RARE WWII Curtis LeMay B-29 21st Bomber Command 1945 SENDAI Mission TYPE 1 Photo For Sale

Comes with a hand-signed C.O.A.

Size: 10 x 10 inches

The Raid of Sendai in World War II on July 10, 1945, was part of the strategic campaign waged by the United States against the population and military targets during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of World War II.

This incredibly rare and museum-grade WWII artifact is a 21st Bomber Command TYPE ONE aerial raid mission photograph taken from the open bombay of a USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing B-29 Superfortress during the U.S. Aerial Raid Campaign against mainland Japan in June-July of 1945.

The USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing and its squadrons fell under Major General Curtis LeMay’s 21st Bomber Command and participated in numerous bombing raid missions and aerial attacks over the Japanese home islands with these missions continuing until just days before the dropping of the second atomic bomb.

This aerial raid mission photograph was taken on July 10th, 1945 as more than 123 B-29 Superfortresses of the 21st Bomber Command raided Sendai, Japan. Intelligence mission photographs like these were reviewed by Curtis E. LeMay (Commander of the 21st Bomber Command) as it was LeMay’s direct order for the greater use of these types of missions.

MISSION DETAILS:

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 B-29s split into 25 groups of between two and five aircraft each to attack the densely packed residential center of the city.