| XXI Bomber Command | |
|---|---|
 29th Bombardment Group North Field Guam 1945 | |
| Active | 1944–1945 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Command of long range bombers |
| Engagements | Pacific Theater[1] |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Brig GenRoger M. Ramey Brig GenHaywood S. Hansell, Jr Maj GenCurtis LeMay |
TheXXI Bomber Command was a unit of theTwentieth Air Force in theMariana Islands forstrategic bombing during World War II.
The command was established atSmoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization and its assigned groups receiving theirB-29 Superfortress aircraft, the command transferred first toPeterson Field, Colorado, then deployed to the central Pacific, being headquartered atHarmon Field,Guam, in the Mariana Islands.
Its assigned units engaged in very long-range bombardment operations, primarily against Japan until mid-July 1945.
The Marianas chain of islands, consisting primarily ofSaipan,Tinian, and Guam, were considered as being ideal bases from which to launch B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan. The islands were about 1,500 miles (2,400 km) fromTokyo, a range which the B-29s could just about manage. Most important of all, they could be put on a direct supply line from the United States by ship. In August 1944,Major generalHaywood S. Hansell, Jr was directed to take over command of the organization.[2]
Serious planning for the movement of the XXI Bomber Command's B-29s from theirSecond Air Force training bases in Kansas to newly constructed combat airfields on Saipan, Tinian and Guam began in April 1944. The construction and defense of the airfields would be theUnited States Navy's responsibility, as would logistical support. Before the B-29s could begin operating against Japan from the Marianas, the islands first had to be taken away from the Japanese.[2]
This began with theBattle of Saipan on 11 June 1944 when a four-day naval and air bombardment of the island began. On 15 JuneUnited States Marine Corps units stormed ashore, followed a day later byUnited States Army units. After several weeks of heavy fighting, during which over 3,000 American and 24,000 Japanese people died, the island was finally declared secure on 9 July.[2]
The seizure of Saipan enabled invasions ofGuam andTinian to proceed, which were attacked on 21 and 24 July respectively. Tinian was secured on 1 August and Guam was secured on 10 August.[2]
Construction of the B-29 airfields on Saipan began almost immediately, even while the fighting was still going on.Naval Construction Battalions (NCBs), the "SeaBees" began construction at a former Japanese airstrip called Aslito. This was later renamedIsley Field, after Navy Commander Robert H. Isely (his name was misspelled and the incorrect version stuck). The SeaBees did not meet their schedule, but came very close. In a little over three months they had built a support base and airfield on Saipan, capable of supporting the 240 B-29s of the73d Bombardment Wing and their logistical support units.[2][3]
On Tinian, the SeaBees built the largest bomber base ever,North Field. The 6th Naval Construction Brigade built four 8,500 feet (2,600 m) runways for the313th Bombardment Wing, and all required infrastructure; then went to the west end of the island and atWest Field laid down two 8,500-foot runways for the58th Bombardment Wing.[3]
On Guam the 5th NCB builtNorth Field for the314th Bombardment Wing andNorthwest Field for the315th Bombardment Wing.[3]
The 73d Bombardment Wing was ordered to the Marianas rather than to theCBI Theater after its training with Second Air Force in Kansas. The first B-29 arrived at Isley Field, Saipan on 12 October 1944. By 22 November, over 100 B-29s were at Isley Field. XXI Bomber Command was assigned the mission of destroying the aircraft industry of Japan in a series of high-altitude, daylight precision attacks. However, General Hansell was fully aware that his crews still lacked the necessary experience to carry out such missions.[2][3]
In late October and early November 1944, a series of tactical raids were carried out as training exercises for the crews. On 27 October, 18 B-29s attacked lightly defended Japanese installations onTruk. The submarine pens at Truk were the target, and four Superfortresses had to abort because of the usual engine problems, and combat formations were scrappy. The bombing results were mediocre, with only nine planes bombing the primary target and only a few bombs hitting it. The same two groups returned to Truk on 30 October with even fewer bombs landing on the target. The third try, on 2 November, was briefed as a radar bombing mission. Again the results were indifferent, with bombs scattered all over the general target area.[2][3]
Aware that there was now a new threat, Japanese aircraft based onIwo Jima staged alow-level raid on Isley Field on 2 November, damaging several B-29s on the ground. Retaliatory strikes were ordered against the two enemy airfields on Iwo Jima on 5 and 11 November with the497th and498th Bombardment Groups dispatched to bomb airfields there, but the results were once again poor. As in theXX Bomber CommandOperation Matterhorn bombing campaign from India, the B-29s were in danger of being dissipated in tactical missions and even these were not all that successful.[2][3]
In order to properly plan missions to Japan, up-to-date reconnaissance photos of the proposed targets were needed. Other than information which was used during theDoolittle Raid in 1942, there was scant information about the locations of Japanese industry, especially the aircraft industry. On 1 November 1944, two days after arriving on Saipan, A3d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron F-13A Superfortress (photo reconnaissance-configured B-29) took off bound for Tokyo. The 3d PRS attached to the 73d Bombardment Wing. The aircraftflew over Tokyo at 32,000 feet (9,800 m) for 35 minutes taking picture after picture. A few fighters made it up to the camera plane's altitude, but did not attack. These photos, along with other intelligence gave the XXI Bomber Command the locations of the Japanese aircraft manufacturing plants and enabled mission planners to plan missions for the combat crews to attack. In honor of his mission, the aircraft was named "Tokyo Rose".[2][3]
The 3d PRS continued to fly single plane missions to Japan, taking high altitude pre-strike target planning photos and post-strike damage assessment photos. The losses incurred by the squadron in this type of activity were relatively light. Seldom were the Japanese able to get fighters up to 30,000 feet (9,100 m) in time to intercept the F-13As.[4]
All four groups of the 73d Wing were sent on their first mission to Japan on 24 November with 111 planes airborne. The target was theNakajima Aircraft Engine Plant atMusashino in the arsenal sector of Tokyo. Also, for the first time, the B-29 encountered theJet stream, which was a high-speed wind coming out of the west at speeds as high as 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) at precisely the altitudes at which the bombers were operating. This caused the bomber formations to be disrupted and made accurate bombing impossible. Because of the jet stream winds and bad weather, only 24 planes, from the leading 497th Bomb Group, attacked the primary target; the majority dropped their bombs on the secondary target of the Tokyo Docks.[2][3]
The group returned to Musashino on the 27th and closed out November with a raid on the Tokyo Industrial Area and Docks. The pace picked up the next month, with a return to Musashino on 3 December. Again, poor bombing results were achieved, with the jet stream winds scattering the bomb drops and the aircraft in the formation, with the result of not much damage to the enemy being done. 8 December saw 82 planes attacking the Iwo Jima airfields (Motoyama Nos 1 and 2). Then it was back to attacking Japan, hittingNagoya on 18 and 22 December. The airfields on Iwo Jima were revisited on 24 December and Tokyo the final target of the month on 27 December.[2][3]
In addition to the wing strikes, December saw the initiation of another type of single plane mission: the weather strike. These were missions to Japan to collect weather data and drop nuisance bombs on Japanese cities. Again, these were high altitude missions with surprisingly low losses. The 3d PRS lost two planes in December. Out of the 75 weather strike missions flown in December, there were only three losses. During the same time period the 73rd Wing lost 21 planes to all causes on the six multi-plane raids by the wing as a whole.[2][3]
The pace continued to quicken for the 73d in January. Musashino on 9 January cost six planes; Nagoya on 14 January, another five. One weather strike, out of 83 flown, was lost on 10 January, but help was on the way as new B-29s from the United States were arriving almost daily and new groups were arriving in the Marianas. The 313th Bombardment Wing, operating from Tinian, sent 44 planes toPagan Island on 16 January, another 33 to Truk on 21 and 28 January to attack the Iwo Jima airfields on 24 January. Thirty-three more returned to Iwo Jima on 29 January. The 313th's 504th and 505th groups joined in the attack onKobe on 4 February, while on 9 February their sister groups, the 6th and 9th, made their initial training mission against theMoen Island airfield on Truk.[2][3]
US Marines landed on Iwo Jima 19 February 1945 with a mission to seize the island to build emergency landing airfields for XXIst Bomber Command as well as fighter airfields forVII Fighter Command. On 25 March theBattle of Iwo Jima was declared over and the island secured, although mopping up continued until June. Construction Battalions extended and transformed the former Japanese fields to accommodate B-29s and the first AAF units moved in during the beginning of March.[2][3]
The high-altitude bombing raids on Japan carried out by the command were not causing significant damage to the targets, primarily due to the jet stream winds over the islands. The failure of the command to successfully carry out its mission was causing severe problems with theWar Department in Washington, which had planned to eliminate the Japanese industrial base by the same strategic bombing techniques which were being carried out in Europe. Also GeneralHap Arnold and the AAF command staff which were aware of theManhattan Project, and planned on using the B-29 to drop the Atomic Bombs, were concerned that the B-29 would be unable to carry out that highly secret mission.[2][3]
Since little progress in the bombing campaign was being made, Arnold recalled Hansell and moved GeneralCurtis LeMay from the inactivating XX Bomber Command in India to take over XXI Bomber Command on Saipan. LeMay arrived in the Marianas on 20 January 1945. LeMay had analyzed the structure of the Japanese economy,[citation needed] which depended heavily on cottage industries housed in cities close to major industrial areas and issued new orders on 19 February. His plan was to destroy the feeder industries, that would slow or halt the flow of vital components to the central manufacturing plants, and disorganize the production of weapons vital to Japan. LeMay decided to do this by usingincendiary bombs rather than purely high-explosive bombs, which would, it was hoped, cause generalconflagrations in large cities like Tokyo or Nagoya, spreading to some of the priority targets. In addition, LeMay had concluded that the effects of the jet stream, cloud cover, and high operating altitudes were to blame for the failure of the B-29 raids to do any significant damage to the Japanese war industry. The initial raids against Japan had taken place at high altitudes in order to stay above anti-aircraft fire and the effective altitude of defending fighters. LeMay suggested that high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime. The aircraft would attack individually, which meant that no formation assembly over the base at the start of the mission or along the way would be needed. This would extend the range of the aircraft and allow them to reach targets in northernHonshu andHokkaido.[2][3]
The6th and9th Bombardment Groups joined in the attack on Tokyo on 25 February, as did the 314th Bombardment Wing's19th Bombardment Group, flying out of North Field, Guam. With these new tactics, a total of 302 B-29s participated in theOperation Meetinghouse raid on Tokyo on the night of 9–10 March, with 279 arriving over the target. The raid was led by special pathfinder crews who marked central aiming points. It lasted for two hours. The raid was a success beyond LeMay's wildest expectations. The individual fires caused by the bombs joined to create a general conflagration, which would have been classified as afirestorm but for prevailing winds gusting at 17 to 28 mph (27 to 45 km/h).[5] When it was over, sixteen square miles of the center of Tokyo had gone up in flames and nearly 100,000 people had been killed. Fourteen B-29s were lost. The B-29 was finally beginning to have an effect.[2][3]
On the night of 13–14 March, eight square miles ofOsaka went up in flames. On 16–17 March, three square miles of Kobe were destroyed, and on 19–20 March in a return visit to Nagoya, three more square miles were destroyed. This destructive week had killed over 120,000 Japanese civilians at the cost of only 20 B-29s lost.[2][3]
A month later, on 12 April, the 314th Bombardment Wing's remaining two groups, the39th and330th, joined in the attack on the Hodagaya Chemical Works inKoriyama. With the addition of the 39th and 330th, the XXI Bomber Command now had three wings, twelve groups, thirty-six squadrons of 15 B-29s each at their disposal. In May, the 58th Bombardment Wing completed its move from India to Tinian, adding four more groups to the XXI Bomber Command.[2][3]
In April 1945, LeMay gave new orders for more incendiary raids. This time, aircraft engine factories at Musashino and Nagoya were to be hit, but urban areas in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka,Kawasaki, Kobe, andYokohama were also to be attacked. On 7 April 153 B-29s struck theMitsubishi Heavy Industries aircraft-engine complex at Nagoya, destroying about 90 percent of that facility. Five days later, 93 B-29s destroyed the Nakajima factory at Musashino. The Japanese aircraft engine industry essentially ceased to exist after this time. On 13 April 327 B-29s burned out eleven more square miles of Tokyo. Seven more B-29s were lost.[2][3]
On 5 June, the B-29s attacked Kobe with such effectiveness that the city was crossed off the target list as not worth revisiting. By the end of the month, the six major cities on LeMay's list had all been effectively destroyed.[2][3]
Late May saw the arrival of the first of the 315th Bombardment Wing, whose B-29B planes were equipped with the newAN/APQ-7 "Eagle" radar. The antenna for this radar was an 18-foot, wing-shaped unit mounted under the forward fuselage. The antenna swept a 60-degree arc along the flight path of the plane, and a higher frequency (X-band) signal gave a much-improved radarscope picture. The 315th had been trained for low-altitude, nighttime pathfinder missions. Between 26 June and 10 August, they carried out a series of 15 strikes against oil production facilities which essentially shut down the Japanese oil industry. The B-29Bs were also stripped of much defensive gunnery, adding capacity for additional incendiary or high-explosive bombs.[2][3]
By now, the B-29 raids were essentially unopposed by Japanese fighters. In late June, B-29 crews felt sufficiently confident that they began to drop leaflets warning the population of forthcoming attacks, followed three days later by a raid in which the specified urban area was devastated by mass carpet bombing. By the end of June, the civilian population began to show signs of panic, and the Imperial Cabinet first began to consider negotiating an end to the war. However, at that time, the Japanese military was adamant about continuing on to the bitter end.[2][3]
In June 1945, the XX and XXI Bombardment Commands were grouped under theU.S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific (USASTAF), under the command of GeneralCarl A. Spaatz. The history of XXI Bomber Command terminated on 16 July 1945. On that date the command was redesignatedHeadquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Twentieth Air Force. This redesignation brought to an end the XXI Bomber Command as a separate establishment, as it was absorbed into the internal organizational structure of Twentieth Air Force and was placed under the command of USASTAF.[2][3]
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