Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
in memorium
March 10, 1945
FC 84
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Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
The Doolittle Raid
The Air War
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• April 18, 1942 – Doolittle raiders bomb
Tokyo, taking off from USS Hornet,
approximately 700 miles off the Japanese
coast
• Led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle
• A little “shock and awe” air campaign
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Doolittle pilots in China
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Air power
Allied forces developed doctrines of urban
aerial bombardment as key to waging total
war
British General “Bomber” Harris – planned
the fire bombing of Dresden
U.S. Gen. Curtis LeMay – planned aerial
campaigns against Tokyo, went on to
head the Strategic Air Command
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US Air campaign
Bombing started in earnest in 1944
Needed Pacific island bases for bombers
Mockups of Japanese cities built in the US
southwest for bombing practices
Invention of napalm – intended for burning
wooden cities
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American bombings 1944-45
• Over 130 Japanese cities intensively bombed
• Massive evacuations of urban civilian population
• Culminated in the fire bombing of Tokyo March 10, 1945
• Casualty estimates run as high as 150,000 people in a
single night
• Raids planned to maximize damage and terror to civilian
population
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Kanto region
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March 10 raids
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Aftermath of March 10 raids
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Aftermath of March 10 raids
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up to 150,000 casualties
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The Ultimate Shock and Awe
Hiroshima, Aug 6
Nagasaki, Aug 9
V-J Day, Aug 15
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