Heroes Of Raid On Japan Decorated

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 117, 20 May 1942, Page 7

Heroes Of Raid On Japan Decorated

LEADER TELLS STORY

Base Of American Planes Still A Hidden Secret

(United Press Association.—Copyright.—Rec. 11 a.m.)

WASHINGTON, May 19

Brigadier-General James Doolittle was to-day personally awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour by President Roosevelt for having led a squadron of army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on April 18.

The President commended General Doolittle for "conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty, involving oersonal valour and intrepidity at extreme hazard to life."

With apparent certainty of being forced to land on enemy territory or perish at sea, the squadron bombed Japanese cities and a navy yard, leaving one new cruiser or battleship in flames.

Immediately after receiving his decoration Brigadier-General Doolittle made a statement, in which he'described the raid as successful beyond the most optimistic expectations. Each plane was assigned a specific target, and each carried out its assignment with remarkable precision. They experienced little hostile reaction, because apparently there was no advanced warning. The bombers zoomed down just over the housetops in Tokyo, but dropped* bombs at 1500 ft. The target of one plane was a navy yard in South Tokyo. One salvo made a direct hit on a new cruiser or battleship under construction, and it was seen in flames. Another bomber strewed incendiaries along the quarter-mile length of an aircraft factory near Nagoya. Another plane illuminated a "tank farm." Low Altitude Obscures Vision The planes were flying at such low altitudes that it was difficult to observe results of the bombs. The crews could see the strike, but speed and low altitude restricted their vision. The raid was made in fair weather at midday. No trouble was experienced in finding the exact targets designated. No l ?° r fl. t^ an Japanese pursuit planes were observed during the flight, and these were completely ineffective. Several are known to have been shot down, and possibly there were more. Incidentally the Japanese pursuit pilots seemed inexperienced and evidently were below the standard of those encountered in active theatres of war.

r» a PP roac k ,n ? navy yard," said Brigadier-General Doolittle, we apparently passed over a flying school, where a number of trainer planes were in the air. After releasing our bombs we dived again to the treetops and went off to the coast at that altitude to avoid anti-aircraft fire. Along the coastline we observed several squadrons of destroyers. There were some cruisers and battleships about 25 or 30 miles to seaward The oTfeeUn" Columns of smoke "sing thousands

, "° ne °f our party observed a ball game in progress. Players r u ? 0 ?:sr s run cover untn just as the fiew *****<* . 'P!P tS ' bombardiers and members of the crew performed hlr d ut»es with great calmness and remarkable precision. It appeared to us that practically every bomb reached the tare** which it w,, intended We would like to ater developments of fire and explosion, but even so we were fortunate to receive a fairly detailed report from the excited r ••** Sev "*' hoU " '» LaWd '° ' namely> Where the raidi "S -qoadron Decoration a Complete Surprise war ß Vff die f.J aares"es Doolittle is 45 and a veteran of the last j achieved fame as a speed flyer in the 192fV j received the Flying Cross in 192? M r? ,1y , 3 and specially brought from Lo Ange L for ' Wh ° XT" by said: .tkTITaS ,7t" o f^Sr or even that he was in the United States. G e „eSl"H ra H G ArSd M Cht[ , of < ;h' > 4 0f A l my Sta f- and the ceremony. None knew r "^ y . Cor Ps> attended moments before it was conferred M R ecoratjon ur »til a f ew it would be quite a surprise to Brigadier-General before pinning the decoration Mr R™ eneral Just B rin to reporters, -No, » tinguished"service Cross' * he 1 " Stori<: raid "caived the Dis-