"patrick" <
patm216140.090.500.125@gmail.com> wrote in message news:
e9d18a41-d0b1-43d8-b721-352d674feb0bn@googlegroups.com...
Does anyone have knowledge of Japan's first thoughts when finding out
about the b29 superfortress and how they were going to counter it? TIA , regards, Pat
Try finding a copy of Japan's War by Edwin Hoyt.
First encounter was on 26 April 1944, over Burma.
The publicity the B-29 received made the Japanese Command
well aware that B-san was coming well before then. Japanese
engineers confirmed the claimed performance was possible.
The northern summer of 1943 saw Japanese operations in China
to take airfields the new bombers might use.
13 June 1944 was the first raid on Japan, but at night. That
seems to be the first time the public was told something.
However the early raids were largely ineffective.
Japan began evacuating citizens from the cities, then industries.
Imperial Headquarters of course kept the public line of the
bombing was something like impossible. Meantime fire breaks
were being made in Tokyo.
A shot down B-29 was placed on public display in Tokyo.
The Japanese public was informed about the B-29 reconnaissance
sortie over Japan on 1 November 1944.
The Japanese people were being assured lots of B-29s were
being destroyed by bombing the B-29 bases. The fighter
defences in Japan were increased as was radar coverage,
by end November ramming tactics were an accepted standard
procedure.
Then in 1945 came the decision to not intercept but hold the
forces to oppose the invasion.
Geoffrey Sinclair
Remove the nb for email.
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