Operation Meetinghouse

Operation Meetinghouse was a bombing attack by the United States against Japan on the night between the 9th and 10th of March 1945. American bombers dropped firebombs without a specific target on the Japanese city of Tokyo. These firebombs created a huge firestorm which killed over 100,000 people and destroyed the homes of about 1 million more people. It is notable for being the most deadly attack from the air in world history. The attack was a change in strategy for the United States, which had previously only attacked from the air during the day, focusing on specific buildings.

Operation Meetinghouse
Part of World War II
Date 9-10 March 1945 Location Tokyo, Japan
Belligerents
United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Curtis Lemay	Shizuichi Tanaka
Units involved
21st USAAF Bomber Command	Around 638 antiaircraft guns 90 fighter planes Tokyo firefighters
Casualties and losses
14 aircraft destroyed 96 aircrew killed or missing	90,000 to 100,000 killed (most common estimates) Over one million without homes 267,171 buildings destroyed

Operation Meetinghouse Media

• A road passing through a part of Tokyo that was destroyed in the 10 March 1945 air raid

• Martin-Omaha B-29-30-MO Superfortress 42-65369 Black Sheep 19th BW 93 BS.jpg

  A B-29 dropping conventional bombs over Japan. The bombs are being scattered by the wind, a common occurrence which made precision bombing difficult.

• M69 6-pound Napalm Incendiary Bomb, Niigata Prefectural Museum of History.jpg

  Two M69 incendiary cluster bombs on display at the Niigata Prefectural Museum of History

• US Strategic Bombing of Tokyo 1944-1945.png

  A map showing the areas of Tokyo that were destroyed during the Pacific War. The area burned out during the raid on 9/10 March is marked in black.

• A USAAF reconnaissance photograph of Tokyo taken on 10 March 1945. Part of the area destroyed by the raid is visible at the bottom of the image.

• Photo-TokyoAirRaids-1945-3-10-Destroyed Nakamise-4.png

  The ruins of Nakamise-dōri in Asakusa after the raid

• Tokyo kushu 1945-3.jpg

  Charred remains of Japanese civilians after the raid

• Tokyo kushu 1945-2.jpg

  The charred body of a woman who was carrying a child on her back

• Photo-TokyoAirRaids-1945-3-10-Ueno Dead Bodies.png

  The bodies of victims laid out in Ueno Park

• Photo-TokyoAirRaids-1945-3-10-Honjo Drowned Bodies.png

  Bodies floating in the Oyoko River