Mission Number: 47
Mission Date: 10 August 1945

The 39th Group flew the forty-seventh combat strike against Japan on 10 August 1945. 38 B-29s formed into four operational squadrons hit the Kawaguchi area of the Tokyo Arsenal Complex with GP bombs.

Only 8 enemy fighters were seen none attacked. An escort of P-51s had a lot to with that fact. The flak encountered was the most intense that combat crews had seen in a long time. 15 of our bombers were damaged.

Cloud coverage was from 5/10ths to 7/10ths and two squadrons were forced to bomb by radar. Most of the results were unobserved by the crews, and, in all fairness it must be said that strike photos assessed the bombing as only fair.

According to "Air War Pacific Chronology: America's Air War Against Japan in East Asia and the Pacific 1941-1945" by Eric Hammel, (Pacifica, CA: Pacifica Press, 1988, ISBN 0-935553-26-6)

During the day, 70 314th BW B-29's, escorted by 2 groups of P-51's, bomb the arsenal complex at Tokyo; 3 B-29's hit alternate targets.