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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
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 for three days. Although the Brazilian government had readily granted consent for the planes to cross its territory, it was with the under- standing that they show American registry. Ownership of the planes had been transferred to the British government at Miami, at the re- quest of Atlantic Airways. Brazil, a neutral, had no desire to com- promise her neutrality; and, as a result of the incident, transfer of ownership of the remaining planes was delayed until they reached Africa. From Belem, the ten transports proceeded to Natal and thence across the Atlantic to Bathurst. All made the overwater crossing safely. The crews took the planes as far as Lagos before returning to the United States.36Seven of the remaining ten planes left Miami in late July and were delivered on the 30th.~’The last three of the twenty were delivered in September, completing successfully and without loss the first ferrying operation from the United States to Af r i ~ a . ~ While the movement of the first flight of ferried aircraft over the southeastern route was still under way, steps were taken by the American and British governments to establish a contract ferrying service to the Middle East on a more permanent basis. The two gov- ernments turned logically to Pan American Airways. Preliminary plans were drawn up a t a conference in General Arnold’s office on 26 June 1941,with representatives of the British Air Commission and the Pan American organization in attendan~e.~’At that time, it was expected that some 400 Glenn Martin medium bombers of the Balti- more type, purchased by the British prior to the passage of the Lend- Lease Act, would be ready within a few months to start moving from the factory to the Middle East front and that these would be followed by a steadily increasing flow of lend-lease air~raft.~’Agreements reached at the June conference provided that Pan American would establish both a ferrying service and an air transport service to the west coast of Africa, and would also take over the British ferrying and transport operations across central Africa from Takoradi to The United States assumed the obligation of financing the contract services. An estimated total of $20,588,528 was required, of which $17,788,528 could be charged to lend-lease. The remainder was allocated from the emergency fund provided by the executive offices appropriation act of 5 April 1941.~’ Three subsidiary corporations were organized by Pan American Airways, Inc., the parent organization, in order to carry out the 3 2 2
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