Continued low flying due south over the outskirts of and toward the east center of Tokyo.
Pulled up to 1,200 ft., changed course to the southwest and incendiary-bombed highly inflammable section. Dropped first bomb at 1:30 (ship time).
Anti-aircraft very active but only one near hit.
Lowered away to housetops and slid over western outskirts into low haze and smoke.
Turned south and out to sea.
Fewer airports on west side but many army posts.
A consensus on the part of crew members is that the upper turret on the B-25B, while far better than the lower turret, is entirely unsatisfactory. Two 24-volt generators went out shortly before take-off and a third plane had trouble with the turret’s electrical system thus putting three out of sixteen turrets out of action at a time too late to make repairs. Far more trouble is experienced with the Azimuth motor than with the altitude motor. This is probably due to the fact that the Azimuth motor is used much more than the altitude motor particularly while the gunner is searching for enemy aircraft. The control of the turret is entirely unsatisfactory. It is our understanding that this will be corrected, in part at least, with the new control to be installed. The telescopic sight is unsatisfactory in that it collects dust and moisture and the cone of vision is too small. It is our understanding that this also is being corrected in future sights.
The 30-caliber nose gun installation is entirely unsatisfactory. It is impossible to quickly shift from one position to another under actual combat conditions, particularly if the gun has been fired and the adaptor warmed up and expanded. The glass molding for the nose gun is not strong enough and cracks after a few rounds are fired. It is strongly recommended, in this type of installation, that two 50-caliber hand-operated guns be located low in the nose with an angular movement of about 60° down from the horizontal and 30° to port and starboard. These guns would be operated by the bombardier after he had dropped his bombs. They should lock in the upper forward position (with the line of fire parallel to the longitudinal axis of the airplane) and in that position be operable by the pilot. Had we had such an installation we could have done a great deal more damage. A similar set of guns located near the position of the present rear turret would provide some protection aft and be cleaner and lighter than the present turret in addition to being simpler and more effective.
Passed over small aircraft factory with a dozen or more newly completed planes on the line. No bombs left. Decided not to machine gun for reasons of personal security.
Had seen five barrage balloons over east central Tokyo and what appeared to be more in the distance.
Passed on out to sea flying low.
Was soon joined again by Hoover who followed us to the Chinese coast.
Navigator plotted perfect course to pass north of Yaki Shima.
Saw three large naval vessels just before passing west end of Japan. One was flatter than the others and may have been a converted carrier.
Passed innumerable fishing and small patrol boats.
Made land fall somewhat north of course on China coast.
Tried to reach Chuchow on 4495 but couldn’t raise.
It had been clear over Tokyo but became overcast before reaching Yaki Shima.
Ceiling lowered on coast until low islands and hills were in it at about 600'. Just getting dark and couldn’t live under overcast so pulled up to 6,000 and then 8,000 ft. in it. On instruments from then on though occasionally saw dim lights on ground through almost solid overcast. These lights seemed more often on our right and pulled us still farther off course.
Directed rear g to go aft and secure films from camera (unfortunately they were jerked out of his shirt front where he had put them, when his chute opened.)
Decided to abandon ship. Sgt. Braemer, Lt. Potter, Sgt. Leonard and Lt. Cole jumped in order. Left ship on A.F.C.E., shut off both gas cocks and I left. Should have put flaps down. This would have slowed down landing speed, reduced impact and shortened glide.
All hands collected and ship located by late afternoon of 19th.
Requested General Ho Yang Ling, Director of the Branch Government of Western Chekiang Province to have a lookout kept along the seacoast from Hang Chow bay to Wen Chow bay and also have all sampans and junks along the coast keep a lookout for planes that went down at sea, or just reached shore.
Early morning of 20th four planes and crews, in addition to ours, had been located and I wired General Arnold, through the Embassy at Chunking, “Tokyo successfully bombed. Due bad weather on China Coast believe all airplanes wrecked. Five crews found safe in China so far.”
Wired again on the 27th giving more details.
Discussed possibility of purchasing three prisoners on the seacoast from Puppet Government and endeavoring to take out the three in the lake area by force. Believe this desire was made clear to General Ku Cho-tung (who spoke little English) and know it was made clear to English-speaking members of his staff. This was at Shangjao. They agreed to try purchase of three but recommended against force due to large Japanese concentration.
Left airplane about 9:20 (ship time) after 13 hours in the air. Still had enough gas for half hour flight but right front tank was showing empty. Had transferred once as right engine used more fuel. Had covered about 2,250 miles, mostly at low speed, cruising but about an hour at moderate high speed which more than doubled the consumption for this time.
Bad luck:
(1) Early take-off due to naval contact with surface and aircraft.
(2) Clear over Tokyo.
(3) Foul over China.
Good luck:
(1) A 25 m/h tail wind over most of the last 1,200 miles.
Take-off should have been made three hours before daylight, but we didn’t know how easy it would be and the Navy didn’t want to light up.
Dawn take-off, closer in, would have been better as things turned out. However, due to the bad weather it is questionable if even daylight landing could have been made at Chuchow without radio aid.
Still feel that original plan of having one plane take off three hours before dusk and others just at dusk was best all-around plan for average conditions.
Should have kept accurate chronological record.
Should have all crew members instructed in exact method of leaving ship under various conditions.
J. H. DOOLITTLE
Airplane AC 40-2344—B-25B
