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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 Wash”17 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 during that movement, and to provide after the fall of Burma the nucleus of an American air unit that would fight on in China. The planes in their operations followed closely, however, precon- ceived tactical patterns. Using a two-ship element in hit-and-run tac- tics, the pilots extracted the fullest advantage from the superior diving and level-flight speed of the P-~oB,while nullifying the enemy fighter’s superiority in maneuverability and rate of climb by avoiding dogfights. Against his bombers they also used a diving attack, fre- quently coming out of the dive to strike the bomber from below. The ruggedness of the P-40 and its superior firepower, together with an emphasis on accurate gunnery, constant reliance on the two-plane element, and the valiant work of ground crews enabled the “Flying Tigers” to destroy an almost incredible number of the more fragile Japanese planes while sustaining minimum losses. Even when the enemy after his first experience sought to wipe out the RAF and A V G contingents in Burma by sending an overwhelming fighter escort with his bombers, the air discipline of the American pilots held and kept down their losses. More serious losses were sustained in strafing attacks on the airfields they used, but the Volunteers to the last managed to keep a few planes in condition and offered at least a token resistance to almost every enemy attack. By the end of Feb- ruary, however, Rangoon had become a shambles, and during the first week in March the A V G pilots withdrew to Magwe. Following a heavy enemy attack on Magwe, they retreated over the China border to a forward base at Loiwing, where the Central Aircraft plant had been converted into an overhaul depot.17 By the close of April the campaign for Burma was approaching its end, and the squadron was forced back to Kunming, where it joined the remainder of the group. The Burma Road was now useless, and Chennault, who had been recalled to active duty in April and promoted to brigadier general, sent part of his force east to Kweilin and Hengyang. This deploy- ment promised better protection for the exposed cities of unoccupied China, and a fuller opportunity for activity against Japanese air forces. The A V G for all practical purposes had long since become a part of the armed forces of the United States, and plans had been made for its incorporation into the AAF. But the A V G was a volun- teer group in fact as well as name; many of its personnel had no former identification with the AAF, and upon the dissolution of the 490
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