After days of waiting for the perfect weather conditions,
the ideal time finally came on March 9, 1945. Three hundred B-29 Superfortress bombers then
took off from US air bases across the Mariana Islands, carrying over 500,000
napalm and petroleum jelly cylinders to be dropped on top of the heart of Tokyo.
For the last five months, the Twentieth Air Force had been using American B-29 bombers to carry out
precision strikes on several military targets in Japan, but the results were deemed fruitless.
Eager to force Japan into surrendering, the US decided to switch from precision strikes
to area strikes in the hopes that they would be as successful as in Hamburg and Dresden.
During that fateful day, the massive formation of American bombers unleashed a firestorm over Tokyo
as the world had never seen before or since.
The Night of the Black Snow would make the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
pale in comparison, becoming the single most destructive bombing raid in history…
Out of Reach
Right after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
the US military didn't want anything more than to be able to strike back at the heart of Japan.
Unfortunately, its naval power had been seriously crippled by the surprise assault, and its
remaining forces couldn't conduct a sustainable incursion into the Empire's main island.
Aircraft availability was also a significant limitation, as the US
had no bomber capable of reaching the Japanese archipelago from its central Pacific bases.
Still, the need to show the world that Japan was not invulnerable to the American military
led the US to conduct a highly ineffective raid on Tokyo in 1942.
Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, 16 B-25B Mitchell medium bombers
took off from the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet, positioned off the coast of Japan. The
attack was a huge morale boost for the weary US sailors and Marines. However, it proved to be
a massive waste of resources, failing to inflict any significant damage to the Japanese military.
With few options left, American forces in the Pacific were forced to island-hop for years in the
hopes of one day getting close enough to finally launch a large air raid on the Japanese Main
Island. Eventually, two pivotal events shed light on the possibility of carrying out this feat.
The first milestone was the deployment of the mighty B-29 Superfortress long-range bomber,
with an astonishing 5,592-mile range that towered over the B-25 B's 1,300-mile reach.
Even if the formidable range of the B29 was not enough to reach Japan,
the US forces had a second significant advantage: the colossal success of their
island-hopping campaign in the South Pacific.
Despite the Japanese forces' fierce resistance,
the American troops continued to push back the enemy, drawing closer to Japan with every landing.
Soon, the American high command realized that if
they could capture the Mariana Islands and set up an airbase in the region,
Tokyo would fall well within the range of the Superfortress raiding capabilities.
It would take several months, but after some of the most dramatic fighting in the Pacific Theater,
the US finally seized the islands, allowing the first B-29 to arrive on-site by October 12, 1944.
Under Pressure
In November of 1944, the US began launching air raids from the islands of Saipan
and Tinian. General Haywood S. Hansell oversaw the assaults as leader of the XXI Bomber Command.
By this time, US leadership was becoming increasingly frustrated with Japan's reluctance
to negotiate or surrender. American forces had consistently achieved one victory after
another against Japan, and they showed no sign of decreasing morale or willingness to concede.
If the Empire continued to fight to the last man, as their propaganda indicated,
the cost to American lives would be unmeasurable.
The US needed to force Japan to concede as soon as possible.
The first of Hansell's raids began on November 24
with an attack on an engine factory on the city's outskirts. Still, the results were insignificant
in comparison to the considerable number of resources needed to deploy such an assault.
Several precision strike raids would be carried out over Tokyo and other Japanese cities;
still, lousy weather and B-29 malfunctions would render every single sortie a failure.
On average, there were only seven days of clear skies each month,
and an intense gust of wind made it challenging to aim bombs from high altitudes.
General Henry H. Arnold, the commander of the Twentieth Air Force,
was livid with the lackluster results and immediately relived Hansell of his post,
giving authority over the XXI Bomber Command to Major General Curtis LeMay.
The general immediately began considering the possibility of
switching from a precision strike to an area strike SAAF doctrine,
but it was a controversial deviation from American traditional military tactics.
Even years before the war, the USAAF doctrine prioritized precision bombing
of key industrial facilities over area bombing of cities. On the other hand,
Britain was more familiar with area strike tactics, as it had successfully scorched
cities such as Hamburg and Dresden into submission by causing massive firestorms.
After learning that bombing trials conducted on the Japanese Village set-piece located at
the Dugway Proving Grounds in the US had proved the effectiveness of incendiary bombs against
wood-and-paper structures, LeMay made up his mind and shifted to area strike raids over Japan.
Testing the Flames
Japan's city layout was unique, as most industrial facilities were not placed
in independent city sectors but were integrated into residential areas. The
belief was that if a firestorm was created in the large residential areas of Tokyo,
the flames would destroy the military-industrial zones as well.
The American strategists estimated that incendiary bomb attacks on Japan's six largest towns
could cause physical damage to almost 40 percent of the nation’s industrial facilities
and result in the loss of 7.6 million man-months of labor,
a monumental blow to Japan's already weakened war efforts.
A series of trials were conducted to best configure the incendiary payloads. The results
demonstrated that M69 incendiaries were especially effective at starting uncontrollable fires.
Massive stock of incendiary bombs was then built in the Mariana Islands to prepare for the attack,
and each B-29 bomber was modified to carry four tons of explosive material.
Several initial raids were conducted to test the effectiveness of firebombing
against Japanese cities. The tests had mixed results,
with some resulting in significant fires and others having little impact.
One such raid happened over Nagoya,
but the Japanese firefighters managed to put the fire out without too much trouble,
leading the authorities to underestimate the threat of American incendiary attacks.
LeMay determined that the incendiary bombs had been dropped from too high an altitude, and
hitting at lower levels would improve precision and enable the B-29s to carry more bombs.
US Air Force intelligence had also concluded that the Japanese had only two-night fighter units,
which were believed to pose little threat. As a result,
LeMay made the risky decision to remove all of the B-29s' guns to decrease the
weight of the aircraft and further increase the amount of ordinance they could deliver.
The general was confident that the Japanese would not be expecting a low-altitude attack,
and despite his subordinates' suggestions that the
plan would lead to unprecedented civilian casualties, LeMay gave the order to attack.
The Night of the Black Snow
On March 8, LeMay issued orders for a major firebombing attack on Tokyo the following night,
which would target a quadrangular area on the city’s northeastern side. These wards formed
part of the Shitamachi district of Tokyo, mainly populated by working-class people.
The directive given to the B-29 crews was that the primary purpose of the attack
was to destroy the many factories within the target area but also cause significant
civilian casualties as a means of disrupting production at major industrial facilities.
LeMay wanted to personally lead the attack, but he was prohibited from doing so as he had recently
been briefed on the existence of the atomic bombs, and his capture was a risk the US could not take.
Thus, the strike was led by the 314th Bombardment Wing's commanding officer,
Brigadier General Thomas S. Power.
The loaded bombers began taking off after 5:00pm,
and it took almost three hours for the 300 B-29 to make it off the airbase.
The first strike warplane arrived over Tokyo shortly before midnight on March 9.
As the aircraft entered Japanese airspace, they were continually spotted by Japanese lookouts.
Still, they were disregarded as part of a flight drill.
By the time the Japanese authorities confirmed the attack, the bombers were already over Tokyo.
The American warplanes began unleashing their incendiary payloads at 12:08pm,
with the first bombers drawing an "X" pattern on the target location
so other bombers could fill the spaces left until a rectangle of fire was achieved.
The weather was clear except for the strong winds that quickly carried the flames from one wooden
building to the next. The city's anti-air systems provided some protection at first,
destroying over a dozen bombers, but as the fires spread,
the crews of the anti-aircraft guns had to run for their lives.
On The Ground
Extensive fires rapidly expanded across northeastern Tokyo. In less than 30 minutes,
fires combined into a massive firestorm beyond the fire department's control, and the Japanese
authorities stopped trying to fight the fire and concentrated on evacuating civilians.
The blazes grew at unfathomable speeds, engulfing thousands of people as they attempted to flee.
One hour after the strikes, the whole eastern part of Tokyo was destroyed.
The skies were soon covered in a thick layer of dark smoke,
and the American bombers still dropping their payloads had poor visibility.
Many ended up striking areas outside the target zone, leading to more fires and destruction.
Black smoke also blinded evacuees in the streets, which resulted in panic and massive stampedes.
And as the firestorm swallowed the city, temperatures reached 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.
The fire eventually burned itself out by mid-morning on March 10,
stopping just as it reached large open areas or the Nakagawa Canal.
Over 100,000 people lost their lives in the attack,
with one million injured and another million left homeless.
Many survivors took shelter in the wealthy part of Tokyo, where massive riots ensued.
Aftermath
Both Japanese and American press reports downplayed the civilian casualties caused
by the event, with the US focusing their message on the destroyed infrastructure
and the Japanese counterparts highlighting the B-29s that were shot down.
Despite the catastrophic consequences and the number of civilian casualties,
the attack was not given much afterthought by the American leaders; instead, it was considered
a necessary action to bring the war to an end without putting additional American lives at risk.
Still, the Japanese government would not concede, but it was forced to redirect the few aircraft
squadrons it had left for attacks on US bases to defend Tokyo in case a new strike took place.
LeMay considered the bombing a significant success that technically obliterated Japan's ability
to defend itself. Nevertheless, Japan would refuse to surrender for five additional months
until the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki sealed the country’s fate.
Many activists around the world, especially in Japan, continue to call for the bombing of Tokyo
to be considered a war crime and for the United States to officially apologize for the atrocity
committed, but to this day, the government has made no efforts to accommodate such petitions.
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