Raider in the spotlight
The Doolittle raid statistics
Statistics about the Doolittle Raid and the Doolittle Raiders :
Military ranks of the 80 raiders before the raid
Lieutenant colonel = 1
Major = 1
Captain = 3
Lieutenant = 47
Sergeant = 25
Corporal = 3
The raiders had all different family names except :
Sergeant Aden E. Jones – crew 03
Captain David M. Jones – crew 05
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Sergeant Adam R. Williams – crew 13
Lieutenant Griffith P. Williams – crew 15
First names of the Doolittle Raiders ;
Robert = 7
William = 6
Richard = 4
David = 3
Charles = 3
Jacob = 3
James= 3
…
The weekdays the Doolittle Raiders were born :
Monday = 11
Tuesday = 16
Wednesday = 12
Thursday = 12
Friday = 9
Saturday = 10
Sunday : = 10
The months the Doolittle Raiders were born :
January = 8
February = 8
March = 10
April = 7
May = 8
June = 4
July = 7
August = 3
September = 11
Oktober = 5
November = 3
December = 6
The weekdays the Doolittle Raiders died :
Monday = 13
Tuesday = 8
Wednesday = 13
Thursday = 12
Friday = 10
Saturday = 13
Sunday : = 11
The months the Doolittle Raiders died :
January = 10
February = 10
March = 7
April = 10
May= 2
June = 8
July = 4
August = 4
September = 5
Oktober µ 7
November = 9
December = 4
The Doolittle Raiders were born in the year :
1896 = 1
1906 = 1
1907 = 1
1909 = 2
1912 = 4
1913 = 2
1914 = 7
1915 = 4
1916 = 10
1917 = 14
1918 = 13
1919 = 8
1920 = 7
1921 = 6
Oldest raider (except mission leader James Harold Doolittle – born in 1896)
Sergeant Waldo J. Bither Sr. – was 35 years old = crew 12 - born 31 October 1906
Youngest raider
Sergeant David W. Pohl – was 20 years old = crew 08 - born 31 December 1921
Difference in years between James Harold Doolittle (1896) – and the youngest Raider = 25 years
Difference in years between James Harold Doolittle (1896) – and the oldest Raider = 10 years
Difference in years between the oldest and the youngest Raiders = 15 years (except Doolittle)
Units raiders were attached to before the raid : all 17th Bombardment Group
34th Bomb Squadron = 20 Raiders
37th Bomb Squadron = 15 Raiders
Wright Army Airfield = 1 Raider
89th Reconnaissance Squadron = 15 Raiders
95th Bombardment Squadron = 29 Raiders
The last surviving raider died :
Lieutenant Richard E. Cole = crew 01 - died 9 April 2019
All raiders were born in the USA : born in 35 different states of the USA
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1 x Colorado |
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1 x Hawaii |
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1 x Idaho |
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1 x Illinois |
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1 x Indiana |
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1 x Kansas |
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1 x Kentucky |
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1 x Louisiana |
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1 x Main |
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1 x Maryland |
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1 x Missouri |
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1 x Pennsylvania |
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1 x Rhode Island |
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1 x Virginia |
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2 x Arizona |
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2 x Georgia |
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2 x Michigan |
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2 x Minnesota |
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2 x Montana |
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2 x Nebraska |
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2 x New Mexico |
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2 x North Carolina |
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2 x Oklahoma |
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2 x South Carolina |
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2 x South Dakota |
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2 x Utah |
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2 x Washington |
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3 x Iowa |
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3 x Ohio |
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3 x Wisconsin |
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4 x California |
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4 x New York |
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5 x Massachusetts |
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5 x Oregon 13 x Texas
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Crew positions : in general pilot, co pilot, navigator, bombardier, engineer/gunner.
5 crewmembers in each of the 16 B-25 planes instead of 6 crewmembers
All Raiders were born in different villages and cities except :
Lieutenant Howard A. Sessler = born in Boston = crew 15
Sergeant David W. Pohl = born in Boston = crew 08
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Lieutenant Richard O. Joyce = born in Lincoln, Nebraska = crew 10
Sergeant Donald E. Fitzmaurice = born in Lincoln, Nebraska = crew 06
Raders who where born in the same city and the same year :
Lieutenant Richard O. Joyce = born in Lincoln, Nebraska = crew 10 = born in 1919
Sergeant Donald E. Fitzmaurice = born in Lincoln, Nebraska = crew 06 = born in 1919
Raiders captured in China by the Japanese = 8 - out of crews 06 and 16
19 Raders died during World War 2 :
3 Raiders were executed : At 4:30 p.m. on 15 October 1942 the three Americans were brought by truck from the Shangai prison to Public Cemetery No. 1 outside Shanghai. In accordance with proper ceremonial procedures of the Japanese military, they were then shot.
Lieutenant Dean E. Hallmark – crew 06 - was 28 years old when he was executed
Lieutenant William G. Farrow – crew 16- was 24 years old when he was executed
Sergeant Harold A. Spatz – crew 16 - was 21 years old when he was executed
1 died as POW
Lieutenant Robert J. Meder - crew 06 - was 26 years old when he died of malnutrition ans diseases
Number of Raiders who later died during Wolrd War 2 = 10 (all air accidents/crashes/shot down)
Staff Sergeant Paul J. Leonard - North Africa. 05 January 1943 = crew 01
Lieutenant Richard E. Miller - Died of wounds. North Africa. 22 January 1943 = crew 02
Lieutenant Robert M. Gray - China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater. 18 October 1942 = crew 03
Lieutenant Eugene F. McGurl - CBI. 03 June 1942 = crew 05
Lieutenant Denver V. Truelove – Italy - 05 April 1943 = crew 05
Sergeant George E. Larkin, Jr – CBI. 18 October 1942 = crew 10
Sergeant Melvin J. Gardner - CBI. - 03 June 1942 = crew 11
Staff Sergeant Omer A. Duquette - CBI. - 03 June 1942 = crew 12
Staff Sergeant Edwin V. Bain – Italy - 19 July 1943 = crew 14
Lieutenant Donald G. Smith – England - 12 November 1942 = crew 15
Three raiders died during bail out on 18/04/1942 - the day of the raid
Sergeant William J. Dieter = crew 06 = 29 years old
Sergeant Donald E. Fitzmaurice = crew 06 = 23 years old
Corporal Leland D. Faktor = crew 03 = 21 years old
Number of Raiders who later died during World War 2 in aircraft crashes in the USA = 2
Lieutenant Robert S. Clever. Ohio, USA - 20 November 1942 – crew 07
Lieutenant Kenneth E. Reddy. Arkansas - USA. 02 September 1942 – crew 11
4 were released as POW at the end of the war
Lieutenant Chase J. Nielsen -crew 06
Lieutenant Robert L. Hite – crew 16
Lieutenant George Barr – crew 16
Corporal Jacob D. DeShazer – crew 16
Number of Raiders who later died after World War 2 in aircraft crashes = 2
Lieutenant Jacob E. Manch - Nevada, USA - 24 March 1958 – crew 03
Lieutenant Lucian N. Youngblood – Mexico - 28 February 1949 – crew 04
Number of Raiders who died from all causes during World War 2 = 19
Number of Raiders who were shot down and captured by the Germans during World War 2 = 4
Captain David M. Jones – crew 05
Lieutenant Thomas C. Griffin – crew 09
Captain Charles R. Greening. – crew 11
Lieutenant Griffith P. Williams - crew 15
Number of Raiders who survived World War 2 = 61
5 raiders attained the rank of General = 3 Brigade generals, 1 Major general and one Lieutenant general in the reserve
Cities bombed in Japan = Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Nagoya, and Kobe.
11 crews bailed out above China
1 aircraft crash landed on land = crew 02
3 planes ditched in the East Chinese Sea in front of the Chinese coast = crews 05, 06 and 15
1 landed in Primorsky, about 40 miles north of Vladivostok, Russia = crew 08
The crew was subsequently moved to a few other cities in Russia and eventually to Ashkhabad, Soviet Turkmenistan, just north of Iran (Persia). The crew escaped to Iran after 13 months of being interned.
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Task Force 18 with the USS Hornet and the 16 B-25 bombers on board steamed direction Tokyo and left San Fransisco on 2 april 1942.
Task Force 16 with the USS Enterprise steamed direction Tokyo and left Pearl Harbor on 8 april 1942
Both Task Forces met at sea on 8 April 1942 and became Task Force 16 - commanded by Vice admiral William Halsey. So Task Force 18 became Task Force 18. About 10.000 sailors involved on the ships. There were also two submarines involved with Task Force 16 USS Thresher SS-200 - Captain - William Lovett Anderson, USS Trout SS-202 - Captain - Frank Wesley Fenno, Jr. |
U.S. Navy Task Force 16 support = Two fleet carriers, three heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, eight destroyers, and two oilers. +10.000 seamen were par of Task Force 16 at that time.
-Note : Doctor (Lieutenant) Thomas R. White – crew 15 - Doctor White, flight surgeon with the 89th Reconnaissance Squadron, begged Maj or John A. Hilger (crew 14) the commander of the 89th Reconnaissance Squadron and Lieutenant colonel Doolittle’s deputy commander, for permission to participate in the Raid. Major Hilger refused at first but relented and said dr. White could go if he qualified as a gunner. Author Col. Carroll V. Glines wrote that dr. White took gunnery training and had the second highest score against ground targets with the twin .50-caliber machine guns. Fortunately, Chinese guerrillas reunited dr. White with crew 07, four of whom suffered severe injuries in the ditching of their aircraft. Doctor White amputated the severely infected leg of Lieutenant and pilot Ted W. Lawson, crew 07, clearly saving Lawson’s life. Dr. White also provided Lieutenant Lawson with two pints of his own (White’s) blood.
-Note : A reported 250,000 Chinese may have been killed by the Japanese in retaliation for the Doolittle Raid. Author James Scott describes atrocities that compare in ferocity to those depicted in Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. Scott reveals that much of his detailed and graphic information is based on discovered missionary records. Retaliation included participation by Japan’s bacteriological warfare organization, Unit 731. Author David Bergamini states that on 20 April 1942, Emperor Hirohito signed an order for General Okamura Yasuji, the senior Japanese commander in China, to prepare a reprisal expedition against Chekiang (Zhejiang) Province, where the Raiders received help from the Chinese. A few days later, another order was given “to destroy the air bases from which the enemy might conduct aerial raids on the Japanese Homeland.” Further: “Airfields, military installations, and important lines of communication will be totally destroyed.” Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, who was born in Chekiang Province, informed President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 28 April 1942: “These Japanese troops slaughtered every man, woman, and child in those areas – let me repeat – these Japanese troops slaughtered every man, woman, and child in those areas.”
-Note : The saga of the crewmembers of crew 8 would make a great adventure movie. There were differences among some of the crewmembers whether the diversion of the aircraft to the USSR was planned (not an act of fate or unintentional poorly calibrated carburetors) and to the role played by the USSR vis-a-vis the crew’s “escape” to Iran (Persia). It seems that navigator Lieutenant Nolan Herndon had post-war thoughts that the landing in the USSR was preplanned by U.S. authorities and that pilot Captain Edward York and copilot Lieutenant Robert Emmens were ordered to land in the USSR for intelligence-related reasons (there is no official evidence to support this). Also, it seems that York and Emmens disagreed whether the Soviets moved the crew to Ashkhabad, Soviet Turkmenistan Republic, to facilitate their escape to Iran. York felt the Soviets had; Emmens disagreed. Further, there is the question whether the Soviets provided an assist/“turned a blind eye” to the actual escape.
-Note : How the pictures taken above Japan by crew 08 and the bombing of Japan also by crew 08 fell in USA hands is something that needs to be researched. The plane with crew 08 landed in Russia.
The Heroes of Doolittle's raid on Japan in april 1942
by Mr. Geert Rottiers
The book will be available soon.
