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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
A I R T R A N S P O R T A N D F E R R Y I N G closed down since the preceding October when the Ferrying Com- mand had been forced to discontinue its B-24 shuttle service. There- after, three of TWA's Stratoliners operated regularly over the North Atlantic into Britain.169 War with Japan had also focused attention on the alarmingly inade- quate state of United States defenses in Alaska and brought about an early speed-up in work already under way toward the establishment of an air route to the northwest. In December 1941,the air bases and weather and communications facilities along the inland route through Canada, running east of the Rocky Mountains and crossing over through Whitehorse to Fairbanks, were in a state that might be described as usable under optimum conditions."' These conditions did not exist in the winter of 1941-42,as was discovered in January when an attempt to ferry twenty-five P-40's and thirteen B-26's along the route met with disaster." On 2 0 February 1942, the U.S. government entered into a contract with Northwest Airlines, giving that organi- zation the main responsibility for further development of the inland Not only was Northwest to operate an air transport service; it was also to make whatever improvements were required to enable the route to support the flow of ferried military traffic that was antici- pated. The transport service provided a means for the quick return of ferrying crews following the completion of deliveries and assured a fast mail service as well as air cargo space for the movement of a limited amount of urgently needed supplies, such as airplane parts and communications equipment, and essential personnel. By terms of the contract, terminal points were established at Fargo, North Dakota, and Fairbanks, but the southern terminus was soon shifted to Minne- apolis, where cargo for air shipment could more easily be assembled. Northwest dispatched its first survey flight on 2 7 February, which was followed during March by a series of shuttles to familiarize pilots with the route and to deploy personnel and materials required for regularly scheduled operation^.'^^ Quantitatively viewed, the Alaskan operation was of little conse- quence before the last days of May. Reports of Northwest Airlines show that in the period from 2 1 March through 3 0 April approxi- mately 1 7 0 tons of cargo and 2 5 8 passengers were carried, and that the corresponding figures for the month of May were 240 tons and 63 I passengers. About one-third of the April total and more than half * See above, pp. 303-4. 3 5 7
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