Crews take off from Nebraska in a fleet of B-29s. Their destination: Tokyo in a major raid.
General Doolittle had already led a raid on Tokyo by air in 1942, in a move so heralded by the US that they made a feature starring Spencer Tracy. Here, though, rather than a show that such a flight was possible, was an attempt to make it practical. The primary base of the unit was Saipan, just recently taken from the Japanese. It was still a far piece to Japan, and as long a trip back. It was considered important to show that such a round trip could be made, with a lot of tonnage unloaded on Tokyo and its industrial plant.
It was a technical success in that the planes got to Tokyo, dropped their bombs, and got back to Saipan: all but two of them. Despite Ronald Reagan's narrative, no critical targets were hit. Instead, the raid of November 17, 1944, was the first of many that continued until the Japanese surrender. It peaked on 10 March 1945, when a raid destroyed East Tokyo, killing an estimated 100,000 people.
General Doolittle had already led a raid on Tokyo by air in 1942, in a move so heralded by the US that they made a feature starring Spencer Tracy. Here, though, rather than a show that such a flight was possible, was an attempt to make it practical. The primary base of the unit was Saipan, just recently taken from the Japanese. It was still a far piece to Japan, and as long a trip back. It was considered important to show that such a round trip could be made, with a lot of tonnage unloaded on Tokyo and its industrial plant.
It was a technical success in that the planes got to Tokyo, dropped their bombs, and got back to Saipan: all but two of them. Despite Ronald Reagan's narrative, no critical targets were hit. Instead, the raid of November 17, 1944, was the first of many that continued until the Japanese surrender. It peaked on 10 March 1945, when a raid destroyed East Tokyo, killing an estimated 100,000 people.
