Mar 02, 2021 bombing of tokyo, march 910, 1945, firebombing raid codenamed operation meetinghouse by the united states on the capital of japan during the final stages of world war ii, often cited as one of the most destructive acts of war in history, more destructive than the bombing of dresden. The daring and dramatic raid stunned japan, revived american morale, and signaled a new course for the pacific war. May 23, 2019 on tonights mission, the primary weapons, 500pound e46 chemical incendiary bombs, would rain down on tokyo like giant firecrackers. In all, 8,519 clusters would be dropped, releasing 496,000 individual cylinders weighing 6. On the night of 910 march 1945, 334 b29s took off to raid with 279 of them dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on tokyo. The man who wont let the world forget the firebombing of tokyo. On march 10, 1945, the us carried out the first of the terrible and terrifying fire bombing raids over tokyo with 300 aircraft. The march 1945 firebombing of tokyo and the immorality of. The fire department of new york, which no longer faced any likelihood of being bombed from the air, was made up of almost 10,000 firemen. On march 9, 1945, 179 american bombers, armed with incendiary bombs intended to torch the woodandpaper japanese capital appeared over tokyo, a city with population density of 5,000 per square mile. Weather reports predicted these conditions over tokyo on the night of march 910, 1945.
In late february 1945, over 300 b29s began a nightattack on the city of tokyo. American fire bombing and atomic bombing of japan in. Not long after i first arrived in japan in 2001, i remember an elderly student, a child in that firebombing of the evening of march 9th and the morning of march 10th, 1945. If you are interested in learning more about the firebombing of tokyo and the u. Sep 19, 2017 ive often argued the fire bombing of tokyo, to those on the ground, was as bad or worse than nagasaki. Intensive firestorms engulfed tokyo, sucking up all the air and burning it. Mar 08, 2021 firebombing of tokyo on the night of march 9, 1945, u. Jimmy doolittle and the tokyo raiders strike japan during. The lead attackers arrived over the city just after dark and were followed by a procession of death that lasted until dawn. The us army air forces incendiary campaign against japan. This fairly short tome provides a concise summary of the firebombing attacks on tokyo and other japanese cities in 1945, prior to the availability of atomic bombs. As with dropping the atomic bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki, the firebombing of tokyo has remained controversial since the end of world war ii. This book presents another reason why the bomb was considered necessary after the battle of okinawa.
Survivors described the bombing of tokyo as a moonscape of twisted reddishblack iron, roasted sheet metal and rubble scattered across sixteen square miles of what two days earlier was one of the most densely populated areas in the world. This same fire spreading technique had been perfected in bombing german cities such as dresden, hamburg, berlin and stuttgart. In recent months, its strength had increased from 2,000 to 8,100 firefighters. Wwii highlights from the truman librarys archives and collections. The war in the pacific entered its final phase when general curtis lemay unleashed his armada of firebombing b29s against japans cities. The raid was performed strategically, having the first b29s unloading their bombs in a vast x pattern concentrated in tokyo s densely populated working class districts nearby the citys waterfronts. The tokyo fire raids, 1945 the japanese view the b29 superfortress bomber made its first appearance over tokyo on november 1, 1944 a single plane flying at 35,000 feet. Remembering the night 100,000 died when us firebombed tokyo. The bombs were mostly the 500pound 230 kg e46 cluster bomb which released 38 napalmcarrying m69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2,0002,500 ft 610760 m. The first b29s over tokyo were four aircraft tasked with guiding the others in. The bombing of tokyo, tokyodaikushu was a series of firebombing air raids by. In japan 194445, mark lardas paints a new and devastating picture of what the attack looked like from the.
The firebombing of tokyo by charles river editors audiobook. Lawson was a pilot on the historic doolittle raid, americas first retaliatory air strike against japan, four months after the december 7, 1941, japanese attack on pearl harbor. Along with the controversial smithsonian exhibit of the enola gay, the subject of bombs during the war was one of the most talked about in 1995, the 50th anniversary of the end of world war ii. Aerial photo of tokyo after the bombing of march 910. In his 1968 book, reprinted in 1990, historian gabriel kolko cited a figure of 125,000 deaths. There are a greater number of books about air warfare in general that. A force of 334 b29s was unleashed each plane stripped of ammunition for its machine guns to allow it to carry more fire bombs. Each cluster would release thirtyeight incendiary bombs of napalm and phosphorus, creating a rain of fire over the city. Many more who died in the following weeks and months go unrecorded. Thirty seconds over tokyo 12 amazing facts about ww2s. Includes pictures includes accounts of the firebombing by both americans and japanese civilians in tokyo includes online resources and a.
A good overview of strategy used, and effect on japanese war industries and workers. The firebombing of tokyo took place over 48 hours, when u. Mar 07, 2020 while the march 910, 1945, bombing of tokyo was the deadliest raid of the war, for sheer totality of destruction it was eclipsed by the august 1, 1945, firebomb raid on toyama more than 99% of. These superfortresses arrived over the city shortly before midnight on 9 march. An estimated 100,000 people perished in the firebomb raid on tokyo in the night of march 910, 1945. Us national archives the survey concludedplausibly, but only for events prior to august 6, 1945that probably. Deadly wwii firebombings of japanese cities largely ignored. Dec 27, 2018 the tokyo fire department was pitiful. The devastating attack on pearl harbor, hawaii, drew the united states into wor.
By the standards of the thousandbomber raids over germany, the later fire raids on tokyo. Mar 09, 2015 at a time when the jet stream was still poorly understood, b29 crews watched as the high winds at 30,000 feet scattered their bombs as soon as they dropped. Most of tokyo and other japanese cities were made up of wooden structures. B29 bombers flew over tokyo in the dead of night, dumping massive payloads of cluster bombs equipped with a thenrecent invention. The bombing incinerated over 15sq km of central tokyo, the equivalent of a third of dublin city, left over a million homeless and opened the curtain on an orgy of destruction in the final months. Apr 14, 2020 the raid became the focus of several books and films including the oscarwinning wartime drama thirty seconds over tokyo 1944. An orbis pictus honor book for outstanding nonfiction 2019 in this important and moving true story of reconciliation after war, beautifully illustrated in watercolor, a japanese pilot bombs the continental u. Since the end of world war ii, the destruction of dresden often has been cited as the most dreadful example of civiliantargeted firebombing, but this book amply demonstrates that several dresdens were perpetrated against japan even before the atomic strikes on hiroshima and nagasaki.
Aerial photo of tokyo showing effects of first largescale incendiary. On the night of 910 march 1945, the united states army air forces usaaf conducted a devastating firebombing raid on tokyo, the japanese capital city. At the same time, 1 million were rendered homeless and over 41 square kilometers of the city. That would equal nearly 11,100 of the containers and an astounding. The man who wont let the world forget the firebombing of. Hitchcock the world believes the atomic bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki ended world war ii. Apr 16, 2017 tokyo s airraid sirens didnt even blare until after the attack was over. Army b25 bombers broke through japanese defenses on april 18, 1942, to strike tokyo and other cities in broad daylight. Lawson was a pilot on the historic doolittle raid, americas first retaliatory air strike against japan, four months after the december 7, 1941, japanese. From their base at saipan american superfortresses have been making the trip of 1,500 miles to bomb tokyo.
This attack was codenamed operation meetinghouse by the usaaf and is known as the great tokyo air raid in japan. American fire bombing and atomic bombing of japan in history. For the march 9 raid on tokyo, lemay made some key changes. In 1943, the tokyo department had 280 pieces of fire apparatus. This is the story b29 crew lost over tokyo in wwii, and the subsequent 70 year search for truth by the families of those who went missing. Oct 03, 1997 nobuo fujita, a japanese pilot who flew bombing runs over oregon in 1942, apparently the only time that an enemy aircraft has ever bombed the american mainland, died on tuesday at a hospital near.
B29s dropped 1,665 tons of bombs, mostly 500pound e46 napalmcarrying m69 incendiary bombs, killing approximately 100,000 civilians in a. Historys deadliest air raid happened in tokyo during. Now comes the fire bombing of tokyo and another cadre of courageous pilots. Edoin does a good job detailing the initial fire bombing of japanese cities by american b29s.
Dec 01, 2016 in contrast to the monitoring of atomic bomb deaths over the subsequent six decades, the tokyo casualty figures at best record deaths and injuries within days of the bombing at a time when the capacity of the tokyo military and police to compile records had been overwhelmed. The invasion of japan itself was scheduled to come in two waves. Bombing of tokyo, march 910, 1945, firebombing raid codenamed. The operation meetinghouse firebombing of tokyo on the night of 9 march 1945 was the single deadliest air raid of world war ii. They carried extra fuel, additional radios and xxi bomber commands best radio operators instead of bombs, and circled tokyo at an altitude of 25,000 feet 7,600 m throughout the raid.
The dead from that one nights bombing numbered 80,000 to 100,000more than later died in nagasaki 70,000 to 80,000, and more than half the number who died in hiroshima 120,000 to 150,000. The carrier uss shangrila, commissioned in the last year of the war, was named in reference to president roosevelts famous quip to a reporters question about where exactly where the doolittle raiders had taken. Bombs dropped from 279 boeing b29 superfortress heavy bombers burned out much of eastern tokyo. Over 300,000 japanese lost their lives and many millions became homeless because of general curtis lemays decision to go after the residential areas of japan. An extended fire swept over 15 square miles in 6 hours. Curtis lemay made one of the big gambles of the war. The first wave, code named olympic, would consist of a large amphibious assault on the southernmost island of kyushu on november 1, 1945.
Each bomb contained 47 small bomblets, called m69s. A new book from osprey is helping to offer new perspective on the fire raid on tokyo. Jul 28, 2017 the fire defenses of tokyo were eliminated in the first two hours of the raid as the attacking aircraft successfully unloaded their bomb deposits. The great tokyo firebomb mission defense media network. Thirty seconds over tokyo is a 1944 american war film produced by metrogoldwynmayer. In commemoration of the american firebombings of tokyo, the latest article from beyond the world war ii we know, a series from the times. The b29 superfortress bomber made its first appearance over tokyo on november 1. The superforts returned in force at the end of the month flying at. Apr 30, 2019 on tonights mission, the primary weapons, 500pound e46 chemical incendiary bombs, would rain down on tokyo like giant firecrackers. Not a single manmade structure still stood within the fire zone. That, and the frequent cloud cover over japan, had led to b29s hitting their targets, on average, less than 10 percent of the time. The screenplay by dalton trumbo is based on the 1943 book of the same name by captain ted w. Mar 09, 2020 kobe in the early hours of march 10, 1945, 279 u. Historys deadliest air raid happened in tokyo during world.
Mar 09, 2020 as a child, katsumoto saotome barely escaped the air raids over tokyo that killed as many as 100,000 people. Thirty minutes over oregon meet your next favorite book. March 9 th, 1945, wave after wave of us b29 super fortress bombers lay down 2000 tons of incendiary ordinance on tokyo over the next two days. Over the following month, lemay and his fleet continued to firebomb many of the smaller cities in japan and took out the large manufacturing sites. She was nineteen when the american bombers came, just after midnight on. November 24, 1944, tokyo is bombed for the 1st time since.
The bombing of tokyo was a good faith decision on lemays part when faced with one million american casualties. In this 1960 book the author takes an interesting look at the firebombing of japan. The first serious air raids came in november 1944, after the americans had captured the marianas islands, and through february 1945, american bombers. The tokyo fire raids, 1945 the original yesterdays weapons. What were the effects of the firebombing on tokyo and its people. Ive often argued the fire bombing of tokyo, to those on the ground, was as bad or worse than nagasaki. One night, as the three of us sat together after dinner in her apartment in osaka, she told me of the firebombing of tokyo. The astonishing casualty count of the firebombing of tokyo. Also included is a pivotal dramatic tipping point, one that relates to the fire bombing of tokyo in march 1945. Firebombing of tokyo on the night of march 9, 1945, u. Tokyo firebombing survivors recall most destructive air. Some 16 square miles in and around the imperial palace in tokyo.
A few weeks after dresden, general curtis lemays b29s went into action over tokyo. He returned to france in 1946 and published a book recounting his experiences. Air force general curtis lemay, unable to destroy japans war factories with conventional bombs from high altitude by daylight, made a radical departure from strategic bombing doctrine by sending an air armada over tokyo on the night of march 910, 1945 at low altitude, loaded with bombs designed to set. At least the majority of those killed in nagasaki died instantly versus being burned alive. An eyewitness account, from the ground, of the firebombing of toyko. What it was like to fire bomb tokyo from a b29 bomber. Overall, 1,700 tons of bombs were dropped, 16 square miles were burned, and 100,000 people lost their lives.
Students will analyze eyewitness descriptions of the firebombing of tokyo and respond to it in a method of mostly their choosing. The march 1945 firebombing of tokyo and the immorality of war. He has spent much of his life fighting to honor the memories of others who survived. Lesson organizing questions introduction objectives connections. The fire bombing of japan, march 9 august 15, 1945 is one of the only oral histories from march 9. Air forces most controversial bombing campaign of world war ii charles river editors on. Mar 10, 2020 the tokyo fire department gave the total number of casualties as 97,000 dead and 125,000 wounded, although historians 40 years later would argue that the death toll was probably twice that. Secondary materials book, article, video documentary, etc. The area of the fire was nearly 100 percent burned.
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