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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.
“Churchill”21 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 tion of commanders for the combined naval and air forces might require a decision by the governments ~ o n c e r n e d . ~ Actually, the major problems confronted in establishing the com- mand proceeded chiefly from the novelty of the undertaking, the extreme demand for haste, the vastness of the area involved, the absence of adequate communications facilities, and the lack of other aids which could have been provided only through long and careful planning. Inevitably, the early days were marked by confusion and uncertainty as to procedural and other channels. Chief among the American officers identified with the command were Adm. Thomas C. Hart, commanding the U.S. Asiatic Fleet; Maj. Gen. George H. Brett, who on 3 I December had arrived in Australia to assume command of United States Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA); his chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Julian F. Barnes; and Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton, in command of the remnants of the U.S. Far East Air Force.” General Brett apparently had already been selected as Wavell’s deputy when in the second week of January he flew to Java for a conference with the supreme commander. By 1 2 January, General Brereton had been directed by the War Department to assume vice Brett the command of USAFIA, but a t approximately the same time Brereton also received appointment as deputy chief of air staff for ABDA.5 Though the burden of this latter assignment would be lessened upon the arrival of Air Marshal Sir Richard E.C. Peirse, who had been selected as air commander (ABDAIR) for ABDA,t Wavell insisted that two such assignments, one in Australia and the other in Java, were too much for one man to carry.‘ General Marshall already had suggested that Brett might “volunteer” to assume some of Brereton’s duties pending Peirse’s arrival, but Wavell pointed out that in addition to a considerable responsibility for the operational direction of the air forces, General Brett would be responsible for lines of supply both from Australia and from India. Indeed, it was Wavell’s feeling that Brett should have the additional assistance of some air officer of high rank in Australia who would take charge of that section of the supply route supporting the ABDA 0perations.I Accordingly, on 17 January Brereton was designated by the War Department as commanding general of American tactical forces in the ABDA area, which of course would be largely air forces, and General ‘See above, pp. 226-3 I . t Peirse assumed command on 28 January. 3 7 0
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