Java and The First Heavy Bomber Campaign
The 19th Bomb Group had withdrawn to Australia following the disastrous early days of the war in the Philippines, and there it began to regroup. American commanders were keen to get the vaunted B-17s – […]
South West Pacific
The Battling Bastards of Bataan
Following the initial Japanese attacks that had badly damaged the Far Eastern Air Force in December 1941, most of the surviving heavy bombers had been withdrawn well to the south. Meanwhile the remnants of the […]
The Fall of Rabaul
As the invasions of the Philippines and Malaya were proceeding according to schedule, the Japanese began the second phase of their offensive – this time, taking Allied positions to the east. Amongst the most important […]
British and Dutch Borneo
The island of Borneo was divided between the Dutch, who controlled most of the central and south of the island, and the British who controlled the northern coastal regions of Sarawak, Brunei and British North […]
The Loss of Northern Malaya
With the Japanese having established a firm foothold on the northern part of the Malayan Peninsula, their troops moved rapidly to capture key British facilities. More army sentai began to fly into the airfields close […]
The Fight for the Philippines
The attack on Clark Field, with which the Japanese had opened their offensive on the Philippines, had decimated the American Far East Air force (FEAF). Half of the FEAF’s vaunted B-17 Flying Fortress bombers had […]
The Defeat of Force Z
As the situation in the Far East deteriorated during the second half of 1941, the British government looked at ways to reinforce their colonies in the Pacific. One of the jewels of the British Empire […]
The South Pacific Air Ferry Route
In mid-1941 the USAAF began to build up its strength in the Philippine Islands. The Far East Air Force was to be reinforced so that it could effectively defend the islands from potential Japanese incursions, […]
Clark Field and the Destruction of the Far East Air Force
The American Far East Air Force (FEAF) was the largest USAAF command outside of the US. In 1940 the FEAF had a pitiful collection of outdated and obsolete P-26 fighters and B-10 bombers, both completely […]