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December 17, 1943 - A Super Bomber to Break Japan
Posted on 12/17/22 at 9:07 am
Posted on 12/17/22 at 9:07 am
It is 225 weeks since Germany invaded Poland. Here is what was happening 79 years ago during the week of 11-17 December 1943:
YouTube - World War Two
quote:
The war has now lasted as long as the Great War did, but with no signs of it slowing. The Soviets have three offensives going on simultaneously on the Eastern Front; in Italy the Allies are attacking at San Pietro and over the Moro River; in the Pacific there are Allied landings on New Britain - but in Pacific Command, the big talk is all about a new super bomber: the B-29.
YouTube - World War Two
This post was edited on 12/17/22 at 9:08 am
7
Posted on 12/17/22 at 9:09 am to RollTide1987
The A-bomb hand wringers are clueless to the fact the firebombing of Tokyo was more brutal.
Posted on 12/17/22 at 9:11 am to RollTide1987
quote:
the big talk is all about a new super bomber: the B-29.
I can see the engine fires from here. The B-29 is a plane that history has been very favorable in its generosity toward.
Almost twice as many went down due to engine failure than were shot down by the Japanese.
Posted on 12/17/22 at 9:13 am to RollTide1987
John Houston did a documentary about San Pietro
Posted on 12/17/22 at 9:55 am to Strannix
quote:
The A-bomb hand wringers are clueless to the fact the firebombing of Tokyo was more brutal.
An estimated 100,000 people killed in a single night in March 1945; the entire city engulfed in flames. There was absolutely no escape from the destruction Curtis LeMay and his B-29s brought to Tokyo that night. Hirohito's palace was deliberately avoided so he could have a front row seat to the death of his subjects.
The crews who flew that mission remember distinctly the smells of burning flesh as their B-29s passed over the city while dropping their payloads. The flames were so intense that many of the planes were hit by severe turbulence from the heat rising up off the ground.
This post was edited on 12/17/22 at 9:59 am
Posted on 12/17/22 at 9:57 am to RollTide1987
quote:
Curtis LeMay
Was a game changer switching from daytime to nighttime bombing
Posted on 12/17/22 at 10:03 am to Strannix
quote:
The A-bomb hand wringers are clueless to the fact the firebombing of Tokyo was more brutal.
Serves them right for the horror the Japanese inflicted upon American POWs during the Solomon Islands campaign.
Posted on 12/17/22 at 10:06 am to RollTide1987
B-29 was originally a widow maker due to constant engine fires from overheating but it changed the game in bomber warfare. It could haul more bombs longer distances at higher altitudes than the Japanese Zero fighters could fly by over 10,000 feet. It was the first pressurized bomber as well. Many many more B-29s were lost to engine fires than from enemy aircraft or flak. When your bombing run is 1,000 miles over open ocean there’s not much you can do if something goes wrong besides hopefully get out a distress call before going down and hope for rescue by submarine or PBY flying boats. This is where Iwo Jima became so important as a landing strip for damaged B-29s.
This post was edited on 12/17/22 at 10:10 am
Posted on 12/17/22 at 10:07 am to Strannix
quote:
The A-bomb hand wringers are clueless to the fact the firebombing of Tokyo was more brutal.
Facts
Posted on 12/17/22 at 10:12 am to Strannix
If you want a real emotional punch to the gut, watch Grave of the Fireflies. It's an animated movie by Studio Ghibli about 2 young children trying to survive in the firebombing aftermath after being separated from their mother. It's one of those movies that should be watched once.
Posted on 12/17/22 at 10:24 am to LSUPilot07
My Old Man was on Tinian when the war ended. A couple of days later, all base personnel were collected and addressed by one of the commanders. He announced that they would all be transferred back to the US West Coast very soon. Everyone looked at each other and then one brave soul stood up and asked the question that was on everyone’s mind: “Sir, what transport will we be using?”
The Commander replied that everyone would be given the choice of flying back in the returning B-29’s or they could be transported via troop ships. But troop ships would take over three weeks to complete the voyage. As every man there knew the condition of those planes, that choice was easy.
The Commander replied that everyone would be given the choice of flying back in the returning B-29’s or they could be transported via troop ships. But troop ships would take over three weeks to complete the voyage. As every man there knew the condition of those planes, that choice was easy.
Posted on 12/17/22 at 11:49 am to Coeur du Tigre
quote:
My Old Man was on Tinian when the war ended.
My uncle was on Tinian and he was the radar observer on the B-29 that the crew (captain?) named the “Dangerous Lady”.
Cool photo of Mount Fuji and other B-29s he took out his observation window on a mission to Tokyo. And though I’m not 100% sure - I think this may have been a mission - requested by General Douglas MacArthur for a flight of 14 B-29s to fly over the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay (along with 100s of smaller aircraft) during signing of the Japanese surrender.
Posted on 12/17/22 at 12:22 pm to Coeur du Tigre
Yeah if you’re not the pilots or flight engineer I doubt they had many other passengers volunteer. Being 3 weeks later versus possibly being stranded at sea is not a hard choice.
This post was edited on 12/17/22 at 12:25 pm
Posted on 12/17/22 at 12:24 pm to Breauxsif
quote:
Serves them right for the horror the Japanese inflicted upon American POWs during the Solomon Islands campaign.
I'd be careful about justifying civilian deaths due to the actions of a nations soldiers.
Posted on 12/17/22 at 12:25 pm to CrawDude
That’s seriously cool
Posted on 12/17/22 at 12:28 pm to CrawDude
quote:
My uncle
flew B-29s in WWII, his crew was an alternate crew, and trained for the mission, of dropping one of "the bombs"
Posted on 12/17/22 at 12:29 pm to Strannix
Malcolm gladwell has podcast series on Tokyo bombing. One big take away I got was the planes had to be scrubbed down because the smell of burnt humans had inundated them
Posted on 12/17/22 at 12:32 pm to Crisprdestroyer
quote:
One big take away I got was the planes had to be scrubbed down because the smell of burnt humans had inundated them
I work with two guys that were in the AFRES that flew PJs from house to house looking for vics/survivors after Katrina, they said that they had to throw away their flight suits and boots when they were done because of the stench of death
Posted on 12/17/22 at 12:35 pm to CrawDude
There were many more than 14 B-29s that flew over the ceremony. Around 500 B-29s with another 450 carrier planes flew over in the show of force.
This post was edited on 12/17/22 at 12:37 pm
Posted on 12/17/22 at 12:36 pm to LSUPilot07
quote:
shoe of force.
put that shoe right up Tojo's arse!!
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