ZONA PERANG (zonaperang.com) – November 22, 1944: the U.S. launches the first B-29 raid on Tokyo. The attack marks the start of a 264-day bombing campaign against the Japanese capital that leaves 200,000 dead and more than a million homeless.
- On 1 November, an F-13 photo reconnaissance variant of the B-29 from the 3d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron overflew Tokyo
- XXI Bomber Command’s initial attacks against Japan were focused on the country’s aircraft industry
- The first attack, codenamed Operation San Antonio I, was made against the Musashino aircraft plant in the outskirts of Tokyo.
- Only 24 of the 111 B-29s dispatched attacked the primary target, and the others bombed port facilities as well as industrial and urban areas. The Americans were intercepted by 125 Japanese fighters but only one B-29 was shot down.