The wireless hummed and spluttered with static and Peggy twiddled the knobs until the children’s programme came through clearly. There were still a few minutes to go before the news. ‘This could be it, Cordy,’ she said excitedly. ‘The Japs might have taken Truman’s threats seriously and surrendered. Oh, just think, Cordy. Jim could be home for Christmas if that’s the case. Wouldn’t it be wonderful?’

‘I wouldn’t count your chickens, dear,’ she replied. ‘The Japs have proved time and again they can’t be trusted to do what the rest of the world expects of them.’

Peggy sat down at the table next to her and lit a cigarette, fervently hoping that this time the war really would be over.

The announcer was introduced, and his solemn tone did not augur well.

‘The President of the United States of America, Harry Truman, has delivered a statement from the White House.’

There was a pause and Peggy tensed.

‘“Following the refusal of the Japanese to surrender immediately, I have had no recourse but to carry out my determination to bring an end to the war in the Far East, and to save the lives of millions.

‘“Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British ‘Grand Slam’ which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.

‘“The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form these bombs are now in production and even more powerful forms are in development.

‘“It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.”’

Peggy and Cordelia exchanged looks of horror as the news reader carried on talking about the secret scientific work that had been carried out since the very start of the world war, with Churchill and Roosevelt agreeing that the production plants should be based in America and as far from the war in Europe as possible.

As Charlie, Anne and Martin came quietly into the room and slid into the other chairs to listen, he continued reading the statement which extolled the achievements of the scientific brains which had put together infinitely complex pieces of knowledge held by many in different fields of science into a workable project. The Americans had spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history – and won.