Comes with a hand-signed C.O.A.

*THE VERY LAST B-29 SUPERFORTRESS AERIAL BOMBING MISSION OF WORLD WAR II

Size: 10 X 10 inches

This incredibly rare, museum-grade WWII artifact is a Type One original aerial raid mission photograph from the 20th Air Force, 444th Bombardment Group, 676th Bombardment Squadron taken from the open bomb bay of a USAAF B-29 Superfortress during the squadron’s final mission against the Hikari Naval Arsenal, Japan, on August 14, 1945—the day before Japan’s surrender.

Despite the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, Japan did not immediately surrender. As a result, U.S. Air Force bombing campaigns on mainland Japan continued until August 15, 1945, when Japan finally capitulated.

Hikari Naval Arsenal was a naval arsenal located in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It opened on October 1, 1940. It produced steel, engines, cannon, torpedoes, and bombs for the Imperial Japanese Navy. The raid was reported to have taken place after Emperor Hirohito had begun his surrender message to the Japanese people. It was carried out by the XXI Bomber Command, classified as Mission 325. Its target code was "Thunderhead”.

What makes this WWII artifact exceptionally rare is that it captures the very last U.S. Air Force B-29 mission against mainland Japan during World War II. This photograph is not only an incredibly rare piece of WWII history but also a one-of-a-kind testament to the final day of the conflict.

444th Bombardment Group:

During World War II, the 444th Bombardment Group was a United States Army Air Forces combat organization. The group was the first Boeing B-29 Superfortress Group formed for the 58th Bombardment Wing, and served in the China Burma India Theater and Pacific Ocean Theater as part of the Twentieth Air Force. The group's aircraft engaged in very heavy bombardment operations against Japan. The group received the Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat operations on three occasions.

In the spring of 1945 the 444th and the other groups of the 58th wing moved to Tinian in the Marianas in order to continue operations against Japan. It participated in the bombing of strategic objectives, strategic mining of the Inland Sea and in incendiary on urban areas for the duration of the war. It received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for attacking oil storage facilities at Oshima, bombing an aircraft plant near Kobe, and dropping incendiaries on Nagoya in May 1945. The wing struck light metal industries at Osaka in July 1945, receiving a third Distinguished Unit Citation for this action. The group's final mission was flown against Hikari, Japan on 14 August 1945, the day before the Japanese surrender.