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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.
“Pacific Ocean”16 pages
T I - I 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 Burma Road during the time needed for rehabilitation of the Chinese Air Force. The way paved for an approach to the practical problems of re- cruitment, training, and equipment, it was decided to attempt in the first instance only the organization of a fighter group of American airmen. Subsequent experience more than demonstrated the wisdom of this decision in favor of a modest beginning. T o Chennault, time was of the essence; only by recruiting well-trained pilots and ground crews would it be possible to put the group into operation with the speed required. For personnel of this qualification, no source existed outside the air arms of the Army and Navy, and there he found a natural reluctance to yield up experienced personnel at a time when rapid expansion in all arms and services created the most acute short- ages. With the men themselves, caution seemed to outweigh the prom- ise of adventure and attractive financial rewards until it was made clear that the venture was not without official sanction and that officers volunteering could be placed on inactive status without loss of seniority. The required I O O pilots finally were signed, together with about zoo ground-crew personnel, and by I July the first con- tingent of the American Volunteer Group was on the West Coast ready to depart. Contrary to expectation, it had proved easier to find the planes than to get the men. Current production of all late- model pursuits was insufficient to meet requirements of the American and British air forces which carried a higher priority; but IOO P-4oB's (Tomahawks that were considered obsolescent by the AAF and RAF) previously allocated to Sweden were released for the purpose and reached Rangoon in time for the opening of training there in September." T o take care of some of the legal problems, the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, owned by Curtis-Wright and the In- ternational Company of China, which operated aircraft manufactur- ing plants in China, acted as agents between the Volunteer Group and the Chinese government. The Volunteers signed a contract for one year with Central Aircraft to manufacture, service, and operate aircraft in China. Great Britain made available a training base a t Toungoo in Burma, where final preparations for combat could be completed without danger of Japanese air attack. Implementation of hastily devised plans presented its own special difficulties. No provision had been made for replacements, some res- 488
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