Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, USAAF, (centre) with members of his flight crew and Chinese officials in China after the Doolittle Raid on Japan. The Doolittle Raid, or Tokyo Raid, was the first US air raid on Japan in World War II and took place on 18th April 1942. Left to right: Staff Sergeant Fred A. Braemer, Bombardier; Staff Sergeant Paul J. Leonard, Flight Engineer/Gunner; General Ho, director of the Branch Government of Western Chekiang Province; Lieutenant Richard E. Cole, Co-pilot; Lt.Col. Doolittle, Pilot and mission commander; Henry H. Shen, bank manager; Lieutenant Henry A. Potter, Navigator; Chao Foo Ki, secretary of the Western Chekiang Province Branch Government.