Bombing of Tokyo, the capital of Japan after the attack by Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers. Pacific Theater of Operations, World War II.
The bodies of civilians in the capital of Japan burned down during the bombing of Tokyo from the fire of American incendiary bombs.
After the ineffective bombing of Japan in 1944, American General Curtis Lemay decided to adopt a new tactic, which consisted of massive night bombings of Japanese cities with napalm incendiary bombs from low altitudes. The use of this tactic began in March 1945 and continued until the end of the war. 66 Japanese cities fell victim to this method of attack and were badly damaged.
For the first time, Tokyo was bombed on February 23, 1945 – 174 B-29 bombers destroyed about 2.56 square kilometers of the city.
And already on the night of March 9-10, 334 bombers in two hours of attacks staged a fiery tornado, similar to the tornado during the bombing of Dresden.
During the Bombing of Tokyo, a total of 41 square kilometers of the city’s area, which was inhabited by about 10 million people, burned out, 40% of the entire housing stock (330 thousand houses) was destroyed.
As a result of the bombing, according to various sources, at least 80 thousand people died.
General Curtis LeMay later stated, “I think if we had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal.”
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Photo taken on May 10, 1945
Author: Kōyō Ishikawa /石川光陽/