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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 Invaders”15 pages
D E P L O Y M E N T O N T H E E V E O F H O S T I L I T I E S Clark Field and in gunnery a t Iba Field, seventy-five miles northwest of Manila. T w o additional units, the ~ 1 s tand 34th Squadrons of the 35th Pursuit Group, arrived from the United States during November and were attached to the 24th Group pending the arrival of their own organizations. In the Bomber Command the 19th Group was the principal unit. Although only the 30th and 93d Squadrons had been transferred from the United States, the group was given its full complement by the as- signment of the 28th Bombardment Squadron (E-T), which had been in the Philippines for some fifteen years, and the 14th Squadron, which had flown the first €3-17’s from Oahu in September. Air and ground echelons of the 27th Bombardment Group (L) reached the Philippines on 2 0 November, but the transport Meigs, carrying the group’s fifty- two A-24’~,was delayed in Hawaii until 2 4 November when a naval escort was provided. T h e planes never reached their destination. Other bombardment units were being prepared for transfer to the Philip- pines. T h e ground echelon of the 7th Bombardment Group (H) sailed from San Francisco on 2 I November, while the air echelon, including that of the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron, was scheduled to proceed by flights of nine aircraft each in late November or early December. The 32d Bombardment and 38th Reconnaissance Squadrons (H) were also being prepared for transfer to the Far East Air Force.*? It was expected that the heavy bombers would continue to fly the northern route at least until mid-January 1942, although rapid progress was being reported on the South Pacific route. Provision of air facili- ties on the western half of the route, under General MacArthur’s direction, was greatly aided by the co-operation of other forces in the area. A t the time of the division of responsibility for the South Pacific route it had been pointed out that the bombardment units projected for the Far East would require further training upon ar- rival, necessitating extensive flights in the territory of the Philippines, Singapore, the Netherlands East Indies, New Guinea, and Australia. It was therefore considered desirable to place the construction, expan- sion, and maintenance of air route stations, training field detachments, and all related matters of supply and personnel under General Mac- Arthur’s direct control in the entire area west of New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands.’’ Australian authorities had offered excellent co- operation since the beginning of heavy bomber reinforcement of the Philippines in September. By November the Commonwealth govern- 1 8 3
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