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 t
It is difficult even to establish the chronology of events for that
morning or to give anything more than the approximate time of those
events on which agreement exists. The most detailed general account
is that of Brereton, and for much of the detail given by him there exists
independent orr rob oration.^^ O n the main points a t issue, moreover,
support for much of his account is provided without complete agree-
ment by a file of the daily Summary of Activities of the Headquarters,
Far East Air Force, extending from 8 December 1941to 2 4 February
1942, when General Brereton relinquished command in Java on the
eve of his departure for India to assume command of American air
operations in that area. These daily summaries leave little if any ques-
tion that they represent a detailed record compiled closer to the
events described than any comprehensive account known to exist. In
the following narrative they have been weighted accordingly.*
After his early morning report to General Headquarters, General
Brereton states that he returned to his own headquarters a t Nielson
‘These summaries acquire in the absence of other comparable records such an
importance as to justify at this point an attempt to describe them and the way in
which they reached the files of the Air Historical Office. They were transmitted to
that office after the termination of hostilities by AAF historical officers assigned to
the China-Burma-India theater. Presumably, they represent a record carried to India
by General Brereton or b other FEAF personnel who accompanied him to India, and
presumably they were l e J there at the time of his hurried departure in June 1942 for
the Middle East. (See below, p . 512-13.) Similar1 , records of early activity in India
reached the Air Historical Of&e through the e L r t s of the historical officer of the
Ninth Air Force, which General Brereton later commanded in ETO. The FEAF
summaries, which are typed out on loose sheets of two different sizes and of varying
weight and texture, all of them carbon copies except for the inserted notes of a stag
conference held on 19 December, are bound together by an acco fastener within an
ordinary manila cover. O n the cover has been written in ink, possibly by historical
personnel in the theater, “Early History 10th AAF”; but that has been struck out and
in its place appears “General Brereton’s Headquarters diary 8 Dec 41-24 Feb 42,” and
below that in pencil is written “Activity Report of FEAF.” Other markings were
apparently made by the filing personnel of the historical office. The historian is given
some pause by the fact that the daily summaries from 8 December through 13
December give the year as 1942 with corrections in ink for 8, 9, and 10 December.
The year appears without change as 1941for 14 December at which point the weight
of the paper changes, but reverts thereafter to 1942 until the entries for 16 December.
From that date forward the year is rendered correctly in the original typing. Since
one often writes by mistake the preceding year but rarely if ever puts down the new
year ahead of time, the likelihood that entries for the earlier dates were compiled at
some later time must be considered. Perhaps they represent a compilation taken from
available records for assistance in the preparation of such a report as is understood to
have been made by General Brereton in late January or early February (see note 3 2 ) ;
perhaps they are copies made from the original by a careless typist; perhaps there is
some other explanation. Whatever the case, the fullness and exactness of detail given,
together with the fact that at so many points independent corroboration can be had,
lead to the conclusion that the document represents a valuable record compiled closer
to the events described than any other known source of comparable scope.
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