2012年1月20日 星期五

大戰隨軍記/"Jimmy" Doolittle 將軍

書名大戰隨軍記
作者Ernie Pyle等, 于熙儉譯左右對齊版本2出版者正中書局發行, 1947/1958頁等
369 頁


pp. 211-15 為

詹姆斯·哈羅德·杜立德上將James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle,1896年12月14日-1993年9月27日),暱稱吉米」(Jimmy),美國空軍將領、傑出的特技飛行員和航空工程師,第二次世界大戰中率編隊首次空襲日本東京,史稱杜立德空襲,杜立德因此次行動成為美國人心目中的英雄。

[编辑] 生平

杜立德1896年出生於加利福尼亞,幼年時即隨父母遷居阿拉斯加諾姆。雖然身材矮小,他卻自小喜愛拳擊,曾獲得太平洋沿岸最輕量級拳擊冠軍。

萊特兄弟發明飛機之後,杜立德瘋狂地迷戀上了飛行,自行製作了一架飛機。1917年,他加入美國陸軍航空兵部隊。1918年,僅僅經過半年的時間,他就被晉陞為教官

1922年9月4日,杜立德駕駛一架DH.4B型飛機,從佛羅里達飛到加利福尼亞,全程3,481公里,耗時21小時19分,成為首個完成一天內橫跨美國本土的飛行員。他贏得過施奈德錦標賽、本狄克斯航空競賽和湯普森杯等航空賽事的冠軍,此後,他擔任美國軍隊新機型的試飛員之一,並在麻省理工學院獲得了航空工程學博士學位。1930年,他第一次退役,進入殼牌石油工作。1933年4月,到中國進行飛行表演,並推銷柯蒂斯-萊特公司霍克II戰鬥機1934年,他提議將空軍從陸軍分離出來,成立單獨的兵種,並促使殼牌石油開始研發專用的航空燃料

1940年,杜立德在第二次世界大戰爆發的情況下重新入伍,負責指揮美國陸軍航空隊轟炸機部隊。1942年4月18日,他率領16架B-25轟炸機,從大黃蜂號航空母艦起飛,發動空襲東京(又稱杜立德空襲)轟炸了日本首都東京,使得珍珠港事件後美國低落的士氣為之一振,但也因為中國民眾救援在浙江迫降的美軍機員,日本軍隊屠殺了多達二十五萬名中國人。當他自中國安全回國後,立即被提升為準將,並由富蘭克林·羅斯福總統授予國會勳章。之後,他又在北非登陸戰役中和地中海戰區指揮美軍戰鬥機部隊。1944年1月任駐英國第八航空隊司令,軍銜升至中將。他到任後對進攻德國轟炸機護航戰術進行了重大變化:「我們戰鬥機的首要任務是在空中消滅敵機」,加速德國空軍的崩潰。其後,他又參加過沖繩戰役

1945年8月,日軍投降,第二次世界大戰結束,1946年5月,杜立德以中將軍銜退役,重新回到殼牌石油任副總裁,之後擔任該公司董事。1985年美國國會和總統隆納·雷根為表彰他的卓越功績,授予他上將軍銜。1988年,總統喬治·布希(老布希)授予他總統自由勳章

1993年,杜立德在加利福尼亞州去世,下葬於阿靈頓國家公墓。葬禮舉行時,美國所有尚可飛行的B-25轟炸機全部升空以示悼念。


The Doolittle Raid

Lt Col James H. Doolittle, USAAF (front), leader of the raiding force, wires a Japanese medal to a 500-pound bomb, during ceremonies on the flight deck of USS Hornet (CV-8), shortly before his force of sixteen B-25B bombers took off for Japan. The planes were launched on April 18, 1942.

Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and America's entry into World War II, Doolittle was recalled to active duty. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on January 2, 1942, and assigned to Army Air Forces Headquarters to plan the first retaliatory air raid on the Japanese homeland. He volunteered for and received General H.H. Arnold's approval to lead the top-secret attack of 16 B-25 medium bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, with targets in Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya. On April 18, all the bombers successfully took off from the Hornet, reached Japan, and bombed their targets. Fifteen of the planes then headed for their recovery airfield in China, while one crew chose to land in Russia due to their bomber's unusually high fuel consumption. As did most of the other crewmen who participated in the mission, Doolittle's crew bailed out safely over China when their bomber ran out of fuel. By then they had been flying for about 12 hours, it was nighttime, the weather was stormy, and Doolittle was unable to locate their landing field. Doolittle came down in a rice paddy (saving a previously injured ankle from breaking) near Chuchow (Quzhou). He and his crew linked up after the bailout and were helped through Japanese lines by Chinese guerrillas and American missionary John Birch. Other aircrews were not so fortunate. Although most eventually reached safety with the help of friendly Chinese, several crewmembers lost their lives after being captured by the Japanese, who occupied many areas along the China coast. Doolittle went on to fly more combat missions as commander of the 12th Air Force in North Africa, for which he was awarded four Air Medals. The other surviving members of the raid also went on to new assignments.

Doolittle received the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House for planning and leading his raid on Japan. His citation reads: "For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty, involving personal valor and intrepidity at an extreme hazard to life. With the apparent certainty of being forced to land in enemy territory or to perish at sea, Lt. Col. Doolittle personally led a squadron of Army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland."

The Doolittle Raid is viewed by historians as a major morale-building victory for the United States. Although the damage done to Japanese war industry was minor, the raid showed the Japanese that their homeland was vulnerable to air attack, and forced them to withdraw several front-line fighter units from Pacific war zones for homeland defense. More significantly, Japanese commanders considered the raid deeply embarrassing, and their attempt to close the perceived gap in their Pacific defense perimeter led directly to the decisive American victory during the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

When asked from where the Tokyo raid was launched, President Roosevelt coyly said its base was Shangri-La, a fictional paradise from the popular novel Lost Horizon. In the same vein, the US Navy named one of its carriers the USS Shangri-La.

Doolittle was portrayed by Spencer Tracy in the 1944 film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and by Alec Baldwin in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor, in which a fictionalized account of the Doolittle raid was depicted.

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