Remember that the war was basically over at that point, and they were fighting against an enemy starved of resources and experienced manpower, particularly pilots (cf. kamikaze tactics).<p>The &quot;79 fighter planes&quot; claim doesn&#x27;t pass the sniff test to me either. Remember that two months after this, the Japanese didn&#x27;t even bother sending fighters to even try to intercept the planes that bombed Hiroshima (for example).<p>I&#x27;m not saying that the claim is definitely false, but I wouldn&#x27;t take anything written in the press during the actual war at face value.