Revenge For Pearl Harbour: The Story Of The Doolittle Raid | Wings Of A Warrior | Timeline

hi everybody and welcome to this documentary on timeline my name is dan snow and i want to tell you about history hit tv it's like the netflix for history hundreds of exclusive documentaries and interviews with the world's best historians we've got an exclusive offer available to fans of timeline if you go to history hit tv you can either follow the information below this video or just google history hit tv and use the code timeline you get a special introductory offer go and check it out in the meantime enjoy this video six five four three two one five this show liftoff aries testing concepts jimmy doolittle most considered the greatest flyer that ever lived he set more flying records he held more flying achievements and he was awarded more medals any flyer in history jimmy is best remembered sometimes only remembered for leading an impossible raid on japan a raid that many feel the suicide raid soon after they bombed pearl harbor on december 7 1941 pearl harbor was then and is now one of the darkest days in american history the attack was led by admiral isuruku yamamoto who was able to move his aircraft carrier as a scant 256 miles off the coast of hawaii while the united states military slumbered in blissful ignorance the attack was sudden and deadly and the losses were staggering in two horrifying hours two thousand three hundred thirty eight people were killed over one thousand alone by just one bomb when it breached the deck of the uss arizona or the ammo magazine an additional 1 144 men were wounded over half the navy's ships destroyed or damaged 188 airplanes were reduced to cinders before they even had a chance to get off the ground america was in a state of shock and in the months to come there were more demoralizing defeats at the hands of the japanese military soon that shock turned to anger when are we going to strike back people were asking that question was answered on april 18 1942 when jimmy doolittle led a daring raid against japan it was america's first victory of world war ii it was also a message to the rest of the world that america was not just a frightened country on the other side of the ocean but a force to be reckoned with news was arrayed electrified people it was mayhem in the streets of america [Applause] jimmy was already well known for his flying achievements never has anyone become a national hero of such magnitude it was as if nothing the man did before or after matter over the years many films have been made on just that one event actors such as robert redford clark gable spencer tracy alec baldwin we've all been created too little but in reality leading that raid on tokyo was just another day in this man's incredible life welcome to wings of a warrior jimmy doolittle story although doolittle would earn his doctorate at mit his formal education started right here one room school house in north alaska james harold doolittle was born in alameda california on december 14 1898. jimmy's father frank a carpenter by trade had tried many ways to make his fortune and the lure of the alaskan gold rush was just too much to resist so at the tender age of three jimmy and family moved to gnome alaska at the turn of the century gnome alaska was one of the toughest towns in the world there was no organized law and it had as many saloons and [ __ ] houses as it did stores hardly the place on mother would choose to raise her son the locals resented newcomers flocking to their town in search of gold and life was hard for the new little family even at the age of five jimmy found himself in daily fights just to get to and from school he developed a reputation of a scrapper that wouldn't back down when jim was seven his father gave him a single shot 22 rifle one day he spotted a duck sitting in a mud puddle at the end of town jimmy having seen a local native alaskan's hunt who crawled up to the puddle on his belly and shot the duck the rest of the day the great alaskan hunter paraded up and down the streets of gnome 22 rifle in one hand and the duck in the other jimmy was settling into the primitive frontier life and his mother wasn't happy about it jimmy remembers the day he made the shocking discovery there was more to life than the muddy streets of normal alaska surrounded by nothing but sea snow and ice his father took him on a long trek to seattle to buy supplies he was overwhelmed with the tall buildings some automobiles trolleys stores he was even surprised to find that people actually painted their houses the difference between lawless crude gnome and the progressive seattle left a lasting impression on the young doolittle he saw it as the future and he wanted to be a part of it while jimmy was in gnome alaska two brothers named orville and wilbur were unknownly setting the stage for his future when they flew a strange-looking aircraft off the white sand of kitty hawk north carolina after eight years of brutal alaskan hardship rosa doolittle moved back to los angeles california to give her son a proper education jim's father accompanied them but soon returned to alaska years growing up in los angeles would not only define who doolittle was but what he was to become luckily for the world he wasn't cut out to be a farmer he would also meet the two loves of his life a girl named josephine daniels and flying and he would marry both of them while attending manual arts high school jim met josephine daniels or joe as she was called she was from a southern family on a social level considered somewhat higher than the doolittles jim was attracted to her even though he considered her a little snobbish at times and she regarded him as an aimless roughneck that spent most of his time fighting or crashing his motorcycle joe got straight a's and was preparing for a career in library work and doolittle well he was rarely seen carrying a book and appeared to have no idea what he was preparing for so of course they fell in love there was not exactly a whirlwind courtship it would take joe seven years to say yes to marrying jim jimmy's love affair with flying started with seeing an air show and a dog-eared copy of popular mechanics from it he built a full-scale glider the article simply stated how to build a glider it was actually a hang glider with the pilot's feet being the landing gear and it was huge with an 18-foot wingspan building it was easy for the mechanically mined to do little getting the fly was another story according to the directions all that was needed was a high spot to jump off of and a low spot to land and one would glide like a bird not quite that easy the first attempt ended with a badly bruised body and a busted up glider after repairs were made jimmy tried another method to gain more speed being towed by a truck so here we have jimmy doolittle racing madly behind this truck until the truck speed exceeds his speed and being yanked off his feet and dragged along with his glider into a pile of rubble not quite the start you'd expect from someone who'd go on to become the world's greatest flyer but jimmy was determined he decided the way to get more speed was to install a motorcycle engine on the glider but a storm destroyed the new glider the night before he tested it jimmy took that as an omen and decided to put his flying career on hold for a while years later he learned if he hadn't tested a new glider it probably would have killed him there was no money to spare in the doolittle household so jimmy earned the money to build a glider by boxing in the gym mills of los angeles he didn't want his mother to know how he's earning the money so he fought under an assumed name if he won the fight he received a gold watch which he sold back to the promoter for five dollars after graduating from manual arts high school in los angeles doolittle spent a year at junior college then went on to the university of california where he studied mining engineering while at cal jim became an outstanding gymnast he also put his early fighting skills to work and tried out for cal's boxing chains he weighed 130 pounds and was sold a lightweight and water weight spots on the team were filled but they needed a middleweight that's 160 pounds they were just fine but doolittle he had already proved if he could hit someone he could knock them out no matter how big they were he not only made the team as a middleweight but went on to become the conference champion as a mining engineering student at the university of california he landed a summer job at the legendary virginia city silver mines he wanted to learn about mining they didn't teach in books the famous comstock load the largest silver strike in american history it also played a big part in nevada becoming the 36th state of the union for decades it drew miners from all over the country looking to make their fortune the gym it was like normal alaska all over again most miners had long given up on striking it rich and were working for hard wages for the mining companies they resented newcomers especially college kids but they would soon learn that jim doolittle was not your typical college kid one day he waded through scalding hot water to restart a pump to keep the mind from flooding on another occasion he was working at the 2300 foot level when startled by the screams of miners and a runaway oar basket rocketing down a shaft crashing 200 feet below its cable it snapped jimmy volunteered to be lowered into the airless shaft to retrieve the bodies of the dead men halfway down his hat candle flickered out he was running out of air other miners directed a fire hose down the shaft to try and get more oxygen to the gas being doolittle finally a new cable was attached and jimmy and the dead miners were pulled out the college kit had become a rock card miner in 1917 america joined the first world war war to end all wars so doolittle did what most men were doing he joined the army or to be more exact he joined the army reserve signal corps aviation section years later it would be the air force well patriotism was at a fever pitch across the land most didn't really know what they were fighting for or against jimmy's reasoning was a little more realistic he wanted to impress joe daniel's parents who thought she could do a lot better than a kid from the wrong side of the track that came visiting on a motorcycle and of course he wanted to be where the action was despite what the parents thought jimmy and joe were married christmas eve 1917. [Music] two days later is called active duty at rockville field san diego california by today's standards the plane do little learn to fly on the thomas morse jn4 or jenny as it was affectionately called wasn't much to look at but the gym it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen soon the world would learn that when james harold doolittle climbed into an airplane anything could and did happen it was no different on his very first flight as jim waited in his jenny trainer to take off two planes collided in mid-air and crashed on the runway and directly in front of him jim and his instructor helped pull the dead and injured from the wreckage the experience was enough to bring most junky deaths to their knees when the instructor asked if he was okay to continue with the lesson jim simply replied of course cole you bet but jimmy was the original iceman and it was his iceman's approach to flying it would keep him and many others alive in the years to come after he finished his flight training he came face to face with the realization that the army was producing more pilots than airplanes so he was transferred to camp dick where they had no airplanes why paint barracks of course after honing his skills as a house painter trash collector and maintenance man dual was sent to right field ohio to study engine repair he was getting closer then on the gerstner field in lake charles louisiana now gerstner was known for his heat mosquitoes for sanitation and bumpy airstrip but the gym it was heaven it had airplanes not the jennies he had learned to fly in but the newer sleeker thomas morse s4c scout they were 30 faster than the jenny and about 500 percent more dangerous at the end of the day when most pilots were enjoying a beer at the officers club jimmy would still be flying making the plane do things he was told it wasn't designed for but doolittle's little chunk of heaven was abruptly brought to an end when a hurricane destroyed the field and lost the planes on it it also killed several pilots it's ironic that at about the same time another pilot named james doolittle was killed in buffalo new york so an overzealous reporter in keeping with getting a news story at all costs called joe do little to get her reaction on jimmy's death nice she spent an agonizing 10 hours thinking her husband was dead the storm that destroyed kirstner field also destroyed jimmy's hopes of seeing action overseas the war was ending he was sent to rockwell field as an instructor the commander at rockwell field was colonel harvey burwell he believed in doing everything by the book jimmy believed rules were meant to be bent so of course the two formed an instant dislike for each other kept alive by jim constantly requesting to be transferred and burwell constantly denying the request one time the filmmaker cecil b d mill came to rockwell field to film planes taking off and landing when verwell reviewed the footage he was shocked to see jimmy casually sitting on a plane coming in for a landing jim is also one of the first to fool around with wing walking on another occasion jimmy actually flew his plane through an open hangar to help a ground crew sweep it out but jim wasn't always a prankster one time he went to colonel burwell with a plan to lead a flight from rockwell field to washington d.c to deliver a message to the brass the effect would not only join a major air base with the u.s capital but to show the reliability of the airplane to burwell's surprise doula let finally come up with a good idea to jim's surprise his plan was approved the little three-plane armada started out in high spirits and things went well until the end of the first day the airfield they expected to find in needles california and long ago dried up and one of the planes was lost when it hit a pile of rocks while landing in the desert the next day things got worse after putting the pilot on train back to rockwell field jimmy and the other pilot found a nice paved road to take off from jim got off okay but the other pilot's wingtip caught a phone pole and spun him into the ground destroying the plane they didn't have radios and planes in those days so jim had to find a general store with a phone in it and call harvey burwell with the bad news verwell told him to get back to rockwell field while they still had an airplane left and before he hurt himself but the misadventures still weren't over on the way back jim ran into dense fog and was forced to land in a newly flat field a wheel caught a soft spot and a plane flipped on its back he was unhurt but he was covered in oil and his uniform was torn up the plane was undamaged and the following day managed to make it back to rockwell he was ordered to report to colonel burwell as soon as he landed jimmy stood at attention in front of the colonel's desk in his oil soap tattered uniform being balled out for just about everything he finally saluted crisping turned on his heels and left the room jim forgot the seat of his pants having ripped open in the accident exposing his bare backside to burwell of course burwell took as a silent statement as he went do a little thought of him and no amount of explaining ever changed his mind up until then lieutenant james doolittle had destroyed three planes at a cost of thirty thousand dollars a few weeks later jimmy wiped out his fourth plane trying to catch a goose the goose won one of the training techniques jim used to practice whenever the situation arose was to chase geese for the most part they would fly straight and about the same speed as the jenny staying close to one was a challenge also highly against the rules jim had a theory about the rules this particular goose after gaining new little full attention and tired of his antics flew him into abrupt blind canyon with a sheer clip jim managed to get most of the plane over the rim except for the tail section his artful crash landing kept him and his flying partner alive but the plane was a total wipeout this dante cost jim more grounded time in fact during the five months he was at rockwell field under the watchful eye of harvey burwell he was grounded a total of one and a half months and restricted debates a total of three months years later jimmy would explain some of his antics at rockwell field by saying i had a lot of blood running in my veins at the time he had a reputation as a hellraising maverick and he was he also took a job very seriously and he was one of the best instructors in the service and it wasn't always fun one day jimmy was taking off in his plane and his student was in the other plane and the rules of flight at the time for obvious reasons is that the plane on the left would lift off to the left and the plane on the right lift off to the right for some unexplained reason the student veered in front of jimmy and his prop cut off the student's tail section student dived in crashing killing it in another training flight jim was with a student pilot when the plane suddenly jumped and there was a scratching sound the crop started shuddering so violently it threatened to tear the motor out of the plane doolittle shut the engine off checking to see what had happened looking down he saw a scout in flames spowering earthward evidently the pilot had approached jim's plane from below being blocked out by the blind spot created by his wings the collision tore away jimmy's landing gear and badly damaged the lower wing new little was left with an aircraft but no motor and a lower wing threatening to tear off at any moment the only certainty was he was going down fast he had some glide left in the plane that presented three options he could wrap a wing around the tree to help soften the impact of the crash he could side slip it in and let the fuselage absorb the impact or he could try and find a flat spot and attempt a belly landing he chose to slide the plane in on his belly landed safely doolittle finally got out of the doghouse with burwell when a group of english government officials visited rockwell field unknown to colonel burwell doodle and some buddies had been practicing close formation stunt flying this was unheard of in 1917 unlike the sleek dependable planes of the day the early biplanes were a menace to the best of pilots close formation flying was considered suicidal jimmy and his men put on an unannounced show for the surprise colonel burwell and english afterwards they congratulated bruhl on his fine training methods war ended shortly afterwards and colonel burwell was replaced by a man named h arnold years later he had become famous as half arm supreme commander of the air force during world war ii in 1918 most people still consider the airplane a toy unfortunately the united states government agreed with them and why not look at it looks like a haystack with a bad hair day what most people didn't understand is the same physics of lift drag etc it would keep something like this in the air and a few short years later we'd keep something like this in the air now that short time span seems mind-boggling consider this half arnold the supreme commander of the air force during world war ii was actually taught to fly by the wright brothers after the war the air service struggled to keep from being disbanded which was mind-boggling considering most countries in the world quickly set about making huge advancements in the airplane even newly defeated germany was experimenting with commercial air travel but america was still a young short-sighted country more interested in developing wealth than the airplane but a few far-sighted leaders were able to find work for the air service one was patrolling a forest looking for forest fires and another was patrolling the border between the united states and mexico looking for mexicans there had been reports of raids on ranches along the texas border and there had been cases of smuggling so the border patrol was formed and doolittle found himself in a wide spot in the texas desert called eagle pass there is no real base there so the men lived out of tents their patrol planes used were the dh4s nicknamed the flying coffins because problems with the fuel system to turn them into just that on occasions the border was patrolled from brownville texas along the rio grande river to el paso and on to san diego because of tensions between the united states and mexico at the time they were instructed to never fire their guns even when fired upon by bandits the duty was boring and for the most part a wasted time but it was not without its moments once in a while jim's guns would accidentally fire and accidentally hit a deer and the venison just happened to be a welcome chain from the mess hall food while they had been instructed not to shoot back at bandits that didn't mean they couldn't fight back on more than one occasion when fired upon jimin round up a nearby herd of cattle with his plane and stampede him through the screaming bandits jack allard a lifelong friend of gems related a story about the perils of flying with the mischievous doolittle he had reached the end of a run and he dipped his wing to bank left the plane didn't respond again he tried again nothing he looked out to his right and there was jimmy grinning back at him doolittle had placed his wing over aller's wingtip to keep him from banking probably a maneuver they frowned upon at flight school in 1920 jimmy took part in general billy mitchell's amazing demonstration of sinking of battleship from the air for years the outspoken mitchell had been telling anyone that would listen that the airplane was the future of the military he amazingly predicted the japanese would attack pearl harbor and that air power not naval power would be the deciding factor in all battles and wars japan proved that at pearl harbor and the us proved it soon afterwards at the battle of midway since the navy had been the backbone of the military for 200 years this caused quite a bit of backlash and when mitchell boasted an airplane could sink a battleship from the air the press jumped in the middle of it until a demonstration was arranged [Music] even after billy mitchell prevailed sending an unsinkable german battleship to the bottom of six two thousand pound bombs congress was not allocated future to the air force back then as is true today politics played a bigger part in the decision making than common sense mitchell continued his bolsters criticism of not only the government but the military until in 1925 he talked his way into a court martial working with billy mitchell inspired doolittle even though the act of sinking the battleship appeared to accomplish little at the time the fact that it had been done couldn't be ignored not by the navy or not by the congress and doolittle also reasoned that if a plane could carry four thousand pounds of bombs why not four thousand pounds of cargo four thousand pounds of passengers the one event that catapulted jimmy doolittle in the national prominence cut off to a not so prominent start in 1922 he planned to make a transcontinental flight from florida to california stopping only once in texas to refuel he used the beaches at pablo beach florida as a starting point as he raced as the havlin 4 down the beach a wheel caught a soft spot in the sand catapulting the plane into the water jim was unhurt but the impact of the crash pulled his blind helmet down over his eyes this and the fact that he was strapped in upside down and underwater was cause for concern jim unbuckled and it was thrashing about to escape when he discovered he was only knee-deep in water the crowd laughed plotting doolittle's heroic effort a month later after getting the plane back in flying condition jim was back on the sands of pablo beach this time a royal lanterns were set up to help you find the runway of hard packed sand jimmy lifted off without incident and 22 hours and 19 minutes later he sat down in san diego california becoming the first person in history to cross the continent in less than a day that same year jimmy set the undesirable record of the world's shortest parachute jump airplane manufacturers consider doolittle the ultimate test of their product if it could withstand him they could withstand anything on a test flight over mccookfield ohio a plane broke up under him and while his horrified wife and young son looked on the chute open a beat before he hit the ground in 1923 the military knew they had more than just an airplane fly in their midst and sent doolittle to mit to study aeronautical engineering at the time there was a giant gap in communication between aeronautical scientists and pilots the pilots didn't put much faith in flying an airplane with a slide rule and an algebra book and a scientist well they thought most larger just flat crazy anyway for wanting to fly around in cracker boxes doodle received not only his master's degree but went on to earn his doctorate as well during a break in his studies doolittle delivered a plane to the boston airport it was night when he made his seaward approach his wheels almost touching the white caps there were no lights or communications at the boston airport in 1924 so jim wanted to set down as soon as he cleared the seawall i landed at boston were rare so the men working on the field that day thought nothing of leaving a three-foot pile of cinders at the end of the runway besides they reasoned that nobody could land that close to the seawall anyway jimmy came in and cleared the seawall with inches to spare and instantly felt his plane being torn apart he bounced across the runway came to a halt he climbed out unhurt and in typical doolittle fashion instead of cursing the men for leaving the cinders there he silently blessed them for not leaving the greater too to attract attention to the upcoming schneider cup race jimmy flew his curtis r3c racer among the skyscrapers of new york at near street level altitude that wouldn't go over too well today in fact it didn't go over too well then the next day he set a new record of 232 miles per hour in winning the race at that speed record of 232 miles per hour seemed a little timid it was the overall average speed which included slowing down to make 180 degree turns around pylons also consider this the top speed the plane doolittle learned to fly in only six years earlier was a whopping 70 miles an hour wide open jimmy pulled out his old mit slide rule to help win that race he adjusted the pitch of the plane's propeller to increase engine speed and he designed a different angle to approach the pylons to get around them quicker the schneider cup race was flown in seaplanes jimmy flew for the army the navy wasn't overly thrilled he had beaten their pilots to further rip salt in the navy's wounds when jim returned to mccook field he was given a parade through downtown dayton ohio he was issued a navy uniform and his car was decorated to look like a ship sign on the side of the car read admiral jimmy doolittle for some reason the navy didn't think that was very funny six months later he would be awarded the coveted mackie trophy as the outstanding flyer in the world jim would be the first person in the world to win the triple crown of racing for schneider the bendix and the thompson [Music] in 1926 jim mcginn made aviation history on a test flight over right field ohio he was testing a new addition to the rudder called a trim tab he was putting a plane through a series of stiff maneuvers when he heard a loud crack the cable to the rudder had snapped now this would be like driving your car at 100 miles an hour and having a steering wheel come off in your hands the procedure of the day was to quickly park company with your aircraft jimmy had a theory about landing a rudderless plane and it was an hour and ever so from 5000 feet he literally stalled or floated the plane to the ground and just before it crashed he gave it full power landed safely the famous flyer charles lindbergh later told the press jimmy is the only pilot in the world that could have pulled that off that same year the curtis aircraft company had a shot at selling planes to the chilean military so they went to the united states army on bended knee begged and got doolittle to demonstrate the plank for them jimmy was given a leave of absence without pay which was more than fine with him since the kurdish people paid a lot more than the army the plane to be demonstrated was their new pursuit plane the p1 hawk fighter germany italy and england were also there trying to sell their planes a few days before the demonstration a cocktail party was held and the local drinks were a big hit you know the kind they taste so good they can't possibly have that much alcohol [Music] party talk finally got around to the great american actor douglas fairbanks and his daring sports brooklyn antics in movies jim ended up on a second story ledge outside a window imitating some of the moves of the famous actor not a problem for a next college gymnast until the ledge gave way jimmy broke both ankles in the fall and to make matters worse they cast them wrong at the hospital jimmy would be the first to admit that he'd had a share of screw-ups in his life and this ranked right up there at the top he let himself down this demonstration meant a lot to the kurdish wright people and to the united states government and he was no way he is letting them down the day of the demonstration the huge crowd was shocked to see an ambulance roar up on the field and deliver do doolittle on crutches both legs and cast he was lifted into his plane where his casted feet were wired to the rudder pedals jimmy lifted the p1 hawk into the air and put on an incredible show in the process breaking both cast he felt agonizing pain each time he moved a rudder pedal the next demonstration was by ernest von schulenbeck one of germany's greatest aces he fought with a famed richter fern squadron during world war one as jimmy watson was playing he decided he wasn't quite done with his demonstration he nodded to a delighted crew and i'm going back up he joined the german at four thousand feet dipping his wings and made a path to show his intent for the next 10 minutes they engage in a mock dog fight where doolittle literally flew circles around the famous ace finally von scholenbeck had had enough he broke off and landed his plane jimmy followed him in but just before touching down he flipped the plane on its back and bowed the field upside down the crowd went wild and engulfed his plane when he landed doolittle appreciated the joyous crowd but feared they'd try and pull him out of his plane with his feet so wired to the rudders respectful von scholenbeck conceded it was the greatest exhibition of flying ever displayed not bad for a kid that crashed his first glider when jim returned to the states from his window ledge antics touching six months in walter reed hospital gave him plenty of time to think about a flying feat that had never been accomplished the outside loop now in the conventional loop the plane goes up and over and the pilot is forced down into the seat and the outside loop is just the opposite the plane goes up down around and the medical consensus of the day is that blood vessels would burst and vital organs could be ripped loose from the body many flyers had attempted the outside loop they'd all failed or died trying jimmy had studied the structural design of the curtis hawk and was confident it would withstand the stress he was almost as confident his body would on a clear day 10 000 feet over right field ohio jimmy nose the hawk over into a vertical dive at 285 miles per hour he jammed the stick forward and once again flew into the history books proving the experts wrong when reporters asked why he tried such a suicidal feat he answered slightly it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing the military while welcoming advancements in flight technology was fully aware jim doolittle was not your average pilot for fear there would be a host of other pilots killing themselves trying the outside loop the military issued orders preventing anyone from attempting it divided jimmy doolittle's achievements and contributions to flying he considered blind flying one of the most important most pilots of the day thought when flying in fog or bad weather they could feel or just know the direction and disposition of their flight they were wrong in many cases dead wrong and do little proved it fog was understandably the number one weather hazard to land in an airplane many solutions had been tried hail drags weighted lines lowered from the plane different types of sonar equipment dispensing fog with heat all had some but limited effects what was needed was a precision land altimeter distance from the aircraft to the ground and a device that would give the correct attitude of the airplane this meaning the landing gear and the tail skid had to be level with the ground coming in with a wing down would spell disaster working closely with the guggenheimer flight laboratory and using his scientific background jim helped design the instruments needed to navigate in bad weather on september 24 1929 at mitchell field new york a hood was passing over the cockpit of his constellated ny2 biplane and he became the first person in history to take off fly and land using instruments only many of the instruments and concepts he designed are still unused today jimmy's achievements with blind flying were dearly threatened while working on the project the promoters of the national air races have been after doolittle for some time to make an appearance and thrilled a crowd to some of his daredevil flying jimmy felt he had more important things to do at the time and was slow committed finally the head of the air corps called and strongly suggested he make an appearance the day before the show doodle climbed into a p1 hawk fighter to get a little practice he was putting the fighter through some stiff maneuvers when suddenly a wing snapped off when a wing breaks off your plane there's only one decision to make and not a whole lot of time to think about it jim unbuckled and as he spiraled through space was ejected from the plane goola was picked up by a jeep and taken back to the field you walk into the headquarters his parachute wadded up under his arm and a shocked friend asked what happened jimmy replied my plane broke up and his friend said did you get out okay one day out of the skies of wichita kansas jimmy was experimenting with a new flying concept retractable landing gear they worked just fine until they landed then they malfunctioned once again doolittle walked away from a devastating crash in 1932 on another record-setting flight from canada to mexico city jim climbed to 19 000 feet to get over the andes mountains he suddenly became very drowsy it worsened until he was on the verge of passing out twice he lost control and had to pull a plane out of steep dives he started reciting well-known dates out loud if he could remember one he would bail out not the ideal thing to do at 19 000 feet over the andes might as well leave your parachute in the plane acting out of sheer instinct he managed to land in mexico city before passing out the following day he learned the cause of his near death jim always carried two cans of tetraethyl lead in case he had to refuel with unleaded gasoline nineteen thousand feet the seam on one of the candidates split open filling the cockpit with toxic films by 1932 jim had set or broken just about every flying record there was it even managed to tame the legendary gb sportster or the killer plane as it was most often called the plane was named after the grand middle brothers who started out as auto mechanics then got into airplane design and they were good at it maybe too good jim told me that flying the gb was like balancing a pencil on your finger one lap of concentration and it was gone the gb had killed many flyers that had suffered that lapse of concentration including his designer some consider it the most dangerous plane ever built others thought it was just too advanced for most pilots to handle doolittle won the bendix speed race and a record 252 miles per hour even lapping the competition after setting the record jim simply said it flew like a bullet a perfect description of a 1400 horsepower engine designed to resemble an airplane jimmy abruptly quit racing after that when that's why he related stories of rebecca going to the well one so often or he'd never known a racing pilot died of old age but it was more than that jim learned that when he was racing the gb the media would train cameras on his wife and children to get their reaction if he crashed and all of jim doolittle's spills throws and brushes with disaster he considered the luckiest day of his life the day he met his wife joe she brought stability and meaning into the life of a young restless hell raiser doolittle had no doubt that without her support he wouldn't have accomplished nearly what he did in life she gave him two sons jim jr october 2nd 1920 and john june 29 1922 joe ran a flawless household for managing the family budget to whipping up dinner for three or four unexpected guests jim might bring home many times when jim was required to be away for extended periods of time joe stepped in as both mother and father without missing a beat all this while being ready to move halfway across the country on a day's notice which the doolittles did on a regular basis jimmy was known for his sense of humor and always tried to keep life in perspective but there were times she could lose that sense of humor in a big hurry especially if he felt he had been wronged then it could be hell on wheels joe was always there to give advice if asked or helped calm jangled nerves she was a catalyst of the doolittle family and jimmy wasn't going to let his family's last memory of him be an airplane exploding into a ball of fire jim had been in the public eye for a long time but he'd never experienced anything that disgusting he was irate doodle wasn't one for bragging about his accomplishments or heroic deeds but he did get a chuckle talking about some of his lesser accomplishments one of those was in the dutch east indies in 1933. while doolittle was demonstrating planes with the kurdish wright people the commander of the dutch air force asked him to put one of their own planes through its faces hoping to learn something from the great flyer jim agreed he put the plane into a dive and at one thousand feet began to pull out not knowing a heavy dutch plane needed at least a thousand feet to pull out of a dive jim instantly knew he was in trouble at the bottom of the dive the plane's wheels actually hit the ground before arching upward the dutch general complimented jim's life on her husband's remarkable show of skill but joe knew different all she could do is smile politely to clench teeth just another day at the office for jim in the 1930s the world was in a great depression and each country was handling it in a different way in america people were put to work building down bridges and roads in japan people were put to work building up the military and trying to unite the nations of east asia by force if necessary in germany a guy named adolf hitler was giving speeches about german pride and dignity at the request of the government doolittle toured many countries in europe and asia he was shocked not only the buildup in the armies but the superiority of the aircraft based on what he saw jim was convinced the war was on the horizon and when it came he was just as convinced it would be one on the air the united states air force lagged way behind the progress of other countries jimmy was very vocal about the need to build up a proper air force luckily president roosevelt agreed with him jim took a leave from the military and worked closely with shell's oil aviation division he convinced them to perfect 100 octane gasoline which was quite a gamble on both their parts there were those who questioned the need for octane that high and the wisdom of producing it the first gallon of 100 octane gasoline cost shell one million dollars and some referred to it as doolittle million dollar blunder during the war it greatly increased not only the speed but the range of allied aircraft england credited their victory in the battle of britain to having 100 octane fuel while the germans still only had 87 octane in 1940 half arnold sent for jimmy doolittle he wanted him back in uniform but whatever plans he had for jim changed drastically on december 7 1941 pearl harbor some historians have given jim the credit for conceiving a raid on japan that isn't true it was conceived by captain francis lowell assistant chief of staff for anti-submarine warfare while flying out of norfolk virginia he saw the shadow of his plane pass over the outline of an aircraft carrier painted on the field below used for training purposes tap arnold put doolittle in charge of the project because she considered him the only man on the planet that could figure out how to get a loaded bomber off the deck of an aircraft carrier normally the b-25 required 2 000 feet to get airborne jim was given 500 feet to work with jim chose the untested b-25 for a very elementary reason it was carrier friendly meaning it was the only bomber with a shortened up wingspan to clear the command tower the b-25 had to be completely modified to get the job done it was going to take off in a short space and fly a long way everything from extra gas tanks made a rubber to a new bomb site so the secret norton bomb site wouldn't fall into enemy hands broomsticks would eventually replace some of the guns to help lighten the load and hopefully full enemy fighter plants and of course the engines had to run better than a swiss watch which almost required carburetors that hadn't been invented yet the mission was top secret of course half arnold gave doolittle a letter giving him top priority over any officer in the army air force he only had to use it once when a power hungry commander upset over the special treatment they were receiving wouldn't allow them to leave until jim signed a mountain of forms about the quality of service received while trading at that field all this while as men waited in their planes to take off the guy had been a real pain while they were training at that field causing doolittle a lot of problems he really didn't need at the time jimmy scribbled the word lousy across the top form climbed into his plane and took off he buzzed the field at treetop level and his crew followed him and did the same thing highly against the rules at the time but it was their way of saying thank you to the ground crewman for a job well done the commander commented to one of his aides that that doolittle was head for a lot of trouble little did he know originally jimmy was only brought in to deal with flying a bomber off an aircraft carrier and training the crews not leading the mission one day jim went into half arnold's office and presented his case for leading the mission conor flatly said no explaining jim couldn't lead every mission he's involved and planted but doodle kept hammering away until half finally said it was all right with him if it was okay with mith harmon his chief of staff as jim left the office he smelled a rat feeling arnold was just passing the buck he sprinted down the hall and burst into harmon's office blurting out what arnold had told him harmon not wanting to override his boss's decision shrugged and said fine jim you can lead the mission as jimmy was closing the door he heard the phone ring and then harmon saying but half i already gave you my permission half arnold had underestimated jimmy's foot speed before training ever started jimmy told the men that the mission was highly dangerous and the fatality rate could be 100 percent that kind of says it all he also told them that anyone wanted to drop out at any time anyplace anywhere could no questions asked nobody did on april 1st 1942 in alameda port california 16 of the original 24 bombers were loaded on the aircraft carrier hornet the next day they headed up the coast to san francisco the japanese know something was up or sure they did they got spies just like we did but never in their wildest dreams did they think that those bombers were going to be flown off the deck of that aircraft carrier they probably thought they were just being transported somewhere and they were they're being transported to japan the original plan was to get the raiders within 400 miles of japan before launching bomb key military targets then fly safely to free range locations in china that didn't work the japanese taking precautions against an attack had moved their picket line of patrol boats 900 miles off the coast way out a range of carrier-based fighter planes at 6 30 a.m saturday april 18 1942 the general alarms sounded on the hornet they had been spotted by a patrol boat 823 miles off the coast of japan another misconception about the raid is doolittle made the decision to launch the planes not true the task force was under the command of william bull halsey the force consisted of two aircraft carriers four cruisers eight destroyers and two tankers those were his boats he commanded them and everyone on them his immediate concern was the safety of the task force and after the beating at pearl harbor he couldn't risk losing ships especially the carriers after being spotted by a patrol boat he needed the b25s off the deck of the hornet to make room for his fighter planes that were stored below they're either going to be flown off or pushed over the side at that distance from the japanese coast the chances of the raiders making it to china were slim it was a difficult decision for admiral halsey at 6 32 a.m the order came launch the aircraft carrier hornet was pitching badly in a rough sea and the winds were blowing at gale force proportions many of the crew doubted a b-25 to be flowing off that undulating deck in 49 winds wins doodle was the first to go when his plane roared down the runway and lifted into the air the cheers could be heard above the storm [Applause] jimin later described his flight over tokyo as routine at the coast he was met by five japanese fighter planes but lotsa was amazing evasive flying to the hill of japan over the target just as he was reassuring the crew that the flak was missing him a mile a burst rocked the plane causing flight chief sergeant paul leonard to comment major that was no mile obviously jim's concept of routine was different than others with the help of a tailwind the planes did make it to the tonic coast one plane flew to russia from japan due to mechanical problems because of bad weather and with the planes spluttering on their last gallon of gasoline they were left with the choice of either bailing out or trying to crash land into the ocean doodle let each playing crew make their own decision after 13 hours in the air and traveling 2 250 miles jim made the decision to abandon ship somewhere over the china coast he hoped after the crew had jumped he put the ship on automatic pilot shut off both gas [ __ ] double checked to make sure all the crew was gone adjusted his chute and in his words left the airplane as jimmy descended through the dark rain he thought about the once shattered ankles and hoped for a landing that wouldn't damage them he more than got his wish the assembly landed in a rice paddy setting nick deep at night soil a nicer name for human excretment later that night seeking shelter from the chilean cold jimmy climbed into a large creed he came across suspended on two saw horses turned out to be a coffin occupied by an elderly man spending the night with a dead man was not a problem for jim trying to stay warm and the cold weather was he survived the night only to spend a nerve-wracking day with suspicious chinese soldiers who suspected him of being a spot only after retrieving his parachute a farmer had snatched from the rice padding did the soldiers believe him after a frantic week locating his scattered crew jim was taken to chung king where he met with general issimo and madam chiang kai-shek most of the crew survived eleven raiders were killed or captured three executed by the japanese all the planes were lost [Music] jim felt he had failed his first message to half arnold simply said mission accomplished bad weather over china fear all planes lost but he had no idea the worldwide impact of the raid or what it did for the morale of american people who were literally celebrating in the streets and jim had no idea he would return to a hero's welcome and be given his country's highest award the congressional medal of honor one day soon after his return jimmy went into a drug store to buy a tube of toothpaste but he couldn't get it because he didn't have an empty in return a metal saving measure of the day he tried to buy several other items but was denied because of a shortage finally the clerk repeated a popular phrase at the time don't you know there's a war on jimmy just smiled and said sorry i've been away like any other world-changing event there are those who serve just as bravely but sometimes go unnoticed there was seaman robert wall who lost his arm when wind surge pushed him into the prop of b-25 number 16 as it was preparing to launch the search plane on the hornet crashed at sea claiming the lives of pilot g d randall and radio operator t.a gallagher then there were the chinese people a young man named tong shin liu who risked his life by hiding raiders from japanese soldiers he would be made an honorary raider and in 1947 moved to the united states where he became an aeronautical engineer he retired in monterey park california and passed away at the age of 92. but there were others who weren't quite so fortunate [Music] in retaliation for helping the raiders over a three-month period the japanese military systematically slaughtered 250 000 men women and children that's a quarter of a million people what military end has never been disclosed when eisenhower asked hap arnold to recommend someone to organize and lead the 12th air force during the invasion of north africa arnold said jim doolittle ike met with jim and then wired arnold do little not acceptable he still considered him too much of a hot shot pilot and not enough of an organization man but hap was persistent and finally won out jimmy chose clayton vanderburgh as the chief of staff and general george patton was in charge of the ground forces as a general jim led over 20 missions always over heavy flak areas this at a time when most leaders were commanding well out of harm's way every time he led a mission morale skyrocketed and losses went down one night in england jimmy and famed flying ace eddie rickenbacker were watching from a hillside apartment as the germans bombed london a large piece of plaque landed on the deck near them and rickenbacker's commented the guy could get killed out here jim just then a bomb exploded in the street in front of him blowing him back through the glass doors of the apartment jim was bruised and battered but his sense of humor was still intact as he laid on the floor he managed to grin and said you know eddie i think this is where we should have been in the first place jimmy had lost many friends during the war and he'd hardened himself to deal with it the loss of one particular man devastated him paul leonard sergeant paul leonard his flight chief sent the tokyo raid when doolittle was sure he had failed after the raid leonard tried to cheer him up by saying that when he got back to the states they would not only make him in general but give him the medal of honor he also told jim that no matter where he went he always wanted to be his flight chief they developed a special bond and became close friends jimmy and his chief of personnel jack allard flew to an airfield to meet with his commander just after landing the field came under attack and doodle and allard had to make a mad dash through an exploding ammo dump their jeep pock mark was shrapnel jim returned to his plane to find it half covered in dirt and debris nearby a group of men were standing around a large bomb crater jim picked up the remains of a hand with a watch still on the wrist the description on the watch read to paul with love paul leonard has stayed in the plane long enough to shoot down a german fighter plane and took cover in a nearby ditch the germans tried to bomb doolittle's flame but missed hitting the ditch jimmy turned on his heels and climbed into the dirt-covered plane with jack allard close behind after blowing the dirt off with the prop war she roared down the runway it was not the right thing to do nor the smart thing to do plane should have been checked out first but paul leonard had done the smart thing by taking cover in the ditch it didn't work out very well the men on the field watched it stunned silence most expecting the plane to cartwheel into a ball of flame jim nursed it into the air and then put it through a series of stiff maneuvers he finally grunted to a petrified respectful jack allard well i guess the damn thing will fly when jimmy commanded the 15th air force he had the job of bombing rome and that's the same room that has churches shrines and the vatican now the rules of american warfare is you don't bomb the other guys religious sites especially when their religion is the same as yours the last plane on a bombing mission is called tail and charlie it rarely makes it through without taking a hit because the ground gunners have a chance to adjust over rome jimmy flew the tail end charlie's spot because he wanted to make sure none of the churches were hit and he wasn't a churchgoer after a victory in north africa doolittle was given command to the eighth air force in europe jimmy's major enemy in england was the weather two out of three days were unflyable on his first airstrike the weather turned bad soon after it was launched if the man had to return in that weather it could mean the loss of half of them a recall would mean his first eighth air force mission was a failure it would mean the lives of six thousand flying personnel would have been risked for nothing a million and a half gallons of gasoline wasted jim watched and waited then gave the order recall in 30 minutes the weather changed and the man returned in clear weather a week later the exact same thing happened the mission was launched the weather turned bad jim ordered a recall and then the weather turned clear by now most cement in the 8th air force thought jimmy doola had lost it as did general spatz the overall commander of the 8th air force in europe he called jimmy into his office and flat told him looks like you don't have the guts to run a big air force the man didn't mince words jimmy explained about the freak changes in the weather and admissions that returned in bad weather routinely lost half their planes and he didn't think either mission was worth three thousand lives general spatz decided to tour new levels air bases before making a decision about replacing him as they flew from base to base the weather was beautiful as were the weather reports but on the way back the weather quickly changed and they found themselves in dense fog extending all the way to the ground jim was forced to make a blind landing they bounced and skidded to a halt a few feet from a stone wall that would have destroyed the plane and killed the two highest-ranking generals in england the badly shaken general spats told jimmy he was absolutely right in recalling the missions jimmy doolittle became the first air force commander in history to conduct a large-scale attack without a single loss over 6 000 men flying 800 bombers and 500 fighter planes running a big air force is not always about launching missions and winning battles one day two women came to doolittle's office a mother and her daughter and said they had befriended one of his airmen even loaning him their bicycle to make it easier for him to visit and now he'd been transferred back to the states and they were both pregnant jimmy assured them this is a very serious matter and he'd have the airmen brought back to deal with it and the women said oh no we don't want to get him in trouble we just want our bicycle back on june 6 1944 in the rough choppy seas of the english channel operation overlord was launched the code name for the normandy invasion 156 000 allied troops from the united states britain and canada which storm ashore the beaches of normandy to spearhead the beginning of the end for the third reich one of the greatest fears over the landing beaches were enemy planes there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide but the eighth air force had so thoroughly bombed gas dumps ammo dumps and airfields the germans couldn't get one plane in the air when the invasion was launched the reports were slow coming in and mostly inaccurate so jimmy doolittle climbed into a piece 38 lightning and with a wingman headed for the landing beaches to see for himself over the beaches he spotted a hole in the clouds and zipped through it his wingman missed it he returned to give general eisenhower the first eyewitness account of the invasion pike was grateful for the account but horrified in the thought of one of his top generals buzzing the beaches in a fighter plane he reminded jim that chances were good he could have been shot down by his own troops he also reminded him he needed a commander of the 8th air force more than he needed a hot shot pilot if he wanted to return to the ranks of a fighter pilot he could arrange it jim told me the reason he took a p-38 over the beaches is because it was the most recognizable plane in the service he didn't want to get shot down either he also told me of seeing landicraft taking direct hits and bodies flying through the air it was surreal the last days of the war jimmy put together the biggest mission in history three thousand eight planes in one mission i mean when doolittle first joined the service there was 55 airplanes in the entire united states think about that the effort literally brought the german war machine to a halt as in any war events happened and decisions were made that caused heartache and second guessing during d-day bombers of the eighth air force inadvertently dropped bombs on their own troops killing 100 and injuring over 500 there were 500 bombers involved in the operation dropping thousands of bombs on mostly smoke-covered targets the aids had been trained for high-altitude bombing not close to florida ground troops the jimmy took full responsibility for the tragedy because he was a man at the top with standard procedure to send bombing crews home after they had followed 25 missions jim increased that number to 35 missions when a green crew came in and took at least 10 missions before they knew what they were doing and how to stay alive many mishaps occurred during the first few missions after that they were much more seasoned jim felt it was counterproductive to replace the crew at the peak of their effectiveness another decision that earned the nickname of killer with bomber commanders and crews was to turn the fighter plane loose to seek and destroy enemy aircraft jimmy felt the fight airplane was meant to be an offensive weapon to destroy enemy aircraft when they found him the longer the germans had planes in the air the longer the war would last the primary function of the fighter planes had been to escort bombers to and from the targets bomber crews referred to fighters as their little buddies and relied heavily on them up until then the bomber's strategy over the target was to drop their bombs and then get the hell out head for home as fast as they could stragglers that couldn't keep up due to damage or mechanical problems were easy targets for german fighter planes but bombers were taught to fly tighter formations to protect not only themselves but others also the efficiency of the bomber gunners as were their weapons were improved while bombers would still have fighter protection it would be on a limited basis it was sort of a lesser of two evils type decision did it cost the lives of more bombing crews yes but the real question is did it save more lives than it costs military historians both german and american estimate they do those handling of the eighth air force shorten the war by as much as a year when the war in europe was over jim was sent to okinawa in the pacific he joined the flamboyant general douglas mccarthy the character was well known for his outslogan opinions and his enormous eagle [Music] that would eventually end up getting him fired by president harry truman jim is still carrying a label of a hotshot pilot and he is determined to keep a low profile let macarthur have the glory all doolittle wanted was the war to be over upon his arrival he was puzzled at macarthur's cold reception until an aide showed him a newspaper clipping from the london times any long-range plans for jim doolittle end of the civic war came to an abrupt halt on august 6 1945 three days later a second bomb was dropped on nagasaki an explanation point i guess my weather started nearly four years earlier with hundreds of bombs bullets and airplanes and it was just one bomb equaling 20 000 tons of tnt after the war jimmy became a vice president at shell oil and later became a director his scientific background was invaluable in the advancement of space age fuels in 1951 jim was appointed special assistant to the chief of air force as a civilian in scientific matters that helped bridge aerospace and ballistic missile development in 1954 then president eisenhower asked doolittle to do a study on the central intelligence agency which would become known as the doolittle report cia had been formed a few years earlier in 1947 as primarily an information gathering agency it had the threat of communism grew around the world so did the duties of the cia jim felt the game plan needed changing to combat the threat of communism the act of fair play must be re-examined america was in a different kind of war now and must adjust to a different kind of warfare the report was very controversial in a respected voiced opinions not normally associated with the democratic society the days of glorifying war were coming to an end jim retired from the service in 1959 but remained actively involved becoming chairman of the board of space technology laboratories he also remained a special advisor to the air force jim's two sons jim junior and john called her dad's footsteps that became flyers jim jr served in the pacific in a medium bomber squadron and also as a bomber pilot with the ninth air force where he was awarded the distinguished flying cross he also served in korea as a fighter pilot and later as a test pilot at edwards air force base john doolittle attended west point he was also a veteran of the korean war and a bomber pilot in vietnam in 1958 tragedy struck the doodle family the kind that leaves a parent asking unanswered questions for the rest of their life jim jr committed suicide there was no note and never an explanation because of his military record and scientific background jimmy became chairman of the air force scientific board he had the ability and know how to bring both sides together from 1955 to 1965 he was a member of the president's advisory board on foreign intelligence he was offered the job of heading up the national aeronautics and space administration or nasa he declined that job that wasn't the only distinction jim turned down the city of los angeles wanted the name lax after him and he declined that offer saying that most airports were named after deceased people and he wasn't quite ready to make that sacrifice yet in 1985 congress promoted james harold doolittle to the rank of full general not four stars president ronald reagan and senator barry goldwater had the honor of pinning those stars on his shoulders in north africa in 1943 it was decided to establish a yearly reunion for the new level raiders the first official reunion was held in miami florida 1945. the citizens of tucson arizona had presented doolittle with 80 silver goblets in a display case one for each raider on the mission which he in turn gave to the air force academy for safekeeping [Music] each year the raiders toasted the men who died on the raid and members who passed away during the year the deceased men's goblets are turned upside down in the display case their names had been inscribed on the goblets twice right side up and upside down so it can always be ripped in 1993 jim doolittle's silver goblet was turned over he passed away september 27th pebble beach california he was 96 years old he was buried at arlington national cemetery next to his wife joe among some of the awards and medals america bestowed on jimmy doolittle are the horatio algier award the medal of freedom [Music] to air metal two distinguished service medals three distinguished flying crosses bronze star silver star and the medal of honor the countries of great britain france china bolivia belgium poland ecuador all decorated jimmy doolittle with their highest awards one of jen's philosophies is that after all the speeches words of wisdom and advice that's given you lead by example not works is the only person in the history of the united states to win both its highest military honor the medal of honor and its highest civilian honor the medal of freedom now that's leading by example [Music] you

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

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Keywords: History, Full Documentary, Documentaries, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, 2017 documentary, BBC documentary, Channel 4 documentary, history documentary, documentary history, jimmy doolittle, aviation history, ww1 history, american history, pearl harbour, doolittle raid, japanese air raid, tokyo american raid, tokyo raid, american ww2, ww2 history

Id: Kadf1PiUgig

Length: 81min 51sec (4911 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 09 2021