BEVERLY, Mass. (Tribune News Service) — They could have been a couple of good scenes for "Oppenheimer," the new movie about the making of the atomic bomb.

In one, a crew member on the plane that was on the way to drop the bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, dozes for a few minutes with his head resting on the bomb as it hangs and sways from a grappling hook.

In another, the general in charge of the top-secret Manhattan Project — the same one who is portrayed by Matt Damon in the movie — visits a small company that played a key role in the project to thank workers by presenting them with medallions embossed with a large "A", for "Atomic."

No, those scenes probably won't be in "Oppenheimer," which opens in movie theaters this week. But they're both true — and they both involve the city of Beverly and its role in the dawn of the atomic age.

Frederick "Dick" Ashworth, who was born in Beverly and graduated from Beverly High School in 1928, was a crew member on the plane that dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan. and Metal Hydrides was a company on the Beverly waterfront that produced much of the uranium metal that made the bombs possible.

"That's a great connection that 95% of the people don't know because it was quite a while ago," Historic Beverly Director Susan Goganian said.

Ashworth grew up on Larcom Avenue in the Prospect Hill section of Beverly, according to a 2006 book by the late Beverly historian Ed Brown. Ashworth's father, Fred, worked at the United Shoe Machinery Corp. in Beverly for 43 years, sang in the choir at the First Baptist Church, and was president of the Beverly Rotary Club. His mother, Minnie, served on the Wenham School Committee and volunteered for years at the Wenham Historical Association and Museum.

Ashworth's family moved to Wenham when he was 7 years old, but he continued to attend Beverly High School, where he served as president of the student council and graduated in 1928.

Ashworth went on to the U.S. Naval Academy and became a Navy pilot and flew combat missions in the Solomon Islands during World War II.

In November of 1944, he was chosen to help out with the Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort to develop and build an atomic bomb. He recruited a team to assemble the bombs, selected the island of Tinian in the Pacific Ocean as the base from where the bombing missions would be launched, and hand-delivered a letter to Admiral Chester Nimitz, the commander of U.S. Naval forces in the Pacific, informing him of the project.

For the Nagasaki mission, Ashworth served as the "weaponeer" on the 13-man crew of the Bockscar, the nickname for their B-29. His responsibility was to make sure the 10,000-pound bomb was technically ready to be released on the assigned target.

In a 2005 interview with historian Ellen Bradbury, Ashworth told the story of how he rested his head on the bomb on the long flight to Japan.

Brown, the author of the book on Ashworth, said in a 2010 interview with The Salem News that Ashworth's place in history was either overlooked or completely unknown on the North Shore. Ashworth died in 2005 at the age of 93, when he was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"More people should know about him," Brown said. "He was a brave man who was dedicated to serving his country."

The story of Metal Hydrides has also been overlooked, according to David Adams, a retired chemistry professor who taught at North Shore Community College and wrote a paper on the company's role in the Manhattan Project.

Adams said at least a third of the uranium used in the development of the first atomic bomb came from "little ole Beverly, Massachusetts, and Metal Hydrides."

"It was totally essential for the demonstration that nuclear fission was possible," he said.

Metal Hydrides was located on Congress Street near the Beverly-Salem bridge. The company was started by Peter Alexander, a chemical engineer who developed a process for converting uranium ore to uranium metal while working at General Electric in Lynn.

Adams said the Metal Hydrides site was guarded "24/7" by the U.S. Marines, and workers were sworn to secrecy. The company's role was not publicly known until two days after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. A front page story in The Beverly Times on Aug. 8, 1945, reported that the company announced it had "an active part the production process for the sensational atomic bomb."

In 2000, the federal government established a program to pay compensation to atomic weapon workers for health problems related to places like Metal Hydrides. As of this week, the program had paid out nearly $2 million to former Metal Hydrides workers and their families. Two years ago, the Senda apartment complex opened on the company's former site, which underwent a years-long environmental cleanup.

While Metal Hydrides' role in the development of the bomb likely won't make it into "Oppenheimer," the leaders of the Manhattan Project did appreciate the company's contributions. In an interview conducted by Adams in 1994, Les Brewer, a former foreman at Metal Hydrides who lived in Beverly, told the story of the visit by Maj. Gen. Leslie Groves after the war ended. Groves, who was the military leader of the Manhattan Project, presented employees with the "A for Atomic" medallions as a measure of the country's gratitude.

"That site was pivotal in turning back the forces of countries that wanted to take away our democracy and freedom," Adams said of Metal Hydrides. "Those people on the North Shore and in Beverly rallied together to do what they thought was right. That's a piece of history that should never get lost."

(c)2023 The Salem News (Beverly, Mass.)

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