Hiroshima

Posted by Ric on 07.08.05

Saturday 6th August 2005 was the 60th anniversary of the destruction of Hiroshima by atomic bomb. While I was of course aware of the event, news broadcasts taught me a lot of detail of which I had not previously been aware.

When Japanese early warning radar net detected the approach of American aircraft headed for the southern part of Japan, radio broadcasting stopped in many cities, including Hiroshima. The radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of planes coming in was very small and the air raid alert was lifted. They were set up a bomb with a 130 pound core of uranium-235.

The B-29 Enola Gay dropped the nuclear bomb 'Little boy' over the central part of the city. It exploded about 2,000 feet above the city, killing 80,000 civilians outright. A great scar on the land, still burning, and covered by a heavy cloud of smoke, was all that was left.

The Hiroshima station of the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation had gone off the air. The main line telegraph had stopped working just north of Hiroshima. Military headquarters repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima but there was complete silence from the city. Despite all of this, somehow, main screen turn on. It was Cats.

All was not lost, for the Japanese people had a powerful ally in Godzilla. He strode purposefully towards the flaming rubble.

By comparison of the damage he now stood amongst with that he had created in the past, Godzilla knew he was facing a powerful foe, perhaps one too powerful for him alone.

He called upon his fellow foam rubber monsters.
    "HELP ME SAVE THE JAPANESE PEOPLE FROM CATS!" said Godzilla.
    "YES, WE WILL," replied Mecha Godzilla and Mothra.
    "HOWEVER," added Mothra, "AREN'T YOU NORMALLY IN TOKYO AND NOT HIROSHIMA?"
    "THAT IS AN ASTUTE OBSERVATION, MOTHRA. I AM ON HOLIDAY."

The battle against the fire and radiation was as tough as any they had endured before. Only with the added might of Space Godzilla did their blowing truly contain the fire.

As they stood in a ring, a final help came from above.
    "IT WAS A GOOD PLAN TO FLOOD HIROSHIMA TO PUT OUT THE FLAMES, MEGACUIRUS," said Godzilla. "OUR WORK HERE IS DONE."
    "THANK YOU, GODZILLA, BUT CONTRARY TO MY APPEARANCE, I AM NOT MEGACUIRUS," laughed the man. "I HAVE BEEN HORRIBLY MUTATED BY NUCLEAR FALLOUT."