The Royce Mission
On the 9th of April, American and Filipino soldiers on Bataan peninsula surrendered. For the last few weeks the troops had subsisted on starvation rations, despite attempt by blockade runners and submarines to bring supplies […]
philippines
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The 19th Bomb Group had withdrawn to Australia following the disastrous early days of the war in the Philippines, and there it began to regroup.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 – […]
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attacks that had badly damaged the Far Eastern Air Force in December 1941, most of the surviving heavy bombers had been withdrawn well to the south.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 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 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 In 1940 the FEAF had a pitiful collection of outdated and obsolete P-26 fighters and B-10 bombers, both completely […]