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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
P E A R L H A R B O R A N D C L A R K F I E L D tralia, General Brereton had reached Darwin after conferences en route from the Philippines with American naval commanders and Dutch air and army officials at Soerabaja and Batavia. It was his mis- sion under instructions from General MacArthur to organize “ad- vanced operating bases from which, with the Far East Air Force, you can protect the lines of communications, secure bases in Mindanao, and support the defense of the Philippines by the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East.” H e was to establish liaison with the Commanding Gen- eral, U.S. Forces in Australia, v7ho was “charged with the organization of bases in Australia,” and from those bases to direct “the operation of the Far East Air Force . . . and the disposition of Air Corps troops in advance thereof in order to accomplish your assigned mission.” lo* General Brereton established a temporary headquarters at Darwin. Though the aim of all operations still remained officially the rein- forcement of the Philippines, there was now little justification for the hope that substantial reinforcements and supplies could reach Mac- Arthur’s forces in time to save them. In addition to the difficulties, delays, and frustrations already noted, it was daily becoming more unlikely that pursuit aircraft, the first requirement in air reinforce- ments, could be ferried into the Philippines. T h e Japanese, who recently had captured Davao and as a result were using airfields on Mindanao by the last week in December, threatened soon to be astride all possible air routes from Australia to the Philippines. Under these circumstances both the A-24 and the P-40, their range limited to little more than 500 miles, could be intercepted with relative ease. More- over, it was evident enough that the Allies would soon be hard put to hold even the key points in the Netherlands East Indies against the continuing advance of Japanese General Brett, who reached Australia on 3 1 December, found little immediate hope of an effective reinforcement of the Philippines. On 2 January he radioed General Marshall that it would be impossible to carry out much in the way of tactical operations until an “establish- ment” in Australia, including a large air base at Darwin and a major supply and repair base at Townsville, had been developed. In a recent conference with Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell, who had been trans- ferred from the Middle East to India the preceding July, Brett had found agreement on general principles of strategy, and on 3 January he presented their conclusions to a conference with Australian chiefs of staff and other military and governmental officials. In considering 2 3 ’
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