What is the consensus among historians about Bombing of Tokyo 1945 (Operation Meetinghouse), regarding the use of Napalm: Was Napalm used? Was Napalm responsible for 100 thousand civilian deaths at that operation?

by Benukysz

Short introduction about why I am even asking this question.

First of all, I learned about the bombing of Tokyo from a revisionist history podcast (season 5, episode 6). In that podcast, it is stated that it was Napalm that was used in the bombing of Tokyo. If I remember correctly there might been a bomb added to spread the napalm further upon impact but that's besides the point.

Now this is where I get completely confused.

I have tried sharing this information in conversations on reddit and other commenters told me that in fact, it was not napaln and that I am a moron for believing so. Also that the podcast revisionist history, from which I learned about it, is completely wrong about it. Yet they haven't provided me any sources.

I am left puzzled and confused about this topic. I am no historian, how can I know what is the truth.

I would really like to hear an expert/historian opinion about this (with sources if possible).

restricteddata

The weapons dropped during Operation Meetinghouse were primarily M-69 and M-47 incendiaries. Both can use napalm as their primary incendiary agent. The M-69 bomblets would trigger a few seconds after landing, spraying a get of flaming napalm horizontally. The M-47 was a larger weapon with both napalm and white phosphorous.

Napalm was developed during World War II for specifically igniting civilian buildings. I have written at some length about that here. This sometimes surprises people who associate it primarily with later wars, like Vietnam.

The person arguing with you (I checked) is saying things their own links don't support, so I wouldn't waste much bandwidth on them.