HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 May 1942, Page 4

HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL

RECENT AMERICAN RAID ON TOKIO AND OTHER AREAS IN JAPAN WARSHIP & PLANE FACTORY DAMAGED. LEADER AWARDED MEDAL OF HONOUR. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 1.0 p.m.) WASHINGTON, May 19. Brigadier-General James Doolittle was personally awarded the Congressional Medai of Honour by President Roosevelt today for having led a squadron of Army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in the highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on April 18. President Roosevelt commended Brigadier-General Doolittle’s conspicuous leadership, above and beyond the call of duty, involving personal valour and intrepidity at extreme hazard to life. BrigadierGeneral Doolittle, with an apparent certainty of being forced to land in enemy territory or to perish at sea, ied a squadron and bombed Japanese cities and a Navy yard, leaving one new cruiser or battleship on fire. 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 specific targets and arrangements were carried out with remarkable precision. They experienced little hostile reaction, because apparently there was no advanced warning. The bombers zoomed down just over the Tokio housetops, but dropped their bombs at 1,500 feet. The target of one plane was a Navy yard south of Tokio. One salvo made a direct hit on either a cruiser or a battleship under construction, which was set on fire. Another bomber strewed incendiaries along a quarter of a mile of aircraft factory near Nagoya. Another illuminated a tank farm. Flying at such low altitudes made it difficult to observe the result following the impact of the bombs. “We could see them strike,” Brigadier-General Doolittle said, “but our speed and low altitude restricted our vision. The raid was made in fair weather at midday. No trouble was experienced in finding the exact target designated. No more than thirty Japanese pursuit planes were observed during the flight. These were completely ineffective. Several, we know, were shot down and possibly more. Incidentally, the Japanese pursuit pilots seemed inexperienced and evidently were below the standard of those encountered in active theatres of war.

“Approaching the Navy yard, we apparently passed over a flying school where a number of trainer planes were in the air. Before releasing our bombs, we dived again towards the treetops and went towards the coast at that altitude to avoid anti-aircraft fire. Along the coastline we observed several squadrons of destroyers, some cruisers and battleships about 25 to 30 miles out to sea. Our rear-gunners reported seeing columns of smoke rising thousands of feet into the air. “One of our party observed a ball game in progress. Players and spectators did not run for co,Ver until just as the field passed out of sight. The pilots, bombardiers and members of the crews performed their duties with great calmness and remarkable precision. It appeared to us that practically' every bomb reached the target for which it -was intended. We would like to have tarried and watched later developments of fire and explosion, but even so we were fortunate to receive a fairly detailed report from excited Japanese radio broadcasts. It took them several hours to calm down to deception and accusation.” Both President Roosevelt and the War Department left unanswered an important question, to which the Japanese would like an answer namely, where was the raiding squadron based. Brigadier-General Doolittle, who is 45 years of age, is a veteran of the last war. He achieved fame as a speed flyer in the 19205. He received the Flying Cross in 1922. Mrs Doolittle, who was especially brought from Los Angeles for the ceremony, told the Press: “I am so thrilled I can’t talk.” She arrived this morning and walked into the President’s office. She had not the slightest idea her husband had been there or even that he was in the United States. Generals Marshall and Arnold attended the ceremony. No one knew about the decoration until a few moments previously. President Roosevelt said he thought it would be quite a ■surprise to General Doolittle. Just before pinning on the decoration, Mr Roosevelt remarked with a grin to reporters that not even a columnist had guessed it. Seventy-nine others who took part in the historic raid received the Distinguished Service Cross.