Japan Thought B-29s Couldn't Reach Tokyo — Americans Built Bases On 'Useless' Islands скачать в хорошем качестве

Japan Thought B-29s Couldn't Reach Tokyo — Americans Built Bases On 'Useless' Islands

Japan's Fatal Miscalculation: How "Useless" Islands Destroyed Their Empire In 1943, Japan believed 1,500 miles of Pacific Ocean made them invulnerable to American bombing. They were catastrophically wrong. This is the untold story of how American forces transformed three "worthless" volcanic islands into the most important bomber bases in history—and burned 66 Japanese cities to the ground. Discover how Navy Seabees built the world's busiest airfields on coral and volcanic rock in just 4 months, how B-29 crews flew 14-hour combat missions to reach Tokyo, and why capturing Iwo Jima saved 24,000 American aircrew lives. 📚 Key Facts Covered: Why Japanese planners dismissed the Mariana Islands How B-29 Superfortresses changed strategic bombing Operation Forager: 30,000 American casualties Seabee construction miracles under fire Curtis LeMay's controversial low-altitude tactics Tokyo firebombing: March 9-10, 1945 66 Japanese cities destroyed in 5 months This documentary reveals the engineering, logistics, and human cost behind America's strategic bombing campaign—and how geography, not just technology, won the air war against Japan. #ww2history #ww2 #worldwar2 #worldwar2history #navalhistory #ww2secrets #wwii SOURCES Primary Military Archives: National Archives - Records of the Army Air Forces (Record Group 18) Naval History and Heritage Command - Seabee Museum Archives Air Force Historical Research Agency - Twenty-First Bomber Command Records Marine Corps History Division - Operation Forager Action Reports Unit Histories and After-Action Reports: 5. XXI Bomber Command Tactical Mission Reports, March-August 1945 6. 73rd Bombardment Wing Operations Reports, Saipan 1944-1945 7. Sixth Naval Construction Brigade War Diary, 1944-1945 8. 2nd and 4th Marine Division Action Reports, Saipan and Tinian Technical Manuals and Specifications: 9. Boeing B-29 Superfortress Flight Manual (AN 01-20EJ-1) 10. Navy Construction Battalion Operations Manual, 1944 Official Histories: 11. "The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume 5: The Pacific - Matterhorn to Nagasaki" (1953) 12. U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, "Effects of Air Attack on Japanese Urban Economy" (1947) 13. Samuel Eliot Morison, "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas" (1953) Scholarly Works: 14. Barrett Tillman, "Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan, 1942-1945" (2010) 15. Kenneth P. Werrell, "Blankets of Fire: U.S. Bombers over Japan during World War II" (1996) 16. E.B. Potter, "Nimitz" (1976) 17. Thomas M. Coffey, "Iron Eagle: The Turbulent Life of General Curtis LeMay" (1986) Statistical Data: 18. U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, Pacific Theatre Reports (1946-1947) 19. Japanese Monograph No. 85, "Homeland Air Defense Operations Record" 20. Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC) Final Report (1947)