Faster & Faster

The planes came from carriers, from Iwo, from the Marianas--and their targets were the home islands of Japan. They were torpedo planes, dive bombers, at least three varieties of fighters and the great B-29 Superforts. They struck in daylight and at night from all directions and they hit with everything--six-pound jellied-gasoline fire bombs, high-explosive factory busters and rockets. The tempo grew faster & faster. Latest scores:

P: U.S. carriers, standing off Kyushu, attacked for three days, raked 19 airfields, destroyed or damaged 284 Japanese planes, bombed railroad lines, storage dumps. U.S. losses: ten planes, one major fleet unit damaged.

P: B-29 fire raids on Nagoya tore a great swath through the center of Japan's third largest city and major aircraft production center. Two raids by more than 500 bombers each burned out nearly one-fourth of the city, hit the Mitsubishi Aircraft works (world's largest in area) and some 30 other military targets. At week's end B-29s turned on Hamamatsu, 60 miles southeast of Nagoya, to bomb more factories.

P: Since Pearl Harbor Japan has lost more than 21,170 planes.

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