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This is Volume One of The Army Air Forces in World War II, titled Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942, edited by Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate. The University of Chicago Press first published it in 1948, and the Office of Air Force History reprinted it in 1983. The front matter explains how the AAF historical program was set up during the war. The index covers Pacific, Atlantic and European operations, and nothing in the text concerns unidentified aerial phenomena.
“The Wash”17 pages
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 resulting loss of life and equipment might be prohibitive. The heads of the Alaska and Western Defense Commands therefore maintained that the air defense of Alaska must be made by planes permanently stationed in the territory and by crewmen trained in the area.49 Headquarters of the AAF appreciated the urgency of the situation in Alaska, and remedial action was promised as soon as the necessary aircraft should become a~ailable.~’Early in November the Chief of the AAF directed that plans be made to send a complete bombard- ment group to Alaska, and studies were also undertaken to determine the requirements for accommodating a pursuit group in the same area.51These moves had not advanced beyond the planning stage by 7 December 1941, and the aircraft strength in Alaska still consisted of twelve B - I ~ A ’ sand twenty P-36’s. The 28th Composite Group, though undermanned and poorly equipped, had been trained in Alaskan flying, and every pilot had made several landings at each air- field then ready to receive p l a n e ~ . ~ ~Numerous flights had been made for the purpose of aerial photography and mapping, and coastal patrols were being run from Seward to Point Combat crews were ready for transition to more up-to-date planes, but the relatively low priority held by Alaska among the overseas garrisons precluded the assignment of any modern planes to the North Pacific area.54The air force of the Alaska Defense Command was, in fact, the only overseas air force which did not possess a single up-to-date plane prior to the outbreak of hostilities. The necessity for Alaskan air defense was by this time clearly recognized, and decisions required to implement that defense had been rendered, Hawaii Air defenses in the Territory of Hawaii were the result of more than twenty years’ development, and their status by 7 December 1941 was relatively imposing. A total of 754 officers and 6,706 enlisted men made up the personnel complement of the Hawaiian Air Force, which was concentrated on the island of Oahu. The force, com- manded by Maj. Gen. Frederick L. Martin, was organized tactically into the 18th Bombardment Wing, with headquarters at Hickam Field, and the 14th Pursuit Wing, with headquarters a t Wheeler Field. Units of the bombardment wing included the 5th and I Ith Bombardment Groups ( H ) , the 58th Bombardment Squadron (L) , and the 86th Observation The latter unit was stationed I 7 0
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