Deadliest bombing raid ever

9th March 1945: Tokyo residents are sucked into a devastating firestorm as B-29s overwhelm Japanese defences in Operation Meetinghouse

B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers releasing incendiary cluster bombs.

With a pressurised cabin, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated bomber yet produced. Its development cost more than the Manhattan Project atomic programme.

In November 1944, the USAAF's largest bomber, the B-29 Superfortress, became operational from airfields on the Marianna Islands and was now within range of Tokyo. Previously, they operated from bases in China, which did not allow them to reach the Japanese capital. At first, the bombers used conventional high-explosive bombs from high altitudes. By March 1945, they had switched to a higher proportion of napalm incendiary bombs, released from a lower altitude at night, a tactic designed to both overcome the weak Japanese nightime air defences and maximise the destruction of the mainly wooden buildings in Japan.