68 Years Ago - The Doolittle Raid

[Pong]

On this day, April 18, 1942, one of the most daring raids of the Pacific War was launched as sixteen B-25 Mitchells took off from the carrier USS Hornet.

[wheelsup_cavu]

Some picture links in this thread of a a Doolitle reunion that featured 17 B-25's.
17 B-25s At One Time In Dayton, OH - SimHQ Forums


Wheels

[evangilder]

A distant cousin, whom I never met, was on that raid, Crew #11 Bombardier William Birch.

[RabidAlien]

[Pong]

Awesome photos wheels.

[Gnomey]

Good shots Wheels.

[ToughOmbre]

Three Doolittle limited edition prints that are hanging on the walls of my house, including the signatures of 17of the raiders.



TO

[renrich]

One of my uncles was in CA25, escorting Enterprise, on this mission. IMO, this was one of the examples of a bad idea which was dramatised and propagandised into a glorious "victory" for the US. If Enterprise had been available for the Coral Sea, instead of gallivanting around the Northern Pacific, the Coral Sea might have been a larger victory and the Lexington might have survived. If Hornet had been working up it's air group, instead of toting B25s, Hornet might have contributed more at Midway, instead of mainly being ineffective. If the Hornet and Enterprise had blundered into a Japanese surface battle group or some I boats we could have lost both of them which would have lengthened the war. The Doolittle raid contributed nothing toward winning the war except questionable propaganda benefits and had the potential to be a disaster for the Allies.

[Wayne Little]

Bit late but...