Remarks by the Smithsonian's Secretary, I. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the surrender of Japan on August 14, 1945. This text accompanied the Smithsonian Institution's display, 'Enola Gay,' at the National Air and Space Museum commemorating the end of World War II and the role played by the B-29 aircraft, Enola Gay, that on Augcarried the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan.