<text id=00he1103><title>But Where Are the Targets?</title>
<history>US Air Force: Events History</history>
<article><hdr>But Where Are the Targets?</hdr><body>
<p>The XXI Bomber Command had been organized and was waiting its move to the Marianas. Its commander, Brigadier General Haywood S. Hansell, Jr, was called to a meeting with Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall in early October 1944. Marshall told him about plans for the early stages of the campaign against Japan and that the first strike was being planned as a joint Navy and AAF mission. Hansell liked the idea, because it meant that Navy fighters would be available in the target area for defense of the B-29s. Marshall wanted some assurance from Hansell that the B-29s could make the first raid sometime in November. Hansell, knowing that he couldn't say no, said yes. As he wrote later, "It would involve an attack from bases which were 6,000 miles away, which we had never seen but hoped were ready, against targets whose locations we did not know."
</p>
<p>The assigned targets were aircraft and engine factories. They were suspected of being somewhere around Tokyo and Nagoya, but nobody knew exactly where. They were pinpoint targets, and would have to be hit using precision bombing techniques in daylight. The B-29s would have to fly formation to the target for self-protection, for there would be no escorts. It was a complete turnaround for the 73rd Wing, then the only component of XXI Bomber Command. The wing had trained in radar bombing techniques, and now it had to retrain on optical systems. It totally revised its operations, flight formations, and gunnery tactics.
</p>
<p>When Hansell led the advanced elements of the 73rd to Saipan, the situation was worse than they might have suspected. They had expected to find two finished bases, operational with four paved runways, all the facilities, and 100 hardstands on each base. They found one half-finished base with a partly finished runway and 40 hardstands. There was a gasoline storage area and a bomb dump, but no other facilities. The second base existed in part. but a large hill at one end of its main runway eliminated it for B-29 operations.
</p>
<p>Hansell faced a formidable task: complete the base, organize the headquarters and the wing, bring in 120 Superforts and send some of them out on a mission against Japan. All of that carried a one-month deadline. One stroke of good fortune eased the task. A crew from the 3rd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron arrived with their B-29, and decided to fly a reconnaissance mission to Tokyo. Hansell considered grounding the crew for rest, as they had flown all the way from Kansas with stops only for refuelling. But the crew was eager, and Hansell was persuaded. They found crystal-clear skies over Japan, and cruised over the islands for three hours. They returned with superb photo coverage of the areas where targets were expected, and the photo interpreters were able to spot them easily.
