These were the targets as per the order given to Gen. Carl Spaatz, who
was the CO of the Strategic Air Force Pacific: Hiroshima, Kokura, Nagasaki,
Niigata

Matt, what is your source for this?

To judge by the radio traffic, Spaatz has nothing to do with
targeting. (It was his headquarters that urged that Tokyo be bombed.)

I've never heard of Niigata, either as city or as target. It's very
small--300,000 in 1950. What was there that made it of interest?

Kokura as I recall had one of the last oil refineries still
functioning in Japan, and I think it was bombed in the
"thousand-plane" raid of Aug 14/15, with the last bombs falling after
midnight local time, when Japan had dispatched its surrender message
to Switzerland.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

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