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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 unloaded their bombs on the Lashio airfield, but subsequently three planes-including that of Major Leland-crashed into a mountain side while flying through an overcast at IO,OOO feet, and another plane was abandoned when it gave out of gas near Chanyi. Only two of the aircraft landed a t Kunming, one with its radio operator who had been killed in a brush with enemy fighter^.^^ Six other B-25's led by Maj. William E. Bayse, veteran of the Java campaign, arrived at Kunming without mishap during the next two weeks." Some of the pilots had participated in the Doolittle attack on Tokyo. Movement of the P-40's from Africa continued to be slow, and the induction of the AVG, from the first a perplexing problem, proved disappointing in its results. It had been hoped that the transi- tion might be made without serious loss of personnel or reduction in the effectiveness of an organization which had so well demonstrated its fighting ability. Several weeks before induction was scheduled to take place, however, it had become obvious that only a few of the men could be retained. War-weary and eager to visit their homes before undertaking another long period of foreign service, they de- sired immediate leaves which the induction board was not authorized to grant. Some preferred to take remunerative positions with the China National Airways and Hindustan Aircraft companies rather than accept the grades offered them by the Army; many formerly belonged to the Navy or Marines and preferred to return to those branches of the service; some expressed resentment over the manner in which the induction was handled; and a few were not able to pass the required physical examination. Eventually when the induction board, presided over by Chennault and made up largely of Tenth Air Force officers, completed its canvass of the personnel, they found that only five pilots and a handful of ground men had chosen to stay with the AAF in China. Approximately twenty of the pilots agreed, how- ever, to remain on duty until further replacements could arrive, and one of them lost his life in combat during this extra tour." Activation of the CATF on 4 July 1942 marked an important turn- ing point in the war in China. But the A V G as it now passed into history had set the pattern for subsequent air operations in that thea- ter, and its score of almost 300 enemy planes destroyed at a cost of less than 5 0 planes and only 9 pilots provided a challenging record for its successors.72 Meanwhile, uncertainties existed regarding the control of the air 506
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