BOMBING JAPAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25172, 9 April 1945, Page 5

BOMBING JAPAN

TOKYO AND NAGOYA GREATEST ASSAULT MADE (Reed. 9.15 p.m.) WASHINGTON, April 8 A very large force of Super-Fortresses from the Marianas made a daylight attack on Honshu on Friday, reports a Twentieth Air Force communique. They struck at industrial targets in Tokyo and Nagoya. Seventh Air Force fighters participated in the mission. It is officially disclosed that the attack was the greatest assault so far against Japan. Over 300 bombers, escorted by fighters, rained incendiaries on the Xakajima Musashino aircraft engine works in Tokyo and the Mitsubishi aircraft plant in Nagoya. Mustangs shot down 21 interceptors and probably destroyed six and damaged ten. Two Mustangs were lost. The Twentieth Air Force announced that the Super-Fortresses shot down 64 and probably destroyed 31 enemy planes. Air opposition and flak were intense over the targets. Five Super-Fortresses were lost due to enemy action. According to the Tokyo radio, about 100 Super-Fortresses and nearly 40 Mustangs raided Tokyo and Yokohama for an hour and a-half, beginning at 9.30 a.m. The Mustangs bombed and strafed West Tokyo, while the Super-Fortresses attacked military objectives. It was the first time land-based fighters had attacked Japan The Mustangs are believed to be based on Iwo Jim a. A substantial force of Super-Fort-resses based in the Marianas attacked military targets in_ the Kanoya area, the southernmost tip of Japan, today, says a Twentieth Air Force communique.