The bombing of Yawata on the night of 1516 June 1944 was the first air raid on the Japanese home islands conducted by United States Army Air Forces strategic bombers during World War II. The raid was undertaken by 75 B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers staging from bases in China. Only 47 of these aircraft bombed the raid’s primary target, the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at YawATA.
About Bombing of Yawata (June 1944) in brief
The bombing of Yawata on the night of 1516 June 1944 was the first air raid on the Japanese home islands conducted by United States Army Air Forces strategic bombers during World War II. The raid was undertaken by 75 B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers staging from bases in China. Only 47 of these aircraft bombed the raid’s primary target, the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at YawATA in northern Kyūshū, and little damage was caused. While the raid did not achieve its aims, it had other effects. It raised Japanese civilians’ awareness that their country was being defeated and received unduly positive media coverage in the United States. The USAAF was not able to mount further attacks on Japan after this raid, however, as none of its combat aircraft had sufficient range to reach this area. The first U.S. Air Forces raid on Japan took place on 18 April 1942 when 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers flying from an aircraft carrier attacked several cities during the Doolittle Raid. In late 1943 the USAAF approved a proposal to begin the strategic air campaign against the Japanesehome islands and East Asia. This strategy, which was designated Operation Matterhorn, required the construction of large airstrips near Chengdu in inland China which would be supplied by Allied cargo aircraft and be used to refuel B- 29s en route to bombing targets in Japan. Until late 1944, it took longer than expected to build up sufficient fuel stockpiles in China to allow B-27s to commence operations to commence in Japan, and technical problems with the Superfortresses continued with the aircraft.
XX Bomber Command was assigned responsibility for this effort and its ground crew began to leave the United states for India by sea in December 1943. The Twentieth Air Force was formed in April 1944 to oversee all B-28 operations. The 58th Bombardment Wing was XX bomber Command’s main combat unit, and its movement from Kansas to India took place from April to mid-May. In an unprecedented move, General Henry H. Arnold, took personal command of this unit and ran it from the Pentagon. After establishing itself in India,XX Bomber Command under Brigadier General Kenneth Wolfe undertook various tasks to prepare for raids against Japan. Foremost among these was stockpiling fuel for the newly deployed newly deployed USAAF bomber units. In August 1944, XX Bomber command did not transport fuel for B-30s and this task was instead undertaken by the XX BomberCommand Air Transport Command. This arrangement proved inefficient, as 12 B29- sorties were needed to transport enough fuel and other supplies to enable one of the heavy bombers to fly a round trip between China and Japan to enable the B29s to fly the bombing of Japan. The B-29 also incorporated a number of new features such as a pressurized cabin and remote-controlled turrets. In March 1944, the so-called ‘Battle of Kansas’ program began to produce combat-ready aircraft. The first prototype flew on 21 September 1942. While 1,664 B-31s had been ordered by the US Air Forces before the aircraft first flew, its development was set back by several months after the second prototype crashed on 18 February 1943.
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