Firebombing of Japan
Storyboard Text
- Operation Meetinghouse
- The United States Airforce crews arrive on the Mariana Islands of Tinian and Saipan to discuss the details of an offensive air attack on Japan nicknamed Operation Meetinghouse.
- Operation Meetinghouse was headed by U.S. General Curtis Lemay. The B-29 Superfortress bomber planes would purposely be free of weapons to allow an increase in speed and the bomb load capacity.
- Night of The Black Snow
- On the night of March 9, 1945, Superfortress bombers headed towards Shitamachi, Tokyo. The city of Shitamachi contained about 750,000 citizens. The wooden construction of the buildings left it susceptible to fire.
- Many Japanese civilians were not allowed the proper burial due to the ongoing war and the mass number of casualties.
- Aftermath
- An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Japanese citizens were killed. The casualties of March 9th, 1945 exceeded those of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- Over 1 million Japanese civilians were left homeless. Many houses, schools, and buildings were destroyed.
- 16 square miles of Tokyo were destroyed. Houses, city buildings, and schools were demolished, leaving many parts of Tokyo many
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