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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 leaguered garrisons,36and plans for a special mission were completed a t a conference attended by General George, Col. John H. Davies, and others in Melbourne on 7 April. Accordingly, in the early morn- ing of 11 April, ten B-25’s equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks and three B-17’s took off from Darwin for the 1,500-mile flight to Min- danao. General Royce was in command; Colonel Davies led the €3-2 5’9 and Capt. Frank Bostrom the B- I 7’s. All planes having arrived safely at Del Monte, the B-25’~were then dispersed to neighboring auxiliary fields. During the next two days attacks were made against shipping and docks at Cebu, air and harbor facilities at Davao, and Nichols Field on Luzon. The six badly worn and battered pursuit planes avail- able on Mindanao were used in attempts to pin down enemy fighters at near-by Davao airfield, and for protection of the bombers in land- ing and taking off. They were unequal to the task, although during the period they flew more sorties than the bombers. Enemy bombings of Del Monte destroyed one of the B- I 7’s and seriously damaged the other two. Indeed, only two heavy bomber sorties were completed, one against Nichols Field and the other against shipping targets in Cebu harbor. The B-25’s operated from better-concealed strips, and in over twenty sorties sank one and possibly two other transports and shot down three enemy a i r ~ r a f t . ~ ? The American flyers returned to Australia with the loss of only one B-17 and no casualties. The scope of the mission had been indeed record-breaking; Captain Bostrum, for example, recorded thirty-eight hours in the air and in all had flown approximately 6,000 nautical miles to drop a load of bombs on Nichols Field. But one load of bombs could count for little in the final checkup, and some of the participants questioned whether the results justified the extraordinary effort re- quired. Others returned with a memory chiefly of gallant men who had serviced their planes on Mindanao-men who already knew their doom. For this was the last major attempt to fly across the far-flung battle lines to their aid.38 The Allied Air Forces Meanwhile, in Australia and in Washington consultations proceeded on urgent questions of command and organization. The dissolution of the ABDA Command had left no provision for an over-all command of Allied resistance to the southward thrust of the Japanese. Their conquest of the Netherlands East Indies had created distinctly sep- 4’8
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