An original Second World War U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph of the atomic bomb detonation over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which precipitated the unconditional surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War by Image captured by Lieutenant Charles Levy - 1945

U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1945. Photograph. This is an original Second World War U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph of the atomic bomb detonation over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which precipitated the unconditional surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War.

The gelatin silver print measures 10 x 8.125 inches (25.4 x 20.6 cm). Condition is very good plus, the paper complete and the image clean, with only light wear confined to the white border and light scuffing visible only under raking light. The verso features a four-line ink stamp reading U. S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS PHOTOS | ANTHONY F. WIN | 2439 NORTH FRANCISCO AVE. | CHICAGO 47, ILLINOIS. Written above and to the right of the ink stamp are two lines: "Nagasaki Atomic Bomb | Aug. 9 1945". Blue ink notation in the lower white center margin reads "Nagasaki A-Bomb". The image is protected within a clear, archival sleeve.

On 6 August 1945, President Truman announced that British and American scientists had produced the atomic bomb and that one had been dropped that day on Hiroshima. On 9 August 1945 a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, compelling the Japanese Empire to accept the inevitability of defeat and the necessity of unconditional surrender. This image of the mushroom cloud caused by the Nagasaki detonation was captured by 26-year-old U.S. Army Lieutenant Charles Levy.