Summary of David Dean Barrett's 140 Days to Hiroshima

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 The Battle of Iwo Jima was the most intense ground fighting of the war, and it took 36 days to take the island from its 20,000+ defenders. 19,217 Americans were wounded and 6,822 were killed for every square mile.

#2 The B-29s’ primary weapon was the M69 incendiary bomblet. Each bomblet contained Napalm-B encased in cheesecloth as its incendiary filler. The improved version of napalm included newly added polystyrene and benzene, which yielded a longer-burning fire at temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

#3 On March 9, 1945, the first B-29 crews started rolling down Guam’s runways and continued one at a time in fifty-second intervals. They flew parallel to the coastline of Tokyo Bay and released their white phosphorous M47 bombs to mark the primary target.

#4 The fire raid on Tokyo was, by far, the most devastating attack the Americans had ever conducted. The scene that greeted the flying crews was beyond anything they could have imagined. A wall of flames stretched across the horizon, and it looked like Hell on earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669386391

IRB Media

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Insights on David Dean Barrett's 140 Days to Hiroshima

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Battle of Iwo Jima was the most intense ground fighting of the war, and it took 36 days to take the island from its 20,000+ defenders. 19,217 Americans were wounded and 6,822 were killed for every square mile.

#2

The B-29s’ primary weapon was the M69 incendiary bomblet. Each bomblet contained Napalm-B encased in cheesecloth as its incendiary filler. The improved version of napalm included newly added polystyrene and benzene, which yielded a longer-burning fire at temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

#3

On March 9, 1945, the first B-29 crews started rolling down Guam’s runways and continued one at a time in fifty-second intervals. They flew parallel to the coastline of Tokyo Bay and released their white phosphorous M47 bombs to mark the primary target.

#4

The fire raid on Tokyo was, by far, the most devastating attack the Americans had ever conducted. The scene that greeted the flying crews was beyond anything they could have imagined. A wall of flames stretched across the horizon, and it looked like Hell on earth.

#5

The city was lit up by flames and explosions, which sounded like a freight train. The fire’s roar sounded like a great tidal wave. Thousands of firemen struggled to put out the fire, which had spread quickly.

#6

The firestorm that followed the bombing of Tokyo was unlike anything the city had ever seen. It spread quickly, and thousands of people were killed. The center of Tokyo glowed incandescent like the sun.

#7

The firestorm that burned Tokyo was unlike anything the world had ever seen. It was a result of LeMay’s new tactics, which exposed the vulnerability of Japanese air defenses and the inadequacy of their firefighting facilities.

#8

The attack on Tokyo precipitated an exodus from the capital with more than a million people leaving on their own accord in the weeks following the raid. Regardless of the positive spin Japanese propaganda attempted to put on the event, no one living in or visiting Tokyo could fail to recognize the attack for what it was: a catastrophe greater than the city had ever seen.

#9

Emperor Hirohito visited the ruins of Tokyo after the firebombing. He was shocked by the scale of the destruction, and it made him realize just how powerful the Americans had become.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The ascension of Hirohito, the slightly built, five-foot six-inch, bespectacled, mustached, and shy prince, marked the pinnacle of the