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Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor

Page 79

by Scott, James M.


  In response to President Franklin Roosevelt’s demand that America strike back against Japan, Admiral Ernest King, U.S. Fleet commander, encouraged his subordinates to develop a plan for a carrier raid against Tokyo. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, a famed racing and stunt pilot, was a pioneer in American aviation. (NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE)

  Lieutenant General Henry “Hap” Arnold, chief of the U.S. Army Air Forces who had learned to fly from the Wright brothers, tapped his staff troubleshooter Jimmy Doolittle to plan the raid, which would involve flying Army bombers off a Navy carrier. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Vice Admiral William “Bull” Halsey Jr. commanded the Navy’s task force of sixteen warships and ten thousand men. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Captain Marc Mitscher served as the skipper of the Hornet, the 19,800-ton flattop that carried Jimmy Doolittle and his raiders to Japan. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Sailors look on as sixteen Army B-25 bombers, tied down and with wheels chocked, crowd the deck of the carrier Hornet en route to bomb Japan. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  A smiling Jimmy Doolittle, surrounded by his raiders, fastens a Japanese medal to the fin of a 500-pound bomb in a ceremony on the Hornet’s deck on the eve of the raid. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Army airmen on the deck of the Hornet hustle to load ammunition in advance of the raid. Each plane carried four bombs to drop on Japan, as well as .30- and .50-caliber machine guns for defense against Japanese fighters. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  The task force encountered a string of Japanese picket boats early in the morning of April 18, 1942, including this one, which was destroyed by a combination of gunfire and attacks from American planes. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Nashville sailors hold up an exhausted Japanese prisoner of war, rescued from one of the destroyed picket boats. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  One of the sixteen B-25s races its engines in preparation for takeoff for the raid against Tokyo. Heavy winds and fierce seas sent waves over the bow of the towering carrier. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Sailors throughout the task force cheered as each bomber lifted off from the Hornet’s flight deck. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  This photograph of the Yokosuka naval base, shot from one of the bombers, is one of the few images of the raid to have survived. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  A Japanese official stands in a crater more than six feet deep and almost forty-three feet wide, surrounded by the debris of a destroyed wooden factory building in the Tokyo area. The attack by pilot Dean Hallmark not only leveled the structure but also blew out the windows of the adjacent building. (NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE STUDIES)

  This bomb crater near an Asahi Electrical Manufacturing Corporation factory in the Tokyo area measured more than fifteen feet wide and almost ten feet deep. (NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE STUDIES)

  The attack led by pilot Travis Hoover, in the second bomber to leave the Hornet, destroyed this Tokyo-area home, killing one person. (NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE STUDIES)

  Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, pictured here with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, struggled with his disdain for the Chinese leader. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Local Chinese survey the wreckage of Doolittle’s B-25 after the raid on Japan. (NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE)

  Locals carry some of the raiders in sedan chairs, one of the many forms of native transportation the airmen depended on in China, including rickshaws and miniature ponies. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Chinese soldiers escorting the crew of the fifteenth bomber, including, from left, Herb Macia, Jack Sims, Jacob Eierman, and Jack Hilger. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Pilot Ted Lawson was badly injured in the crash of the Ruptured Duck in the surf along the Chinese coast, leading to the amputation of his left leg by mission doctor Thomas White. (AIR FORCE HISTORICAL RESEARCH AGENCY)

  Jimmy Doolittle and his second-in-command, Major Jack Hilger, listen to Madame Chiang Kai-shek after she presented them with medals in Chungking following the raid on Japan. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  President Franklin Roosevelt presents Jimmy Doolittle with the Medal of Honor at the White House on May 19, 1942, as Lieutenant General Henry Arnold, Joe Doolittle, and General George Marshall watch. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Blindfolded by his captors, pilot Bobby Hite is led from a Japanese transport plane. He would spend forty months in captivity. (U.S. AIR FORCE MUSEUM)

  Missionary priests and Sisters of Charity ford a stream in their flight from the Japanese following the Doolittle raid. (DEPAUL UNIVERSITY)

  The Japanese reduced the town of Ying-tan to little more than rubble in the wake of the Doolittle raid. (DEPAUL UNIVERSITY)

  Warden of Kiangwan Military Prison, Sotojiro Tatsuda, bows to Chase Nielsen during the war crimes trials in Shanghai in 1946 for those accused of executing some of the Doolittle raiders. (NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE)

  INDEX

  Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.

  Adams, Frederick, 10

  African Americans, 25

  not admitted to Marine Corps, 77

  Aichi, 62

  aircraft carriers, Japanese, U.S. destruction of, xiv

  Air Force, Chinese, 167

  airplane engines, 54–55

  Air Service Command, 63

  Akagi, 1, 2, 6, 190

  Akers, Frank, 67, 68, 150

  Akigumo, 2, 6

  Alabama College Glee Club, 95

  Alameda Naval Air Station, 39, 108, 115, 116, 119, 121–24

  Aleutians, 307

  Alexander, Edward, Chinese airfields prepared by, 166–69

  Algeria, 475

  Altick, Sherman, 367

  American Red Cross, 77, 407

  American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers), 102, 328, 344

  Angsing, 383

  anthrax, xiv, 385, 386, 387

  Arcadia Conference, 28

  Arisue, Colonel, 403

  Arizona, 24

  Army, Imperial:

  planes of, 12

  size of, 12

  Army, U.S.:

  Western Defense Force of, 76

  Army Air Forces, U.S., shortages faced by, 27, 35, 54

  Army Clothing Depot, 145

  Arndt, Ralph, 236

  Arnold, Henry H. “Hap,” 112, 165, 276, 323, 330

  B-25s ordered for raid by, 66

  background of, 32–33

  congratulatory message on raid from, 333–34

  debriefed on raid by Doolittle, 357

  Doolittle given top priority by, 58

  Doolittle grounded by, 45, 53

  Doolittle hired by, 56–57

  Doolittle ordered to meet Halsey by, 115

  and Doolittle raid plan, 62, 105, 106–7, 108

  and Doolittle’s blind flight, 53

  and Doolittle’s desire to lead mission, 97

  Doolittle’s warning on Germany’s military preparations to, 55–56

  executions and, 418

  farewell note to Doolittle from, 127

  FDR notified about raid by, 321

  FDR’s dispute with, 33

  fuel for raid moved by, 107–8

  letters to families of dead raiders sent by, 457

  Marshall and Doolittle’s meeting with, 357–59

  medals given to raiders by, 368

  at meeting on U.S. entry into World War II, 26, 34

  and outcome of raid, 317

  and plan to bomb Tokyo, 28, 32, 34–37, 38, 318

  Stilwell briefed on raid by, 106–7, 167

  on success of raid, 321–22

  worried about delay of raid, 169

  Asahi Electrical Manufacturing Corporation, 199, 309

  Associated Press, 14, 18, 319, 324, 330, 458

  Atago, 190

  Atlantic Monthly, 145

  atom bombs, 449–50

  Australia, 27, 75, 133, 136, 151

  Avenger, 96,
224–26

  Awata Maru, 237

  B-18, 69

  B-23s, 32, 36

  B-25s, 32, 36, 288

  California mechanics and, 112–14

  cameras on, 61–62

  carburetors on, 93–94, 113, 116

  cost of, 59

  crew requirements for, 59

  design of, 59

  development of, 58–59

  engines of, 59

  fuel capacity of, 61

  meager armament of, 92

  modified for raid, 58, 59–62, 92–94, 97, 111–12, 116, 177

  names given to, 96

  organizing crews for, 68–74

  payload of, 59, 148, 160, 165, 184

  Saylor’s repairs to, 153–54

  size of, 101

  weight of, 90, 95

  wingspan of, 67

  B-26 Marauder, 59

  B-29 Superfortress, 59, 448–49

  Backus, Edward, Chinese airfields prepared by, 166–69

  bacteriological warfare, 386–89

  Bailey, Forest, 39–40

  Bailey, Jason, 466

  Meder’s remains recovered by, 466–67

  Bain, Edwin, 93, 150

  in bombing raid, 227, 228–29

  death of, 475

  Balch, 157, 159

  Barr, George, 345, 463

  and Bat out of Hell, 183

  China landing of, 265, 266

  death of, 478

  healing of, 478

  illness of, 450, 455, 457–58, 459–62

  mental breakdown of, 459–61

  in move west, 110

  in prison, 299, 347, 349, 400, 438, 439, 443, 444, 445, 450, 455, 460

  recovery of, 463

  sentence of, 404

  as witness at international tribunal, 468

  Bashi Strait, 190

  Bataan Peninsula, 76, 152–53, 192, 324

  Bates, James, 91, 116–17

  Bat out of Hell, 96, 182–83, 185, 232–33, 265–69, 297, 307, 308, 395, 407

  Baumeister, Karl, 71, 74

  Bay Bridge, 32

  Beardall, John, 16

  Belgium, 10

  Benham, 159

  Benicia Arsenal, 112

  Bereswill, Louis, 375

  beriberi, 450

  Bernstein, George, 179

  Bettis, Cyrus, 48

  Biddle, Francis, 21

  on internment camps for Japanese Americans, 76–77

  Birch, Bill, 163–64, 244, 333

  in bombing raid, 222

  training of, 73

  Birch, John, 276–77

  Bissell, Clayton, 168, 329, 330, 332, 334, 336

  Bissell, Wayne, 218

  Bither, Waldo, 223, 271

  Bitter, Bruno, 210

  Bland, W. H. P., 18

  Blanton, Thad, 166, 224

  blind flight, 52–53

  Bloch, Claude, 13

  Bogart, Larry, 121, 166

  Bonin Islands, 190

  Bordeaux Maru, 134

  Boso Peninsula, 201, 204, 219, 308

  Boston Globe, 317, 324, 449

  Bourgeois, Robert, 70, 130, 155–56, 162, 245, 479

  in bombing raid, 224–26

  Bower, Bill, 70, 90, 123, 372

  in bombing raid, 221, 223–24

  in China, 328, 331, 333

  departure on raid of, 128

  Doolittle as hero of, 88

  at launch, 182

  made engineering officer, 88

  Boyo Moyo, 82

  Bradley, Follett, 421–22

  Braemer, Fred, 179, 246, 270

  bombing by, 197

  in flight to Tokyo, 195, 196

  wife’s inquiry about, 365

  Brereton, Lewis, 102, 323

  Bridge House, 395–400, 401, 438

  Brown, Prentiss, 55

  Browning, Miles, 100, 115

  Browning, Patsy, 373

  Buchanan, Jean, 371

  Buckingham Palace, 148

  Bungey, William, 396

  Burchett, Wilfred, 388

  Burma, Japanese assault on, 107

  Burma Road, 107, 151

  C-63, 36

  California, 24

  Campbell, Clayton, 224, 326

  Campbell, Robert, 236

  Carpenter, Edmund, 451

  Carter, Amon, 34

  Casey, Robert, 159–60, 161, 181, 183

  Central Nippon Army, 310

  Ceylon, 133

  Charlie (Jai Foo Chang), 255, 292–93, 371

  Cheek, Tom, 160

  Chekiang Province, China, 275, 375, 387, 389

  Chemical Warfare Services, 62

  Chennault, Claire, 28, 63, 328

  on Japanese drive through China, 383, 389–90

  on secrecy of raid, 476

  Chen Shenyan, 285, 296, 338, 341, 342–43

  Chesapeake (floating lighthouse), 66

  Chiang Kai-shek, 75, 102, 269

  airfield use granted to raiders by, 169–70

  China’s strategic value realized by, 104–5

  Luce’s admiration for, 103–4

  raiders invited to lunch by, 331–33

  Stilwell’s disgust with, 103, 105, 389

  Chiang Kai-shek, Madame, 104, 331, 332–33, 334

  Chicago Daily News, 173, 239

  Chicago Daily Tribune, 74–75, 324, 360–61, 373

  Chicago Sun, 24

  China, 75, 81, 139, 144, 191

  airfields of, 31

  bombers turned over to, 112

  Japanese atrocities in, xiv, 105–6, 277, 376, 381, 384, 390, 482, 397, 520n

  Japanese desire to wipe out airfields in, 375–80

  Japanese torture of those who helped raiders in, 384–90

  as landing spot for Doolittle raid, xiii, 31, 36, 58, 63–64, 105–6, 108, 115, 129, 146, 150, 166–70, 204, 242, 244, 308

  preparations for raiders in, 102–8

  strategic value of, 104–5

  U.S. aid to, 28

  U.S. bombers in, 35

  U.S. search for prisoners of war in, 451–52

  U.S. use of airfields in, 27

  China Relief, 284

  China Weekly Review, 397

  Chita Wan, 226

  Chkalov, Russia, 429–37

  Chokyu Maru, 237

  cholera, xiv, 385, 387, 389

  Choshi, Japan, 223–24

  Chuchow, China, 63, 107, 108, 167, 169, 342, 376

  Japanese raids against, 327, 385, 389

  Chugai Shogyo, 312

  Ch’u Hsien, 389

  Chungking, China, 63, 329–31, 333, 457, 458

  Church Committee on China Relief, 385

  Churchill, Winston:

  Doolittle raid and, 172

  FDR’s message on raid to, 321

  future of war as concern of, 151–52

  and Pearl Harbor announcement, 17–18

  speech style of, 19

  on Time, 104

  Washington trip of, 26–27

  Cimarron, 125, 128, 131, 160, 162

  Civil War, U.S., 21

  Clapper, Raymond, 410

  Clark, D. Worth, 318

  Clark, John, 111, 117–18

  Cleveland, Grover, 13

  Cleveland Athletic Club, 374

  Cleveland Press, 419

  Clever, Bob, 252, 253, 337

  death of, 475

  injury of, 253, 282–83, 285

  in landing after raid, 282–83, 284

  in launch, 177

  coal, 80

  Cole, Richard, 95, 125, 155, 157, 245, 246, 247, 479–80

  bombing by, 199

  brought to Chinese military, 272–74

  in flight to Tokyo, 184, 195

  at launch, 181

  letters to parents by, 334–35

  medals awarded to, 363–64

  Collier’s, 77

  Colorado, 125

  Columbia Army Air Base, 69, 70–71

  Communication Ministry, 309

  Congress, U.S., 317–18
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  Connally, Tom, 22

  Connecticut, 165

  Coolidge, 143

  Cooper, Merian, 369

  rescue mission and, 335–36

  Coral Sea, 341, 415

  Corregidor, 76, 152–53, 192, 339

  Cromley, Ray, 144

  Crouch, Horace, 129, 219, 220

  Crow Indians, 25

  Cunningham, Winfield Scott, 75, 455

  Currie, Laughlin, 104

  Cushing, 125

  Cyclops (Japanese guard), 443

  Daily News, 361

  Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, 51

  Davenport, Dean, 123, 244, 251–52

  in battle with Japanese vessel, 186–87

  in bombing raid, 208

  injury of, 253, 254, 285

  in landing after raid, 280, 283

  medal awarded to, 369

  Davis, Dwight, 49

  Davis, Elmer, 414

  DC-2, 35–36

  DC-3, 35–36

  Death March, 153

  DeMille, Cecil B., 45

  Denmark, 10

  DeShazer, Jacob, 110, 243

  and Bat out of Hell damage, 186

  in battle with Nitto Maru No. 23, 175

  in bombing raid, 232–33

  China landing of, 265–69

  in evacuation to China, 457

  fears of, 157

  interviewed in press, 458

  at launch, 178, 182–83

  missionary work of, 477–78

  in prison, 297–98, 299, 347–48, 351, 398, 401, 438–39, 440–43, 444, 445, 446–47, 448, 450, 455, 456, 460

  recovery of, 463

  report on imprisonment by, 457

  in return to U.S., 458–59

  sentence of, 404

  torture of, 298

  training of, 72

  as witness at international tribunal, 468

  Detroit, Mich., 80

  DeWitt, John, 76

  Dickson, W. N., 391

  Diet, Japanese, 143, 147, 218

  Dieter, Bill, 363

  in bombing raid, 206

  death of, 278, 457

  grave of, 465

  injuries of, 465

  Nielsen’s letter to mother of, 465

  Dodson, Oscar, 66–67

  Doolittle, Jimmy:

  airplane acrobatics of, 36, 44–47, 51, 53–54

  airplane racing by, 48–49, 53

  ankle injury of, 49–51

  Army joined by, 41–42

  Arnold’s and Marshall’s meeting with, 357–59

 

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