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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.
“United Press”36 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 nature of Genera1 Lincoln’s responsibility, but by the end of May clarification had been provided by official definition of the Air Services as an administrative, supply, maintenance, and engineering command operating under the commander of the Allied Air Its internal organization reflected the current effort to achieve a requisite mobility within the Allied Air Forces. Instead of attaching service elements to tactical units, the plan was to make each air base group responsible for all air service within a specified area. Thus the 35th Air Base Group, stationed in the Townsville area, was forced with the passage of time to acquire the versatility necessary to service and maintain A-ZO’S,A - 2 4 ’ ~ ~B-IfS, B-ZS’S,B - 2 6 ’ ~ ~P - 3 9 ’ ~ ~P-~OO’S,and an assortment of transport planes. Four other groups, stationed at Archerfield near Brisbane, Ballarat near Melbourne, Mascot in the Sydney area, and Daly Waters below Darwin, developed a similar versatility, while a sixth air base group located at Charters Towers sharpened its mechanical and related skills by servicing all planes fer- ried in from the United In addition, the air base groups were forced to provide the services of supply depots, for the Army Air Services had only one air depot group a t its disposal. This, the 4th Air Depot Group, by dividing its units among three widely separated points, was attempting in April to perform functions which normally would require three such groups. At Footscray in Victoria it operated a central supply depot, at Bris- bane a branch supply depot, and at Wagga Wagga in New South Wales a major repair depot, not to mention the supervision it provided over aircraft erection facilities at Amberley and Geel~ng.~OObviously, there was need for additional air depot groups, and on I May Brett received authorization for activation of another group, the 8 1st; but personnel and equipment were to be taken from that already available in Australia. Activated on I I May under command of Col. R.L. Fry, the new unit received responsibility for the assembly and maintenance of aircraft and the supply of air units in the Brisbane area. The short- age of trained and experienced personnel proved a serious handicap; but as in other service units, improvisation and hard work made up for some of the inadequacies. Help came, too, from civilian sources. With the co-operation of the Australian Department of Aircraft Pro- duction, Australians were employed for maintenance work; such local concerns as the Ford Motor Company and the National Airways also assisted in the provision of facilities and experienced personnel. At the 422
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