Original U.S. WWII Framed Signatures of Enola Gay Pilot Paul Tibbets & Photographer Armen Shamlian with Photos of Men with Frame - 12 ¼ x 31 ¼”

Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. The Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare. The bomb, code-named "Little Boy", was targeted at the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and caused the destruction of about three quarters of the city. Enola Gay participated in the second nuclear attack as the weather reconnaissance aircraft for the primary target of Kokura. Clouds and drifting smoke resulted in a secondary target, Nagasaki, being bombed instead.

This is a great framed signature set which was put together to commemorate the awarding of the DSC to Paul Tibbets and photographer Armen Shamlian who was attached to the 509th Composite Group and took photos of Tibbets’ departure and return from the Hiroshima bombing. The frame, which measures  12 ¼ x 31 ¼”, has signatures of both Tibbets and Shamlian with photos above them and quotes from both men.

The best part of this set is that on the back of the frame is an envelope with several modern photographs showing both Tibbets and Shamlian with this frame! You can’t get better provenance than that!

An outstanding display piece, ready for further research and display.