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The firebombing of Tokyo: Haunting Photos Show the Aftermath of Deadliest Bombing During WWII

On the night of 9–10 March 1945, the U.S. Air Forces conducted the deadliest air raid on Tokyo’s civilians. It was the single most destructive bombing raid in human history. An estimated 100,000 civilians died, and millions were made homeless. This attack was codenamed Operation Meetinghouse by the USAAF and is known as the Great Tokyo Air Raid in Japan. The Japanese air forces failed to defend the city and its citizens; only 14 American aircraft were destroyed.

The U.S. intelligence began assessing the firebombing campaign’s feasibility against Tokyo and other Japanese cities two years before Operation Meetinghouse. The preparations for firebombing raids began before March 1945. Several attacks were conducted to test the effectiveness of firebombing against Japanese cities. The U.S. Air Forces used Boeing B-29 Superfortress, which could fly at over 18,000 feet and drop bombs out of the range of anti-aircraft guns. The planes dropped 500,000 M-69 bombs in total. Clustered into groups of 38, each device weighed six pounds, and each deployed batch spread out during descent. The napalm within each casing spewed flaming liquid upon impact and ignited everything in range. The Tokyo bombing turned 15.8 square miles of the area into debris.

Here are some haunting photographs that show the bombing and aftermath of the attack.

#1 Brigadier General Lauris Norstad (left), General Curtis LeMay (center), and Brigadier General Thomas S. Power (right) reviewing a report on the firebombing of Tokyo. LeMay stated years later that he had no problem killing innocent Japanese people at the time. He was hailed as a hero and awarded nume

#2 A map of the U.S. Army Air Force’s strategic bombing campaign on Tokyo on March 9-March 10, 1945. The aim was to cripple Japan’s industrial war efforts and strike targets that would render them as functionally useless as possible. Nonetheless, the black-inked areas were largely home to civilians.

#3 A snapshot of the lethal and traumatic night, during which an estimated 1,500 to 1,733 tons of flammable napalm was dropped by more than 300 B-29 bombers. The Air Force called it “Operation Meetinghouse.” March 10, 1945. Tokyo, Japan.

#4 A U.S. Army Air Force photograph capturing the immediate aftermath of the March 10, 1945 bombing of Tokyo, Japan.

#5 Flames raging in Tokyo the morning after being hit with 1,500 tons of firebombs.

#6 Many people burned or asphyxiated to death. Sunrise revealed this horrific sight—charred corpses after the aerial assaults. March 10, 1945. Tokyo, Japan.

#7 The wafting clouds of smoke clearly mark distinct areas targeted by Operation Meetinghouse. These were attacked by an initial round of B-29 bombers who set fires to identify targets. Next came six-pound firebombs filled with napalm.

#8 Destroyed Tokyo infrastructure following the massive aerial assault. 1945. Tokyo, Japan.

#9 The charred husk of a Tokyo woman who had been carrying her young child on her back. Both were among the 100,000 people killed during the city’s firebombing. March 10, 1945. Tokyo, Japan.

#10 An aerial view of the extensive damage the overnight inferno wrought on the capital. 1945. Tokyo, Japan.

#11 A Japanese policeman stands amidst the dead and rubble-strewn streets of Tokyo in the immediate aftermath of the capital’s firebombing. March 10, 1945. Tokyo, Japan.

#12 This haunting photograph shows civilians transporting the dead on wooden wagons. 1945. Tokyo, Japan.

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Written by Benjamin Grayson

Former Bouquet seller now making a go with blogging and graphic designing. I love creating & composing history articles and lists.

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