This was a night incendiary mission involving 29 planes from the 6th Bomb Group:
Yokkaichi was next on the list of secondary industrial cities scheduled for the same incendiary raids which had virtually eliminated large cities such as Tokyo as B-29 targets. The city of Yokkaichi, lying twenty miles southwest of Nagoya, was attacked on the night of 17-18 June with twenty-nine planes bombing individually and dropping a total of 231 tons of incendiaries. Enemy opposition was negligible with no fighter attacks and anti-aircraft fire from automatic weapons only. Photographs later showed 59 per cent of the city’s built-up area burned out by 313th Wing raiders.
[Pirate’s Log, p. 47]
20th AF Mission 209
| ate: | 17 June 1945 |
| Target: | Yokkaichi Urban Area (90.20) |
| Participating Units: | 313th BW |
| Number of A/C Airborne: | 94 |
| % A/C Bombing Primary: | 92.56% (89 aircraft) |
| Type of Bombs and Fuzes: | AN-M17A1 E-46 (500lb. clusters set to open at 5,000ft. above target) AN-M47A2 (100-lb. incendiary bombs, instantaneous nose) |
| Tons of Bombs Dropped: | 709.8 tons on Primary and 12.7 tons on Opportunity. |
| Time Over Primary: | 141255K – 141319K |
| Altitude of Attack: | 15,800 – 18,500 |
| Weather Over Target: | 0/10 – 5/10 |
| Total A/C Lost: | 0 |
| Resume of Mission: | Strike photos showed excellent results, with numerous hits on the target. All bombing was visual. Five A/C were non-effective. P-38s and P-47s gave support. Flak was heavy, moderate, generally accurate and continuously pointed. Forty B-29s landed at Iwo Jima and 1 at Okinawa. Average bomb load: 14,370 lbs. Average fuel reserve: 596 gallons. |
