Edward J. York

Edward Joseph York (August 16, 1912 – August 31, 1984) was a United States Air Force colonel. A graduate of the United States Military Academy, he was one of the airmen who took part in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, Japan, during World War II, on April 18, 1942. After bombing Japan during the raid and due to mechanical trouble with his bomber, he was forced to land in the Soviet Union, where he was interned with his crew for 14 months before escaping back to the United States. He retired from military service in 1966.

Early life York was born Edward Joseph Cichowski on August 16, 1912, in Batavia, New York, to Ignatius, an immigrant from Poland, and Tekla Cichowski. He completed grammar and high school in Batavia, before enlisting in the United States Army in 1930.

Military career Following his enlistment in the United States Army in 1930, he was assigned to the 7th Infantry Division and was stationed at several posts including at Chillkoot Barracks in Alaska. Aspiring to become an officer in the army, he attended United States Military Academy Preparatory School in San Francisco for 18 months before receiving a senatorial appointment to attend the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. In the immediate aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the 95th flew anti-submarine warfare patrols in the Pacific Northwest from December 22, 1941, to March 1942, before being assigned to Lexington County Airport, South Carolina, on February 9, 1942, in order to meet the greater threat from German submarines operating off the East Coast. During this time, he legally changed his surname to York from Cichowski, while retaining '-ski' of his old surname as his nickname.

World War II Doolittle Raid and subsequent internment in the Soviet Union Crew No. 8 in front of B-25#40-2242, on the deck of , April 18, 1942. From left to right: (front row) Capt. Edward J. York, pilot; Lt. Robert G. Emmens, copilot; (back row) Lt. Nolan A. Herndon, navigator/bombardier; SSgt. Theodore H. Laban, flight engineer; Sgt. David W. Pohl, gunner.

In March 1942, York, now a captain, was designated as the operations officer for the Doolittle Raid, the first American air operation to strike the Japanese Home Islands and led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle. This also made York the only West Point graduate to participate in the raid.

After bombing Japan, the raiders continued westward to land in China. As York's B-25 was excessively consuming its fuel despite switching from the depleted auxiliary fuel tanks to the main tanks, he was aware he would not make it to China, hence decided to make an emergency landing at Vozdvizhenka Air Base near the port city of Vladivostok in Soviet Union. The remainder of the 15 bombers of the raid reached China and crashed after they ran out of fuel, while the B-25 piloted by York was the only raid-participating bomber to land intact. Upon landing in the Soviet Union, the base commander of Vozdvizhenka asked York if he was a participant of the Tokyo Raid. After affirming that he was, York asked the base commander if he could provide gasoline to the B-25 so that he could continue flying towards China. The base commander agreed but later refused after intervention from the Soviet chain of command. The Soviet Foreign Ministry issued a formal protest to the American ambassador to the Soviet Union William Standley and publicly announced that York and his four bomber crew members would be interned in the Soviet Union. Given that the Soviet Union and Japan were not at war and that the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact was formally in effect, the Soviet Union was not legally permitted to promptly return any Allied personnel who had entered its territory during hostilities. Moreover, Japanese forces could have taken military action in the Soviet Far East at that time. As a result, the B-25 was impounded and the crew members were detained in spite of formal US pleas for their release. The bomber crew were moved to a village southeast of Moscow.

York later stated that he and his crew were treated properly by Soviet authorities. Several months later, they were relocated to Ashgabat (Ashkhabad), in what was then the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, from the Soviet-Iran border. In mid-1943, they were allowed to cross the border into Allied-occupied Iran. On May 11, 1943, York and his four crew members presented themselves at a British consulate in Mashhad, Iran. With the help of British diplomats, the crew members were able to travel back to the United States. A cover story was created claiming that York had bribed a smuggler to help them escape Soviet captivity. Declassified Soviet records eventually showed that the "smuggling" was orchestrated by the NKVD. During his internment, York managed to become fluent in the Russian language.

Post-internment

Following his return to the United States in late June 1943, York trained in B-25, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberators in preparation for his further combat service during World War II. In March 1944, he was assigned to the 483rd Bombardment Group in Italy where he flew 24 combat missions over Southern Europe in B-17s until August 1944 when he was ordered to return to the United States due to military policy prohibiting former internees from continuing to take part in combat operations. York died of a heart attack at his home in San Antonio on August 31, 1984, at the age of 72. He was buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.