In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, America faced dark and uncertain days. Retired Air Force Colonel Richard L. Uppstrom, former Director of the Air Force Museum (now National Museum of the United States Air Force), described it best: "To say our backs were to the wall was perhaps an understatement." In today’s Hangar Highlight we're spotlighting a riveting oral history lecture from our audio collection at the Air Force Historical Research Agency. In this recording, Retired Colonel Robert G. Emmens—a member of the legendary Doolittle Raiders—shares his firsthand account of the daring Tokyo raid that took place just four months after Pearl Harbor. This lecture, delivered around the 43rd anniversary of the raid (circa 1985), takes you inside the operation and recounts the 14 months Colonel Emmens spent interned in the Soviet Union afterward. If you have two hours to spare, the full recording is an absolute must-listen.
But for those on the go, here are the highlights!
The Daring Plan
The Japanese struck hard at Pearl Harbor, pushed American forces out of the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, and were bombing Darwin, Australia. The Japanese attack had devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet and shattered the nation's sense of security. As Japanese forces advanced across the Pacific, President Roosevelt demanded a response that would boost American morale and send a message to Japan that they were not invulnerable, or in Emmens' words, "totally impotent."
The challenge was immense - no American aircraft could take off from a safe American base, fly to Tokyo, drop bombs, and return. The Navy proposed taking an aircraft carrier to within 400 miles of Japan, but their carrier-based aircraft couldn't reach Tokyo with a bomb load and return.
Then came what Emmens called "a wild idea" - what if a land-based bomber could take off from an aircraft carrier? Three aircraft were considered: the Douglas A-20, the Martin B-26, and the North American B-25 Mitchell bomber. The B-25 was selected because it could carry the most fuel. To make this work, the B-25s were modified. The bomb bay was cut in half, leaving two bomb shackles on each side to hang 500-pound bombs. With these modifications, each plane could carry 2,000 pounds of bombs and still have enough fuel to reach China after bombing Japan.
Jimmy Doolittle Takes Command
When considering who should lead such a risky mission, the choice was clear: James “Jimmy” Doolittle, who Emmens described as "one of the largest contributors to military and general aviation that the world has known." Doolittle, a well known aviation pioneer, daredevil test pilot serving then as chairman of the board of Shell Oil, agreed to accept a commission as Lieutenant Colonel and lead the mission on one condition: "anything I ask for I get."
The plan required launching sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers—aircraft never designed for carrier operations—from the USS Hornet, striking military and industrial targets in Tokyo and other Japanese cities, and then flying on to friendly airfields in China. After the bombers launched the Hornet intended to rendezvous with the carrier Yorktown near Hawaii. Together with an escort of cruisers and destroyers, they would approach to within 400 miles of Japan. The raiders would take off on the night of April 19, bomb Tokyo and surrounding cities around midnight, then fly south to the 30th parallel before turning west to land at Chinese airfields about 300 miles inland from the coast.
At the time, the 17th Bomb Group, stationed in Pendleton, Oregon, was the only B-25 outfit in the country. It consisted of four squadrons: the 34th, 73rd, 95th, and 89th. Emmens was a member of the 89th Squadron. In February 1942, the group was transferred to Columbia, South Carolina. A spokesman from Washington requested volunteers for a risky mission against Japan, needing 100 men and 20 airplanes. The entire group volunteered. Emmens wasn't initially selected, as he was tasked with running his squadron while his commander participated in the mission. However, fate intervened when one of the planes crashed during training at Eglin Field, Florida. Emmens flew down with a replacement aircraft and managed to join the mission as part of a substitute crew.
The training at Eglin Field was intense and unusual. Each crew practiced taking off in just 400 feet - less than half the normal distance required. This was accomplished by applying full power with the flaps down and the control stick pulled all the way back, prompting the B-25 to struggle off the ground at about 65 knots instead of the normal 90-100 knots. Crews also practiced flying at 50 feet altitude over water at reduced throttle settings to maximize fuel efficiency. Technicians measured fuel consumption carefully, and if a plane burned more than 92 gallons per hour, they would adjust the carburetor jets and make the crew fly the route again.
The Raid
On 2 April 1942, sixteen B-25s were loaded onto the aircraft carrier USS Hornet at Alameda, California. The carrier sailed at midnight, and the next day, the crews were informed their target was Tokyo. On the morning of 18 April, well ahead of schedule, a Japanese freighter was spotted on the horizon, approximately 800 miles from Japan. Fearing the freighter would alert Tokyo to the approaching American fleet, Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr. and Colonel Doolittle decided to launch immediately. This meant bombing in daylight instead of at night, and having to fly much further to reach China, stretching their fuel to the limit. It also meant they would likely reach the Chinese coast at night rather than during daylight. Emmens' plane was the eighth to take off that morning.
Despite never having practiced a carrier takeoff before, he and Capt. Edward J. York successfully launched from the Hornet. The weather was clear and sunny when they reached Japan. Emmens' target was a steel factory on the north outskirts of Tokyo. They were instructed to avoid the radio station and the Emperor's Palace. Flying at just 50 feet altitude, they approached their target, then pulled up to 1,500 feet to drop their bombs. Their plane had minimal armament - just one working 50-caliber machine gun in the nose. The tail guns were actually painted broomsticks designed to fool Japanese fighters. After dropping their bombs successfully on target, they realized they were consuming fuel faster than planned and wouldn't be able to make it to China. Rather than landing in Japanese-occupied territory or ditching in the ocean, Emmens and his crew decided to fly to Russia, despite knowing that Stalin had refused to accept American planes. As Emmens put it, "In a situation where it's a matter of survival, it didn't take very much discussion in the cockpit about where we were going."
The Aftermath
They landed at a Soviet naval auxiliary field about 40 miles from Vladivostok, with their fuel gauges showing empty. Soviet troops with Tommy guns escorted them from their plane to a building where they attempted to communicate despite an immense language barrier. Emmens and his crew spent fourteen months interned in the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Doolittle and most of the other crews had flown until they ran out of fuel over China, then bailed out. They were rescued by Chinese guerrillas. Eight crewmen were captured by the Japanese. According to Emmens:
None of them made the two airports. All 15 crashed on the coast of China. Two airplanes tried to land on the beach at dusk. One tipped his wing in the water and cartwheeled up on the beach. Two men were killed. The Japanese capture 8 men. The rest flew inland until the needles hit zero and they bailed out. Let the airplane go. Doolittle was one of those. They were picked up by Chinese guerillas. It was a fluid situation on the coast of China.
Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert G. Emmens
On the fourth day of their captivity, Emmens and his crew were permitted to listen to a Japanese broadcast reporting that "11 of the 16 airplanes had been shot down over Tokyo." Two days later, this figure was amended to 7. It was not until after the war that Emmens fully understood the fate of the other aircraft and crew members. The Japanese had maintained control over the entire Chinese coastline to varying depths, leaving parts of the region as contested territory between occupying forces and Chinese guerrillas.
Ultimately, the majority of the Airmen were rescued by the Chinese guerrilla forces. However, the eight men captured by the Japanese endured severe conditions: they were transported to Japan, where they spent the remainder of 1942 to 1945 in brutal captivity. Subjected to criminal trials, they were convicted of crimes against civilians, leading to the execution of two pilots by gunshot in the kneeling position, the torture and death of another, and the death of yet another from malnutrition. Only four of the eight survived the war, eventually being released after Japan’s surrender.
While the Doolittle Raid caused minimal physical damage to Japan, its psychological impact was enormous. It boosted American morale at a critical time and demonstrated that Japan was vulnerable to attack. It also forced the Japanese to divert resources to home defense, which would prove crucial in later battles in the Pacific Theater. Reflecting on the raid, Emmens noted that what might be dismissed today as "a public relations stunt" had a far-reaching positive impact, galvanizing American resolve in much the same way that Pearl Harbor had a negative effect - it woke America up and got the country active in the fight.
Sources:
- Oral History Lecture by Col. Robert G. Emmens with introduction by Col. Richard L. Uppstrom – Part 1, Apr 1985, audio recording, Call Number K239.0512-1665 CD1, IRIS # 0119918, in USAF Collection AFHRA, Maxwell AFB AL.
- Oral History Lecture by Col. Robert G. Emmens with introduction by Col. Richard L. Uppstrom – Part 2, Apr 1985, audio recording, Call Number K239.0512-1665 CD2, IRIS # 0119919, in USAF Collection AFHRA, Maxwell AFB AL.