Name:
Hugh Atkinson
Rank:
Sergeant
Serial Number:
39214204
Unit:
866th Bomber Squadron, 494th Bomb Group
Date of Death:
1945-08-06
State:
Washington
Cemetery:
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St Loui
Plot:
82
Row:
Grave:
156
Decoration:
From Seattle, Washington. Radio Operator of the B-24 “Lonesome Lady” which
Comments:
Radio Operator of the B-24 “Lonesome Lady” which took off from Yontan Airfield, Okinawa on 28 July 1945 on a bombing mission against the Japanese battleship Haruna anchored in Kure Harbor by Hiroshima. After dropping their bombs, the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went into a vertical dive, crashing in a field near the town of Ikachi. The entire crew was able to bail out. Hugh was taken prisoner by the Japanese, and was held at the Chugoku Military Police Headquarters in the center of Hiroshima. He was killed on 6 August 1945 when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima