Which bomber type flew the last aerial combat mission of World War II over Japan?

The B-32 Dominator flew the last aerial combat mission of World War II over Japan.

On 18 August 1945, two B-32 Dominator bombers from the U.S. Army Air Forces conducted a photographic reconnaissance mission over Tokyo. Japanese fighters attacked them even though Japan had announced its surrender days earlier. The engagement became the last aerial combat of the war.

The B-32s had been designed as long-range heavy bombers and were developed as a counterpart to the better-known B-29 Superfortress. The Dominator entered combat late and was produced in much smaller numbers than the B-29. During the final reconnaissance mission, one American crewman was killed and another wounded.

The incident demonstrated that Japan’s cease-fire was not yet perfectly obeyed by every military unit. Afterward, Japanese aircraft had their propellers removed under the cease-fire arrangements, and later Allied reconnaissance flights went unchallenged. The B-32 is therefore linked not only to an aircraft-development story but also to the final armed encounter of the air war.