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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 damage. Wharves and jetties were a jumble of wreckage, the harbor was filled with debris; months would be required to restore what it had taken only a few hours to destroy. Fearful that this assault by air might be only the prelude to an invasion of Australia, the authorities ordered a partial evacuation of the town and preparations for demoli- tion of facilities which had survived the enemy’s attack.83 As events proved, the blow had been struck primarily for another purpose. Possessed now of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Celebes, Amboina, and Bali, the Japanese by the neutralization of Darwin had completed the isolation of Java. T h e Evacuation of Java The Allies still disputed the enemy’s landing on Bali, but the resist- ance there quickly came to an end. A naval force of cruisers and de- stroyers failed in its attempt on the night of 19/20 February to disrupt the Japanese operation, as did also the bomber command in three heavy bomber strikes executed within a few hours thereafter, though serious damage to a cruiser and the sinking of a transport were claimed by the airmen.84Also joining in the attack were the seven A-24’s of the 27th Group, which with an escort of sixteen P-40’S arrived over the Strait of Lombok at 12,000 feet and dived upon six naval vessels, releasing their bombs a t from 2,000 to 4,000 feet. Captain Backus reported three hits amidships on a cruiser, and three other pilots claimed two hits apiece. T w o of the A-24’S were lost, apparently to antiaircraft fire. One of them, having failed to come out of its dive, carried Lt. D.B. Tubb and his gunner to their death; the other crashed in Java, but the crew after an exciting three days made their way back to Singosari. T w o of the P-40$, carrying Major Sprague and Lt. Wilfred H. Galliene, were shot down; two others ran out of fuel and crashed on a Java beach; and a fifth cracked up on landing at Ngoro. Against this toll of five planes stood a claim of four enemy fighters destroyed, three in the air and one on the That the enemy was not only able to stand up under these attacks but in a position to strike back with telling effect was quickly demon- strated. Within five hours after the return of the A-24’~,nine Japa- nese fighters (unfortunately identified by Allied interceptor control as friendly) swept over Singosari to pick out in a strafing attack five B-17’s which stood on the field ready for take-off in the event of an alarm. Three of them were destroyed, and the other two were 3 94
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