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A Small Strike With Huge Consequences: The Doolittle Raid That Changed WWII in the Pacific

Khalid Elhassan March 12, 2025 14 min

Doolittle - A B-25 takes off from the USS Hornet, en route to Tokyo — A B-25 takes off from the USS Hornet, en route to Tokyo. US Army

6. An Intense Crash Course to Prepare for the Raid

Doolittle - One of Doolittle's B-25s undergoing modifications in Minneapolis — One of Doolittle’s B-25s undergoing modifications in Minneapolis. NWA History

Doolittle picked twenty four volunteer crews. He also sent two dozen of the 17^th Bombardment’s Group B-25s to a modification center in Minneapolis, to make some changes. The most important modification was the addition of auxiliary fuel tanks and cells to increase capacity from 646 to 1,141 gallons. To make space and compensate for the added fuel weight, the lower gun turret was removed, as well as a radio, while the standard Norden bombsight was replaced with an improvised and lighter makeshift. When the planes were ready, the crews were sent to pick them up and fly to Eglin Field in western Florida. There, starting on March 1^st, 1942, Doolittle’s volunteers underwent an intense three week crash course to prepare them for the raid. It focused on simulated carrier deck takeoffs, ocean navigation, low-level and night flying, and low-level bombing.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.