The bombing of Rangoon was a series of air raids conducted by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service that took place between December 1941 to March 1942 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The capital city of Rangoon was the first to be attacked after Japan executed air raids on Burma in preparation for its invasion of the country weeks following its declaration of war upon the United States and the United Kingdom on December 8, 1941. December 23, 1941 Background The air war in southern Burma was about to enter an entirely new phase after Japan executed air raids on Burma in preparation for its invasion of the country. General Michio Sugawara was planning a major bombing raid on Rangoon for December 23. Mingaladon airfield and the downtown districts of Rangoon were to be the principal targets; the Shwedagon Pagoda would provide an excellent navigation mark from the air. Like most pre-World War II airpower theorists, targeting downtown districts would serve as an effort to create terror and panic among the city's inhabitants and demoralize their will to support the war, in hoping that such raid would force them to turn against British colonial leaders. Eighty bombers and thirty fighters were available for the operation. Most of the bombers were twin-engine Mitsubishi Ki-21 bombers. The Ki-21 was a modern type, carried a large crew and could fly at 300 miles per hour. Three squadrons of Ki-zi Mitsubishi bombers would be supported by a squadron of nimble Nakajima Ki-27 fighters - also called a Type 97 fighter - and a squadron of Mitsubishi Ki-30s. The Ki-30 was a light bomber and carried a 600-pound bomb; for armament, it mounted one forward-firing fixed machine gun, and a rear-gunner sat behind the pilot under a greenhouse type canopy. The Attack The Japanese squadrons took to the skies from airfields in Thailand and Indochina on the morning of December 23. By the time they arrived over Rangoon, there were few clouds in the air and a light breeze blew from the south, thus allowing them to visually strike at the selected targets. Just before 10 a.m., the operations room at Mingaladon reported two waves of approaching raiders. Once the news came through, the base's fighters were hastily ordered to scramble in order to intercept the enemy bombers. A dozen Tomahawks and fifteen Buffaloes of the Royal Air Force and the American