A member of the security guard takes custody of the bodies of those killed in the March 10, 1945 air raid on Tokyo, Japan. The burnt bodies were so charred that they did not retain their original shape. The number of dead was determined from the articles left behind. The number of dead was estimated from the iron helmet, buttons, and clasps of the clasps. The number of unidentified bodies was large, and the number of bodies temporarily buried in parks, temples, schools, and other places in 70 locations in Tokyo exceeded 77,000. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the number of dead on March 10 was 83,793 and the number of wounded was approximately 40,918; the total number of casualties on March 10 ranged from 124,711 (Metropolitan Police Department) to 196,132 (Imperial Air Defense Headquarters).
The number of B-29 bombers that flew from Mariana Air Base to Tokyo, the bombing target, on the evening of March 9 was approximately 130, according to the Japanese Imperial Headquarters. At 22:30 on March 9, an alert was issued.
The first full-scale air raid on Tokyo took place just after the stroke of midnight on March 10, when the first of the U.S. B-29 bombers entered the Fukagawa area (present-day Koto Ward) at 08:00 on March 10 and dropped the first bombs. The area near Kiba 2-chome was hit, followed by the areas near Shirakawa-cho 2-chome and Miyoshicho 1-2-chome. The first fire broke out in Zaimoku-cho. Bundles of lumber and countless floating canal logs began to catch fire like matchsticks. 2 minutes later, at 10 minutes past midnight, fire broke out in the adjacent Joto Ward (Koto Ward). The Kitasunamachi 2-5-chome area was hit in a strip, and at 12:12, about two minutes later, the Honjo Ward (Sumida Ward) was hit by air raids. The raging fire leaped through the densely populated area, with approximately 200,000 to 250,000 people per ward, at intervals of only about two minutes. The air raid alarm was issued at 15:00 midnight, about 7 minutes after the first bomb was dropped, and the 7-minute delay turned out to be a fatal moment for the common people fleeing for their lives.
The incendiary downpour traversed the Honjo district from north to south, and a straight line of fire surrounded the Koto district, which was carved by canals. Ushigome (Shinjuku), Shimotani (Taito), Nihonbashi (Chuo), Hongo (Bunkyo), Kojimachi (Chiyoda), and Shiba (Minato) wards were also hit one after another. Independent fire points merged one after another, and a large fire flow was generated all at once. The raging fire, which spread over a wide area in Asakusa and Nihonbashi wards, spewed and scattered enormous sparks of fire, which turned into huge fireballs and flew through the air, crossing the 200 meter wide Sumida River and merging with Mukojima Ward (Sumida Ward). Within half an hour, the crimson firestorm had spread to the entire downtown area, and the B-29 bombers, after building a wall of fire around their target, shifted to a continuous wave of indiscriminate incendiary bombardment at very low altitudes, close to utility poles and rooftops, aiming at the fleeing people.
The north-northwest winds gained further momentum, stirred up by the massive fires on the ground, creating a boiling sea of fire that reached an instantaneous wind speed of 25 to 30 meters per second. The fire called for wind, and the wind brought a fire storm. The temperature of the ground surface became incandescent, and the flames instantly raged. The fireballs, with an eerie roar, raced along roads, across rivers, through houses, and engulfed fleeing people one after another. Fire trucks from each station did their best to extinguish the fires. One by one, the vehicles were engulfed by the massive firestorm, starting with one that was hit directly by a bullet and turned the entire crew into a mass of fire, and the crews fell prey to the raging flames. The Tokyo Metropolitan Fire Department lost approximately 96 fire engines and 1,000 water pipes, 125 members were burned to death or missing, and more than 500 members of the fire brigade were killed or injured.
The main victims were non-combatant women, children, and elderly downtown residents. Unauthorized evacuation of dwellings was strictly forbidden by the Air Defense Law. Even in a critical situation, they resorted to fire prevention measures such as bucket relays. People were clearly unable to escape. The Koto area, the center of the damage, was sandwiched between the Arakawa River discharge channel and the Sumida River, and was carved vertically and horizontally by numerous canals. Bridges were burned down and canals cut off people's escape routes. Many people escaped into the water, but few survived. Flames, hot winds, and black smoke billowed over the river from both banks, and those who stuck their heads out of the water were instantly burned to death by their hair. Many people died of carbon monoxide poisoning from the smoke before the flames, suffocation from the rapid decrease in oxygen, shock, freezing, and drowning due to the extremely low water temperature.
Most of the people who fled to the school buildings designated as evacuation centers were also tragically killed. The supposedly safe reinforced concrete buildings were quickly transformed into human incinerators, with windowpanes melting and flames searing through luggage and clothing. Layers and layers of charred corpses piled up and the auditorium was packed to the gills. People, chased by the fire, rushed in through the entrance, and the door at the end became an inner door, which was opened in time to allow the piling up of many people, leading to a miserable situation. The air raid warning was lifted at 2:35 a.m. on March 11, the bombing ended, and there were no more B-29 bombers in sight. The inferno was extinguished after 8:00 a.m. in the morning. At dawn, Tokyo was reduced to ruins. The devastation spread to the 29 wards of Tokyo, where approximately 270,000 houses were burned down and about one million Tokyo residents lost their homes.
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