Actually, when conducting the firebomb missions, the B-29s flew at low level. Their after action reports clearly mentioned the smell of smoke etc. It was far fr

Actually, when conducting the firebomb missions, the B-29s flew at low level. Their after action reports clearly mentioned the smell of smoke etc. It was far from impersonal. " In January 1945, General Curtis LeMay arrived in the Mariana Islands to take over the problem-plagued B-29 command. For two months, his crews flew similar high-altitude missions over Japan with little more success. His job on the line, General LeMay decided on a risky new strategy: his pilots would fly daring, dangerous bombing missions at altitudes as low as 5,000 feet, low enough to be within range of anti-aircraft weapons. Robert Rodenhouse was shocked: "We thought they could throw the kitchen sink up there and hit us. Can you imagine flying a big four-engine bomber at 5,000 feet? Why that was just unheard of, absolutely unheard of. And like my crew says, I think those generals lost their marbles. They weren't thinking straight." The low-altitude bombing runs turned out to be highly successful. The planes carried much larger bomb loads. Crews flew at night to avoid enemy fighters. And flight personnel were kept to a minimum. Most of the gunners were removed to make room for still more bombs -- incendiary bombs." https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pacific-b-29s/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pacific...