On 18th April 1942, airmen of the US Army Forces led by Lt Col James H (Jimmy) Doolittle, carried the Battle of the Pacific to the heart of the Japanese empire with a surprising and daring raid on military targets at Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Nagoya and Kobe. This heroic attack against these major cities was the result of co-ordination between the Army Air Forces and the US Navy, which carried the sixteen North American B-25 medium bombers aboard the carrier USS Hornet to within take-off distances of the Japanese Islands. While the bomber crews look on Admiral William F (Bull) Halsey Jr presents Lt Col James H Doolittle with medals (previously given to US Naval officers by Japan) to be tied to the bombs and returned "with interest".