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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
P E A R L H A R B O R A N D C L A R K F I E L D tageous” to have 2 0 0 pursuit and 50 dive bombers delivered to the Philippines by aircraft carrier. Fields for these planes he felt could be maintained satisfactorily, and he pointed out that airdrome construc- tion following the outbreak of war had been accelerated. His engineers had reported that Clark, Nichols, San Marcelino, and Del Carmen fields on Luzon could be maintained in operating condition, and that some eight or ten additional strips would be ready by the last of December.” Nor had Washington abandoned plans for support of the Philip- pines. President Roosevelt specifically directed that reinforcements should be sent there with all speed, and MacArthur was informed on I 5 December not only that the strategic importance of the Philippines was fully recognized but that there would be no wavering in the deter- mination to provide support. In partial fulfilment of the promise, the dispatch of sixty-five new heavy bombers had been authorized in addition to fifteen LB-~o’srepossessed from the British, a transfer to be completed by 2 1 February 1942, and MacArthur was further informed on 2 3 December that these planes, to be ferried via the South Atlantic and India,” would come under his control at Bangal~re.’~ It soon became evident, however, that the time factor outweighed all others. T h e Japanese were pressing down from their northern land- ings; in the south the city of Davao, with its fifth column of some 30,000 Japanese, was easily overrun on 2 0 December; and by that date the heavy elements of the Japanese Second Fleet had moved north to cover the main enemy landing on 2 0 - 2 I December at Lingayen Gulf. MacArthur’s strategy against this assault was based upon a plan which “had been on the books” for many years. It consisted of delaying actions in central Luzon and a retreat to Bataan where, it was hoped, the limited forces available would serve as a buffer for C o r r e g i d ~ r . ~ ~ Except for reconnaissance missions carried out by pursuit pilots, the air force could offer little support to the hard pressed infantry in this withdrawal. From its distant base at Darwin the 19th Group undertook on 2 2 December to mount a mission of nine B-17’s in accordance with a plan to use Del Monte as a staging point for refuel- ing and rearming. Having taken off from Batchelor Field, they swept over Davao Gulf at sunset and dropped 3 0 x 500-lb. bombs on a cluster of seven ships. No pursuit or A A interfered with the attack, but visibility was poor and results were negligible. The B-17’s landed * See below, pp. 331-33. 2 2 3
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