Firebombing of Tokyo
By: Stephen, Julius, Austen
Description
The bombing of Tokyo began on March 9, 1945 after B-29's entered service. 334 bombers took off from Saipan and Tinian to get to Tokyo. In total, 2,000 tons of Incendiary bombs were dropped on Tokyo on almost 16 square miles of city. The city burned very easily, because many people lived in wooden framed buildings. The downtown Tokyo suburb of Shitamachi was composed of about 750,000 people living in close quarters. This raid lasted slightly longer than three hours, and killed between 80,000 to 130,000 civilians. The raid was considered successful because they destroyed many of the light industries in the area.
Statistics about the Bombing
Deaths: 80-130,000
Number of bombers: 334
Each plane carried: 7 tons
Total amount of bombs: 2,000
Total damage: 16 square Miles