

THE most horrifying weapon ever devised by mankind was unleashed in August 1945 when an American warplane dropped a nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

President Harry Truman said the device, dropped by a B-29 codenamed Enola Gay, was more than 2,000 times more powerful than the largest bomb used to date.

The bomb - known as Little Boy - destroyed more than 60 per cent of the city's buildings and killed 140,000 people, leaving many others with long-term sickness and disability.

Three days later, the United States launched a second, bigger atomic bomb against the city of Nagasaki.

Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 14 that year.