Vanishing Act

The Enduring Mystery Behind the Legendary Doolittle Raid Over Tokyo

De: Dan Hampton

Narrado por: Mike Chamberlain

From New York Times bestselling author Dan Hampton comes the gripping, untold story of a vital secret mission set during the darkest days of the Second World War.

In the dark days after the devastating Pearl Harbor attacks during the spring of 1942, the United States was determined to show the world that the Axis was not invincible. Their bold plan? Bomb Tokyo. On April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25s, known as the Doolittle Raiders, hit targets across Japan before escaping to China.

The eighth plane, however, did not follow the other raiders. Instead, Plane 8's pilots, Captain Edward "Ski" York and Lieutenant Bob Emmens, never attacked Tokyo, but headed across Japan to the Soviet Union, supposedly due to low fuel. Yet, this bomber was the only plane on the mission with maps of the Soviet Union aboard. And why did Plane 8's route, recently discovered in the Japanese Imperial Archives, show them nowhere near their target? Uncovered facts reveal that bombing Tokyo was merely a cover for Plane 8's real mission, but what was their secret objective? No one, aside from the two pilots and whomever sent them on this mission, truly knew why they were there, nor has the reason ever been revealed.

Until now.

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I never knew

I’ve been a big fan of Dan Hampton’s work ever since I picked up “Viper Pilot.” This book did not disappoint. With everything I’d ever read or watched about the Doolittle raid, I’d never heard anything about a crew landing in Russia. Very interesting!

Bomber Eight's true mission revealed.

It was a great report on a piece of the Dolittle Raid, however deviated to explain historical wars 40 years prior. This makes a good story for those unfamiliar with warfare and politics.
If you are familiar with the political climate prior to and WW2, the book drags on at times.

Deep dive into the Doolittle raid and events that led up to it

True to form Dan Hampton does a massive deep dive into history of multiple events to explain a specific one. If you are interested in learning this is a great book to learn the whys of the Doolittle raid and plane 8

Interesting Story with Unnecessary Tangents

This is an interesting story of plane 8 of the Doolittle B-25 raid against Japan on April 18, 1942. A strong argument is made, without classified document or aircrew verification, that plane 8’s pilot, Edward York, was under orders from General Hap Arnold to divert his flight off the USS Hornet over Japan to land north of Vladivostok. The hypothesized goal was for the officers to open talks and explore airbase and other support possibilities in having the USSR open at least an informal front for US combat against Japan. Other details of the raid including training, aircraft development, bombing inaccuracy and fate of the B-25B crews are presented and add to the history.
The raid and the experiences of crew 8 in the USSR would have been more than sufficient for an interesting story if told well. However, the author goes off on tangential, superficial histories of other aspects of World War II and earlier history (e.g., Soviet Finnish War, German expansionism and invasions of Denmark and France, Russian Revolution, Battle of Guadalcanal) that really don’t have any direct bearing on the story. The impression is created that these superficial histories were added to bulk up what might otherwise have been a much shorter book. Less, in this case, really would have been more.