Original Item: Only One Available. This is an extraordinary signed limited edition print of “Atomic Warfare is Born” by aviation artist Harley Copic, covered with approximately 200 signatures from members of the 509th Composite Group, the highly specialized U.S. Army Air Forces organization created to carry out the operational deployment of the atomic bomb. The print was originally issued with the signatures of Paul Tibbets, Thomas Ferebee, and Theodore Van Kirk, three members of the Enola Gay crew, and was then apparently carried to reunions, military shows, and other gatherings where roughly 200 additional veterans associated with the 509th added their names. The result is far more than an ordinary signed aviation print. It is effectively a collective autograph memorial to the men who planned, supported, maintained, guarded, loaded, flew, and administered one of the most consequential military operations in history.

The framed display measures approximately:

30 ¼ x 32 ¼”

There are roughly 75 signatures around the outer border of the print and approximately 125 signatures across the illustration itself. Because of the density and placement of the autographs, these numbers should be regarded as our best estimate rather than an exact count.

The artwork commemorates the birth of atomic warfare and the mission of the 509th Composite Group, the unique unit assembled to prepare for and execute the first operational use of nuclear weapons.

The 509th Composite Group was unlike an ordinary bombardment group. It was created as a self-contained organization combining specially modified B-29 bombers with the technical, maintenance, transport, security, ordnance, and support personnel necessary for a mission of unprecedented secrecy and complexity.

The group trained extensively in the United States before deploying to Tinian in the Mariana Islands, where it operated from North Field during the final months of WWII.

Its best known aircraft was:

B-29-45-MO 44-86292 “Enola Gay”

commanded by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr.

On August 6, 1945, Enola Gay departed Tinian carrying the uranium gun-type atomic bomb known as “Little Boy.” The weapon was released over Hiroshima by bombardier Thomas Ferebee, while navigator Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk helped guide the aircraft to its target.

The detonation over Hiroshima marked the first use of an atomic weapon in warfare.

Three days later, on August 9, 1945, another 509th Composite Group B-29, Bockscar, carried the plutonium implosion bomb “Fat Man” on the mission that resulted in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

Japan announced its acceptance of surrender terms shortly afterward, bringing the Pacific War to its conclusion.

The signatures on this print are especially compelling because they extend far beyond the three famous Enola Gay crewmen whose names originally accompanied the edition.

The additional signers include veterans associated with the:

393rd Bomb Squadron
320th Troop Carrier Squadron
390th Air Service Group
1027th Air Materiel Squadron
603rd Air Engineering Squadron
1395th Military Police Company
1st Ordnance Squadron, Special (Aviation)

These organizations illustrate how broad the 509th mission actually was.

The 393rd Bomb Squadron provided the B-29 combat crews and aircraft at the center of the atomic missions.

The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron supported the group’s specialized transport requirements.

The 390th Air Service Group, together with its engineering and materiel components, helped maintain the modified B-29s and keep the group operational under demanding Pacific conditions.

The 1st Ordnance Squadron, Special (Aviation) was directly involved with the highly specialized weapons work surrounding the atomic bombs.

The 1395th Military Police Company provided security for a program whose secrecy was among the highest maintained by the U.S. military during WWII.

Because the 509th was deliberately structured as a composite organization, a print signed by veterans from so many of these subordinate units captures the history of the entire atomic mission in a way that a single aircrew signed photograph cannot.

Below the main print are eight additional signed cards, each accompanied by a short biography identifying the signer and his role.

These include:

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas J. Classen
Deputy Commanding Officer, 509th Composite Group on Tinian.

Allen Moore
Ground Crew, Plane V-89, Engine Specialist, “The Great Artiste.”

Norman F. Ramsey
Manhattan Project / Project Alberta Scientific and Technical Deputy.

John J. Lesniewski
Ground Crew, Plane V-82, A&E Mechanic M.O.S. 747, 393rd BS, 509th Composite Group.

Louis Schaffer
Commanding Officer, 1395th Military Police.

Joseph S. Stiborik
Radar Operator, Crew B-9, assigned to V-82 Enola Gay. Stiborik was aboard Enola Gay on August 6, 1945.

Captain Thomas L. Karnes
Headquarters, 509th Composite Group, Group Adjutant.

George R. Caron
Tail Gunner, Crew B-9, assigned to V-82 Enola Gay. Caron was aboard Enola Gay on August 6, 1945.

The inclusion of Norman F. Ramsey is particularly notable. Ramsey was one of the important scientific figures associated with the Manhattan Project and Project Alberta, the group responsible for preparing the atomic weapons for combat use and integrating them with the specially modified B-29 aircraft.

The signatures of Joseph Stiborik and George Caron add another direct connection to the Hiroshima mission itself. Both were aboard Enola Gay on August 6, 1945.

Caron, positioned in the tail of the aircraft, became one of the crewmen who witnessed the development of the mushroom cloud following the explosion.

Stiborik served as radar operator with Crew B-9 and likewise participated directly in the historic mission.

The original three signatures are equally important.

Paul Tibbets commanded Enola Gay and had been given responsibility for organizing and training the 509th Composite Group.

Thomas Ferebee, the bombardier, released Little Boy over Hiroshima.

Theodore Van Kirk, the navigator, was responsible for guiding the aircraft during its long flight from Tinian to Japan and was one of the last surviving members of the crew.

Taken together, these signatures connect the print not merely with one aircraft, but with virtually every level of the operation, from senior command and scientific planning to aircraft maintenance, security, ground support, ordnance, and the combat crew itself.

That breadth is what makes this piece so historically impressive.

The 509th Composite Group represented the intersection of two enormous wartime undertakings: the development of the B-29 Superfortress and the Manhattan Project.

The B-29 was itself one of the most technologically advanced aircraft of WWII, incorporating pressurized crew compartments, remotely controlled defensive gun turrets, long range performance, and an enormous bomb carrying capability.

For the atomic mission, selected B-29s underwent further modification under the Silverplate program. Equipment was removed or altered to reduce weight and accommodate the unusual dimensions and requirements of the atomic weapons.

At the same time, scientists, engineers, ordnance specialists, and military personnel were solving problems that had never previously existed: how to assemble, transport, arm, load, and deliver a nuclear weapon from an operational combat aircraft.

The 509th was created specifically to bring those separate pieces together.

The secrecy surrounding the group was extraordinary. Many of the men supporting the mission knew little or nothing about the weapon itself until very late in the war. Even among senior personnel, information was compartmentalized so that individuals generally knew only what they needed to perform their particular tasks.

That makes the range of signatures represented on this print especially meaningful. Each man had a different relationship with the same highly compartmentalized operation, and together their names reconstruct the human organization behind the atomic missions.

The print appears to have become a long term collecting project for its previous owner. Beginning with the original signed limited edition, the owner apparently sought out 509th veterans over a period of time and accumulated signatures at reunions, military shows, veterans’ gatherings, or similar events.

The approximately 200 signatures are therefore not simply reproduced as part of the artwork. They represent numerous individual encounters with surviving members of the unit.

That would have become increasingly difficult as the decades passed and the wartime generation diminished.

The eight additional signed biography cards mounted beneath the image further reinforce the memorial character of the display and allow several important individuals to be immediately identified without needing to locate their signatures among the dense field of names on the print itself.

The frame remains an impressive size at approximately 30 ¼ x 32 ¼”, making the display large enough for the signatures and artwork to be appreciated individually while still functioning as a single cohesive presentation.

Few WWII aviation subjects carry the historical weight of the 509th Composite Group. Its crews and support personnel were responsible for introducing an entirely new class of weapon into warfare, and the consequences of their missions transformed both the closing days of WWII and the geopolitical history that followed.

This signed Harley Copic print brings an extraordinary number of those individuals together in one display. With roughly 200 509th Composite Group signatures, the original autographs of Paul Tibbets, Thomas Ferebee, and Theodore Van Kirk, eight additional signed biography cards, signatures from Enola Gay crew members Joseph Stiborik and George Caron, and representation from numerous supporting units of the 509th, this is an exceptional piece of WWII atomic aviation history. It would be extraordinarily difficult to recreate a collection of signatures of this scope today and would make a true centerpiece for an advanced 509th Composite Group, Enola Gay, Manhattan Project, B-29, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, U.S. Army Air Forces, or atomic history collection.