Evening star., 1945-05-27
Pearl Hurbor's Harvest

LdGe ldSG week, WlIlllll pcI1OO VI
less than 48 hours-in the Shina-
gawa and Marunouchi districts
Tokyo was scared and blackened by
more than $500 tons of fire bombs.
Yesterday, with the inferno still
raging, with high winds expanding
it's terrible, all-consuming dimen-
sions, the japanese themselves de-
clared that their capital was being
literally scorched to the ground.
This is air warfare of a magnitude
as awesome as anything that ever
struck Germany, and owing to
Japan's unique urban congestion
and infiammability, it probably
represents the most destructive
thing of it's kind yet seen in the
history of the world. Indeed, to
the japanese the earthquake of
1923, in which over a third of Tokyo
and the whole of Yokohama were
destroyed, must begin to seem almost
mild by comparison.
The blow against the Shinagawa
area was delivered by the largest
force of B-29s ever to take part in
a single mission-a total in excess of
$50. The Marunouchi strike, follow
ing Immediately after, was only
slightly less heavy. being carried out
by force of about 500 of the giant
bombers. Stated another way, the
weight of this double assault. in
which more than 100000 incendi-
aries were unleashed. was roughly
equivalent to two attacks on Ger
many by an armada of 1000 Britain
based Flying Fortresses or LIBERIA
tors.
These statistics speak pretty much
for themselves: On the basis Of what
we already know from f1rst-hand in
spection of blasted targets in Europe,
and on the basis of the enemy's
own frightened admissions, it is
obvious that our air power is in
hicting injuries of the gravest sort
on Japan'S industrial potential and
on it's transportation System-not to
mention what must be happening
to Japanese housing and morale.
And all this, as the Tokyo war lords
well realize, is merely the foretaste,
the prologue in miniature, of what
is yet to come.
Up to now, in carrying out such
strikes as those against Shinagawa
and Marunouchi. our Super For
tresses have had to make round-trip
flights of more than 5000 miles from
their bases in the Marianas. But this
is not going to be the case much
longer. Presumably they will con-
tinue to operate from Tinian. Saipan
and Guam, but in addition-in the
not too distant future-O Okinawa will
be available. It is not hard to under
stand why the Japanese have striven
so desperately and so suicidally to
hold on to this key island of the
Ryukyus. The place is only 1926 miles
from Japan proper. More than that,
in itself, it can accommodate as
many B-29s as all the Marianas COM
bined, or else it can be used as base
for literally thousands of Flying For
tresses, Liberators, medium bombers
and long-range fighter planes. In
fact, Okinawa-especially from the
standpoint of air power-is to be far
and away our most formidable ad-
vance position in the Pacific, and
work to this end has already been
started by our Army and Navy con-
struction forces.
With this enormously important
island in our hands. together with
other islands like Two Jima, the
aerial offensive against the japanese
both in their homeland and on
the Asiatic mainland as wells
bound to grow increasingly devastat-
ing. More and more from now on,
there will be more and more of
everything-more and more bombers
and more and more fighters to escort
them-and already. from the Ma
rianas alone, our B-29s are capable
of dropping over $500 tons of in
cendiaries within less than 48 hours.
1t is prospect that should give all
of Japan nervous prostration. It is
a prospect clearly indicating that
air warfare in the Pacific is entering
a phase in which it will dwarf even
that which did so much to ring the
curtain down on Germany-a fact
confirmed by the official announce
ment that in the coming year the
japanese will quiver and writhe
under the weight of two and half
times as many tons of bombs as
were unloaded on the Nazis in the
last twelve months of the war in
Europe. What a harvest the Tokyo
militarists sowed when they struck
Pearl Harbor and inflamed the easy
going American giant!