A picture taken a day after the attacks.

Thanks to Col Clarence E. Becker for finding these photos.

This was a night incendiary mission involving 32 planes from the 6th Bomb Group:

The second “Blitz” mission came soon afterward on the night of 11-12 March. The target: Nagoya. Thirty-two aircraft dropped incendiaries visually with excellent results. No fighter opposition harassed the formations and all planes returned safely to North Field, except one. It landed at Iwo Jima and marked the first use of that island as an emergency field by the Sixth.

[Pirate’s Log, pp. 32-33]

20th Af Mission 41

Date:11 March 1945
Code Name:Microscope #2
Target:Nagoya Urban Area
Participating Units:73rd Bombardment Wing
313th B.W.
314th B.W.
Number of A/C Airborne:310
% A/C Bombing Primary:92% (285 primary, 0 Secondary and 6 last Resort and Opportunity)
Type of Bombs and Fuzes:
Tons of Bombs Dropped:
Time Over Primary:120119K – 120417K
Altitude of Attack:5,100 – 8,500
Weather Over Target:2/10
Total A/C Lost:1
Resume of Mission:394,660 square feet destroyed of Target 1729 and 56,892,000 square feet (1300 acres or 2.05 square miles) of urban area destroyed. Nineteen aircraft non-effective. One aircraft ditched just after take off. Enemy fighter opposition weak – 47 attacks no claims, AA heavy, meager to intense, generally inaccurate. Average bomb load 13,880 lbs. 73rd Wing, 13,695 lbs, 313th Wing and 9,827 lbs. 314th Wing. Average gas reserve 920 gallons.