8-Dec-41: MacArthur's Pearl HarborTen hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, another Pearl Harbor of even more devastating consequence for American arms occurred in the Philippines, 4,500 miles to the west. On December 8, 1941, at 12.35 p.m., 196 Japanese Navy bombers and fighters crippled the largest force of B-17 four-engine bombers outside the United States and also decimated their protective P-40 interceptors. The sudden blow allowed the Japanese to rule the skies over the Philippines, removing the only effective barrier that stood between them and their conquest of Southeast Asia. This event has been called one of the blackest days in American military history. How could the army commander in the Philippines the renowned Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur have been caught with all his planes on the ground when he had been alerted in the small hours of that morning of the Pearl Harbor attack and warned of the likelihood of a Japanese strike on his forces? In this book, author William H. Bartsch attempts to answer this and other related questions. Bartsch draws upon twenty-five years of research into American and Japanese records and interviews with many of the participants themselves, particularly survivors of the actual attack on Clark and Iba air bases. The dramatic and detailed coverage of the attack is preceded by an account of the hurried American build-up of air power in the Philippines after July, 1941, and of Japanese planning and preparations for this opening assault of its Southern Operations. Bartsch juxtaposes the experiences of staff of the U.S. War Department in Washington and its Far East Air Force bomber, fighter, and radar personnel in the Philippines, who were affected by its decisions, with those of Japan s Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo and the 11th Air Fleet staff and pilots on Formosa, who were assigned the responsibility for carrying out the attack on the Philippines five hundred miles to the south. In order to put the December 8th attack in broader context, Bartsch details micro-level personal experiences and presents the political and strategic aspects of American and Japanese planning for a war in the Pacific. Despite the significance of this subject matter, it has never before been given full book-length treatment. This book represents the culmination of decades-long efforts of the author to fill this historical gap. -- Amazon.com. |
Contents
| 45 | |
| 61 | |
| 70 | |
| 91 | |
4why send over these ninetyday wonders? | 106 |
5The Creation of the FiveEngine Bomber Has Completely Changed the Strategy in the Pacific | 130 |
s | 153 |
These inability of an enemy to launch his air attack on these islands is our greatest security | 179 |
14 What Is the Matter with the Enemy? | 382 |
Epilogue | 409 |
Appendix A Japanese Naval air strength for the Philippines operation December 81941 | 425 |
Appendix BJapanese army air strength for the Philippines operation formosa December 81941 | 426 |
Appendix CFar east air force strength in the Philippines December 81941 | 427 |
Appendix Dorder of battle Tainan kokutal tainan formosa December 81941 | 428 |
Appendix E order of battle 3d Kokutai Takao Formosa December 81941 | 430 |
Appendix F Officers of the 24th pursuit group December 81941 | 432 |
7 We Are Going Much Too Far on the Offensive Side | 197 |
8 Struck by Its Resemblance to a Railroad Timetable | 228 |
Shall die only for the emperor i shall never look back | 255 |
9 What a Fog | 264 |
10 Go Get Em | 291 |
11Navy Hell Its the Japs | 311 |
12 WhateverYou Do Dont Get under the Damned Truck | 341 |
13All Weve Got Left Is the Key to the Airplane | 358 |
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Common terms and phrases
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