The airfield there was built to accommodate long-range B-29 Superfortresses, then still in the experimental stage but soon capable of carrying destruction directly to Tokyo’s doorstep. The Japanese got a taste of what to expect from the new Aleutian bases when B-24 Liberator bombers, replacements for the aging B-17s, refueled at Attu and flew several raids against the major Japanese naval base at Paramushiro. It was the first attack on Japanese soil since the Doolittle raid and the first ever flown from an American land base.44
