Tag: 1945

Firestorm in Tokyo

Today in History, March 9: 1945:

The Firebombing of Tokyo. General Curtis Lemay, hero of the air war in the Pacific, had been given the task of using American air power to end the war without losing untold numbers of American lives.

As part of that effort, on this date in 1945, over 300 B-29 Superfortress bombers took off from Tinian and Saipan in the Marianas en route to Tokyo. A little after midnight, they began dropping thousands of tons of incendiary bombs.

The result was a firestorm that engulfed 15 square miles of the city, which was composed mostly of wooden structures with paper walls. The numbers vary from 90,000 to 120,000, but the death toll was enormous. The citizens of Tokyo were unable to escape the flames fueled by 30 knot winds.

As much is made of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, neither matched the death toll of the firestorm in Tokyo. The only difference was that the atomic attacks took one bomber with one bomb rather than thousands of bombs with hundreds of bombers.

Submarine on Submarine…The USS Batfish

Today in History, February 12, 1945:

The USS Batfish, an American Balao class fleet submarine, sinks it’s second Japanese submarine within three days. She would sink three Japanese submarines during her WWII career.

Sinking another submarine is quite an accomplishment, accounting for range, depth and speed with the technology of the time.

The Batfish had an active Naval career. If you’d like to see her, she lives on as a war memorial in Muskogee, Oklahoma. We’re pretty proud of her.

http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b3/batfish-i.htm

All Glory is Redeemed…

Today in History, December 21: 1945 –

“For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph – a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A SLAVE STOOD BEHIND THE CONQUEROR, HOLDING A GOLDEN CROWN, AND WHISPERING IN HIS EAR A WARNING: THAT ALL GLORY IS REDEEMED.” Closing lines of the movie “Patton”.

On this day in 1945 Gen. George S. Patton dies of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Germany. Patton was a brilliant tactician and leader, but often a contentious figure. It probably WAS just an accident, but speculation continues about whether it really was an accident, or whether Patton’s comments about America’s response, or lack thereof, to Communist aggression after WWII led to his demise.

I would like to think the consummate warrior had served his purpose was called home.