Evening star., 1943-04-22
BY MAX HILL,
4 Sxorfstsd prAss STAN WritAY-

Associated Press stan writer.
NEW YORK, April 22.-The Doo-
little raid on Japan's plane and
munitions factories and the sup
posedly invulnerable Yokosuka naval
base gave the japanese war lords an
unrivaled opportunity to whip their
emotional millions into q frenzy Of
hatred against all white men.
1t is the sort Of hatred exemplif1ed
by the executions of the American
flyers, announced by President
Roosevelt yesterday.
have read the morning and aft
ernoon editions of the army-con-
trolled Toxic newspaper Yomiuri,
which were published Immediately
after the raid Of April 18, 1912, and
now in possession Of Newsweek
magazine. The papers are typical OF
the propaganda fed to the Japanese
masses for many years.
Enemy Attack Was Blind
School and Hospital Hit
That was one heading, and the
story went on to say boy was killed
by machine-gun bullets.
1 was in q Toxic prison at the
time of the raid, and after was
taken to the internment camp in
June Japanese friend whispered to
me:
Many Of the people were killed
by machine-gun bullets from our
own planes. They were shooting
down at one of the bombers and
the bullets sprayed a schoolyard.'
That April day was clear and
bright in Toxic, and hardly a cloud
f1ecked the sky. The prison was In
the northwest part Of the city, far
from military objectives, so didn't
know there was raid until June,
didn't hear anti-aircraft fire, nor
bursting bombs. But men in the
internment camp and at the Ameri-
can Embassy saw planes skim the
treetops and dodge the fire OF the
defenders.
One of the Yomiuri pictures shows
a bomber over the heart of Toxic,
almost over Toxic station and near
the main railroad tracks, which are
the only means Of land transporta-
tion between Toxic and the in
dustrial area to the south, centering
around Kobe and Osaka, which also
were bombed.
The sky behind the bomber was
flecked with six bursting blossoms
of black smoke, and only two were
ahead of it. That was the story as
we got it from the Japanese them
selves. and from Americans who
watched elsewhere. The defenders
were caught f1at-footed, contrary to
the Yomiuri story that everything
went smoothly" They had no
planes in the air when the first
bombers appeared, and the anti
aircraft fire was late all the way
across the city. .-,.-
Another story was that enemy
used fire bombs more than demoli-
ton bombs, fire bombs being about
a kiro In size" That is the jap
anese version of kilo ca pounds)
and tallies with the theory that the
planes were. so heavily loaded with
gasoline there wasn't much room
for the heavier bombs.
This was first experience in
meeting the enemy" the story con-
tinued. ''It. Is hoped the people will
prepare with great deal of care
for future attacks"
That was a constantly reiterated
theme: Prepare for future at
tacks."
The first line of the Army COM
muniQue, printed under bold,
black headline on the front page,
said:
mo damage done to imperial
household"
I can point out from seeing the
Newsweek picture that damage
could have been done to the palace,
for the downtown plane wasn't but
q few seconds flight away. but the
palace was left alone on direct or
iers from Maj. Gen. James H. Doo-
little, who ruled it was not a mill
tary objective.
Tokio's anti-aircraft defenses
we're strengthened. perhaps doubled
or tripled, Immediately after the
raid. When I was taken to court
in May, I could see watchers and
guns on many downtown building
roofs. and an especially strong de-
fensive battery had been installed
on the Diet. This all happened, ac-
cording to people who were free In
Toxic at the time. after the raid.