The Great Artiste. This photo is signed by eight members of the crew of the The Great Artiste, the B-29 that carried out the mission of The Instrument Support Plane on the Nagasaki strike . The memory of this plane has to some degree faded from historic record except among the real cognoscenti and students of the history of the missions of the 509th Composite Bomb Group (the atomic bombers). This plane was scheduled to be the plane that dropped the second bomb on Nagasaki but their mission was redefined at the last minute and Bockscar was chosen as the second strike plane in place of The Great Artiste. For several weeks after the second bomb was dropped it was being reported by the media as having been the plane that dropped the second atomic bomb. This 8 in. x 11.5 in. color photo of the plane's nose is signed by eight of the crew all of whom flew the Nagasaki mission including Fred Bock (of Bockscar fame) as Plane Commander and Lawrence Johnston who signed as Scientific Yield Observer, Aug. 6 and 9, 1945. That signature is important in that Johnston was the only man who witnessed the detonation of all three atom bombs (he was also present at the Alamagorda, NM test). Fred Bock's autograph is very scarce and is sought after by collectors of this era because it is immortalized by the name of the plane Bockscar

Price; $795.00