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
around the globe, there was no alternative to sending the bombers
that way if the President’s orders to begin immediately the air rein-
forcement of the Philippines were to be carried out.82
Project X, as the heavy bomber movement to the Far East was
designated, became the first major foreign ferrying job of the war
and the first overseas movement of tactical units in which the Ferry-
ing Command had a part. Not until the air echelon of the Eighth Air
Force began its movement to Britain in June 1942 would the Army
Air Forces face an overseas ferrying job of greater size and com-
plexity. Although a total of eighty four-engine bombers were origi-
nally earmarked for the project, something less than that number
actually left the United States and an even smaller number reached
the Far East. Original orders directed all flights to proceed first to
MacDill Field near Tampa, Florida, for final staging prior to take-off
from the United States; 83 but a few bombers were diverted to Hamil-
ton Field, California, and were dispatched over the new South Pacific
route which was opened for traffic on a small scale after mid-January
Project X comprised two separate echelons of heavy bombers. The
first of these to be ordered to the MacDill Field staging point was
made up of fifteen LB-3o’s * repossessed from the British and manned
by crews of the 7th Bombardment Group, a group whose air move-
ment across the Pacific had begun on 6 December.+ Only six of these
planes, under the command of Maj. Austin A. Straubel, actually went
through MacDill Field, the others being ultimately diverted to the
Pacific route. Travel orders were issued on 19 December 1941, and
within a few days aircraft and crews began to arrive at Tampa to pre-
pare for the long overseas flight.85 The second and more important
component was made up of a projected sixty-five B-17 bombers and
crews. Most of the B-17’s were yet to come from the factory and
were to move out in small groups as they became available and after
they had gone to the Sacramento Air Depot to be put in combat
readiness. Orders were issued on 2 3 December for the transfer of the
sixty-five bombers to the Philippines.86 Crews of both groups of
bombers were ordered to proceed along the route: Tampa-Trinidad-
Belem-Natal-Accra-Khartoum-Cairo-Habbaniya-Karachi.At Karachi
the LB-3o’s under Straubel’s command were to come under the con-
I942 .84
* An export model of the B-24, modified for British use.
t See above, pp. 193, 199-200.
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