When the US Hit Tokyo After Pearl Harbor — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00It's the morning of April 18th, 1942.
2. 0:03And on the deck of the USS Hornet sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers,
3. 0:08get ready to launch a revenge attack for Pearl Harbour.
4. 0:11In command, Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle still has ten hours before the planned launch.
5. 0:17When a lookout spots a small Japanese boat.
6. 0:20"Surface vessel 20.000 yards!! Turn to starboard"
7. 0:21the cruiser USS Nashville is immediately ordered to break formation and sink the enemy vessel.
8. 0:27Nashville opens fire, her guns echoing through the spray.
9. 0:31But the tiny Japanese boat is difficult to hit.
10. 0:35As the Japanese boat is rocked
11. 0:36the crew frantically sends out a message.
12. 0:39“Send the message! Alert the base immediately!”
13. 0:40Shells straddle the tiny vessel,
14. 0:42sending up huge splashes of water before striking home, and the little boat is completely destroyed.
15. 0:50The Americans know that Japanese message got out.
16. 0:53"Come on, boys! Let's do it!"
17. 0:53Doolittle must launch now,
18. 0:56and fly an extra 200 miles to Tokyo,
19. 0:59stretching the B-25s to the edge of their range.
20. 1:03Doolittle revs his engines, building up the power.
21. 1:06A B-25 has never taken off from an aircraft carrier before,
22. 1:09not even in training.
23. 1:11At the edge of the flight deck,
24. 1:13the signal man crouches with his chequered flag waiting until the carrier dips into a wave.
25. 1:18Then he drops the flag.
26. 1:21The B-25 is now at max power straining as Doolittle releases the brakes.
27. 1:26His bomber lurches forward and rumbles down the flight deck,
28. 1:30blasting past the crowd of nervously watching sailors.
29. 1:34The signalman has timed the launch perfectly
30. 1:37and the B-25 reaches the end of the flight deck just as the Hornet's bow lifts on a wave,
31. 1:42The aircraft breaks through a cloud of spray and appears to drop dangerously low before recovering
32. 1:48and lifting slowly into the sky with a full load of fuel.
33. 1:52Behind Doolittle, the rest of the bombers are soon rolling down the carrier,
34. 1:56pulling away from the ship, and following their leader.
35. 1:59Last to take off is First Lieutenant William Farrow, in command of aircraft number 16,
36. 2:06nicknamed ‘Bat out of Hell'.
37. 2:08Farrow waits with anticipation,
38. 2:10staring down the flight deck and concentrating hard as the Hornet's deck rises and falls in the gale.
39. 2:17Then, a shout from his bombardier snaps him from his trance.
40. 2:20Corporal Jacob D. DeShazer has spotted a hole in the aircraft's plexiglass nose.
41. 2:26Farrow knows he should report the damage,
42. 2:28but that will almost certainly lead to his mission being scrubbed.
43. 2:32There is no way he is going to be left behind.
44. 2:35He opens up the throttles, and rolls down the deck.
45. 2:39His plane slips over the Hornet's bow and disappears for a moment.
46. 2:44Then he pulls up and rushes forward to follow the rest of the bombers.
47. 2:48The sixteen aircraft rumble towards Japan.
48. 2:51There is no time or fuel to form up in a neat formation,
49. 2:54so they are strung out in a long line of several miles.
50. 2:57As they push on towards Tokyo,
51. 2:59the weather worsens and the planes disappear into banks of low hanging cloud.
52. 3:04Then, as they close in on the coast,
53. 3:06Doolittle pushes down below the clouds and flies as low as possible to avoid radar
54. 3:12and anti-aircraft guns.
55. 3:14He braces himself for incoming fire.
56. 3:16Surely, the Japanese will be waiting for them.
57. 3:18"All crew, be ready for heavy fire from below!"
58. 3:19But nothing happens.
59. 3:21The clouds are silent.
60. 3:23Japanese High Command has issued no instructions to fighters or air defense.
61. 3:28Now, after blasting over the Japanese beaches, the planes roar over suburban Tokyo.
62. 3:33They are visible in the clear blue sky.
63. 3:36Civilians assume they are friendly planes and even wave at the Americans.
64. 3:40Suddenly, Doolittle hears an urgent shout from his co-pilot, Second Lieutenant Richard E. Cole:
65. 3:45"Enemy fighters up above!"
66. 3:47Doolittle snaps his eyes towards the sky and spots nine Japanese A6M Zero fighters crossing high overhead.
67. 3:55All he can do is push forward on the control yoke and bring the bomber lower to try and hide
68. 4:00amongst the clutter of the city below.
69. 4:02The lead Zero banks slightly.
70. 4:05Its pilot has noticed the lone twin-engined aircraft below.
71. 4:09For a long moment, he studies its silhouette.
72. 4:12The Japanese pilot reaches for his radio.
73. 4:14"Friendly aircraft below. Stay on course."
74. 4:17Only when the fighters disappear does Doolittle allow himself to breathe again
75. 4:21and relax his grip on the controls.
76. 4:24The B-25 crosses the Sumida River and Doolittle spots the Japanese imperial palace.
77. 4:29It's the final landmark, the target is just a few miles further on.
78. 4:34"Bombardier, open the doors."
79. 4:36In the nose, Doolittle's bombardier Staff Sergeant Fred Braemer hunches over the bombsight.
80. 4:41He reaches out and hits the switch that opens the B-25's cavernous bomb bay doors.
81. 4:47Doolittle climbs, pulling his plane up to 1200 feet.
82. 4:50The B-25s have been stripped of their Norden bomb sights to save weight
83. 4:54and to prevent any of the advanced systems falling into Japanese hands.
84. 4:59Braemer works with an improvised handmade bomb sight called a Mark Twain.
85. 5:03Lacking any connection to the plane's autopilot,
86. 5:05it means that Doolittle has to manually hold the B-25 at a constant altitude and speed.
87. 5:10"Hold her steady for me, chief."
88. 5:13Braemer peers along the bomb sight and sees the target — a large military arsenal.
89. 5:19Braemer hits the release switch and four five-hundred-pound incendiary clusters drop away.
90. 5:25As soon as the bombs have dropped Doolittle wastes no time and dives down low once again.
91. 5:30The lightened bomber begins gathering speed.
92. 5:33Behind him, each cluster bomb breaks open to release 128 tiny bomblets.
93. 5:39The bomblets catch the wind and scatter across the target.
94. 5:43Fluttering down to the ground,
95. 5:44they settle on the wooden structures of the arsenal buildings and quickly ignite dozens of blazes.
96. 5:50The flames spread quickly,
97. 5:52merging into an enormous fire which finally shakes the Japanese air defenses into action.
98. 5:58Sirens wail across the city
99. 6:00and the gunners scramble to their flak sites cranking 25-millimeter flak guns towards the sky.
100. 6:05“Load! Load!” “Fire! Fire!”
101. 6:06They spot the Doolitte's bomber and fire unleashing a torrent of flak.
102. 6:10But caught by surprise, they struggle to track the fast moving plane.
103. 6:14“Load! Load!”!
104. 6:15The shells punch into the air, exploding around Doolittle's escaping B-25,
105. 6:20"Here comes the flak! Hold on, boys!"
106. 6:20which rocks with each blast.
107. 6:22He keeps his plane low, rocking side to side and skillfully evading the Japanese gunfire.
108. 6:28The flak fades away as Tokyo disappears behind him
109. 6:31"Easy, easy! Hold together!"
110. 6:32and Doolittle sets course for his final destination in China.
111. 6:35"Tail is clear!"
112. 6:37In the center of the Japanese capital, dozens of fires are burning
113. 6:41as the bombers start roaring in towards their target areas.
114. 6:43"All crews. Be ready for heavy fire from below. Don’t stay low for too long!”
115. 6:45In aircraft number 10, Flight Lieutenant Richard O. Joyce releases his bombs on a steel mill near Tokyo harbor.
116. 6:53As the bombs fall, a small metal disc flutters behind each one on a length of wire.
117. 6:58In a symbolic gesture of the hate that now exists between the nations,
118. 7:03the American crews have attached pre-war Japanese friendship and peace medals to their bombs.
119. 7:09The B-25 is hit by the massive blast wave as the bombs tear apart the steel mill
120. 7:14and send an enormous cloud of black smoke rising into the sky.
121. 7:17"Here comes the flak. Hold on!"
122. 7:18In the pilot seat Joyce battles with the controls as a storm of anti-aircraft fire engulfs his bomber.
123. 7:25He throws the aircraft to the left and right as flak shells explodes all around him.
124. 7:30The enemy fire grows more and more accurate and a blast of shrapnel tears a hole in the rear fuselage
125. 7:37and showers Staff Sergeant Edwin Horton with fragments of metal into his turret gun position.
126. 7:43Joyce calls out to his gunner over the intercom.
127. 7:45"Horton! Horton, you alright?"
128. 7:46There is silence, then Horton answers and gives the all clear.
129. 7:50"I'm alright back here!"
130. 7:51"Okay, good. Stay cool!"
131. 7:52Joyce pulls the plane down as low as he can once more, darting and weaving through the fire,
132. 7:57which dies away as they depart the Tokyo area.
133. 8:01The crew scan the sky,
134. 8:02looking for any fighters as they brace themselves for the long flight to China.
135. 8:07To his horror, Joyce hears a call from his co-pilot.
136. 8:10"Fighters up above!"
137. 8:13There are nine Japanese fighters flying a few thousand feet above him.
138. 8:17Joyce stares up, hoping that the enemy pilots don't see him.
139. 8:21He watches as a pair of fighters roll over and start to dive.
140. 8:25Two Imperial Japanese Army Ki-27 Nates roar down towards the B-25.
141. 8:31“Closing on the target. I see the star insignia on the wing. Confirmed American bomber. Awaiting orders.”
142. 8:32In the cockpits, the Japanese pilots strain their engines to get every scrap of power.
143. 8:37They are determined to reap revenge for their burning capital city.
144. 8:41It's not just the damage and casualties that drive them forward,
145. 8:44but the humiliation of being taken by surprise.
146. 8:49Joyce pushes forward on the stick, accelerating down towards the ground.
147. 8:52Horton is shaken by the violent maneuver.
148. 8:55All around him, the ammo belts for his twin .50 caliber machine guns fly into the air,
149. 9:00twisting and tangling, and making the gun inoperable.
150. 9:03"Damnit!"
151. 9:03Within seconds, the enemy fighters have closed in on the bomber.
152. 9:06But Horton is still desperately trying to untangle the ammunition belt.
153. 9:10Until he does that, the B-25 is defenseless.
154. 9:14One of the Japanese pilots lines up the bomber in his sights and squeezes the trigger,
155. 9:18sending a stream of bullets erupting from the twin 7.7 millimeter machine guns.
156. 9:24The rounds fly past the left wing of the bomber.
157. 9:27But without any defensive fire from the B-25 the Japanese pilot has time to adjust his aim and fire again.
158. 9:34This time, the bullets strike home, tearing into the B-25's left wing.
159. 9:38The Japanese pilot pushes on his throttle,
160. 9:40roaring past the bomber and arcing around to come in for another attack run.
161. 9:45In the cockpit, Joyce makes a quick damage assessment.
162. 9:48The B-25's left wingtip has been totally torn off
163. 9:51and chunks of metal are falling behind into the slipstream.
164. 9:55The uneven bomber starts buffeting
165. 9:57and Joyce steps on the rudder pedal to correct for the extra drag.
166. 10:01He is able to keep the B-25 flying straight.
167. 10:04But now a second Japanese Nate is already closing in for his attack.
168. 10:09Horton has almost untangled the belts, but he needs more time.
169. 10:13The Japanese pilot lines up the B-25 in his sights.
170. 10:16He lets off a burst of rounds which pepper the bomber's fuselage.
171. 10:20It's another hit.
172. 10:22But instead of joy, Japanese pilot can't contain his frustration.
173. 10:26His underpowered 7.7 millimeter machine guns are struggling to penetrate the B-25's fuselage,
174. 10:32leaving little more than a few small holes.
175. 10:35Joyce jinks his plane as he tries to avoid the next load of gunfire.
176. 10:38His bomber is sturdy, but it is not invincible.
177. 10:42He needs those guns back in action.
178. 10:44Seconds later, a shout comes from the rear of the plane as Horton finally fixes the .50 calibers.
179. 10:50"Got it!"
180. 10:51He aims down his sights towards the Japanese fighter and squeezes the trigger of the twin guns.
181. 10:57The machine guns chatter as the Nate closes in.
182. 10:59Bullets tear throught the Japanese fighter's engine,
183. 11:02sending the aircraft a blaze and pushing it plunging toward the ground.
184. 11:07There is still one more Japanese fighter left, and it is coming round for another attack.
185. 11:11"Come on Horton!”
186. 11:13The Japanese pilot grimaces as he lets off a burst of fire
187. 11:16"Damn it! "
188. 11:16which passes just a few feet above the bomber.
189. 11:19The Japanese fighter races past the bomber and breaks away.
190. 11:22Horton blazes away with his guns and manages to score a hit.
191. 11:26The stream of bullets tears into the Nate, which starts trailing thick black smoke behind it.
192. 11:31"Crap!"
193. 11:32Unable to fight any longer, the Japanese pilot turns away and heads back to safety.
194. 11:38The bomber goes quiet, with just the rumbling of the engines.
195. 11:41"We are clear!"
196. 11:42Joyce tests the control surfaces.
197. 11:44Despite the damage they are still flying straight and level.
198. 11:49Further down the Japanese coast,
199. 11:51the last of the American bombers is approaching its target.
200. 11:54First Lieutenant William G. Farrow heads towards an oil refinery near the city of Nagoya,
201. 12:00far from most of the rest of the Doolittle raiders.
202. 12:03He dives down to 500 feet to open the bomb bay doors and release the bombs.
203. 12:08He pulls up into the sky as the incendiaries scatter across the refinery
204. 12:12and detonate in hundreds of explosions which throw flames and burning oil across the streets of Nagoya.
205. 12:19Farrow pulls his aircraft around and calls back to his navigator, Second Lieutenant George Barr,
206. 12:24ordering him to plot a course to China.
207. 12:27Barr has hunched over the maps and fuel calculations.
208. 12:31He has run the numbers half a dozen times with every possible variation.
209. 12:35It makes no difference.
210. 12:36Taking off ten hours early has added hundreds of miles extra to their flight.
211. 12:41They'll run out of fuel far from land.
212. 12:44Behind him the men pour the last of the extra fuel reserves into the bomber's internal tanks.
213. 12:49They slice open the metal fuel cans so that they'll sink and not give away their position
214. 12:54and then throw them out of the plane into the water below.
215. 12:58It is nowhere near enough fuel.
216. 13:00Everyone knows it, but no one voices their fear.
217. 13:04Farrow looks down into the water below.
218. 13:06The weather is worsening, gray clouds have gathered and the sea is frothing.
219. 13:11Ditching in the sea means drowning before anyone will find them.
220. 13:15They have to make it to China.
221. 13:17Up ahead, Doolittle's crew have come to the same conclusion.
222. 13:21The Colonel reckons with his fate,
223. 13:22as the deadly waters of the Pacific Ocean surge below his plane.
224. 13:27Doolittle's navigator, Second Lieutenant Hank Potter, calls out.
225. 13:30“Colonel! The wind has shifted behind us!”
226. 13:31The wind has swung around behind them and is pushing the B-25 along.
227. 13:36It is an extra twenty-five miles an hour and it could just be enough to get them to safety in China.
228. 13:42Doolittle says a silent prayer in thanks.
229. 13:46"The Lord is with us."
230. 13:48But dark clouds gather on the horizon… as they approach the Chinese coast,
231. 13:52they fly into a bank of severe rain and fog.
232. 13:55Visibility quickly falls to near zero as the aircraft shakes with the wind.
233. 14:00Doolittle fights with these controls,
234. 14:02relying solely on instruments to keep the bomber flying in the right direction.
235. 14:06“Come in! China, American bomber calling. Do you read me?"
236. 14:06He tries to contact the airfield at Chuchow.
237. 14:09But there is no answer.
238. 14:10The ground crews aren't expecting the B-25s for another ten hours.
239. 14:14“Come in! China, American bomber calling. Do you copy?"
240. 14:14Without a radio signal to guide them to the runway,
241. 14:17there is no way they can safely land in these conditions.
242. 14:20There is only one option.
243. 14:22"Bail out!"
244. 14:25For a second no one moves.
245. 14:27Then, the crew jump into action.
246. 14:29They strap on their parachutes, grab hold of confidential papers,
247. 14:32and bail out one by one, disappearing into the darkness and the howling wind.
248. 14:39Finally, it's just Doolittle left.
249. 14:42He takes one last look at his bomber and then follows out the hatch.
250. 14:46The rush of air catapults him out into the gray turbulence.
251. 14:49The canopy inflates above his head.
252. 14:51And the howl of rushing air quietens, replaced by the sound of wind and rain.
253. 14:56He tries to steer himself down to the ground.
254. 14:58But he can't even see through the dark and stormy weather.
255. 15:02He smashes down.
256. 15:03It is a rough landing and he feels an agonizing pain shooting through his ankle.
257. 15:08He has landed in a paddy field.
258. 15:10He is alone in the dark, wet, and God knows where.
259. 15:15Pushed on by the same tailwind, Joyce's battle damaged B-25 reaches the Chinese coast.
260. 15:20As the plane shudders in the turbulence, he tries the radio.
261. 15:24There is still no signal from the airfield at Chuchow.
262. 15:26“China station, American bomber calling. Do you copy?"
263. 15:27Like Doolittle, he has no choice and orders his men to bail out.
264. 15:31One by one, they land in the fields below and are rescued by the Chinese.
265. 15:36Farrow in his B-25 comes in afterwards, but when he notices the lack of radio signal,
266. 15:41he does not bail out.
267. 15:42Instead, he flies further west,
268. 15:44hoping that the weather will improve
269. 15:46and he can save the precious aircraft by making a forced landing.
270. 15:50The B-25 pushes through the storm.
271. 15:53Soon, it reaches clearer skies and Farrow's hopes rise.
272. 15:57The clouds fall away and reveal a city twinkling down far below.
273. 16:00Farrow calls over to his navigator George Barr, trying to find out where they are.
274. 16:05Barr looks down at his maps with dread.
275. 16:08The city is Nanchang.
276. 16:11They have flown directly into Japanese occupied China.
277. 16:15To bail out here means near certain capture.
278. 16:18But the plane is totally out of fuel.
279. 16:21Unless they want to crash, they have to jump.
280. 16:23They shove their Colt .45 pistols and spare ammunition into their overalls along with cigarettes
281. 16:28and chocolate bars.
282. 16:29Last of all, they grab their family photographs.
283. 16:31Then, they bail out, leaping through the hatches into the enemy territory.
284. 16:36Within seconds, the wind pulls the men in different directions, scattering them across the countryside.
285. 16:42Farrow plunges down to earth and lands in a field outside a small village.
286. 16:47For a moment, he lies still in the mud,
287. 16:49winded and disorientated, listening to the rain and the distant rumble of his dying B-25.
288. 16:56He takes out his survival compass and heads towards Chinese controlled territory.
289. 17:01But he barely takes a few steps before voices cut through the darkness.
290. 17:05Japanese soldiers are already searching the area.
291. 17:08He reaches for his pistol, then stops himself.
292. 17:11Firing now would only get him killed.
293. 17:14A beam of light blinds him.
294. 17:15The Japanese shout for him to surrender.
295. 17:17“Hands up! Surrender!
296. 17:18At a military post inside the city, Farrow is shoved into a bare room and forced down onto a bench.
297. 17:25For the first time since jumping, he hears American voices.
298. 17:30His crew are already there.
299. 17:32One by one, the Japanese have rounded them up from the fields and villages around Nanchang.
300. 17:36For a brief second, Farrow lets himself feel relief.
301. 17:39His boys are alive.
302. 17:41But that also means they are all doomed to the same fate.
303. 17:45In total eight men are now prisoners of the Japanese Empire.
304. 17:50After months of beatings, waterboarding, and psychological torture,
305. 17:55the Japanese force the men to sign false confessions saying that they deliberately targeted civilians.
306. 18:02All eight men are sent to a show trial in Shanghai
307. 18:05where they are found guilty of targeting civilians and are sentenced to death.
308. 18:11The intervention of Japanese Emperor Hirohito spares the lives of five of the men,
309. 18:16but the sentences of three others are confirmed.
310. 18:19On October 15 1942, William Farrow, his gunner Harold Spatz, and Dean Hallmark are led outside,
311. 18:28tied to wooden crosses, and executed by firing squad.
312. 18:33The remaining five prisoners are consigned to Japanese prisoner-of-war camp for the rest of the war.
313. 18:38First Lieutenant Robert J. Meder dies of malnutrition and beriberi in December 1943.
314. 18:45The surviving four men endure years of brutal captivity
315. 18:49before they are finally liberated at the end of the war in August 1945.
316. 18:54Almost all the rest of the sixteen bomber crews were also forced to bail out,
317. 18:58crash land, or ditch in water upon reaching China.
318. 19:01Three men lost their lives in the process.
319. 19:03One of the bombers diverted from its course and safely landed in the Soviet port city of Vladivostok.
320. 19:10Doolittle returned to the United States, half expecting to be court-martialed because of the losses,
321. 19:15but instead he was awarded the Medal of Honor in May 1942 and promoted to brigadier general.
322. 19:23"Click here if you liked this film and want to see another incredible story of our bombers."