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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 B A T T L R O F T H E A T L A N T I C MacDill Field, Florida, at the disposal of the Gulf Task Force. A plan embodying these recommendations was put into effect on I July 1942. In addition, two observation groups (the 128th and the 124th) were attached to the Gulf Task Force in early July primarily for the pur- pose of forming and training Civil Air Patrol groups in the Gulf area. Meanwhile, arrangements had been made to establish a joint opera- tions center a t Miami, to be built on the general pattern being evolved for similar purposes in New York City. The project was initiated in June. By September, the I Bomber Command was operating from ten bases scattered along the coast line from Westover Field, Massa- chusetts, to Galveston, Texas." During April, May, and June of 1942, I Bomber Command planes, and those serving under the operational direction of that command, attacked enemy submarines at a steadily increasing rate. Although hours flown during this period showed a slight decrease in monthly total from the record activity registered in March, the number of attacks for the three-month period turned out to be almost seven times greater than for the first three months of the year. And of the fifty-four attacks recorded, a t least seven appear to have resulted in some damage to the enemy craft. As yet, however, no attack had resulted in the destruction of a U-boat. Nonetheless, the total harass- ing effect seems to have been considerable, as is suggested by the enemy's tendency to shift the attack to the areas less effectively covered by air patr01.~' More promising was the tactical experience gained in the course of those first six months of continuous operations. It was necessarily a period of training and experimentation, and the later effectiveness of the Army antisubmarine campaign depended to a large extent on the experience gained from January to July of 1942. Fortunately, both Army and Navy antisubmarine forces were able to draw largely on the experience of the British for their initial stock of tactical data, and they made extensive use of their opportunity. Of particular aid to the AAF units was the help given by two liaison officers sent to the United States in February.'l Study of British intelligence data indicated that, prior to August 1941, British aircraft had executed 2 7 0 attacks on U-boats, as a result of which two U-boats had been definitely sunk and five more prob- ably sunk. On the basis of this experience, not wholly encouraging in the sum total, British analysts had been able to arrive at certain very 5 3 '
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