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 1
ized, the movement encountered a series of discouraging setbacks: the
depot was so congested with “extra priority” work that prompt action
on the winterization was impossible, cold-weather equipment proved
to be hard to obtain, and bad weather delayed test flights and caused
the loss of some of the planes. It was not until I January 1942 that the
first planes left Sacramento. It was expected that the movement to
Spokane and thence by an inland route through Canada to Fairbanks
would be rapidly completed, but the inexperience of the pilots, to-
gether with poor communications and inadequate landing fields along
the route, delayed execution of the plan. By 2 5 January only thirteen
of the twenty-five pursuit ships had reached Alaska in flyable condi-
tion, while six were still en route, and six had crashed. Of the thirteen
medium bombers, eight had arrived a t Fairbanks, but the other five
had been wrecked beyond repair. It was clear that only crews experi-
enced in Alaskan conditions could be used on such flights, and accord-
ingly the unfinished task of forwarding the aircraft was taken over by
veteran pilots of the Alaskan Air Force. This ill-fated winter project
emphasized the need for special training of squadrons assigned to
Alaska, and during the spring of 1942 familiarization flights between
continental bases and fields in Alaska were conducted by the Fourth
Air Force in preparation for such reinforcement of Alaskan bases as
might be required.lTs
Equally important was the effort to complete the construction of
necessary bases in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. In the Joint Board
decision of 2 6 November 1941 to build an air base on Umnak Island
for protection of the naval base a t Dutch Harbor, it had been specified
that work on the new field would not be pushed a t the expense of
previously approved projects in presumably more vital areas.l 7 4 After
Pearl Harbor, however, it was clear that construction of the Umnak
base presented a task of the highest priority, as also did rapid comple-
tion of an intermediate field which the Civil Aeronautics Adminis-
tration had undertaken to build at Cold Bay.175Lying between Kodiak
and Dutch Harbor, the latter base could be used in support of actions
a t either of those two points.
It was not only necessary to move fast but at the same time to act
with the greatest possible secrecy. As an aid to concealment of con-
struction efforts from the enemy, the Army operated under the cover
of fictitious corporations. For the Cold Bay project “Saxton and Com-
pany” was invented, and, in its name, equipment and supplies were
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