On December 20, 1942, bombers of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) bombed the city, damaging its infrastructure and bringing sorrow to the entire city of joy. This happened in doom of second world war which destroyed many cities around the globe.

How it happened

As part of the British Empire during the Second World War, India found itself in the position of a de-facto ally to Britain's Western allies, including the US

India was a major aerial supply route, for an American military mission that came to be known as 'flying over the Hump', a term of reference for flying over the Indian Himalayas

Though extremely dangerous (several U.S. planes had crashed on the mission), it was the only way for the allies to send supplies to China in support of its war against Japan, while avoiding Japanese occupied Burma

The rapid progress of the Japanese through South-East Asia in early 1942 was finally stopped on the borders of India

The eastern Indian state of Calcutta (now Kolkata), because of its proximity to China and Burma, was as an important hub in execution of the military operations

By May 1942, the Japanese had overrun Burma, having defeated the British and Chinese ground troops, and felt that Calcutta was well within their reach

The city was first "blacked out" from sunset to sunrise to make it harder for the bombers to accurately hit their targets

Entire functioning of the city was under curfew -- right from buildings to streets to houses

Reoccurrence: December 20

The immediate threat of invasion had seemed to recede until in late 1942, the Japanese made their presence felt again

On December 20, 1942, bombers of the Japanese Air Force bombed the city, damaging its infrastructure

The city was bombed several times over the next few days

Fighting back

Calcutta boasted of a good air defence system which was respected by the Japanese fighter pilots who raided only at night and ensured they flew high

Initially caught off guard by the skilful night-time attacks, the British responded swiftly

The British Air Force bomber pilots destroyed many Japanese fighter planes, including the Japanese flying boat base, thereby crippling the Japanese ability to launch long-range aerial attacks

By 1943, London further strengthened the aerial defence by sending radar guided night fighters to India

These hugely manoeuvrable fighters were successful in destroying the several Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-21 and Mitsubishi Ki-46, which proved to be a further blow to Japanese aggression in the region

The ace fighter pilots of the allied forces destroyed numerous Japanese planes and helped to save many of the architectural marvels of Calcutta

The British also deployed their radar-equipped night fighters to score several victories

The British Air Force started using Spitfires in August 1943

The speed and manoeuvrability of these fighter planes helped them bring down many Japanese aircraft and turned World War II in the allies' favour

Japan's full blow

In 1943, the Japanese raid on Calcutta's Kidderpore docks took a heavy toll of property and lives

Hundreds of people were killed and many ships and warehouses were destroyed in this attack

Japanese aerial bombing of Calcutta continued sporadically until 1944 when Japan deployed its fighter planes elsewhere

World War II ended the next year.

There are several poems, novels and stories shared by the global Indian community to express their heart-wrenching experiences of this incident.

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