9 March 1945
First Firebombing Raid on Tokyo
Ever since October 1944 Japanese cities had been subject to bombardment by American B-29 bombers based in the Mariana Islands, but the results thus far had been disappointing. The lack of fighter escort meant that the bombers had to fly at very high altitudes above their targets, too high for precise targeting of industrial facilities. However, Curtis LeMay, commander of the B-29s in the Marianas, decided to try a new strategy, dropping incendiary bombs on Japanese cities. Rather than targeting a specific factory or complex, the cities themselves would be targets. Since most of Japan’s buildings were made of wood, any fire that started could be expected to spread quickly.

The first raid was on the Japanese capital of Tokyo, and involved 333 B-29s. The results exceeded even LeMay’s expectations, with more than sixteen square miles of the city reduced to cinders. Similar raids were then launched against other Japanese cities, so that by the following month Japan’s industrial capacity was a mere fraction of what it had been in 1944.

Personal Accounts:
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Robert A. Greacen
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Gerard Rau

Photograph:
USS ESSEX based TBMs and SB2Cs dropping bombs on Hokadate, Japan