Comes with C.O.A.

*Allied forces conducted many air raids on Japan during World War II, causing extensive destruction to the country's cities and killing between 241,000 and 900,000 people. During the first years of the Pacific War these attacks were limited to the Doolittle Raid in April 1942 and small-scale raids on military positions in the Kuril Islands from mid-1943. Strategic bombing raids began in June 1944 and continued until the end of the war in August 1945. Allied naval and land-based tactical air units also attacked Japan during 1945.

Dated 1942 and titled "SADO ISLAND - JAPAN” this incredible double-sided ‘ADVANCED EDITION’ Aeronautical Chart was used for aerial navigation of the U.S. Army Air Force during WWII. Printed in November 1942 this map was constructed a short 7 months following the US military’s first strike on the Japanese mainland following the Pearl Harbor attack. This map would have been used in some of the earliest bombing raids on missions on Honshu and the Japanese mainland.

Prepared under the direction of the Commanding General of the Army Air Force this map is marked ‘RESTRICTED’ while being used in the theater of operation as it contains sensitive information wartime information such as Allied air radio frequencies, vital defense areas, and the location of military facilities. While participating in combat operation missions this map would have been used for the navigation to aerial bombardment targets, aerial reconnaissance, strike attacks, search and rescue missions, transport operations, etc.

The Allied bombing campaign was one of the main factors which influenced the Japanese government's decision to surrender in mid-August 1945. However, there has been a long-running debate over the morality of the attacks on Japanese cities, and the use of atomic weapons is particularly controversial. The most commonly cited estimate of Japanese casualties from the raids is 333,000 killed and 473,000 wounded. There are a number of other estimates of total fatalities, however, which range from 241,000 to 900,000. In addition to the loss of mostly civilian life, the raids contributed to a large decline in industrial production.