Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities
19 Feb 1945 - 10 Aug 1945
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThis article covers the conventional bombing of Japanese cities. For details on the atomic bombing, please see the article dedicated to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
ww2dbaseBombing of Tokyo
The first of the long-range bombing raids on the Japanese home islands took place as early as 28 Nov 1944, mainly from the newly constructed air fields in the Mariana Islands. In Jan 1945, American General Curtis LeMay took over the 20th and 21st Bomber Commands, merging them into the XX Air Force. The XX Air Force immediately took on the task of bombing Japanese naval and air bases from high altitude, though most of the early attacks achieved relatively little.
ww2dbaseIn the spring of 1945, the B-29 Superfortress bombers were transferred to the XXI Bomber Command based at Guam, Mariana Islands. With increased scale, intensity, and frequency, the bombing campaign began to rain considerable destruction on Japanese cities. Tokyo, being the Japanese capital, received a greater share of attention from American bombers. The XXI Bomber Command missions on Tokyo and surrounding areas in 1945 were as follows.
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