Doolittle Raid B25B 40-2242 that landed in Russia after the raid

Joe Baughers serials
B-25B 40-2242 (17th BG, 95th BS) was Doolittle raider.  Was 8th aircraft launched from
USS Hornet.  Mixed crew from 37th BS, 89th Recon Squadron.  Bombed Tokyo, landed 40 mi
N of Vladivostok Apr 18, 1942.  Crew interned for 13 months, aicraft kept
by USSR, scrapped in 1950s.
 
Terry T.

Thanks for the info TerryT and Deefeater.
 
 

Good rumor for a bunch of guys killing time waiting out the weather, but not very plausible. Anyone contemplating such a mission would have to know that the crew would be placed in custody immediately and thereby be of no intelligence value.
 
In the crews journey across Siberia and into Iran they might have seen some things like the conditions of the railroads, but journalists and military attaches could learn these facts.

Obviously, I do not have the complete list of airmen held in the Soviet Union during WWII.  I have names, ranks, and serial numbers of 130 USAAF/Navy personnel, and type aircraft assigned.
 
There were 218 USAAF personnel (blanket authorized) the POW medal, and at least 62 (identified by letter) Navy personnel awarded the POW medal.
 
Robert
 

The plane is still there where it landed. The Russians won't give it back. They say they own it after the crew was rescued and sent to china by the peoples army. The crew was not captured by the japanese. It's a war torphy.

                                                                                        James

TBolt -
A while Back I saw an Ariel Photo of the Huge outdoor
Aircraft Museum in Russia.
There were several American Aircraft visible including
C -47 , A-20 , and a early Model B - 25. Whether the
B - 25 is York's or a Lend - Lease is unknown.
Anybody Know?
Mike

Yves -
Thanks for the info !
Mike

Sealman2

The plane is still there where it landed. The Russians won't give it back. They say they own it after the crew was rescued and sent to china by the peoples army. The crew was not captured by the japanese. It's a war torphy.

                                                                                       James

My understanding is that it was indeed scrapped post-war. I'm not sure if the US government asked for the plane back or not. It wasn't helpful of the Russians to intern the crew, but looking at it from their perspective it was a reasonably smart move to try and keep the Japanese from attacking them. They didn't need a second front at the time.
Yes, I've also seen the theory about the crew as "spies" or as being there to test the Russians out, but I don't think it makes too much sense. Frankly, The First Heroes did NOT impress me as a book. It's basically a modernized, disjunct, sensational, and frankly, poorly written re-hashing of the well-written books by Col. Glines. I also like Duane Shultz' book and the one by Merrill (which I can't find on my shelf to give the exact title) better.

Ryan
www.doolittleraid.com

Emmons, the co-pilot for York on "2242" was the Air Attache to the US Embassy in Tokyo.  He was there during the Gary Francis U-2 flight, I believe or some other international air affair, anyway his office was broken into.  The prim suspects were Soviet agents.

The crew was not sent to China.  They were placed in essential house arrest and transported in a seal railroad car to a place near Stalingrad.  Later the were moved to Perm in the foothills of the Urals.  Eventually the escaped to Mashhad, Iran then India (now Pakistan) and back to the US.