The was part of the strategic bombing campaign waged by the

United States of America 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 territo ...

against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of World War II.

Background

Although the city of Toyokawa was not a major population center, it had a major target of military significance: the one of the largest in the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

, which produced 7.7 mm machine guns, 13 mm and 20 mm aircraft cannon and 25 mm anti-aircraft cannon and associated munitions for 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 surrender ...

. By February 1945, the facility had 56,400 workers and covered an area of 330

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s. 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 largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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 2. ...

also ran through the city.

Air raids

Despite its obvious military significance, Toyokawa was not bombed until the very late stages of World War II. On 1 November 1944, a small scale air raid occurred. This was followed on 23 November by a midnight fly-over by a lone camera-equipped

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 Fl ...

on a reconnaissance mission. However, a major air raid did not occur until the morning of 7 August 1945. During this attack, 135 B-29 Superfortress bombers of the USAAF

20th Air Force The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. 20 AF's primary mission is Interc ...

, 58th 73rd, 313th, and 314th Bombardment Wings launched 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 ...

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

and Tinian. They were joined by 48

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

escort fighters deployed from

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. Arriving over the target area at 10:13 AM, twelve B-29s bombed the Toyokawa Naval Arsenal, while the remaining bombers concentrated on Toyokawa's civilian population center, and the P-51s strafed targets of opportunity. A total of 3,256 500-lb bombs (813 tons) was dropped on the city from an altitude of 15,000–17,000 feet.Bradley. ''No Strategic Targets Left''. Civilian casualty estimates range from 2,544 to 2,677 people killed. Victims included 452 schoolchildren and teenaged girls, some of whom had been conscripted and many of whom had volunteered to work at the Naval Arsenal. Japanese anti-aircraft fire damaged 21 B-29s during the raid, one of which crashed into the ocean near Iwo Jima. There were no American fatalities. Another B-29 lost course and dropped its bombs on the rural village of Futamata (now part of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka). After the war, a memorial monument was erected within the grounds of

Toyokawa Inari , popularly known as Toyokawa Inari (''shinjitai'': 豊川稲荷; ''kyūjitai'': 豐川稲荷), is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist temple located in the city of Toyokawa in eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Although the temple's main image is that of t ...

temple. Several other memorials exist at various locations around Toyokawa City.

References

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Notes

External links

9th Bomb Group History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toyokawa History of Aichi Prefecture

Toyokawa is a city in the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 183,930 in 72,949 households, and a population density of 1,141 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Toyokawa, famous for its Toyoka ...

Japan in World War II

1945 in Japan Japan–United States military relations Toyokawa, Aichi

Background

Air raids

See also

References

Notes

External links