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| Taihoku Air Raid | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofWorld War II,Pacific theater | |||||||
 An aerial photograph by U.S. Air Force | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Japan |  United States | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Virtually nonexistent | 117B-24 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Civilians killed: 3,000+ Wounded/Displaced: tens of thousands | None | ||||||
TheTaihoku Air Raid[a] also known asOperation Wildfire byBritish India was the largestAlliedair raid on the city of Taihoku (modern-dayTaipei), then capital ofJapanese-ruled Taiwan, duringWorld War II. Many residents were killed in the raid and tens of thousands wounded or displaced.
As early as 1943,Fourteenth Air Force of theUnited States Army Air Forces and units of the combined air force of U.S.,Nationalist China had launched several air raids against military and industrial targets inJapanese Taiwan. Before this,Soviet volunteer units and combined Chinese and Indian air force had attacked military bases around Taihoku, most of which were targeted on smaller objectives and were of smaller scales. After American ground forces capturedSubic Bay in thePhilippines, the Allied air forces began larger and more systematic air raids against targets on theisland of Taiwan. After 12 October 1944, Allied air forces began scheduled air raids on factories located inHeitō,Kobi, andPort of Takao, and fighter production facility in the outskirt ofTakao. Also, Taihoku, the capital and political and financial center of Taiwan, had been under constant aerial assaults by the Allies since that time.
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On 31 May 1945, units of theFifth Air Force consisting of 117Consolidated B-24 Liberatorheavy bombers were sent to conduct the largest air raid ever on Taiwan. The bombing began from around ten o'clock in the morning and lasted until one o'clock in the afternoon, during which the attack was non-stop. The Americans met virtually no resistance from the Japanese, mainly due to the attrition the Japanese air forces had suffered in theAerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa, which completely exhausted Japan's fighter units in Taiwan. The Allies dropped approximately 3,800 bombs on military units and governmental facilities in Taihoku[citation needed]; many other buildings within the downtown area and Japanese quarter also suffered various damages.
TheOffice of the Governor-General of Taiwan suffered a direct hit, in spite of the building being heavily camouflaged to avoid being targeted. The building suffered extensive damage from fire caused by the bombs and almost collapsed on itself; it was rendered unoccupiable and was not repaired until the Nationalist Chinese takeover. Other facilities hit during the bombing included the residence of the Assistant Governor-General, Taiwan Railway Hotel, Office of Governor-General Library, Army Headquarters,Taihoku Imperial University,Taihoku Station,Bank of Taiwan,Taihoku High Court,Taihoku New Park, and many other facilities.
Many civilian installations were damaged, includingTaihoku Prefectural Taihoku First Girls' High School,Huashan Catholic Church of Taihoku, and the famousLungshan Temple of Manka, which was hit in the main building and the left corridor; many precious artifacts and art works in the temple were lost in the ensuing fire.[1]
The number of deaths totaled more than 3,000, which exceeded the total number of deaths resulting from all the previous air raids on Taiwan by the Allies. Tens of thousands of people were displaced or became homeless, and many buildings were destroyed either by the attacks or by the fire caused by the attacks. The air raid showed that the city was defenseless against Allied aerial assaults, and the Governor-General ordered schools and other installations to be evacuated, and that more air raid drills be held.
On 15 July 2009, twoduds assumed to be dropped during this raid were found in aconstruction site ofMRT Xinyi Line nearChiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Bomb-disposal units of theROC Armed Forces removed them.[citation needed]
It is well known that the statue of Kuan-in in this temple survived the bombing from the allied aircrafts [sic] on 8 June 1945. Lungshan Temple was bombed on that day. The whole main hall and a part of the right annex were burned out during the air raid, but the statue of Kuan-in in the center of the main hall left intact. This is the most famous manifestation of efficacy of Lungshan Temple.[permanent dead link]
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