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or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at into History.com. It's just after midnight on March 10th, 1945 and the city of Tokyo is under attack.

34-year-old French journalist Robert. and the city of Tokyo is under attack.

34-year-old French journalist Robert Gillen

runs through the streets of the Japanese capital.

It's late, but he has no problem seeing his way.

A huge fire is raging, lighting up the night sky.

Robert has chosen not to seek the safety of an air-age shelter though.

Instead, he's joining the effort to battle the infernum.

A few hours ago, dozens of American B-29 bombers

appeared in the sky over Tokyo. They dropped incendiary bombs on the city's docks

and industrial district and a combination of high winds

and highly flammable building materials soon whipped up a firestorm.

The flames spread across the city and the blaze is now so ferocious that Tokyo's fire crews have put out a call for help.

Robert stops running as he reaches a burning building a few blocks from his own hall.

A handful of firefighters are trying to

tackle the fire, their face is black and sooty.

Robert grabs a pump from an exhausted looking fireman and begins cranking

the handle. Fireman nods and thanks and takes the hose that's attached to the pump.

He aims it at the flames, but little more than a dribble emerges from the end.

...