VERY RARE! WWII B-29 Superfortress USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing “RESTRICTED” Sendai Mission Target Map
VERY RARE! WWII B-29 Superfortress USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing “RESTRICTED” Sendai Mission Target Map
Comes with a hand-signed C.O.A.
This extremely rare and museum-grade WWII USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing “RESTRICTED” U.S. Army Air Force combat aerial mission map was used during the infamous Bombing of Sendai in World War II (仙台空襲, Sendai-kūshū) on July 10, 1945, was part of the strategic bombing campaign waged by the United States against the civilian population and military targets during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of World War II.
Marked “RESTRICTED” for maps used in the combat area, this map of “SENDAI - HONSHU - JAPAN” was created on May 25, 1945, as a photo-reconnaissance B-29 overflew Sendai at an altitude of 8000 feet, compiling a detailed map of the downtown area of the city. On July 10, 1945, another B-29 made an over flight of Sendai, this time dropping propaganda leaflets warning the residents of the city of its imminent destruction.
On July 9, 1945, 131 B-29 bombers from the USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing launched from Tinian island in the Marianas. Several aircraft turned back due to mechanical problems, and 123 aircraft arrived over the target at an altitude of 10,000 feet at just after midnight in the early morning of July 10, 1945. The bombers split into 25 groups of between two and five aircraft each to carpet bomb the densely packed residential center of the city with 10,961 incendiary bombs. The resultant firestorm destroyed most of the historic center of city. A five square kilometer portion of the center of the city was destroyed, with 11,933 residences burned (approximately 23% of the city). Also lost in the bombing were a number of cultural treasures, include the structures of Sendai Castle, and the Zuihoden mausoleum of Date Masamune. On the other hand, the large Sendai Arsenal, and the structures of the IJA 2nd Division were untouched by the air raid.