'Enola Gay' logbook to be sold at auction

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Powerful words

"My God, what have we done?" The words of Captain Robert Lewis record the horror and awe of the Enola Gay's crew as they witnessed the birth of the atomic age.

The co-pilot of the B29 plane that dropped the 15-kiloton bomb codenamed "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, struggled to put into words his feelings as he watched the mushroom cloud rise above the Japanese city.

His description is the only first-hand account of the nuclear attack that killed 70,000 people instantly and tens of thousands more through radiation poisoning. The 11-page logbook, which also contains a sketch of the mushroom cloud by Captain Lewis, is expected to raise up to £215,000 when it is auctioned at Christie's in New York tomorrow.

Writing on 6 August 1945, he records what he witnessed after the bomb was dropped at 8.15am: "For the next minute no one knew what to expect ... the flash was terrific. I am certain the entire crew felt this experience was more than anyone human had ever thought possible."

He added: "If I live a hundred years I'll never quite get those minutes out of my mind."