The was part of the

strategic bombing Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematica ...

campaign waged by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing states of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Background

Although the city of Okazaki was not a major population center and had no major targets of military significance, it was a

satellite town Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have m ...

supporting the metropolis of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

. The

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

railway connecting

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

with

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

also ran through the city, and it became one of the 57 regional population centers added to the list of targets by General

Curtis LeMay Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was an American Air Force general who implemented a controversial strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theater of World War II. He later served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air ...

in June 1945 following the destruction of Japan's main cites.

Air raids

On July 19, 1945, 126

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 F ...

bombers of the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

20th Air Force, 314th Bombardment Wing departed from

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

in the Mariana Islands. On the same day, air raids were also launched against Fukui, Hitachi, and

Chōshi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,174 in 27,160 households and a population density of 700 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Chōshi is located in the northea ...

. The B-29s arrived over target at Okazaki after midnight on June 20, 1945, and found the target mostly obscured by clouds. Bombing commenced at 0052 hours from an altitude of 3900 meters, and a total of 12,506

Incendiary bomb Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, t ...

s were dropped on the city, destroying most of the city center. The Okazaki city hall survived the attack; however at 1230 hours, a flight of

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...

fighters strafed civilians lined up at the city hall awaiting emergency medical treatment. The estimated total civilian casualties were 203 people killed, 13 missing, 32,068 injured with 7312 houses destroyed and 230 houses partially destroyed. The bombing rendered about one third of the city's population homeless. The

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...

’s Okazaki Air Field and a large textile plant owned by

Nisshinbo Industries is a Japanese company formerly listed on the Nikkei 225. It has a diverse line of businesses that include electronics, automobile brakes, mechatronics, chemicals, textiles, papers and real estate. History Nisshinbo was established in 1907 as ...

were undamaged in the attack, which was aimed solely at the destruction of the city's civilian population. A year after the war, the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Strategic Bombing Survey (Pacific War) The United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) was a written report created by a board of experts assembled to produce an impartial assessment of the effects of the Anglo-American strategic bombing of Nazi Germany during the European theatre o ...

reported that 32.2 percent of the city had been destroyed.Wainstock. The ''Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb''. Page 9

References

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External links

Pacific War Chronology

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okazaki History of Aichi Prefecture Okazaki, Aichi Okazaki Japan in World War II Okazaki Okazaki World War II strategic bombing of Japan 1945 in Japan Firebombings in Japan Japan–United States military relations

Background

Air raids

See also

References

External links

Notes