The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. 1 (archived PDF)

T H E A R M Y A I R F O R C E S I N W O R L D W A R I 1
devolved wholly upon units deployed in its immediate zone. Now
agreements with Great Britain made possible the construction of a
string of airfields in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, Trini-
dad, and British Guiana, as well as on Puerto Rico. These promised
effective control of the approaches to the Caribbean, and hence to the
canal. The AAF was able also to expand existing facilities in the Canal
Zone and to prepare auxiliary fields in Central American republics.
Agreements with those countries brought about a progressive liberali-
zation of flight restrictions, which greatly simplified air operations in
defense of the Zone. Farther south, comparable arrangements were
made. In November 1941, U.S. forces occupied Surinam (Dutch
Guiana) . The move, made in co-operation with the Netherlands and
Brazilian governments, was designed to protect the invaluable bauxite
mines of Surinam, and here as in Greenland and Iceland, the United
States was pledged to withdraw at the termination of the international
cri~is.'~Now, with bases in both British and Dutch Guiana, the United
States was in position to move forces, spearheaded by heavy bom-
bardment units, to thwart any threatened Axis invasion of the exposed
angle of Brazil. All told, the new bases would constitute, when garri-
soned by fully equipped air units, an effective defense in depth of the
most vital positions toward our south.
Reinforcement of hemisphere defenses on the Pacific side reflected
both our comparatively late appreciation of the Japanese threat and
the immediate concern with the European Axis. Hence, in magnitude
and number, the measures taken to strengthen the Alaska-Hawaii-
Panama triangle were less impressive than like activities in the Atlantic-
Caribbean areas. As relations with Japan sharply deteriorated in 1941,
means were readily authorized for improving Pacific defenses. But
time was running out; few of the measures were complete when Japan
attacked and some were only on paper. Almost without exception, the
several specific improvements made in the area had long been urged by
the Air Corps. By 1940 valuable aid had been obtained from the Civil
Aeronautics Authority, but in many instances action was incited only
by the advent of war. Thus in view of the vulnerability of the western
approaches to the Panama Canal, the Air Corps throughout the re-
armament period had wished to secure rights to establish air bases on
COCOSIsland and the Galapagos Islands, from which long-range
aircraft could patrol far beyond the striking range of a carrier task
force. It was the current policy of the government, however, not to
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