Fact Finder - History

Fact
The Firebombing of Tokyo (Operation Meetinghouse)
Category
History
Subcategory
World Wars
Country
Japan
Description
While the atomic bombs are more famous, the single deadliest air raid in history was the firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 9–10, 1945. Using B-29 Superfortress bombers flying at low altitudes, the U.S. Army Air Forces dropped 1,665 tons of napalm-filled incendiary bombs. Tokyo’s high density of wooden housing created a massive firestorm that sucked the oxygen out of the air. An estimated 100,000 people were killed and one million were left homeless in a single night—a death toll exceeding that of the initial blast at Hiroshima. The mission marked a shift in strategy toward 'total war,' aiming to destroy Japanese industrial capacity and morale.