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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 Invaders”15 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 of that for May consisted of what the railroads describe as “company traffic,” that is, supplies and equipment for Northwest’s own stations. Part of the remainder was carried for the engineers a t work on the Alaskan highway.lT3 T w o other airlines began operations in the northwest during the spring of 1942,both under the supervision of the Air Service Com- mand. In mid-April, Western Air Lines opened a contract service from points in the United States to Edmonton, Alberta. The service was established primarily to transport cargo from air depots within the United States to Edmonton, but it also furnished a connecting link by means of which returning ferrying crews were able to get from Northwest Airlines’ facilities at Edmonton to commercial facilities at Great Falls, M ~ n t a n a . ” ~A subsidiary of United Air Lines was awarded a contract on 4 April 1942 to operate two DC-3’s on a one- trip-a-week basis from air depots at Dayton, Ohio, and Ogden, Utah, to Fairbanks by way of Edmonton. The first survey flights were flown on 17 April, and regular service began on 1 5 May.175A new contract with United, approved on 25 June, authorized additional services from Dayton to Anchorage, Alaska, aIrd from Edmonton to Anchorage.17’ The developing Japanese threat to the Aleutians in late May 1942 and the actual attack early in June brought about a sudden and rapid increase in both transport and ferrying operations along the north- west route. Existing transport schedules were speeded up and the routes extended and, in addition, the personnel and resources of other airlines were hastily mobilized for emergency support to military forces in Alaska. On 13 June, eleven airlines were ordered to send all available planes to Edmonton. Commercial schedules were canceled, passengers were dropped at the nearest airport, crews took off without even changes of clothing, and within the next several days forty-six airplanes were concentrated at the Edmonton base. Routes were quickly assigned. Northwest continued to fly its existing routes with an extension to Dayton and Anchorage. United Air Lines concen- trated on the routes from Patterson Field, Ohio, to Anchorage and from Salt Lake City to Fairbanks. Pennsylvania Central shuttled between Dayton and Edmonton. The other airlines flew cargo from various air depots in the United States to Alaskan points. Both North- west and United made numerous trips to Nome, particularly in the last days of June when Japanese activity was reported in the vicinity. The garrison at Nome was built up overnight, entirely by air.177 3 58
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