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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.
“King”32 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 obvious advantages in the reinforcement of his outlying bases, but even leaving out of account the limited strength of the RAAF, the Allies no longer faced overwhelming odds in the defense of their outposts. The lack of adequate air warning facilities still proved a discourag- ing factor. RAAF radar equipment, having only a fifty- to seventy- five-mile range, was quite unsatisfactory, and five sCR-270’~which had been emplaced in Australia were the only American sets available at the end of April. As a consequence, a considerable reliance had to be placed upon spotters in the hills and coast watchers-Australians, for the most part, who risked their lives in the remote areas of New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomons to watch and send by radio a warning of enemy activity-who would render such distinguished service throughout the Solomon and New Guinea campaigns.l0 Progress had been made in the development of tactical skills, which helped to overcome the disadvantages of inadequate warning and certain superior qualities of the enemy planes. The 49th Fighter Group in its defense of Darwin had compiled a very creditable record. Prior to May it had lost seven of its P-40’s and three pilots while destroying an estimated total of 38 Japanese planes and 1 3 5 crewmen. The heaviest enemy attack had been executed by twenty-four bombers escorted by nine fighters, and this attack had been met by fifty P-40’s whose pilots claimed eleven of the enemy aircraft. During May, Darwin, for a change, remained free of bombing. The enemy returned on four consecutive days in June, his largest mission com- prising twenty-seven bombers and eighteen fighters which were inter- cepted by twenty-eight P-~o’s,and the final score for the month stood at nine P-40’s against thirteen enemy losses.11 Though the Japa- nese still could get through to Darwin, it was costly. A substantial part of the credit must be assigned to the skill of ground crews and other service personnel. By dint of their energetic efforts Col. Paul B. Wurtsmith, commanding officer of the 49th Group, could usually count on having sixty p-40’~in commission, with the result that his pilots were rarely outnumbered. Probably of greater significance were the conferences held after every engage- ment for the purpose of perfecting combat techniques that would overcome the inferior “speed, maneuverability, climb, and ceiling” of the P-40. As a result the two-plane element had been fixed upon as the chief reliance in combat, individual dogfighting had been out- 476
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