27. Stirring a Hornet’s Nest
Sixteen B-25s, armed with a mix of 500lb bombs and incendiaries, lumbered off the Hornet and, flying low to avoid detection, winged their way to Tokyo. They arrived around noon, and bombed military and industrial targets. 15 bombers made it to China, where they crash-landed, while another made its way to Vladivostok, where it and its crew were interred by the Soviets.
Of eighty B-25 crewmen, three were killed, and eight were captured by the Japanese. Of the captives, three were executed, and another died while a POW. The raid inflicted little physical damage, but the psychological impact was huge on both sides of the Pacific – enough to alter the course of WWII. Doolittle’s raid caused the Japanese high command considerable loss of face. They sought to regain it by setting in motion plans to seize Midway Island, which led to a catastrophic Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway a few weeks later.