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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
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 Lt. Harold N. Chaffin brought their planes down on the 1,200-foot runway at Haleiwa; Lts. Harry N. Brandon, David G. Rawls, and Robert E. Thacker flew through antiaircraft and enemy machine-gun fire to land a t Hickam; and Lt. Frank P. Bostrom piayed tag with the enemy almost all the way around the island before landing on a golf course. The second flight, led by Maj. Truman H. Landon of the 38th Squadron, fortunately arrived during an inactive period in the attack, but one of the B-17'~was badly shot up and two of its crew members were seriously injured. Considering the fact that the planes were entirely unarmed, had just completed a flight of more than 2 , 0 0 0 miles, and were forced to land either on inadequate or pock-marked fields, the bombers suffered surprisingly little damage. A final accounting showed that of the fourteen planes which left Hamilton Field, two had turned back early in the flight, and of the remaining twelve which reached Hawaii, one had been destroyed and three badly damaged." Throughout the remainder of the day, P-~o's,P-36's, 0-47'S, A-ZO'S, B- I 7's, and B- I 8's continued a fruitless search for the enemy's carriers, flying a total of forty-eight sorties between 0930 and 1520. The air- craft warning system had been put back into operation shortly after 0800, but could provide no assistance in this effort." Apparently the course of the invaders plotted earlier in the morning was not utilized as a clue to the probable location of the carrier^.'^ The Japanese fleet had come and gone unseen by American patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. It is now known from enemy sources that Japanese flyers of the first attack wave had returned to their carriers by noon, and that within two hours thereafter all but twenty-nine of the planes sent out against Hawaii had found their way back. But as the day advanced the sea had roughened, and approximately fifty planes were smashed in landing, with twenty or more representing a total This was a small price to pay for the damage done to the Americans. In addition to the losses suffered by the United States Navy, 64 of the 2 3 I aircraft assigned to the Hawaiian Air Force as of 7 December 1941 had been destroyed, and no more than 79 of the remaining planes were reported as usable.'' At Hickam Field some of the more important administra- tive and engineering files, the base parachute section, and the overhaul and assembly sections of the Engine Repair Branch had been wiped out. Test equipment, about 75 per cent of the equipment of the 2 00
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