Twelve B-25's and the last Doolittle Raider...

Status
Not open for further replies.
His name is Richard Cole and he's one of that last of the "Great Generation". God bless and keep Richard Cole and his other comrades in arms.
 
We painted the "Yellow Rose" At L3 Technologies in Waco, Tx.

I know every fella that had their hand on that plane.
 
"Shortly before running out of fuel, everyone bailed out — as Cole pulled his parachute's ripcord he gave himself a black eye. He landed in a tree where he spent the night, climbing down in the morning, and walking the whole day before finding a couple of Chinese students who eventually took him to Doolittle, who said, "Boy, am I glad to see you."

Of the 80 men who flew from the USS Hornet deck, three died in the raid, and four captured by the Japanese were executed or starved to death. Two others who survived the raid were later killed while flying the China-Burma-India route over the Himalayas known as the "Hump." After the raid Cole went to India, helped establish the dangerous Hump flying route and flew more than 100 missions carrying cargo, earning three Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Doolittle initially believed the mission was a failure and figured he'd be court-martialed for losing all the planes. Instead, he was awarded the Medal of Honor."
 
The Doolittle raid was very important because it showed the enemy this was not going to be a walk over.

Much the same as the Brits bombing of Berlin. Goering was so convinced they couldn't do it (due to the long distance and strong defenses), he boasted "If the British bomb Berlin, you can call me Meir". Well Mr Meir...

And in the British case, that act of defiance contributed to the first defeat of Germany in WWII - the Battle of Britain. Hitler was so incensed by the bombing of Berlin that he ordered the bombing campaign to shift to London and other large cities rather than focusing on the forward airfields where they were having quite a bit of success.
 
As I know the Doolittle story, the bombers were supposed to return to the carrier but the carrier and escorts were seen by a Japanese picket boat (which was sunk but had gotten a message off) well out to sea and the decision was therefore made to take off much further from Tokyo that planned. That meant they wouldn't have enough fuel for the return trip and so had to go on to China.

I don't know if they planned to actually land back on the carrier or just get close and ditch nearby. If Doolittle was worried that he'd be in trouble for losing all those bombers, that suggests they planned to land on the carrier.
 
Originally Posted By: ecotourist
As I know the Doolittle story, the bombers were supposed to return to the carrier but the carrier and escorts were seen by a Japanese picket boat (which was sunk but had gotten a message off) well out to sea and the decision was therefore made to take off much further from Tokyo that planned. That meant they wouldn't have enough fuel for the return trip and so had to go on to China.

I don't know if they planned to actually land back on the carrier or just get close and ditch nearby. If Doolittle was worried that he'd be in trouble for losing all those bombers, that suggests they planned to land on the carrier.


Half right. They were not supposed to return to the carrier, but to continue to friendly bases in China. The early launch precluded that option because of the fuel requirements.
 
Originally Posted By: ecotourist
As I know the Doolittle story, the bombers were supposed to return to the carrier


No, sir.
Neither the planes, nor ship, were equipped to handle carrier landings of B-25's.

The men knew they were training for something very dangerous and unlikely to succeed.
Doolittle gave them many chances to back out....
none ever did.
 
Carrier what Carrier??? according to President Roosevelt "the bombers had taken off from Shangri-La.”

Two years later, as an homage to the president’s wisecrack, the Navy commissioned an aircraft carrier
named the USS Shangri-La. It remained in service until the early 1970s.
 
I saw General Doolittle once from a distance of about 15 feet at some event at the Air and Space Museum sometime in the mid '80's. I was awestruck with hero worship and marveled that a bonafide giant could appear to us mortals in such a small package. They really DON'T make them like they used to. What a life!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top