November 25th, 2015: Tokyo Firebombing

Operation Meetinghouse, the B-29 firebombing raid on Tokyo of March 9th/10th, 1945, is thought to be the most destructive air raid in history. What a mess, but it looks like not many to help clean up.
Hey, that looks like one of those wood gas units in the trunk of that car, conserving fuel for the military.



Fortunately only five months later we had improved the bombing technique so it only took two planes instead of 334, saving tons of fuel and probably a lot of overtime pay. Also the bodies were vaporized saving all that cleanup they had in Tokyo.

I was wondering wtf was in the trunk of that car...

It's called a wood burner. Technically a Gasifier, and can burn a number of things but a lot of them are eatable, so they're not a good choice. To most people wood is the easiest to obtain. It will also use charcoal which seems to be abundant there.

I once made a trip to Japan and (of course) learned many things.

My host was Chairman of Dept of Pediatrics at the University.
On the way to his home for dinner, he told me his entire family
had died in that bombing raid. I felt very uncomfortable.

He and his family lived in the family home which was old and much larger than most.
He said his father was also a physician and on the faculty of the same med school.
The house and gardens were truly spectacular ... classic old-school Japanese, with paper sliding doors, etc.
It was one of very few that survived that fire bombing completely in tact.

After dinner, he told me his parent's had lost all of their children in that same raid !
I said I did not understand. But it was quite simple.

During war time, people do what they have to do to survive.
His "parents" had adopted him, and he had taken the name of their oldest son.
He graduated med school, and thus was carrying on their son's name and their family traditions.

My wife and I were touched.
.

Thanks for sharing that L.

Fuck war.

Lamplighter wrote:

His "parents" had adopted him, and he had taken the name of their oldest son.
He graduated med school, and thus was carrying on their son's name and their family traditions.

This is a cool story. But I'm honestly a little weirded out by the kid changing his name to match their dead kid's name. Last name, sure, you've joined a new family. But maybe he was super young when they adopted him and didn't really notice the difference.

A culture of strict obedience to superiors.

Whew. I get my news here, and thought for a moment, when I saw the thread title, that there had been another attack today.

Carry on.

lumberjim;946364 wrote:

Whew. I get my news here, and thought for a moment, when I saw the thread title, that there had been another attack today.

Carry on.

I, for one, would appreciate it if Bruce would not wait 70+ years to bring these news stories to my attention.

LOL

Fuck youze guys.