The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Strategic Bombing of Japan

On November 24, the first true strategic air strike on Tokyo commenced. Out of 100, only one B-29 was lost over Japan, due to a collision with an enemy fighter, and one ditched on the way home. The survival rate, however, did not reflect the difficulty American crews experienced over Tokyo. The jet stream, a sub stratospheric band of high velocity wind, hurled a 150-mph tailwind at the high-flying Superforts. This translated into a 445-mph ground speed-too fast for the bombardiers to accurately aim their bombs. This natural force threatened to disrupt all high-altitude precision bombing.

The Japanese, meanwhile, did not take the attacks lightly; after stiffening their defenses, they struck back. Attacking from Truk and Iwo Jima, Japanese short- and medium-range bombers inflicted only light damage on the B-29 strips but made their point. Iwo Jima was attacked, and the Navy was enlisted to help the vulnerable B-29s. The Japanese attacks faded away with the capture of Iwo Jima, but still the B-29s were hampered by the jet stream. One way to lessen its effects was to come in from the west instead of the east, but the crews balked at the very prospect. If they made this deviation, Japanese anti-aircraft and fighter crews would be able to predict their flight plans and subsequently adjust. Hansell's B-29 crews tried their best but were still unable to hit the Musashino factory.

American losses were beginning to pile up as well, with the Japanese becoming more aggressive and better able to predict the raids. Determined to change his luck, Hansell attacked the Mitsubishi Aircraft Works at Nagoya on December 13. Four Superfortresses were shot down and 31 were damaged, in exchange for one-fifth of the plant's roof being blown in. The production rate decreased from 1,600 engines to 1,200 engines per month, and some 246 workmen were killed. Despite the mission's partial success, Hansell was displeased with the performance of his crews. Two more bombing raids were carried out before the end of 1944, both ending in failure. One thing did come out of those attacks: the first operational use of incendiary bombs as a strategic weapon. Although the initial strategic bombing missions did not produce any noticeable triumphs, it was the beginning of the end for Imperial Japan.

The first year of B-29 operations over Japan was disappointing. One hundred eighty-eight men were lost during those operations, 116 of them at sea. The Superfortresses had dropped 1,550 tons of explosives during seven missions, but only one bomb in 50 hit within 1,000 feet of the aiming point. Only Nagoya had been damaged, and the Musashino factory in Tokyo was still unscathed. The losses produced low morale among American bomber crews, which-combined with the disappointing results of missions to date-nearly convinced the high command to cancel the whole thing. General Arnold complained: "Some airplanes naturally must be ditched .... The B-29 [however] cannot be treated in the same way as we treat a fighter, a medium bomber or even a Flying Fortress. We must consider the B-29 more in terms of a naval vessel, and we do not lose naval vessels in threes and fours without a very thorough analysis of the causes."

Hansell tried incendiaries once more, burning a 140,000-square-foot area of Tokyo, but losing five B-29s in the process. By January 6, 1945, a replacement for the brigadier was on the way in the form of Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay. Before LeMay arrived, Hansell raided Musashino once more. Only 18 planes were able to drop their bombs, scoring 24 hits, and six B-29s were lost. Despite those terrible figures, Hansell flew one last raid over the Kawasaki Aircraft factory at Akashi, near the city of Kobe. With good weather on their side, 62 B-29s bombed the target from 25,000 to 27,000 feet, much lower than previously attempted. Hansell felt the added risk of anti-aircraft fire and fighter interception was worth the possible benefits. The damage inflicted cut plant production by 90 percent. A final touch of success was the return of every single B-29 from that raid. Hansell was able to leave on a high note.

Curtiss LeMay

Now General LeMay, veteran of the European theater and the commander of B-29s in China, took charge. LeMay immediately decided to fly the B-29s under the jet stream, instead of through it, a decision reached because of Hansell's experience during his last mission. Despite this change in technique, the Superfortresses continued to do little damage and take unacceptable casualties. Opening a new campaign in February 1945, LeMay gave orders that bomb-loads include a mixture of incendiaries and fragmentation bombs. The target was Kobe, a major shipyard city, but on the day of the raid a fog obscured it. Despite the weather, 159 tons of firebombs and 13 tons of high explosives were dropped and produced incredible results. One thousand buildings were destroyed and two shipyards severely damaged. One B-29 was lost and 35 suffered battle damage. Hoping to add to that success, LeMay launched a strike on the Nakajima plant at Ota. But only seven incendiaries and 97 general purpose bombs, of which 47 were duds, hit the target area. Consistent success continued to elude the B-29 Superfortress and the bombing campaign.

On February 19, 1945, the Marines attacked Iwo Jima. The capture of the island was the costliest operation in the Corps' illustrious history. The Japanese killed nearly 7,000 American Marines before relinquishing the island, but LeMay viewed the sacrifice as necessary. Robert Nathans, vice president for the Safety Research Institute, which made a postwar study of the fire damage to Japan, commented, "[The strategic air offensive] would not have been possible without the bloody amphibious campaign of island-hopping that eventually provided the bases in the Marianas and Iwo Jima's emergency landing fields that saved hundreds of B-29s and their crews from watery graves." Iwo Jima was not only a place for B-29s to land when damaged but also a forward base for escorting North American P-51 Mustang fighters. By March 26, Japanese resistance on the tiny island had ended and the airfield had been completed. From then on, B-29s and escorting fighters would land and take off from Iwo Jima until the end of the war.

With the invasion of Japan looming ahead, American military planners were impressed by the ferocity and stubbornness of Iwo Jima's defenders. They were also shocked by the small number of prisoners taken and the intensity of the fighting after weeks of pre-invasion bombardment. Estimates of American casualties in an attack on the Japanese home islands escalated to about 1 million men. It appeared that successful strategic bombing might be the only way to bring about Japan's surrender without a costly invasion. American planners rested their hopes on convincing the Japanese leadership that their cities could be destroyed in a single attack. It appeared only logical that the Japanese would then surrender.

LeMay, still frustrated by the failure of the B-29s, decided that another change of tactics was needed. LeMay conceded that there were certain things-such as the jet stream and bad weather-that he could not change. But the readiness of his men for combat was a different story, and he began intensive training programs for the bomber crews. He once even made them bomb an uninhabited island at an altitude of 50 feet. All of his training efforts would culminate in the spring of 1945, when LeMay began to experiment extensively with a substance called napalm. Developed by DuPont and Standard Oil chemical companies, napalm was a compound of jellied gasoline that stuck to almost anything, set hot fires and burned slowly enough to spread. It worked voraciously against wood and paper, the staple construction materials of the Japanese cities.

Due to weather conditions, B-29s were forced to drop their bombs at 25,000 feet in an early napalm strike. The attack burned down a square mile of Tokyo. LeMay believed that if the B-29s flew lower and carried heavier bombloads, they would finally be able to bring Japan to its knees. He wanted to send the planes in at 10,000 feet or even lower, but there were serious doubts about survivability at that altitude. LeMay wrote, "A lot of people will tell me that flesh and blood can't stand it. Maybe they'll be right." He went even further to increase bombloads and speed by taking out the bomb bay fuel tanks and removing all guns and their respective operators except for the tail defense. Many observers called LeMay crazy, and militarily it was a dangerous calculated risk. With this new strategy, LeMay sent his crews to strike Tokyo on the night of March 9, 1945.

The 334 Superfortresses flew at altitudes ranging from 4,900 feet to 9,200 feet above their target. The first planes, the pathfinders, converged over the city on an intersecting course, dropping one napalm bomb every 100 feet over the targeted area. As a result, the following bombers saw their target in flames, with a burning X scrawled upon the city. For three hours waves of B-29s unleashed their cargo upon the dense city below. The fires raged out of control in little less than 30 minutes, aided by a 28 mph wind. Even the water in the rivers reached the boiling point. The fire was so intense that it created updrafts that tossed the gigantic B-29s around as if they were feathers. Although 14 B-29s were lost and 42 damaged, the toll they inflicted was enormous.

Officially the Japanese listed 83,793 killed and 40,918 injured. A total of 265,171 buildings were destroyed, and 15.8 square miles of the city were burned to ashes. It was the greatest urban disaster, man-made or natural, in all history. And there would be no respite for the suffering Japanese people in the days that followed the March 9 attack on Tokyo. Within 10 days, LeMay wiped out 32 square miles of Japanese cities, dozens of industrial targets and hundreds of feeder plants. While the damage increased, the number of American bombers lost decreased. The fatality rate of the bombers, once 5.7 percent, diminished to 1.3 percent. The war against Japan had taken a last brutal turn that would not end until the final surrender.

On April 11, 1945, the Okinawa campaign began in preparation for the final attack on Japan. The Navy requested support, and the B-29s were temporarily requisitioned away from strategic bombing. LeMay was forced to hit airfields to destroy the air flotillas of kamikazes that might strike the American fleet. Greatly displeased with orders to attack what he called "Target Nothing," LeMay tried to get out of the duty by complaining to General Arnold. The Navy answered simply that if the Army did not wish to help them now, then one day the tables might be turned. Arnold and the Army continued with the campaign against Okinawa, but a transfer of B-29s from China raised the number of Superfortresses in the Marianas to 700. That would be enough to suppress kamikaze airfields and hit the Japanese home cities at the same time.

By the end of April, 11 more square miles of inner city areas and six miles of the dock areas in Tokyo had perished in flames. Roughly 3 1/2 square miles of the factory town of Kawasaki were burned down, as well as 1 1/2 miles of adjacent Yokohama-a result of bombs that had overshot their target. The old Musashino factory, which had eluded Hansell, was now destroyed, not by fire but by a daylight raid with high-explosive bombs.

In the wake of this success came Operation Starvation, the mining of Japanese harbors to prevent supply ships from sailing into or out of the home ports. With 2,000 mines sown in the month of April alone, Operation Starvation effectively severed Japan's line of supplies. All but 12 of its previous 47 convoy routes had to be abandoned, with only shuttles between Japan and the Asian mainland remaining open. The B-29 was used to good effect as a minelayer. The fruit of its labor was 85 Japanese ships sunk, a total of 213,000 tons. Those numbers dwarfed the tonnage sunk by American submarines in April 1945.

The month of May saw a return to dedicated firebombing by the Superfortresses. Nagoya was gutted by fire, losing four square miles and the Mitsubishi aircraft assembly plant, which previously had been the largest factory in all of Japan. Tokyo was hit again. This time the targets were the financial, commercial and government districts. Again the incendiaries did their job with horrific results: 17 square miles of the capital were reduced to ashes. The attacks cut the size of Tokyo in half, destroying a total of 56 square miles. An order had directed that the raids avoid the area of the Imperial Palace, stating, "The Emperor of Japan is not at present a liability and may later become an asset." In one raid, however, Emperor Hirohito did nearly become a casualty of war.

Yokohama was firebombed at the end of May, and bombs wiped out nine square miles of its industrial and commercial area. Turning their attention toward the industrial complex along the coast of the Inland Sea, because the cities on the Pacific coast were no longer worth bombing, LeMay's Superfortresses targeted Osaka. They destroyed 136,107 houses and 4,222 factories, and inflicted 3,960 Japanese casualties. The bombing continued, and the Japanese tried desperately to defend themselves, but by now there was little they could do. Although superb fighters such as the Kawasaki Ki-61 managed to down a plane or two each raid, it was not enough. In a last-ditch response to the Superfortresses, the only plane ever designed solely for a kamikaze purpose was introduced: the Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka, or "Baka." This aircraft, unique in the annals of aviation, was rocket-powered and usually launched from a Mitsubishi G4M Betty bomber. Mostly, they failed in their attempts to crash into the B-29s, but at least one hit its target in spectacular fashion.

Once Okinawa was in American hands, the U.S. Pacific Fleet joined in the attack on the home islands with naval air power and shore bombardment. Japan was alone; Germany had already surrendered; and Adolf Hitler was dead. Almost all of Japan's conquests had been lost, and the Soviet Union was at last ready to declare war on Japan as well. Final defeat was inevitable, but still the Japanese would not surrender. Washington continued to draft plans for an amphibious landing on Kyushu, the southernmost of the Japanese home islands. With the projected 1 million American casualties still looming, American politicians wanted another solution to ending the war.

LeMay stepped up his attacks, hitting almost every target capable of producing arms or equipment. He began to drop leaflets over prospective targets in an attempt to save lives while continuing the material damage. The raids were now focused on smaller targets instead of large cities, which already had been devastated. These smaller targets suffered as well, many of them losing 50 percent or more of their area. Toyama, a small urban center of 128,000, suffered 100 percent destruction; hardly a building stood after the fires finally subsided. Speaking of the postwar destruction, Robert Nathans made his own appraisal of LeMay's efforts: "In the end, however, it must be underscored that the strategic air offensive was the only battle of the Japanese home islands .... When General Hap Arnold came to the Marianas in June 1945 he told the men of the Twentieth Air Force that a continuation of their operations would enable U.S. Army infantrymen to walk ashore in Japan with their rifles slung .... While the first troops walked through the ashes and rubble of Yokohama with their guns at the ready, there were no `incidents.' Fire had reduced the Japanese to a complete and abject surrender."

By the end of July 1945, LeMay was running out of targets to bomb. There were four cities, however, that remained undamaged. All four were strictly off limits to LeMay's Superfortresses and the Navy's aircraft as well. As the beginning of August neared, both LeMay and his crews were baffled by the fact that the cities of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Niigata and Kokura remained untouched. The reason would be made clear soon enough; the world was about to witness the awesome power of the atomic bomb.

"To the uninitiated, it may be stated without equivocation that it is a mighty long road from Saipan to Tokyo over a mighty wide and deep ocean. Cruising along, all alone except for occasional glimpses of running lights from other planes, the crews felt lonely and a million miles from nowhere. The flight plan called for each plane to fly by way of Iwo Jima, for by this time the Marines had the situation in hand on that little bit of Purgatory, and it furnished an excellent checkpoint."

"Landfall! The tip of the Chofu peninsula -- about 35 miles away -- was showing on the radar screen. ... Then a faint glow appears, looking like the very beginning of sunrise, quickly expanding into a bright orange reflection in the sky. The bombardier opens the doors and at the same time the plane plunges headlong into a huge column of acrid, black smoke. It is tossed around like a leaf, the turbulence is worse than a West Texas thunderstorm. Suddenly they are out of the smoke and there below lies a panorama out of Dante's Inferno, a huge, gushing, roaring fire licking its irresistible way through the heart of proud Tokyo."

Result of this mission: 17.2 square miles of Tokyo up in smoke, a reported 100,000 dead; 500th Group losses on mission, none.

"Mission complete."

-- Arthur Miller
500th Bombardment Group

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On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on March 21:
1466 French van Brederode leader Hoeksen
1474 Angela Merici Italian monastery founder/saint
1521 Mauritius duke/nice monarch of Saksen (1547-53)
1527 Hermann Finck composer
1609 Jan II Kazimierz cardinal/King of Poland (1648-68)
1624 François Roberday composer
1642 Georg Schmezer composer
1685 Johann Sebastian Bach Eisenach Germany, composer (Matthäus-Passion)
1708 Caspar Ruetz composer
1713 Francis Lewis signed Declaration of Independence
1716 Josef Ferdinand Norbert Seger composer
1763 Jean Paul writer
1765 Henry Fagel Dutch/English baron/diplomat
1768 Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier mathematician/Egyptologist
1779 Alexis Garaude composer
1806 Benito Pablo Juárez Oaxaca Mexico, President of México (1858-72)
1813 James Jesse Strang king of Mormons on Beaver Island MI (1850-56)
1816 Charlotte Bronte novelist/poet
1820 Frank Mori composer
1836 Jesus Monasterio composer
1839 Modest Mussorgsky composer (Boris Gudunov, Night on Bald Mountain)
1854 Alick A C Bannerman cricketer (brother of Charles, Australia 1878-1893)
1863 Hugo Kaun composer
1866 Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Maury astronomer
1869 Albert Kahn architect, originated modern factory design
1869 Florenz Ziegfeld producer (Ziegfield Follies)
1878 Thurlow Weed Lieurance composer
1880 Hans Hofmann German/US painter (Search for the Real)
1880 Wilhelm Pessler German sociologist
1881 Hermann Sandby composer
1882 Gilbert M Anderson [Max Aronson], Little Rock AR
1883 Jules van Nuffel composer
1884 George D Birkhoff US mathematician (Aesthetic measure)
1887 Edwin Scharff German "entartet" painter/sculptor
1891 Jonathan Hale actor (Saint's Double Trouble, Saint Strikes Back)
1893 Geoffrey Dearmer poet
19-- Ira Elliot rocker (RU Ready)
19-- Lorene Yarnell Los Angeles CA, mime (Shields & Yarnell)
19-- Robert Sweet rock drummer (Stryper-Against the Law)
1900 Eugenie Leontovitch Moscow Russia, actor (Homicidal)
1900 Paul Klecki/Kletzki Polish violinist/composer/conductor
1901 Carmelita Geraghty Rushville IN, actress (My Best Girl, Texas Ranger)
1901 Richard Leslie Hill historian
1902 Carl Jaffe Hamburg Germany, actor (1st Man in Space, Escapement)
1902 Eddie James "Son" House folk blues musician (Delta Blues)
1902 William Downie Forrest journalist
1904 Nikolaos Skalkottas composer
1905 Phyllis McGinley US, poet (Pulitzer 1961, Love Letters)
1906 John D Rockefeller III billionaire philanthropist (oil)
1908 Maurice Stans rocker
1910 Nick Castle Brooklyn NY, choreographer (Dinah Shore, Judy Garland)
1911 John Paxton screenwriter (On The Beach, Kotch, Farewell My Lovely)
1912 Peter Bull actor/author (Executioner, Tom Jones, Dr Strangelove)
1913 George Ghita Ionescu academic
1913 Max Youngstein New York NY, producer (United Artists)
1914 Herman Siles Zuazo politician
1914 Paul Tortelier composer
1916 Harold Robbins US, novelist (The Carpetbaggers) [or 0521]
1918 Howard Cosell Winston-Salem NC, sportscaster (Monday Night Football)
1918 Joe Carveth NHL forward (scored 20 or more goals in 3 seasons)
1919 Geoffrey Pinnington journalist
1919 Lois Collier Salley SC, actress (Mary-Boston Blackie, Slave Girl)
1921 Antony Hopkins composer
1921 Arthur Grumiaux Belgian violinist
1921 Logan Ramsey Long Beach CA, actor (Head, Joy Sticks, Say Yes)
1923 Mort Lindsey Newark NJ, orchestra leader (Merv Griffin Show)
1923 Philip Abbott Lincoln NE, actor (Arthur Ward-The FBI)
1924 Karl Heinz Fussl composer
1925 John E Grotberg (Representative-Republican-IL, 1985-86)
1925 Peter Brook London, director (1776)/TV writer
1926 André Delvaux Heverie Belgium, director/writer (Benvenuta)
1926 Virginia Weidler Hollywood CA, actress (Babes on Broadway)
1927 Hans-Dietrich Genscher German minister of Foreign affairs (FDP)
1928 Evelyn Ruth Anderson composer
1928 James W Kinnear Pittsburgh PA, CEO (Texaco)
1928 Peter Hacks German playwright (Tie Windloch)
1929 James Coco Bronx NY, actor (Man of La Mancha, Murder by Death)
1929 Jules Bergman space & science reporter (ABC-TV)
1931 Ivan William Hannaford sociologist
1932 Joseph Silverstein Detroit MI, violinist (Denver Symphony Orchestra)
1933 John Hall English real estate developer/multi-millionaire
1933 Michael Heseltine Welsh/British minister of Defense (1986)/MP
1934 Al Freeman Jr San Antonio TX, actor (One Life to Live, My Sweet Charlie)
1934 Lister Carney Bellaire OH, 200 meter runner (Olympics-silver-1960)
1935 Brian Clough soccer manager
1935 Hubert Fichte writer
1936 Marek Stachowski composer
1937 Tom Flores Fresno CA, NFL quarterback/coach (Raiders)
1938 Grahame Thomas cricketer (Australian batsman of the mid-60's)
1938 Wilf Corrigan English/US electronic manufacturer (LSI Logic)
1939 Kathleen Widdoes Wilmington DE, actress (Without a Trace)
1939 Martha Hudson Eastman GA, 4X100 meter relayer (Olympics-gold-1960)
1941 Dirk D Frimout Belgium, cosmonaut
1941 Malcolm Francke cricketer (leg-spinner, Ceylon 1956 to Queensland 1984)
1942 Françoise Dorléac Paris France, actress (That Man From Rio)
1943 Antal Dunai Hungary, soccer player (Olympics-gold-1968)
1943 Viv[ian] Stanshall Shillingford Oxon England, rocker (Bonzo Dog Band-I'm the Urban Spaceman)
1944 Charles Edward Greene Pine Bluff AR, 4x100 meter runner (Olympics-gold-1968)
1944 Henrik Colding-Jorgensen composer
1944 Jamary Oliveira composer
1944 Marie-Christine Barrault Paris France, actress (Stardust Memories)
1945 Charles E Greene US, 100 meter sprinter (Olympics-bronze-1968)
1945 Rose[mary] Stone Dallas TX, vocalist/pianist (Sly & the Family Stone-Everyday People)
1945 Vernon Guy US gospel singer (Cool Sounds, Sharpees)
1946 Ray Dorset rocker (Cold Blue Excursion)
1946 Timothy Dalton Colwyn Bay Wales, actor (James Bond-Living Daylights, License to Kill)
1948 Nancy Addison Altman New York NY, actress (Jillian Coleridge Ryan-Ryan's Hope)
1949 Alvin Kallicharran cricketer (wonderful West Indies LHB 1972-81)
1950 Roger Hodgson London England, rock vocalist (Supertramp-It's Raining Again)
1951 Helena Antonaccio playmate (June, 1969)
1951 Russell Thompkins Jr US soul singer (Stylistics-Sing Baby Sing)
1952 Chris O'Connell rocker
1953 Carl Wolfson Washington DC, comedian (Thicke of the Night)
1953 Robert "Shotgun" Johnson Miami FL, rock drummer (KC & the Sunshine Band-Give it Up)
1954 Mary Jane Smith Van Nuys CA, WPVA volleyballer (National-9th-1993)
1955 Barbel Wockel-Eckert German Democratic Republic, track star (Olympics-4 gold-1976, 1980)
1955 Jean Marie Hon San Francisco CA, actress (Jane-Man From Atlantis)
1956 Ingrid Kristiansen Norway, marathoner (Olympics-4th-1984, Boston-86, 89)
1957 Sabrina Le Beauf New Orleans LA, actress (Sondra-Crosby Show)
1958 Brad Hall Santa Barbara CA, comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1958 Gary Oldman actor (Sid & Nancy, Criminal Law, State of Grace)
1958 Marlies Göhr German Democratic Republic, sprinter (Olympics-gold-1976, 80)
1960 Ayrton Senna Brazilian formula-1 racer (1988 champion)
1960 Dale Baze jockey
1960 Guy Chadwick English singer/songwriter (House of Love)
1961 Kassie DePaiva [Wesley] Morganfield KY, actress (Chelsea-Guiding Light, Evil Dead 2, Blair-One Life to Live)
1961 Slim MacDonnell Jim Phantom rock percussionist (Stray Cats)
1961 Wei Wang Beijing China, US table tennis player (Olympics-96)
1962 Matthew Broderick New York NY, actor (Inspector Gadget, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, WarGames, Biloxi Blues)
1962 Rosie O'Donnell comedienne (League of Their Own, Flintstones, Rosie)
1963 Ronald Koeman Dutch soccer star (Ajax, PSV, Barcelona, Feyenoord)
1963 Sharon June Howe Pederson Glencoe MN, rocker (Vixen-Rev It Up)
1963 Shawon Dunston Brooklyn NY, infielder (San Francisco Giants)
1966 Al Iafrate Dearborn MI, NHL defenseman (San Jose Sharks)
1966 Karen Lunn Cowra Australia, LPGA golfer (1993 Women's British Open)
1966 Matthew Maynard cricketer (big hitting Glamorgan & England player)
1967 Elaina Oden Orange CA, volleyball middle blocker (Olympics-bronze-92, 96)
1967 Troy Westwood CFL kicker (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
1968 Erwin Vanderbroeck Dutch soccer player (Roda JC)
1968 Jeff Lazaro Waltham MA, US hockey forward (Olympics-1994)
1968 Johan Garpenlov Stockholm Sweden, NHL left wing (Florida Panthers)
1968 Mark Sander WLAF linebacker (Scottish Claymores)
1968 Samantha Leah Dorman Lakeland FL, playmate (Sept, 1991)
1968 Scott Williams NBA forward (Philadelphia 76ers)
1969 Jennifer Lyn Jackson Cleveland OH, playmate (April, 1989)
1969 Mark Allen Australia, Australasia golfer
1971 Hason Graham NFL wide receiver (New England Patriots)
1972 Boris Mironov Moscow, NHL defenseman (Team Russia Olympics-S-98, Edmonton)
1972 Chris Ball Costa Mesa CA, kayak (alternate-Olympics-96)
1972 Frank West CFL defensive back (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
1972 John Leach CFL running back (Toronto Argonauts)
1972 Michele Michael Miss Maryland-USA (1996)
1973 Chiou Hai Ta Miss Taiwan Republic Of China-Universe (1997)
1973 Larry Bowie running back (Washington Redskins)
1975 Vitaly Potapenko NBA center (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Deaths which occurred on March 21:
1487 Nicholas van Fluë Swiss saint/patron of Switzerland, dies
1538 Hugo earl of Leisnig, Governor of Frisia, dies at about 79
1556 Thomas Cranmer archbishop of Canterbury, burned at stake at 66
1652 Vredius [Olivier de Wree], Flemish historian/mayor (Brugge), dies at 55
1654 Johann Neukrantz composer, dies at 51
1656 Armagh James Ussher Archbishop (said world began 4004 BC), dies at 76
1729 John Law Scottish financier, dies at about 57
1734 Gunther Jacob Wenceslaus composer, dies at 48
1768 Jan J Mauricius Dutch Governor-General of Suriname (1742-51), dies at 75
1793 Johann Michael Schmidt composer, dies at 51
1801 Andrea Lucchesi composer, dies at 59
1810 Philippe-Joseph van den Berghe graaf Limmighe Brabants ships, dies
1844 Leopold F J J J van Sassen Ysselt Dutch politician, dies at 65
1857 Abraham J van der Aa lexicographer (Biograph dictionary), dies at 64
1863 Edwin Vose Sumner US Union-General-Major (Fair Oaks), dies at 66
1894 Jacob Rosenhaim composer, dies at 80
1916 Victor de Stuers Dutch art expert, dies at 72
1920 Federigo Tozzi Ital writer/journalist (Torre, Tre Croci), dies at 37
1921 "Big Jim" Colisimo US gangster, murdered by Al Capone
1934 Franz Schreker composer, dies at 55
1934 Lilyan Tashman actor (Bulldog Drummond), dies at 34
1936 Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov composer (Chopiniana), dies at 70
1938 Oscar Apfel actor (Inspiration), dies at 60
1939 Evald Aav composer, dies at 39
1941 Robert Liefmann German economist (Kartelle und Trusts), dies at 67
1942 Captain Morávec Czechoslovakian resistance fighter, commit suicide
1945 J Woortman Dutch resistance fighter, dies in Bergen-Belsen at 39
1952 A J Pieters SS-Untersturmführer, executed
1952 Wilhelm Albrecht German SD-chief, executed
1954 Harry Lawrence Freeman composer, dies at 84
1955 Muriel Aked dies at 67
1958 Cyril M Kornbluth US sci-fi writer (Space Merchants), dies at 34
1969 Gerhart Fritsch writer, dies at 44
1970 Marlen Haushofer writer, dies at 49
1973 Antoni Szalowski composer, dies at 65
1974 Candy Darling [James Slattery], female impersonator, dies
1975 Berend Giltay composer, dies at 64
1975 Ralph Hawtrey economist (multiplier), dies at 95
1980 Gideon Fagan composer, dies at 75
1982 Harry H Corbett British actor (Steptoe & Son, Jabberwacky), dies at 57
1985 Michael Redgrave actor (Goodbye Mr Chips, Mr Arkadin), dies at 77
1985 Salvador Ley composer, dies at 78
1986 August de Boodt Belgian politician, dies at 90
1987 Dean Paul Martin actor (Billy-Misfits of Science), dies at 35
1987 Robert Preston actor (Harold Hill-Music Man), diesfrom lung cancer in Montecito CA at 68
1989 Milton Frome actor (Family Jewels), dies
1991 Leo Fender inventor (Fender guitar), dies
1991 Rajiv Gandhi former Prime Minister of India, killed by bomb at 46
1992 John Ireland actor (Rawhide), dies of leukemia at 78
1994 Dack Rambo actor (Jack Ewing-Dallas), dies from AIDs at 52
1994 Lili Damita wife of Errol Flynn (Bridge of San Luis Rey), dies at 89
1994 Macdonald Carey actor (Days of Our Lives), dies of cancer at 81
1995 Daan Wildschut Dutch painter/author, dies at 81
1995 Etienne Martin French sculptor, dies at 82
1995 Norman Schwartz record Producer, dies at 66
1995 Robert Urquhart actor (Dunkirk, Bulldog Breed), dies at 72
1996 Eric Brand diplomat, dies at 73
1996 Frank Murray police Officer, dies at 51

On this day...
1349 3,000 Jews killed in Black Death riots in Efurt Germany
1421 Battle of Beauge-French beat British
1492 Alonzo Pietro, pilot, sailed with Columbus
1610 King James I addresses English House of Commons
1681 3rd Exclusion Parliament meets in London
1697 Czar Peter the Great begins tour through West-Europe
1702 Queen Anne Stuart addresses English parliament
1788 Fire destroyed 856 buildings in New Orleans LA
1788 Gustavus Vassa petitions Queen Charlotte, to free enslaved Africans
1790 Thomas Jefferson reports to President Washington in New York as Secretary of State
1791 Captain Hopley Yeaton of New Hampshire becomes 1st commissioned officer in USN
1804 French civil Code of Napoleon adopted
1824 Fire at Cairo ammunitions dump kills 4,000 horses
1826 Beethoven's Quartet #13 in B flat major (Op 130) premieres in Vienna
1835 Charles Darwin & Mariano Gonzales meet at Portillo Pass
1843 Preacher William Miller of Massachusetts predicts the world will end today
1844 Origin of Bahá'í Era-Bahá'í calendar starts here (Bahá 1, 1)
1851 Yosemite Valley discovered in California
1857 Earthquake hits Tokyo; about 107,000 die
1859 Scottish National Gallery opens in Edinburgh
1859 Zoological Society of Philadelphia, 1st in US, incorporated
1860 US extradition treaty with Sweden
1863 Naval Engagement at Havana Cuba-USS Henrick Hudson vs BR Wild Pigeon
1864 Battle at Henderson's Hill (Bayou Rapids) Louisiana
1865 Battle of Bentonville ends, last Confederate effort to stop Sherman
1866 Congress authorizes national soldiers' homes
1868 1st US professional women's club, Sorosis, is founded in New York NY
1871 Journalist Henry M Stanley begins his famous expedition to Africa
1871 Otto von Bismarck elevated Fürst
1874 US Grant's daughter Nellie marries in the White House
1885 2nd French government of Ferry resigns
1888 Arthur Pinero's "Sweet Lavender" premieres in London
1890 Austrian Jewish communities are defined by law
1891 A Hatfield marries a McCoy, ends long feud in West Virginia; it started with an accusation of pig-stealing & lasted 20 years
1899 British & French accord about West-Africa
1907 US invades Honduras
1909 Moran & MacFarland (US) win Europe's 1st 6 day bicycle race (Berlin)
1913 Flood in Ohio, kills 400
1914 US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Theresa Weld
1914 US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Norman M Scott
1916 JP Van Limburg Stirum succeeds AWF Idenburg as Governor-General of Netherland Indies
1917 1st female US Navy Petty Officer is Loretta Walsh
1918 During WWI Germany launches Somme offensive
1921 Walter Kerr Theater (Ritz, CBS, NBC, ABC) opens at 223 W 48th St NYC
1922 KGW-AM in Portland OR begins radio transmissions
1923 US foreign minister Charles Hughes refuses USSR recognition
1924 1st foreign language course broadcast on US radio (WJZ, New York NY)
1924 Mass Investors Trust becomes 1st mutual fund set up in US
1925 Edinburgh's Murreyfield Stadium officially opens
1925 Iran adopts Khorshidi solar Hijrah calendar
1927 Guomindang Army conquerors Shanghai as British marines flee
1931 KRO-broadcast studio initiated in Hilversum Holland
1931 US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Maribel Vinson
1931 US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Roger Turner
1933 Hitler, Göring, Prince Ruprecht, Brüning & top army meet in Berlin
1934 Babe Didrikson pitches an inning in an A's-Dodgers exhibition game Walks 1, hits the next guy, 3rd guy hits into triple-play
1934 Fire destroys Hakodate Japan, killing about 1,500
1935 Jean Anouilh's "Y avait un presonnier" premieres in Paris France
1935 Persia officially renamed Iran
1937 Ponce massacre, police kill 19 at Puerto Rican Nationalist parade
1939 Nazi-Germany demands Gdansk (Danzig) from Poland
1941 Joe Louis KOs Abe Simon in 13 for heavyweight boxing title
1942 Convoy QP9 departs Great Britain to Murmansk
1942 Heavy German assault on Malta
1943 Assassination attempt on Hitler fails
1943 British 8th army opens assault on Mareth line, Tunisia
1944 General Eisenhower postpones S France invasion until after Normandy
1945 1st Japanese flying bombs (ochas) attack Okinawa
1945 During WWII Allied bombers begin 4-day raid over Germany
1945 Dutch Resistance fighter Hannie Schaft arrested by Nazi police
1946 Kenny Washington signs with Rams, 1st black NFLer since 1933
1946 UN set up temporary HQ at Hunter (now Lehman) College (Bronx)
1947 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Fulgens radiatur
1947 President Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to have allegiance to the United States
1947 Test Cricket debut of Bert Sutcliffe, New Zealand vs England at Christchurch
1948 "Stop the Music" with Bert Parks premieres on ABC radio
1949 WTVJ TV channel 4 in Miami FL (NBC/CBS) begins broadcasting
1951 2,900,000 US soldiers in Korea
1952 "3 Wishes for Jamie" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 94 performances
1952 Alan Freed presents Moondog Coronation Ball at old Cleveland Arena, 25,000 attend 1st rock & roll concert ever
1952 Tornadoes in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama & Kentucky cause 343 deaths
1953 NBA record 106 fouls & 12 players foul out (Boston-Syracuse)
1954 KFBB TV channel 5 in Great Falls MT (ABC/CBS/NBC) begins broadcasting
1955 Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus desires Cyprus joining Greece
1955 Brooklyn Bulletin asks Dodger fans not to call their team "Bums"
1956 28th Academy Awards: "Marty", Ernest Borgnine & Anna Magnani win
1957 Tennessee Williams' "Orpheus Descending" premieres in New York NY
1958 1st presentation of West Point's Sylvanus Thayer Award
1958 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
1959 "Juno" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 16 performances
1959 21st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: California beats W Va 71-70
1960 Sharpeville Massacre: Police kill 72 in South Africa & outlaws ANC
1961 Art Modell purchases Cleveland Browns for then record ($3,925,000)
1961 Beatles' 1st appearance at the Cavern Club
1962 A bear becomes the 1st creature to be ejected at supersonic speeds
1962 Dutch Roman Catholic bishop Beckers of Bosch makes TV speech in Netherlands in favor of birth control
1962 Philadelphia retires pitcher Robin Roberts' #36
1963 Alcatraz federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay closed
1963 David Hendon & Douglas Cross' musical premieres in London
1964 26th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Duke 98-83
1964 Beatles' "She Loves You" single goes #1 & stays #1 for 2 weeks
1964 UCLA completes undefeated NCAA basketball season (30-0)
1965 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
1965 Martin Luther King Jr begins march from Selma to Montgomery AL
1965 US Ranger 9 launched; takes 5,814 pictures before lunar impact
1966 Supreme Court reverses Massachusetts ruling that "Fanny Hill" is obscene
1968 "Royals" chosen as the name of new Kansas City American League Baseball franchise
1968 Hill, Hawkins & Coghill's musical premieres in London
1968 Israeli forces cross Jordan River to attack PLO bases
1968 Portuguese socialist Mario Soares banished to Sao Tomé
1969 John & Yoko stage their 1st bed-in for peace (Amsterdam Hilton)
1969 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1970 32nd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Jacksonville 80-69
1971 Gavaskar scores 1st of his 34 Test Cricket tons, 116 at Georgetown
1971 Jan Ferraris wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1971 Vermont seasonal snowfall totals 132.2"
1971 WCPB TV channel 28 in Salisbury MD (PBS) begins broadcasting
1972 US Supreme Court rules states can't require 1-year residency to vote
1973 Frank Mahovlich becomes 5th NHLer to score 500 goals
1974 Attempt made to kidnap Princess Anne in London's Pall Mall
1975 Ethiopia ends monarchy after 3000 years
1978 Padres fire Al Dark (2nd manager ever fired during spring training)
1979 Egyptian Parliament unanimously approve peace treaty with Israel
1980 On TV show Dallas, JR is shot
1982 "Little Johnny Jones" opens & closes at Alvin Theater NYC
1982 Jerry Pate celebrates golf win by jumping into the water hazard
1982 Movie "Annie" premieres
1982 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA J&B Scotch Pro-Am Golf Tournament
1983 Only known typo on Time Magazine cover (control=contol), all recalled
1984 Border scores 100 vs West Indies Trinidad after 98 in 1st cricket innings
1984 NFL owners passed the infamous anti-celebrating rule
1984 Part of Central Park is named Strawberry Fields honoring John Lennon
1984 Soviet sub crashes into USS aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off Japan
1985 Arthur Ashe is named to International Tennis Hall of Fame
1985 Bloodbath at Langa (Uitenhage) South-Africa, 19 killed
1986 199.22 million shares traded in New York Stock Exchange
1986 Karin Kania (German Democratic Republic) skates ladies world record 500 meter (39.52 seconds) & 3 km (4:18.02)
1986 Pittsburgh Associates buy Pittsburgh Pirates for $218 million
1987 PSV sells soccer player Ruud Gullit to AC Milan (ƒ17 million)
1988 23rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Randy Travis & Hank Williams Jr
1989 1st sea test of Trident 2 missile self-destructs, Cape Canaveral
1990 "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opens at Eugene O'Neill NYC for 149 performances
1990 "Normal Life" starring Moon Unit & Dweezil Zappa premieres on CBS-TV
1990 "Sydney" starring Valerie Bertinelli premieres on CBS-TV
1990 Namibia becomes independent of South Africa, Sam Nujoma becomes president
1991 27 lost at sea when 2 US Navy anti-submarine planes collide
1991 Largest wrestling crowd in Japan (64,500) at Tokyo Dome
1991 Tatsumi Fujinami beats Ric Flair for NWA wrestling championship
1991 UN Security Council panel decided to lift the food embargo on Iraq
1992 2nd WLAF season begins
1992 Pakistan scores 6-264 to overhaul New Zealand in exciting World Cup semi
1993 Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Standard Register Ping Golf Tournament
1993 Pope John Paul II declares Duns Scotus, a saint
1993 South Africa White Wolves kill 5 year old black girl
1994 66th Academy Awards: "Schindler's List", Tom Hanks & Holly Hunter win
1994 Anne P Sidamon-Eristoff named chairwoman of Museum of National History
1994 Dudley Moore arrested for hitting girlfriend
1994 Watne Gretzky ties Gordie Howe's NHL record of 801 goals
1995 New Jersey officially dedicates the Howard Stern Rest Area along Route 295
1995 NYC agrees to sell it's 2 owned radio stations (WNYC AM & FM)
1996 "Night of the Iguana" opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 68 performances
1997 World Ice Dance won by Oksana Grishuk & Evgeny Platov (Russia)
1997 World Ice Pairs Figure Skating won by Mandy Woetzel & Ingo Steuer (Germany)
1997 World Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Lausanne won by Tara Lipinski (USA)
1997 World Men's Figure Skating Championship in Lausanne won by Elvis Stojko (Canada)
1997 Wrestlemania XIII

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq : Nawroz (Persian New Year)
Iowa : Bird Day
México : Benito P Juarez' Birthday (1806)
Namibia : Independence Day (1990)
US : National Agriculture Day (1981)
World : Earth Day (most years)
World : International Day For Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Religious Observances
Bahá'í : Feast of Naw-Rúz (New Year) (Bahá 1) [year=Gregorian-1843]
Persian-Afghánistán, Iran, Iraq : Nawroz (New Year)
Wicca : Alban Eilir sabbat
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Benedict, abbot
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of Nicholas von Flüe
Anglican : Commemoration of Thomas Ken, bishop of Bath & Wells

Religious History
1098 The monastery in Citeaux, France was founded by St. Robert, a Benedictine monk and abbot of Molesme. It marked the beginning of the Roman Catholic Cistercian religious order.
1146 King Louis VII of France took up the cause of the Second Crusade, in response to Bernard of Clairvaux's preaching, and became leader of the ill-fated mission.
1747 [N.S.] On a slave ship bound for England, during a violent storm at sea, English sea captain John Newton, 22, was dramatically converted to a living faith. It was more than a "foxhole religion," as Newton soon abandoned the sea, and from 1764 until his death (43 years later), he devoted his life as a lergyman in the Anglican Church.
1900 In Chicago, following the death of its founder Dwight L. Moody, the Bible Institute for Home and Foreign Missions changed its name to Moody Bible Institute. The school has since become the model after which other learning institutions have patterned their curriculum.
1985 The Association of International Mission Services was founded in Dallas. A trans-denominational organization, AIMS promotes the work of foreign missions among independent Pentecostal and charismatic churches.

Thought for the day :
" An idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it. "

Sam, I don't know if you know it but there's some imposter over on the canteen that's stolen your screen name and your post subject! Now I sure don't want to cause trouble but...I do suspect a plot of some sort.

1962 A bear becomes the 1st creature to be ejected at supersonic speeds

Now there's an interesting piece of trivia.

What! I 'm shocked, Shocked I tell you! Round up the usual suspects.

A bear? Where was PETA?
Did he bare arms?

I can't help but wonder what went through that bears mind.

PODS think about it.

Okay, on the serious side...
Here's a pic of the Soviet/Russian copy of the B-29, a Tupelov TU-4. The following information is from Joe Baugher (Joseph.F.Baugher@att.com) on an Italian web site, of all places...(http://aeroweb.lucia.it/~agretch/RAFAQ/Tu-4.html)

On July 29, 1944, B-29-5-BW serial number 42-6256 commanded by Capt. Howard R. Jarrel was damaged by flak during a raid on the Showa steel works at Anshan in Manchuria. Unable to make the trip back to its base around Chengtu in China, the crew decided to divert to Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. Since the Soviet Union was not at war with Japan at the time, both the aircraft and Capt. Jarrel's crew were interned.

On August 20, 1944, during a raid on Yawata staged out of the Chengtu bases, B-29A-1-BN 42-93829 was forced to divert to the Soviet Union. It crashed in the foothills of Sikhote Alin Range east of Khabarovsk after the crew baled out. The crew was interned.

On the night of November 10/11, 1944, B-29 42-6365 was damaged during a raid against Omura on Kyushu and was forced to divert to Vladivostok. It was followed on November 21 by 42-6358. Again, both crews and both aircraft were interned.

The Soviets were now holding three intact B-29s and four B-29 crews. In January of 1945, it was arranged by the Soviets for these four crews to "escape" to the West via Teheran, but their B-29s remained behind.

World War 2 had been over only for a little over a year when an article appeared in the November 11, 1946 issue of the Berlin newspaper Der Kurier claiming that the Soviet Union was manufacturing a bolt-for-bolt copy of the B-29 in a series of factories located in the Urals. [RAP comment: This most likely leaked from German scientists and engineers who were detained in the Soviet Union after WWII] This report was widely disbelieved, since the Soviet Union was at the time thought incapable of manufacturing an aircraft as large and sophisticated as the B-29. However, the report was given more credence when it was revealed that some Soviet agents had been attempting to purchase B-29 tires, wheels, and brake assemblies in the USA. [RAP comment: This could have been for a transport version of the Tu-4, Tu-70]

Today's classic warship, USS Ozark

Ozark class river monitor
Displacement. 578 t.
Length. 180'
Beam. 50'
Draft. 5'
Designed speed. 9 mph. in still water
Complement. 120
Armament. 2 11 inch Dahlgren smoothbores; 1 10 inch, 3 9 inch Dahlgren smoothbores.

Launched: 18 February 1863 at Peoria, Illinois.
Commissioned: 18 February 1864, Acting Volunteer Lt. George W. Brown commanding.

A single-turreted river monitor, OZARK, carried a substantial deckhouse art (built along traditional Mississippi steamboat lines) which provided additional quarters for the crew. In addition to her two 11 inch guns mounted in the turret, OZARK carried one 10 inch and three 9 inch pivot guns which had to be fought in the open, a virtual impossibility in a war where the river banks were thickly populated by Confederate sharpshooters. Like her eastern counterparts, OZARK carried an armored pilothouse atop her turret. Begun in 1862 OZARK was launched 18 February 1863 and was then towed to St. Louis for installation of her turret and machinery, arriving there 27 February. She did not commission until 18 February 1864.

She spent her entire Navy career serving in the Mississippi Squadron. OZARK's only major operation was the Red River expedition in March-May 1864. Following the end of the Civil War, she was decommissioned in July 1865 and sold the following November.

NO! They're here!!