THE AIR WAR ON JAPAN

[Music] by [Music] the airplane as a military weapon was employed to a limited extent in World War one in the battle for Western Europe Allied Pilots like Captain Eddie Rickenbacker prepared to engage Germany's top aviators in the skies over the battlefield but in that war the airplane did not contribute much in the achieving of the ultimate victory 25 years later the airplane had come of age in World War two the airplane assumed a major role in the strategy designed to affect complete victory in the first truly global war the final knockout punch in the war against Japan was delivered from the air for almost four years of war in the far-flung Pacific this was the objective of every soldier sailor marine and airmen serving in the Asiatic Pacific theater of operations the first attack on Japan was launched early in the war in April 1942 the US carrier Hornet moved deep into enemy waters to a position only 600 miles from the Japanese coast the hornets daring raid caught the enemy off guard [Music] Colonel Jimmy Doolittle had trained his men diligently in the technique of taking off in a bomber on a short runway but this was the first real test the attention of every man above decks was focused on that first takeoff [Music] 16 b-25 took off successfully from the Hornets deck and headed for Japan their mission the bombing of Tokyo and three other Japanese cities had a tonic effect on America's sagging morale the air men who had crash-landed successfully in China or off the China coast were decorated by madam Chun for their courageous flight two years later the first land base from which raids could be made on the enemy's homeland was put into operation from China America's newest heavy bomber the b-29 could fly to Japan and back in one hop other bases capable of accommodating the super fortresses were put into operation in India thus the whole of Eastern and southern Asia from Tokyo to Rangoon was within range of the new US air weapon in mid-1944 the air attacks on the Japanese homeland were not undertaken for the psychological effect alone from this point on the air war was designed to blast Japan into total defeat from Marianas bases b-29s would soon be able to attack Japan in some numbers and the air war on the enemy's home islands could be greatly accelerated but the building of those bases was a job of far greater proportions than the customary air strips hurriedly built on newly won island on terrain so rugged that the enemy considered the building of a large air base impossible u.s. engineers went to work on the construction of three huge airfields which were to have a direct bearing on the time needed for achieving the final victory by November the first of the massive runways was almost ready to be put into operation the engineers worked around the clock putting the finishing touches on the field in October 1944 the first b-29s touched down at their new home bases in the Marianas [Music] the 6,000 mile flight from California had taken them just 25 hours for the all-important missions which lay ahead the crews had trained in Kansas Colorado and in the Caribbean now they were anxious to put that training to good use the 21st Palmer command was ready to go into business on the morning of November 24th 1944 the giant planes were readied for their first bombing mission over Japan 245 tons of bombs in 500-pound packages were loaded into the super force this was to be the first mass strike against the heart of Japan [Music] [Music] several hours and 1500 miles later the b-29s were over the enemy's homeland over Tokyo the Bombardier went to work [Music] at 30,000 feet the super ports were reasonably safe from enemy anti-aircraft fire but not entirely over the target area the planes were attacked by Japanese fighters [Music] some of the enemy's fighters were knocked out of the sky by the super boat's crew but more kept pouring in on the big bomber [Music] mission accomplished the b-29s headed quickly for their Marianas bases 1,500 miles away during those first flights back from the target the crews of some of the crippled super forts ended up in the chilly waters of the North Pacific starting on November 27th the enemy struck back with a vengeance attacking the US based on Saipan [Music] the Raiders did a fair amount of damage some b-29s were total casualties [Music] many of the enemy raids on US bases in the Marianas were made at night meanwhile on the decks of US carriers and Northern Pacific waters additional raids on the enemy's homeland were prepared by the Navy the carrier-based pilots of the Navy's fast striking force were assigned targets in the heart of the enemy's industrial areas ready bring your second group a little farther east and come down putting your division on these two large assembly plants and pham ngoc these big buildings oh now you have specific targets to happen I want you to all get here a few hundred miles off Japan the strike was launched [Music] [Music] in no time at all the planes were over the first of their targets and peeling off for the dive [Music] other planes attacked enemy airfield [Music] [Music] before heading back some of the planes went to work on enemy harbor installations and shipping [Music] inevitably not all the carrier planes escaped unharmed in many cases the pilots managed to bail out successfully in his rubber boat the downed pilot had a good chance of survival rainwater replenished the limited supply of water each flyer carriage thus if the weather were reasonably good the pilot had a better than even chance of being spotted in World War two in the Pacific us submarines performed a valuable subbing for function spotting and picking up airmen and sailors whose vessels had been destroyed by the enemy some 500 US servicemen were rescued at sea by US subs in the Pacific during the war against Japan with the seizure of Iwo Jima in February in March 1945 u.s. fighter planes had a base from which they could easily fly to Japan and return