Photo from a previous Hiroshima Day.

Hiroshima Day Commemoration 2025

On Wednesday August 6th it will be exactly 80 years since the U S air-force dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb was dropped by parachute and exploded 1,900 feet above ground level. Below, between 60,000 to 80,000 people died instantly, some ‘vapourised’ by the intense heat. Many more succumbed to radiation sickness later on, an illness not understood at the time.(1) Report by John Enefer.

Three days later the Japanese port city of Nagasaki was attacked with a second bomb. A third of the city was devastated in the huge blast and tens of thousands perished.

The estimated death toll from the 2 bombs is 185,000.(2) The bombings remain the only occasions when nuclear weapons have been used in war.

Photo from a previous Hiroshima Day

The standard justification for the attacks is that they were vital to bring the Second World War to an end, that the bombs were dropped through necessity not choice. That the opposite is true is suggested even by Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill. Though he didn’t oppose the use of the ‘A’ bombs he would later write ‘It would be a mistake to suppose that the fate of Japan was settled by the atomic bomb. Her defeat was certain before the first bomb fell.’ (3)

Each year, in ceremonies around the world, people remember those who perished in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and affirm such nuclear attacks should never be repeated.

There will be an event in Alexandra Park on Wednesday August 6th to commemorate those who lost their lives in the Atomic bombings. It is organised by Hastings Against War (HAW), which is now also known as XR Peace after the group joined forces with Extinction Rebellion (XR) last year. The event will begin at 8.30pm at the lake near the main entrance to the park. All are welcome to attend.

Notes:

2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6652262.shtml#:~:text=On%20the%20morning%20of%206,80%2C000%20people%20were%20killed%20instantly.

3. Winston Churchill – ‘Triumph and Tragedy’ p559, published by Cassell (1954 edition)

Photo from a previous Hiroshima Day.

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