The bombing campaign of Japan was launched on June 15, 1944. It was under the command of General Curtis E. LeMay. It was part of the last phase of the Allied Pacific Campaign during World War II. It had not begun earlier, because the United States of America lacked a long-range bomber, capable of carrying heavy bomb loads for over 3,000 miles. That ideal bomber would finally be introduced into service with the US Army Air Forces on May 8, 1944; it was the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.
The first air raid on Japan had taken place on April 18, 1942, being carried out by 16 North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers that had taken off from the USS Hornet aircraft carrier. It would become known as the Doolittle Raid, since its commander was Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle. However, these were medium-size bombers, with a limited bomb load capacity as their ceiling was also low. Only one plane survived, landing in Soviet territory, while the remainder 15 bombers were either shot down by Japanese AA guns and fighter aircraft or crash-landed.
The first bombing mission of Curtis LeMay's campaign took place on June 15, 1944. It was carried out by 68 B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers. They had taken off from military airbases near Chengdu, in eastern China. The initial B-29's bombing altitude of 30,000 feet (10,000 m) created difficulties for the American pilots due to high winds and the effects of ice on instruments and engines. As a result, during the first couple of months, losses were high as the Japanese antiaircraft defenses also proved to be a great obstacle for the bombing campaign. Thus, to avoid the high winds and low temperature and gain on precision, General LeMay decided to modify tactics, ordering the pilots to fly at much lower altitudes, with heavier bomb-loads. To protect the bombers from Japanese interceptor aircraft, the B-29s were escorted by P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft.
New airbases were established on the Marianas Islands in the Central Pacific in November 1944. From then on, twenty Bombardment Groups flew regularly over Japanese cities by day and night. They dropped large quantities of incendiary bombs, gutting large urban areas. Although they dealt a lethal blow to the Japanese industry, thousands of civilians were incinerated by the American bombing raids. The most vicious bombing sorties were flown on August 6 and 9, 1945, when two American B-29s (Enola Gay and Bockscar) dropped two atomic bombs, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The nuclear bombing of these two Japanese cities forced the unconditional surrender of Japan on August 15.
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| Nuclear bomb blows up on August 6, 1945, on Hiroshima, during the bombing campaign of Japan. |
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