The Doolittle Raiders Who Stayed and the origins of the China Air Task Force

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Special Orders Number 2, dated July 7, 1942 and issued by Bomber Command, China Air Task Force (CATF), Kunming, China captures a pivotal moment in early WWII aviation history. It documents the aftermath of the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942 and the subsequent integration of eight former Raiders into the newly activated CATF - the USAAF combat unit that served as the immediate successor to the disbanded "Flying Tigers"/American Volunteer Group (AVG) effective July 4, 1942. These orders also highlight General Claire Lee Chennault’s early efforts to recruit replacement personnel for the CATF, ensuring that the unit remained operational during this critical period of his command.

 

The names of the eight Doolittle Raiders are:

 

·      1st Lt. Clayton J. Campbell – (Navigator, Crew 13)

·      1st Lt. Horace E. Crouch – (Navigator/Bombardier, Crew 10)

·      1st Lt. Lucian N. Youngblood – (Co-Pilot, Crew 04)

·      M/Sgt. Waldo J. Bither – (Bombardier, Crew 12)

·      T/Sgt. Edwin W. Horton, Jr. – (Gunner, Crew 10)

·      S/Sgt. Douglas V. Radney – (Flight Engineer/Gunner, Crew 02)

·      Sgt. Aden E. Jones – (Bombardier, Crew 03)

·      Sgt. Adam R. Williams – (Flight Engineer/Gunner, Crew 13)

 

Records indicate that the CATF had an initial inventory of approximately 51 total fighters (only 29 operational), in addition to seven B-25 medium bombers. With Japan at or near the peak of its territorial expansion, Gen. Chennault surely valued the addition of these combat-tested Raiders to the other airmen listed here.

 

Special Orders Number 2 also profiles the unique service record of 2nd Lt. Charles J. Crysler. It confirms his arrival in Kunming, China on June 9, 1942, six days after he and his crew bailed out of his gas-exhausted B-25 over the China/Burma border after a successful June 3rd bombing mission over Lashio, Burma. It also confirms June 9th as his date of entry onto the CATF payroll. He was temporarily assigned to the AVG to gain single-engine combat experience before they disbanded, and during that brief three-week window (June 15, 1942 – July 4, 1942) he became one of the few Army pilots to receive credit from the USAAF for missions flown with the American Volunteer Group.

 

Crysler was then formally reassigned from the 11th Bombardment Squadron to the 23rd Fighter Group on July 10, 1942, where he earned 3 kills, 1 probable, and a Distinguished Flying Cross while flying missions with the 74th Fighter Squadron throughout the CBI theater.

 

(Special Orders Number 2 courtesy of the Charles J. Crysler Collection)