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Jaw Dropping World War II Stories that Deserve to be in the History Books

Khalid Elhassan August 25, 2021 37 min

Skeeter Vaughan's knife throwing feat earned him a place in history — Skeeter Vaughan. Film Web

The B-25 was the right airplane for the feat carried out by Jimmy Doolittle and his men — A B-25B, the model flown by Doolittle’s men. Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum

23. The B-25 Turned Out to be the Right Plane to Accomplish an Extraordinary Feat

The B-25 had been designed in response to a 1939 Air Corps solicitation for an airplane that could carry a 2400-pound bomb load for 1200 miles, at a speed of 300 miles per hour. North American Aviation came back with a plane that exceeded the bomb load and range requirements, with 3000 pounds for 1350 miles, and came close to the solicited speed at 272 miles per hour. It first flew in 1940 and entered service in 1941. B-25s had not been tested in combat, but on paper, they seemed like they just might suit Doolittle’s needs. So he tested the bomber to find out whether it was as good in practice for the mission as it seemed to be in theory.

Two B-25s were loaded aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, and flew off its deck on February 3^rd, 1942, without a problem. With proof of concept out of the way, Doolittle set out to find and train aircrews for the raid. He found them in the 17^th Bombardment Group, which was flying B-25Bs on antisubmarine patrols off Oregon’s coast. The 17^th was transferred to South Carolina, under cover of flying similar missions on the East Coast. When they arrived, Doolittle asked for volunteers for an “extremely hazardous” mission. Nearly the entire group stepped forward.

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.