The Japanese city of Yahata (which was incorporated into the larger city of Kitakyushu in 1963) was subjected to three major air raids during

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 ...

, part of the U.S. strategic bombing campaign. The first raid took place on the night of 15/16 June 1944. This was the first attack on the Japanese home islands by

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 ...

bombers since the

Doolittle Raid The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japa ...

of 1942. The city was next attacked during the day and night of 20 August 1944. These two attacks caused little damage to the city's industrial facilities. The third raid was conducted on 8 August 1945 and resulted in 21 percent of Yahata's urban area being destroyed. The third raid may have spared nearby

Kokura is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu with its suburb Moji. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen li ...

from destruction, as Kokura was to be the primary target for the second atomic bomb the following day, but smoke from the fires in Yahata combined with cloud cover decreased visibility to the point that the secondary target of

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

was bombed instead.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yawata World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre Japan in World War II Japan campaign World War II strategic bombing of Japan Japan–United States military relations Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki