Doomed at the Start: American Pursuit Pilots in the Philippines, 1941-1942 (Volume 24) (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series)

During the first three days of the Japanese assault on American Pacific bases in December of 1941, the 24th Pursuit Group, the only unit of interceptor aircraft in the Philippine Islands, was almost destroyed as an effective force. Yet the group’s pilots, doomed from the start by their limited training, an inadequate air warning system, and lack of familiarity with the few flyable pursuit aircraft they had left, fought on against immensely superior number of Japanese army and navy fighters. “. . . bold drama, with almost novel-like narration. This is good history. . . .” –Daniel R. Mortensen, Office of Air Force History “. . . an engrossing and minutely detailed account based on a variety of US and Japanese government and military records and on personal interviews with the surviving pilots.” – Choice “. . . an admirably detailed history . . . the work will [be of] interest to both aviation buffs and students of WWII.” – Publisher’s Weekly “Ignoring the point of view of the top brass, Bartsch’s book becomes a triumph of human interest rather than another statistical account. . . . A winning account of a losing campaign defended by courage and honor.” – Journal of Military History “. . . as much a compelling human drama as an objective and detailed unit history. . . . a prodigious achievement in unit history research that does overdue justice to the memory of a tragic group of airmen who did the best they could with what they had under extraordinary circumstances and against thoroughly daunting adversity.” – Military History Doomed at the Start 2 CONTENTS 7 ILLUSTRATIONS 9 MAPS 11 FOREWORD 12 PREFACE 14 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 17 PART ONE— PHILIPPINES BUILDUP 20 1. "God, it's a Reckless, Carefree Life We Have in the Air" 25 2. "All the Flying Characteristics of A Streamlined Safe" 38 3. "We are Doomed at the Start" 46 4. "You are not Necessarily A Suicide Squadron" 54 PART TWO— THE FATAL DECEMBER EIGHTH 72 5. "Hard to Believe there was Actually A War in Progress" 75 6. "Tally Ho—Clark Field" 81 7. "Good God Almighty—Yonder they Come" 88 8. "Look at the Pretty Formation of B-17s" 102 9. "I Wonder What My Chances are Of Making it All the Way to the End" 114 10. "There Ain't No More 24th Pursuit Group" 126 PART THREE— LAST DAYS ON LUZON 137 11. "We Were Afraid to Stay Very Long in One Spot" 142 12. "I'll Be Killed in the First Dogfight I Get In" 151 13. "Everything All Right. Have a Safe Job" 169 14. "Nobody but a Low-ranking First Lieutenant Would be Dumb Enough to Stay on that Field" 186 15. "It Looked Like a Small Dunkirk" 203 PART FOUR— EARLY BATAAN OPEARTIONS 220 16. "I Wish that Someone Besides Second Lieutenants would Turn up to Fly" 222 17. "One of the Most Nerve-Wracking Flights That I have Ever Made" 238 PART FIVE— THE BASTARD OUTFIT OF BATAAN 258 18. "We Want a Few `Eagles' To Chase the `Hawks' Overhead" 261 19. "I Know My Mama is Frantic About Me" 278 20. "The Biggest, Prettiest, and Most Thrilling Fireworks Show We'd Ever Seen" 294 21. "A Ten-Thousand-Dollar Pilot Shot to Hell in the Infantry" 309 22. "That's How the Slant-Eyed Bastards are Working Now" 319 23. "I'm Going to Put a New Pair of Shoes on the Baby" 343 PART SIX— THE FALL OF BATAAN 365 24. ''Please Don't Bail Out" 367 25. "You Americans Can't be Trusted" 388 PART SEVEN— MINDANAO FINALE 396 26. "We Felt that our Last Chance had Gone" 398 27. "Get Aboard. There'll be no Tomorrow" 414 28. "This is the First Time P-40Es Have been Captured?" 431 EPILOGUE 440 APPENDIX A — AIRCRAFT ASSIGNED: PURSUIT SQUADRONS OF THE 4TH COMPOSITE GROUP AND (FROM SEPTEMBER, 1... 446 APPENDIX B — ROSTER OF FLYING OFFICERS OF THE 24TH PURSUIT GROUP (AS OF DECEMBER 8, 1941) 447 Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron 447 NOTES 454 Chapter 1 454 Chapter 2 454 Chapter 3 454 Chapter 4 455 Chapter 5 456 Chapter 6 457 Chapter 7 458 Chapter 8 460 Chapter 9 461 Chapter 10 462 Chapter 11 463 Chapter 12 463 Chapter 13 465 Chapter 14 467 Chapter 15 468 Chapter 16 470 Chapter 17 471 Chapter 18 471 Chapter 19 472 Chapter 20 473 Chapter 21 473 Chapter 22 474 Chapter 23 475 Chapter 24 476 Chapter 25 477 Chapter 26 478 Chapter 27 479 Chapter 28 480 Epilogue 481 SOURCES 482 Oral History 484 Interviews with Author 484 Interviews with Others 484 Taped Narratives to Author 485 Taped Narratives to Others 486 Correspondence 486 Philippine Department/Usaffe with Agwar and USAAC 486 Pilots and others to Family Members and Friends 486 Pilots and others to Author 487 Other Correspondence 488 Unpublished Written Materials 489 Reports and Statements 489 Unit Diaries, Histories, and Narratives 490 Personal Narratives 491 Personal Diaries and Journals 492 Philippine Department and Usaffe Memoranda (Chronological) 492 Usaffe Reports, Journals, and Bulletins 493 Military Medal Citations 493 Radiograms 494 Internal Usaffe Messages 494 General, Field, and Special Orders 494 Other Items 495 Magazine and Newspaper Articles 496 Books and Chapters in Books 497 INDEX 500 A 500 B 501 C 502 D 504 E 504 F 505 G 505 H 506 I 507 J 507 K 507 L 508 M 508 N 510 O 510 P 511 Q 512 R 512 S 512 T 514 U 515 V 515 W 515 Y 516 Z 516 During the first three days of the Japanese assault on American Pacific bases in December of 1941, the 24th Pursuit Group, the only unit of interceptor aircraft in the Philippine Islands, was almost destroyed as an effective force. Yet the group s pilots, doomed from the start by their limited training, an inadequate air warning system, and lack of familiarity with the few flyable pursuit aircraft they had left, fought on against immensely superior number of Japanese army and navy fighters. -- Amazon.com Annotation. During the first three days of the Japanese assault on American Pacific bases in December of 1941, the 24th Pursuit Group, the only unit of interceptor aircraft in the Philippine Islands, was almost destroyed as an effective force. Yet the group's pilot, doomed from the start by their limited training, an inadequate air warning system, and lack of familiarity with the few flyable pursuit aircraft they had left, fought on against immensely superior numbers of Japanese army and navy fighters