The Allied Strategic bombing campaign has claimed hundreds of thousands of civilian lives across Europe and has made little real impact on the Axis war machine. Even so, the United States is determined to extend the campaign to Japan. Until now, the vast distances of the Asia-Pacific theatre have protected the imperial enemy. That all changes when the USAAF unleashes the Superfortress.
Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory
Or join the TimeGhost Army directly at: https://timeghost.tv/signup/
Check out our TimeGhost History YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/timeghost
Between 2 Wars: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrG5J-K5AYAU1R-HeWSfY2D1jy_sEssNG
Follow WW2 Day by Day on Instagram: @ww2_day_by_day
Follow TimeGhost History on Instagram: @timeghosthistory
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimeGhostHistory/
Hosted by: Spartacus Olsson
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Will Tkacs II
Written by: James Newman & Spartacus Olsson
Research by: James Newman
Color grading and editing by: Simon J. James
Artwork and color grading by: Mikołaj Uchman
Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman
Source literature list: http://bit.ly/WW2sources
Archive footage: Screenocean/Reuters – https://www.screenocean.com
Image sources:
© IWM HU 63075 Buildings on fire in Hamburg following the RAF Bomber Command raids in July 1943
Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
41 clicks from the sun – Hampus Naeselius
A Far Cry – Flouw.mp3
A Single Grain Of Rice – Yi Nantiro
Disciples of Sun Tzu – Christian Andersen
The Twelve Spies – Silver Maple
The Unexplored – Philip Ayers
Walk With Legends – Bonnie Grace
Additional sound effects provided by Zapsplat.com
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
source
Fired by vengeance, the United States abandoned any adherence to FDR’s 1939 call to refrain from the bombardment of civilian populations. Even now in 2023, we see attacks on civilians justified as punishment for the crimes of military forces. Join us here at the Timeghost Army as we work to uncover history and build a world where respect for innocent human life is the fundamental principle even in wartime. Never forget.
I just saw Oppenheimer yesterday with my family and I will be interested to know if you've seen this amazing film and your impressions. It does touch on many of the issues you've raised regarding bombing of civilian populations during the war. Speaking of films, Curtis LeMay would become for the inspiration for General Jack D. Ripper in Dr Strangelove, as well as the running mate for the racist George Wallace's presidential campaign in 1968. LeMay would rank as one of the more noxious individuals in American history of the 20th Century
I am always happy to see this chanel never sugar coat Allied War Crimes.
The firebombing of Japan was a for gone conclusion by the allies in advance! War plan orange called for the bombing of either Japan or China! Weather the bases were on the mainland of Asia or the Philippines, but the plans were used in many areas because of army and navy engineers that had been stationed in those ares! But due to the attrition of both sides the resources of limitations of both sides!!!
Japan was not ready for a all out bombing campaign against the home islands the defenses with in its major cities!!! But the Japanese are thinking that the new bombers are just a public stunt like the Doolittle raid and assume that they are coming from Russia in the beginning not from China….. It's not until later this month that the realization of the Americans and there industry as come home to there world!!! And for the next year they will receive a world of fire!!
The firebombing of Japan was a for gone conclusion by the allies in advance! War plan orange called for the bombing of either Japan or China! Weather the bases were on the mainland of Asia or the Philippines, but the plans were used in many areas because of army and navy engineers that had been stationed in those ares! But due to the attrition of both sides the resources of limitations of both sides!!!
Japan was not ready for a all out bombing campaign against the home islands the defenses with in its major cities!!! But the Japanese are thinking that the new bombers are just a public stunt like the Doolittle raid and assume that they are coming from Russia in the beginning not from China….. It's not until later this month that the realization of the Americans and there industry as come home to there world!!! And for the next year they will receive a world of fire!!
The firebombing of Japan was a for gone conclusion by the allies in advance! War plan orange called for the bombing of either Japan or China! Weather the bases were on the mainland of Asia or the Philippines, but the plans were used in many areas because of army and navy engineers that had been stationed in those ares! But due to the attrition of both sides the resources of limitations of both sides!!!
Japan was not ready for a all out bombing campaign against the home islands the defenses with in its major cities!!! But the Japanese are thinking that the new bombers are just a public stunt like the Doolittle raid and assume that they are coming from Russia in the beginning not from China….. It's not until later this month that the realization of the Americans and there industry as come home to there world!!! And for the next year they will receive a world of fire!!
I knew about the US bombing of Japan, but never knew any of the details in this video about the construction of air bases, choice of munitions, testing on dummy sites etc. This is why I watch the WAH series, despite the horrible events it describes.
Japan went on a murderous rampage across Asia and the Pacific. When the flames.of their own fire are turned by the winds of war to consume their own homes and their own people… suddenly we should stop? Japan and Germany got what was coming to them. War had finally reached their own soil… and it was as horrible as they had given.
Nonsense. The bombing of Japan was horrific–killing some 1 million Japanese. But not as horrific as the 25 million people the Japanese killed. You admit that the Japanese were committing terrible atrocities–but do not give it the attention it needs. And while it is easy to describe the horrors., much more difficult to come up with realistic alternatives. Notably, you do not explain how America could have more humanely ended the war and stopped the Japanese from killing more MILLIONS
Most people don't realize that "prison labor" is an apologist term for "prisoner slave labor". It would actually 100% be legally considered modern slavery if they didn't add a loophole to the constitution.
Heh. I've been playing Tom Clancy's The Division 2 for years, and in one of the raids one of the bosses is named Fieser. He wields a flamethrower; meaningful name, that one.
One thing I'd like to mention. Is the muddy waters of historical presentism. We have the luxury of sitting in air conditioned comfortable houses, most of us on this website living in liberal democracies which only survived due to the allied victory. Almost a century away from these events were all the men and women who planned, organized and fought them are dead. We have the opportunity to moralize, debate, discuss and condemn the actions of the allied air forces. An opportunity that the actions of those air forces provided.
To a westerner, the bombing of Japan seems a cruel, horrific and unnecessary act. To a Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Malayan. It means their freedom from a regime that was conducting settler colonialist genocides against their people. And we have a tendency to leave that out of the conversation.
In Japan, especially in August of each year, interest in the Pacific War increases. But not as an aggressor country… but as a victim country.
The Japanese emphasize the preciousness of peace and the cruelty of war, using two atomic bombings of Hiroshima on August 6th and Nagasaki on August 9th as examples. On the other hand, they ignore or downplay their country's acts of aggression and cruelty. On the contrary, some people glorify their country's acts of aggression. For example ,Japan fought to liberate Asia from whites and so on.
It is no exaggeration to say that for Japanese, war means nothing more than air raids and the dropping of atomic bombs on the mainland.
What I can't understand is that many Japanese people think that Japan in the past is the same as Ukraine, not Russia as of August 2023.
In other words, Japanese criticize the war as one-sided victims. Some Japanese emphasizes that Japan has experienced the most tragic experience in human history.
What I find most questionable is that while Japanese hates America ,they doesn't criticize Japanese military regime that waged a war of aggression . To compare it to Germany ,it's the same as Germans hating America, Britain, and the Soviet Union, but not criticizing Hitler or the Nazis.
On the other hand, Japanese people have a strange pride. The Japanese use the word " end of war" instead of "defeat" in the Pacific War. Also, instead of "Occupation Army" ,they use the term "Troops stationed in Japan" which means the Allied Forces that occupied mainland Japan after Japan's defeat in the war.
According to a German who currently lives in Japan, there are only two types of people in Japan: those who are indifferent or ignorant about the Pacific War, and those who glorify war, who would be equivalent to Neo-Nazis in Germany. she wonders why the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the atomic bombs were dropped, vote for a conservative party beautifying and justifying the Pacific War when national elections are held.
Among young Japanese , YouTube videos that glorify Japan's past acts of aggression and emphasize the strength of the Japanese military are particularly popular . Most of the contents are bullshit. For example, 【Battleship Yamato was the most powerful battleship in history.】【The attack on Pearl Harbor was the most amazing surprise attack in the history of world warfare.】 【The Zero Fighter : most powerful fighter in WW2 】【Japanese fighter planes shot down a lot of B29】] 【US army praising the strength of the Japanese army】【The Japanese army had the strictest military rules in the world】 【The Japanese army treated Allied POWs with respect】【The Japanese army lost to the American army in quantity but the quality of weapons was superior to that of US 】and so on . On the other hand, YouTube videos that degrades the Allied Forces , especially US, are also very popular. For example, 【Roosevelt knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor】【The attack on Pearl Harbor was an American conspiracy】【The brutality of the American military symbolized by the atomic bomb 】and so on .
This Japanese view of the war is exactly the same as August 2023 Russia… while justifying her own acts of aggression and atrocities, she denounces Ukraine's attack on her country as a war crime.
Robert McNamara spoke at length on this subject in the "Fog of War" production. His service during WWII was on the staff of Bombs Away LeMay doing bombing damage assessment. This gave him a very real look at the terrible things happening to civilians.
I saw Grave of the Fireflies for the first time last October (and was completely devastated by it) and figured you guys were going to eventually cover bombings of Japanese cities sooner or later. I am ready to be reminded of the gut punch! 😭
I recommend thus video to those who insist that the atomic bomb wouldn't have been dropped had FDR lived.
In WW1, soldiers were sent to die in futile massive trench warfare by the millions, while the war supporters at home were almost completely unharmed. Since civilian populations at home became vulnerable to air attack, wars have been undertaken with much more reluctance.
War unleashes evil on a scale hard to imagine
Inter arma enim silent leges. In times of war, the law falls silent.
The intro of this episode is great and horrifying.
This American bomber is my very favorite bomber from any country. The looks of it is just amazing.
The US is a really smart and powerful country, countries make fun and underestimate the USA all the time, they don’t understand American power.
Actually, bombing civilian targets was basically legal
The convetions about aerial bombing either had very loose definitions or were not ratified by anyone when they had more restrictive provisions.
It was illegal to bomb purely civilian targets but:
– as long as a city was even slightly defended or of military relevance then it was a legal target
– reciprocity was the other main rule, so once a side crossed a line then its enemy could legally do the same
Britain and France tried to restrain their aerial bombings at first (mostly to avoid an escalation and having their cities bombed too) but once the German crossed the line with Rotterdam and, later, the Biltz (plus all the news coming from occupied Europe about their massacres) they had all the right to retaliate back, both legally and morally and the same thing applied to Japan
It is interesting that they (the people of japan) openly admit in this video that the people in these cities are part of the industries in japan. War is a nasty. The number of people killed by fire in Tokyo exceeded the deaths by the nuclear bombs at Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Very few cared or refused killing civilians as the war went on. My Dad was on a boat headed to invade Japan and did not have to because of the bombs. I might not be here if these events did not occur. It makes interesting conversations and thoughts.
Never forget.
Curtis LeMay took a strategy that was flawed at its core and perfected it. A huge waste of effort and determination resulted in an even greater loss of life and property.
I think that based on his actions here and in wars to come, beyond any shadow of a doubt Curtis Lemay is one of the most evil men every given a Generals stars in the history of the US armed forces.
I think if I was the US president, and there wasnt an atom bomb, I would bomb the hell out of Japan to submission. Why would I send young 18 year olds which were drafted to die, over their civilians? Operation Olympus would have had catastrophic casualties. I rather be viewed as a war criminal by later generations than to send young men of my country to die
When you let loose the dogs of war, many innocents will get bit.
As was noted by the late great George Carlin, one of the side effects of the research into creating napalm was the creation of Silly Putty. What a strange species we humans are…
Humanity is the first casualty of war…
Usually dont watch this series because there is a limit to what I can take in and remain sane. But this episode was good and important