World War Two

"On March 10, 1945, a group of Superforts crossed Japan's coast line. Behind them came another group, and another in a line stretching far back toward Saipan. In a long, thin file they roared over Tokyo. They flew low and out of their open bellies spilled bombs of jellied gasoline. When they hit, they burst, spewing out billowing, all-consuming fire. The flames leaped across fire lanes, swallowed factories, destroyed skyscrapers."

Click here to read about August 28, 1945 - the day the American occupation began.

''Eighth Over Berlin'' (Newsweek Magazine, 1944)

"Comparing the American [daylight] raids with the RAF [nighttime] incursions, it was certainly a great shock to Berliners to find their city now open to round-the-clock bombing."

"We don't mind the Yanks who come when the sun shines and it's warm. It's the Tommies sneaking in at night that we don't like so much."

Click here to read about the harried everyday life on a U.S. bomber base in England...

 

Destroying Germany from Above (Collier's Magazine, 1943)

"The Reich is being methodically pulverized. The Eighth U.S. Air Force by day and the R.A.F. by night have only begun their deadly round-the-clock job. The coming months will see them unleash a fury that surpasses all the world's earthquakes."