Air operation

Bombing of Tokyo, 9–10 March 1945 (Operation Meetinghouse)

9 Mar 1945 – 10 Mar 1945 · Tokyo

On the night of 9–10 March 1945 the USAAF firebombed Tokyo in Operation Meetinghouse; of 325 B-29s dispatched, 279 bombed the city. Planned under Curtis LeMay, the raid used low-altitude night attacks with incendiary bombs, a shift from earlier precision bombing. About 41 square kilometres of the city burned out and more than a million people were left homeless; the article gives estimated deaths of roughly 90,000 to 100,000, mostly civilians. The USAAF considered it a success, and its tactics became standard for B-29 missions until the end of the war.