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
baja; commercial airports at Cheribon, Semarang, and Jogjakarta; and
a considerable number of emergency landing fields well distributed
across the countryside. The Dutch had also constructed modern air-
fields on Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, and Amboina, and suitable a t least
for use by pursuit planes were the fields on Timor, Soemba, and Bali.13
But the government of the Netherlands East Indies lacked a modern
air force. In January 1942 its approximately 150 planes were all of
ancient make: the pursuits were either Curtiss or Brewster models,
and the bombers were principally Martin B-10's. Attempts had been
made to replace these obsolete craft by purchase from the United
States, but the demands on American production at the time were
altogether too great to permit a meeting of the Dutch request either
as to the models desired or the time of de1i~ery.l~Decidedly limited,
too, was the aid that could be expected from the Royal Australian Air
Force.15 Much of its strength in Australasia consisted of obsolescent
planes, and the demands for a defense of Australian territory were
immediately pressing. The Japanese would land a t Rabaul in New
Britain on 2 3 January and before the month had run its course would
bring under air attack New Ireland and Lae, Madang, and Salamaua in
New Guinea.
The hope of an effective air defense of the Netherlands East Indies
depended chiefly therefore upon plans for reinforcement of the AAF
in the Southwest Pacific. The eighteen P-40's and fifty-two A-24's
which had reached Brisbane on 2 2 December, even when joined with
the fourteen B-17's brought down from Del Monte to Darwin, con-
stituted hardly so much as a token force. But as the British and Amer-
ican staffs assembled in their ARCADIA conference a t Washington,
it was proposed to build up AAF strength in the western Pacific to a
total of two heavy and two medium bombardment groups and six
pursuit groups. Plans called for an early transfer from the United
States of 80 heavy bombers, 114 medium bombers, and 480 pursuit
planes.'' The heavy bombers would go by air, under a schedule call-
ing for 3 B - I ~ sto leave the United States on or about 24 December,
the same number on the following day, and thereafter at the rate of
6 bombers per day." '' It was anticipated that 5 5 pursuit planes, with
crews, would reach Australia by 8 January and an additional 125
within ten days thereafter; a complete pursuit group with 80 planes
was scheduled to leave San Diego on or about 10 January. The ex-
* See above, pp. 332-36.
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