[Eric in the Ozarks]

A book just out, titled “Target Tokyo,” reviewed in today's WSJ, suggests the primary accomplishment of the raid was to convince the Japanese that what remained of the American fleet had to be destroyed, and quickly.

Thus, the battle of Midway only a few months after the Tokyo raid. We know how that turned out...

The more direct result of the bombing was a pin prick to Japanese industry while resulting in the slaughter of thousands of Chinese who were rounded up and executed for helping the American pilots make their way to safety. The majority of these Chinese had no connection to this final chapter. It's reminiscent of the Nazi's slaughter of an entire Czech village after the assassination of a prominent German general...

[tanknetter]

A book just out, titled “Target Tokyo,” reviewed in today's WSJ, suggests the primary accomplishment of the raid was to convince the Japanese that what remained of the American fleet had to be destroyed, and quickly.

Thus, the battle of Midway only a few months after the Tokyo raid. We know how that turned out...

Yeah, that the Doolittle Raid changed Japanese thinking on what they needed to do to take out the US carriers is pretty well-known fact. Covered pretty well in the opening scenes of Tora Tora Tora.