An American force of 16 B25 Mitchell bombers led by Lt Col. James Doolittle took off from the US carrier Hornet to fly 800 miles and bomb the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe. The raid caused minimal actual damage and all aircraft were lost - one landing in Russia to be interned, the majority of the rest of the crew's bailing out over China, 6 being killed, 5 imprisoned - but the propoganda victory was huge. The public at home were heartened by 'taking the war to the enemy heartland' and the Japanese were alarmed enough, it is alleged, to change their battleplans for the Pacific theatre, weakening their whole defence. To keep the presence of the carriers secret, it was announced that the attack was from the island of Shangri-La, which doesn't exist.