The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. 1 (archived PDF)

L O S S O F N E T H E R L A N D S E A S T I N D I E S
severely damaged. T w o days later, one LB-30 was burned on the
ground at Jogjakarta and four B - I ~ D ’ sat Pasirian, a dispersal point
some thirty miles south of Soerabaja. O n 24 February, in a severe
attack on the depot at Bandoeng, three more B-17’s were destroyed.86
It was still possible for heavy bomber reinforcements to reach Java,
but unless something could be done to strengthen local air defenses,
obviously there was little point in further attempts to build up the
bomber command.
Indeed, it had been apparent to the Allied command since the fall
of Singapore that, barring some unexpected development, the Indies
were lost, and by this date the evacuation of Java was already under
way. T o local commanders the best opportunity to continue the
fight against the Japanese seemed to lie in Burma, where pilots of the
already famous A V G had joined the R A F in resisting the enemy’s
push toward Rangoon, an advance which carried the threat of cutting
off China from all outside aid. With Australian pickets above New
Guinea already driven in, and with the sea and air routes to the Philip-
pines effectively closed except to an occasional blockade-runner, sub-
marine, or long-range bomber flight, an effort to hold open a line of
communications with China appeared to offer the only hope of bring-
ing Allied offensive power to bear on the inner defenses of Japan’s
now swollen empire at a relatively early date. O n 18 February, Gen-
eral Brett advised the War Department that from his point of view
the one chance of overcoming the odds against the Allies was to
launch an offensive through Burma and China. At the same time, he
advised that we should build up strength in Au~tralia.’~Already he
had sent Colonel Brady to Burma, and upon receiving his report,
Brett determined to “send the mass of all troops” and 160 pursuit
planes to India.8s Thinking in terms of the establishment of an Amer-
ican command there, on his own initiative he directed Brereton to
proceed to India and made tentative plans to follow after a brief
return to Au~tralia.’~Accordingly, in the early morning of 2 3 Feb-
ruary, General Brett flew to Melbourne, and on the following day
Brereron and a small staff of officers left Java in two heavy bombers
for India.”
O n 2 3 February, General Wave11 also received orders to leave Java.
Three days earlier the Combined Chiefs in Washington had favored
a last-ditch defense with all forces then on the island and advised that
there should be no withdrawal of the forces of any nationality but,
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