Enemy Airmen's Act

The Enemy Airmen's Act was a law passed by Imperial Japan on 13 August 1942 which stated that Allied airmen participating in bombing raids against Japanese-held territory would be treated as "violators of the law of war" and subject to trial and punishment if captured by Japanese forces. This law contributed to the deaths of hundreds of Allied airmen act throughout the Pacific and Asian theaters of World War II. Shortly after World War II, Japanese officers who carried out mock trials and illegal executions under the Enemy Airmen's Act were found guilty of war crimes.

In an operation conducted primarily to raise morale in the United States following the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers were carried from San Francisco to within range of Japan on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. These aircraft were launched on 18 April 1942 and individually bombed targets in Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Nagoya, and Kobe. The Japanese air defense units were taken by surprise, and all the B-25s escaped without serious damage. The aircraft then continued to China and the Soviet Union, though several crashed in Japanese-held territory after running out of fuel, resulting in eight airmen being apprehended by Japanese forces. Japanese casualties during the Doolittle Raid were 50 killed and over 400 wounded and about 200 houses were destroyed.

The Japanese were completely embarrassed of the impact of the Doolittle Raid. On 13 July 1942, the Japanese Vice Minister of War issued Military Secret Order 2190:

An enemy warplane crew who did not violate wartime international law, shall be treated as prisoners of war, and one who acted against the said law shall be punished as a wartime capital crime.

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