FIRST BLOW
CARRIER-BASED PLANES
DOOLITTLE’S DARING VENTURI^ (Rec. 1 a.m.) LONDON, June 16. The raid on Japan is the second of the war, but the first carried out by land-based planes. Two years ago Mitchell bombers commanded by General J. Doolittle, now leading the Eighth Air Force in Great Britain, launched an attack against the Japanese mainland from an aircraft carrier 800 miles out to sea.
It had been intended that the carrier should steam closer to Japan, but an enemy patrol vessel was sighted, and, although it was sunk by gunfire, it was feared that it might have sent a radio warning of the approach of the task force. The Mitchells were launched in bad weather, and after bombing their objectives some of the planes reached China.
Some aircraft were forced down in Japan, and the American crews were tried by a Japanese court. Some were executed, an act which horrified the whole world.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 25564, 17 June 1944, Page 5
Word Count
155FIRST BLOW Otago Daily Times, Issue 25564, 17 June 1944, Page 5
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