Captain Charles Donald Albury

Don Albury, a former U.S. Army Air Corps Captain flew on both missions to drop the atomic bombs in August 1945. He passed away in an Orlando hospital on May 23, 2009.

Albury was born in his parents’ home in Miami on October 12, 1920. He was studying engineering at the University of Miami when the war started, but “scored so well on a test offered to him by an Army recruiter that he was pulled into the Air Forces.”

Albury was one of three pilots assigned to test the XB-29 and YB-29 aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base in September 1943. Albury was assigned to Wendover Air Force Base in Utah in September 1944, and was then invited to join what would become the 509th Composite Group 393rd Bomb Squadron.

On August 6, 1945, Albury witnessed the first atomic blast over Hiroshima as a pilot on a support plane “The Artiste” that measured the magnitude of the blast and levels of radioactivity. Three days later, Albury co-piloted the B-29 Superfortress bomber “Bockscar” that dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.

Following the war, Albury piloted planes for Eastern Airlines, retiring in 1984, and later worked as a flight instructor in France. He and his wife eventually settled in the Orlando area residing in Hunter’s Creek in south Orange County. He was featured in the Smithsonian documentary “The Men Who Brought the Dawn” in 1995.

Albury’s post on Find-a-Grave states that he was the last surviving crew member who flew on both missions to Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Retired military nurse, Jean Truhe, brought Don Albury’s story and the photos to Orlando Memory staff. Upon seeing the post for the first time, she wrote: “I’m glad you were able to find info on his passing.  It was nice to read about it.  He was a very nice man.  I remember the first time I met him when he came to the Dr’s office.  I don’t remember if it was a jacket or ball cap, but it had veteran on it and that was all it took for us to start a conversation about our times in the military.  We had quick interactions every time he came in and it was my pleasure to be able to meet such a great veteran.  Thank you again for doing all this for me.   Jean”