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Bombing of Shizuoka in World War II

The bombing of Shizuoka (静岡大空襲, Shizuoka dai-kūshū) on June 19, 1945, was part of the strategic bombing campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of the Pacific War in 1945.[1]

Bombing of Shizuoka
Part of the air raids on Japan, as part of the Pacific War

Shizuoka after the 1945 air raid
Date19 June 1945
Location
Shizuoka, Japan
Result American victory
Belligerents
 United States  Japan
Strength
137 B-29 bombers from the 314th Bombardment Wing Unknown number of antiaircraft guns
Casualties and losses
2 aircraft destroyed in mid-air collision 1,952 civilians killed
12,000 severely injured

Background

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Although the city of Shizuoka lacked major targets of military significance, it was the 15th largest city in Japan per the 1940 census with an estimated population in 1945 of 212,000, and was a major regional commercial center. The Tōkaidō Main Line railway connecting Tokyo with Osaka also ran through the city.[2]

Air raids

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Shizuoka was bombed a total of ten times during the war. Tactical raids with high explosive bombs were made against a defunct Mitsubishi aircraft engine plant in March, April, May, and on June 7, 1945, a tactical raid by B-29 Superfortresses caused moderate damage to Shizuoka's industrial areas.[3]

On June 19, 1945, 137 B-29 bombers from the USAAF 314th Bombardment Wing launched a major firebombing attack on the central part of the city.[4] The bombers attacked in two waves from east and west, so as to trap the population within the center of the city, between the mountains and the sea, dropping 13,211 incendiary bombs. The resultant firestorm destroyed most of the city.[5] Shizuoka civil defense measures were crude at best and the city had almost no antiaircraft batteries.[6] Air raid shelters consisted of a hole in the ground next to wooden houses with a wooden roof covered with a thin layer of soil and clay. Due to the high ground water levels in the area, these shelters were shallow, and many people were burned alive in the firestorm.[3] The estimated civilian casualties in the June 19 raid were 1,952 people killed, an estimated 12,000 were severely injured, and 26,891 homes were destroyed. A year after the war, the United States Army Air Forces's Strategic Bombing Survey (Pacific War) reported that 66.1 percent of the city had been totally destroyed.[7]

Two B-29s collided mid-air during the operation, resulting in the deaths of 23 Americans. In 2008, a headstone with the names of the fallen Airmen was erected in front of the previous Japanese monument in the city.[8] A joint US-Japan memorial service is held each year at the site on the Saturday closest to the day the crash occurred. The book The Blackened Canteen, by Jerry Yellin, a P-51 pilot, tells the story.[9]

See also

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References

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  • Werrell, Kenneth P. (1996). Blankets of Fire. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-665-4.
  • Bradley, F. J. (1999). No Strategic Targets Left. Contribution of Major Fire Raids Toward Ending WWII. Turner Publishing. ISBN 1-56311-483-6.
  • Carter, Kit C. (1975). The Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology, 1941-1945. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 1-4289-1543-5.
  • Crane, Conrad C. (1994). The Cigar that brought the Fire Wind: Curtis LeMay and the Strategic Bombing of Japan. JGSDF-U.S. Army Military History Exchange. ASIN B0006PGEIQ.
  • Frank, Richard B. (2001). Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-100146-1.
  • Grayling, A. C. (2007). Among the Dead Cities: The History and Moral Legacy of the WWII Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan. New York: Walker Publishing Company Inc. ISBN 978-0-8027-1565-4.
  • Hoyt, Edwin P. (2000). Inferno: The Fire Bombing of Japan, March 9 – August 15, 1945. Madison Books. ISBN 1-56833-149-5.
  • Shannon, Donald H. (1976). United States air strategy and doctrine as employed in the strategic bombing of Japan. U.S. Air University, Air War College. ASIN B0006WCQ86.
  • Wainstock, Dennis (1996). The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-95475-7.

Notes

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  1. ^ Hoyt. Inferno: The Fire Bombing of Japan, March 9 – August 15, 1945
  2. ^ United States Strategic Bombing Survey. Summary Report(Pacific War) July 1, 1946
  3. ^ a b [1] 330th Bomb Group Combat Mission Logs
  4. ^ Carter. The Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology, 1941–1945
  5. ^ Bradley. No Strategic Targets Left.
  6. ^ Lardas, Mark (2019). Japan 1944-45 : LeMay's B-29 Strategic Bombing Campaign. Paul Wright. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 978-1-4728-3247-4. OCLC 1083042403.
  7. ^ Wainstock. The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. Page 9
  8. ^ http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=4889　Japan Archived 2008-07-04 at the Wayback Machine Probe June 15, 2008
  9. ^ "Jerryyellin.com". Archived from the original on 2009-09-27. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
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