The Firebombing of Tokyo: The History of the U.S. Air Force's Most Controversial Bombing Campaign of World War II
ISBN: 9781514609040
$6.99
*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the firebombing by both Americans and Japanese civilians in Tokyo *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, commander of the B-29s of the entire Marianas area, declared that if the war is shortened by a single day, the attack will have served its purpose." – The New York Times As American forces pushed the Japanese back across the Pacific from 1942-1944, their island-hopping campaign ultimately made it possible for the Air Force to conduct bombing runs over the Japanese mainland. The first serious air raids came in November 1944, after the Americans had captured the Marianas Islands, and through February 1945, American bombers concentrated on military targets at the fringes of the city, particularly air defenses. However, the air raids of March 1945, and particularly on the night of March 9, were a different story altogether. In what is generally referred to as strategic or area bombing, waves of bombers flew low over Tokyo for over two and a half hours, dropping incendiary bombs with the intention of producing a massive firestorm. The American raids intended to produce fires that would kill soldiers and civilians, as well as the munitions factories and apartment buildings of those who worked in them. 325 B-29s headed toward Tokyo, and nearly 300 of them dropped bombs on it, destroying more than 267,000 buildings and killing more than 83,000 people, making it the deadliest day of the war. The firebombing that night and morning left 25% of Tokyo charred, with the damage spread out over 20 miles of the metropolis.