In this newsletter, one of our VAHS members, Robert Bigelow, describes his experience as a B-29 pilot during the first major firebombing of Tokyo, Japan, on March 9-10, 1945. If you’ve never heard of the massive firebombing campaign against Japan conducted by the US forces from March through July of 1945, you are certainly not alone. They have long been overshadowed by the U.S. atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which preceded the Japanese surrender that ended World War II the following August. To those familiar with them, however, the firebombings may carry as much historical significance as the use of the atom bomb. As a matter of fact, the March 9-10 attack on Tokyo resulted in more immediate deaths than either of the nuclear bombings. The official death toll was some 83,000 but historians generally agree that victims unaccounted for bring the figure to around 100,000 (some estimates are much higher.) It is widely considered to be the most devastating air raid in history. Like the atomic attacks, the firebombings have led to much controversy, with some decrying them as attacks against innocent civilians and others supporting them as legitimate attacks against a completely intractable enemy. Regardless of one’s position, it is certain that these attacks had a profound impact on the government and people of Japan and on the use of aircraft in warfare. It is incumbent on those of us who study aviation history to understand the historical context of these attacks as well as the history of the aircraft which made them possible.

To read the entire article, click the link below:

The Attacks on Japan in 1945, An Introduction.pdf