Doolittle Raiders Trivia

[FastEd]

 

[stevemb]

A bold, brave undertaking. They knew they were at and beyond the limits.

 

[Merle1948]

A bold, brave undertaking. They knew they were at and beyond the limits.

AMEN to that - what a brave bunch :!: :!: :!:

 

[Fox Mike]

It takes a special kind of person to go on a raid that has just little chance of doing any real damage and knowing that the odds were definitely NOT in your favor.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Well Guys,
If you are into reading. Read Ted Lawson's (who lost a leg) "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" and Jimmy Doolittle's " I Could Never Be So Lucky Again" Both are outstanding and what heroes are all about.

When you see pictures of a 25 skimming the water after launch from the Hornet. That is Lawson. Very lucky guy.
I have a book about the Crews on the raid that was signed by about have of the crews including Jimmy Doolittle.

 

[RSIno1]

The concept for the attack came from Navy Captain Francis Low, Assistant Chief of Staff for anti-submarine warfare, who reported to Admiral Ernest J. King on 10 January 1942 that he thought twin-engine Army bombers could be launched from an aircraft carrier, after observing several at a naval airfield in Norfolk, Virginia, where the runway was painted with the outline of a carrier deck for landing practice. The attack was planned and led by Doolittle, a famous civilian aviator and aeronautical engineer before the war.

 

[pisgah]

The Doolittle Raiders did some training about an hour from here, outside of Columbia, SC. The runway they used, now a part of Columbia Metropolitan Airport, still bears the painted markers delineating one carrier-length, the exact spot they practiced takeoffs, in their memory.

 

[Merle1948]

The Doolittle Raiders did some training about an hour from here, outside of Columbia, SC. The runway they used, now a part of Columbia Metropolitan Airport, still bears the painted markers delineating one carrier-length, the exact spot they practiced takeoffs, in their memory.

Now that's cool! Is there any safe way you could get a picture of that? :shock:

 

[Wyandot Jim]

I looked on Google Earth and didn't see anything. The training took place at Eglin FL

In 1941 the airport came under formal military control and an immediate program began to turn the civil airport into a military airfield. On 8 December 1941, the Columbia Army Airbase Columbia Army Airfield's mission was a training base for B-25 Mitchell crews.

One of the earliest units to train at Columbia AAB was the 17th Bombardment Group, which arrived on 9 February 1942. When the group arrived in Columbia its combat crews were offered the opportunity to volunteer for an "extremely hazardous" but unspecified mission which ultimately turned out to be the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan. Contrary to popular belief, the volunteers who made up the crews of the Doolittle Raid did not train for the Raid itself at Columbia.

The 24 crews selected picked up the modified bombers in Minneapolis and flew them to Eglin Field, Florida, beginning 1 March 1942. There the crews received intensive training for three weeks in simulated carrier deck takeoffs, low-level and night flying, low-altitude bombing and over-water navigation, primarily out of Wagner Field, Auxiliary Field 1. Lieutenant Henry Miller, USN, from nearby Naval Air Station Pensacola supervised their takeoff training and accompanied the crews to the launch. For his efforts, Lt. Miller is considered an honorary member of the Raider group.

 

[crewdog05]

An amazing feat by some truly brave men. Just heard the other day that there are only two left now..

 

[pisgah]

The Doolittle Raiders did some training about an hour from here, outside of Columbia, SC. The runway they used, now a part of Columbia Metropolitan Airport, still bears the painted markers delineating one carrier-length, the exact spot they practiced takeoffs, in their memory.

Now that's cool! Is there any safe way you could get a picture of that? :shock:

Nope. It's way out on the main runway. If I were planning a flight any time soon, I could do it, though. They announce the markings' presence on almost every takeoff.

Here's an interesting article about memories of one of the Raiders...


http://www.af.mil/News/Features/Display/tabid/273/Article/143653/doolittle-raider-remembers-historic-mission-over-japan.aspx

 

[Merle1948]

The Doolittle Raiders did some training about an hour from here, outside of Columbia, SC. The runway they used, now a part of Columbia Metropolitan Airport, still bears the painted markers delineating one carrier-length, the exact spot they practiced takeoffs, in their memory.

Now that's cool! Is there any safe way you could get a picture of that? :shock:

Nope. It's way out on the main runway. If I were planning a flight any time soon, I could do it, though. They announce the markings' presence on almost every takeoff.

Here's an interesting article about memories of one of the Raiders...


http://www.af.mil/News/Features/Display/tabid/273/Article/143653/doolittle-raider-remembers-historic-mission-over-japan.aspx

Oh well, thanks for responding - and thanks for the link!

 

[olcop]

I've always wondered about the airfield at North, South Carolina,(yep, it's a real town) the runway there is/ was lined with diagonal parking stripes. I was told it was an assembly field for planes being ferried to Europe during WWII, but I thought it may have had something to with the Dolittle Raiders, anyone know for sure? Columbia is not far from North.
olcop

 

[pisgah]

I've always wondered about the airfield at North, South Carolina,(yep, it's a real town) the runway there is/ was lined with diagonal parking stripes. I was told it was an assembly field for planes being ferried to Europe during WWII, but I thought it may have had something to with the Dolittle Raiders, anyone know for sure? Columbia is not far from North.
olcop

I don't believe the original dirt runway was constructed until 1943.