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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.
“Pacific Ocean”16 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 P-~o’s,which numbered perhaps twelve, reached their base a t Iba just ahead of a heavy enemy attack. The American planes, in fact, were slowly circling the field preparatory to landing when a number of Japanese bombers estimated a t from twenty-seven to thirty-four and their fighter escort attacked. The American planes tried to ward off the Japanese attack and succeeded in preventing the low-level strafing which proved so destructive at Clark Field. Lt. Jack Donalson prob- ably destroyed two of the enemy planes, but five P-40’S were shot down and three others crash-landed on near-by beaches when their fuel gave On the ground, personnel of the Far East Air Force fought back as best they could in a hopelessly unequal struggle. Though some units almost completely disintegrated during nearly two hours of attack, there were countless examples of outstanding leadership and heroism. With few exceptions, antiaircraft gunners stood by their guns in the face of effective enemy strafing. Ground and combat crews turned the machine guns of grounded planes on low-flying Japanese aircraft, or undertook to rescue from flaming buildings such valuable equipment as they could. Among the many officers and men subsequently cited for their efforts were Lt. Fred Crimmins, who received severe wounds in a vain attempt to save a B-17; Chaplain Joseph F. LaFleur, who repeatedly ignored low-flying strafers to minister to the wounded and dying; Pvt. Robert Andres, who on his own initiative appropriated an abandoned truck to make seven trips with wounded men to the station hospital; and Pfc Greeley B. Williams, who from a gunner’s post in one of the B- I 7’s kept up a steady fire on Japanese planes until he was killed. Medical personnel of the four emergency first-aid dressing stations at Clark Field maintained their greatly needed services throughout the time.50 As the enemy planes returned to their Formosan bases, it was clear that they had won a tremendous victory. At Clark Field, high-level bombing had destroyed hangars, shops, mess halls, barracks, and supply buildings. The communications center had received a direct hit which cut off the field from other points and prevented any attempt to control pursuit operations. As a result, planes of the 17th and 2 1st Squadrons continued their assigned patrols of the Bataan and Manila Bay areas, unaware of the Japanese attack being carried out no more than sixty miles away.51The B-I~’s,in spite of being incom- pletely dispersed, suffered relatively little damage from bombs, but 2 1 2
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