Photos: The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Japan this week marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks which killed over 200,000 people and left many more deeply traumatised and even stigmatised. | Smoke rises more than 60,000 feet into the air over Nagasaki from an atomic bomb.

The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in western Japan on August 6, 1945 by the US bomber Enola Gay. | Colonel Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, waves from his cockpit before takeoff from Tinian August 6, 1945.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay lands at the Tinian airbase in the Mariana Islands after the atomic bombing mission on Hiroshima, Japan August 6, 1945.

The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in western Japan on August 6, 1945 by the US bomber Enola Gay. The bomb, weighing 13-16 kilotons, was nicknamed 'Little Boy' but its impact was anything but small. | An atomic bomb of the 'Little Boy' type in an undated photograph

It detonated about 600 metres from the ground, with a force equivalent to 15,000 tonnes of TNT, and killed 140,000 people. | Smoke billows 20,000 feet (6,100 metres) after an atomic bomb codenamed "Little Boy" exploded after being dropped by a U.S. Army Air Force B-29 bomber named Enola Gay over Hiroshima, Japan August 6, 1945.

Tens of thousands died instantly, while others succumbed to injuries or illness in the weeks, months and years that followed. | Devastation caused by the atomic bomb is seen in Hiroshima, Japan.

Three days later, the US dropped a second bomb dubbed 'Fat Man' on the city of Nagasaki, killing another 74,000 people. | An atomic bomb of the 'Fat Man' type in an undated photograph.

A mushroom cloud rises after an atomic bomb codenamed 'Fat Man' exploded after being dropped by a U.S. Army Air Force B-29 bomber over Nagasaki, Japan August 9, 1945. The attacks remain the only time atomic bombs have been used in wartime.

Tens of thousands died instantly, while others succumbed to injuries or illness in the weeks, months and years that followed. | A man being treated for wounds caused by the atomic bomb is seen in Nagasaki, Japan.

People walk past the devastation caused by the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, Japan.

The aftermath of the atomic bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan - August 9, 1945

People walk along a road cleared of debris caused by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan in an undated photograph.

A Japanese soldier walks through the atomic bomb-levelled city of Hiroshima, Japan in September 1945.

Devastation caused by the atomic bomb is seen in Nagasaki, Japan March 17, 1948.

U.S. troops arrive the month after an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

A visitor at the Hiroshima Peace Museum in Hiroshima, Japan - August 5, 2004 looks up at a large sign showing the exact time when the atomic bomb hit the Japanese city at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945