"Doolittle" sweat

Hero of the famous 1942 raid on Tokyo, General James H. Doolittle has always

“Led from the front”

Renowned American aviator and military leader James H. Doolittle was born in 1896, and distinguished himself early in his aviation career, winning several flight records and developing navigation and flight techniques that were to influence military aviation practice. Early in the war, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and played a crucial role in the development and implementation of precision bombing tactics. Appointed head of the largest air force in history (the 8th Air Force) in early 1944, he personally took part in the organization of D-DAY.

Incredibly, in the late morning of June 6, 1944, Doolittle flew his personal P38 Lightning, coded 267402, over the Normandy beaches for almost 2 hours to assess the progress of the Allied landing operations. This decision to go into the field, exposing his life to danger, testifies to his courage and commitment to his men and the mission. His initiative provided crucial information on the progress of Allied troops, and helped coordinate air support efforts.

The story goes that, on returning from the flight, he went directly to Gen Eisenhower's headquarters to provide the first report to the Supreme Allied Commander, beating conventional intelligence channels by several hours.

This daring action, against all military norms, by the supreme commander of the greatest air force of all time, flying himself over the battlefront during the first hours of DDAY operations, is a unique fact in the history of World War II...

But Lieutenant-General James H Jimmy Doolittle was no ordinary commander.