Bombing of Kobe in World War II

The bombing of Kobe (Kōbe dai-kūshū) on March 16 and 17, 1945, was part of the strategic bombing air raids on Japan campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of the Pacific War.

Lastly, Kobe's low water supply, consisting of only three reservoirs, and its poor firefighting equipment created a very fire-prone environment.

[1] After trials on the Japanese Village set on the Dugway Proving Grounds, Curtis LeMay of the United States Army Air Forces ordered Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers to drop incendiary bombs to burn Japan's mostly wood-and-paper houses, in an "experimental" carpet bombing raid against Kobe on 4 February 1945.

[1] Two of the airmen in the downed aircraft, Sergeant Algy S. Augunus and Second Lieutenant Robert E. Copeland, survived and were captured by the Japanese.

They were subsequently tried by a hastily convened court for the "indiscriminate bombing" of Kobe and Osaka, sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad.