USSBS Report 70, The Seventh and Eleventh Air Forces in the War Against Japan

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Transcript of USSBS Report 70, The Seventh and Eleventh Air Forces in the War Against Japan

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    J 0 ~THE UNITED STATES

    STRATEGIC BOMBING SURVEY

    THESEVENTH AND ELEVENTH

    AIR FORCES INTHE WAR AGAINST

    JAPAN

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    THE UNITED STATESSTRATEGIC BOMBING SURVEY

    THESEVENTH AND ELEVENTH

    AIR FORCES INTHE WAR AGAINST

    JAPAN

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    This repor t was written primarily for the use of the U. S. Strawgic BombingSurvey in the preparation of further report'S of a more comprehensive nature. Anyconclusions or opinions expressed in this report must be considered as limi ted tothe specific material covered and as subject to fur ther interpretation, jp. the lil lMof further studies conducted by the Survey.

    IJ

    FOREWORDThe Ilnited S~at.caStro.ttgie Bombing Survey WIIS

    established by the Secre!&,"yof WI''' on 3 November1944, p u rsu I1

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    INTROOUCTION

    This repor t is designed TO report the contriburion of Seventh AF oper-atious in the war . iu the Pacific. It is not designed to integrate the eon.t ribu tion of the Seventh Af witb that of the Navy and Marine units whichope ra iedi u the rhear re because i t is assurn ed that that integration will beacrcmplisbed elsewhere. Statements as 10 scale of effort and resultsaccomplished should consider that aU aircraft, Ar.my and Navy, operared as part of one over-all air piau"Claims of enemy ai rcr af t and sh ippiug des troyed, probably destoyed,

    or damaged are official claims of the Seventh All, in conformity with'requirements of AAF directive. The shippi ng division ofU5SB5 is beingco 0s tantiy' refer red to in au effort to establish information to substantiateSeventh Af daims agains t sh ipping . Tbe Statistics in thi s report are de-ri ved rom various sources, in which sli ght discrepancies exist . Sourcesfor the inf orma tion he re in ace lisred in the tab le s and stat is ti cs.

    I V

    PART ONE

    SEVENTH AIR FORCE OPERATIONSTABLE OF CONTENTS

    I Reconnaissance Phase 7 Dec. 1941 co 13 Nov .. 1943 1II Gil bert Islands Phase ...................... 13 Nov. (06 Dec. 1943. . ... . . . .. . . . . . . . . . ... 3III Marshall Islands Phase 7 Dec. 1943 to 2 MiI. r. 1944 4IV Mariana Islands Phase ....... , . . . . . . .. 3 March to. 15 Aug. 1944................ 6V Palau. and Philippines Phase 16 Aug. to 31 Dec. 1944... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. SVI Iwo Jima Phase. .. .. .. .. . .. 1 Jan. to 31 Mar. 1945 11VII Ryukyus Campaign 1 Ap.dl to 30June 1945 12VIII Air War Against Japa.n. . . 1 July to 14 Aug. 1945 13IX Summary " ,," " 16

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    CHARTSA Air Bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, , ,. , , , , 20B Air Bases-Seventh Air Force." .. ,., , :Fadng P.20C Dares of First Missions-Seventh Air Force,.,., Facing P. 20D Targets Hit By 'SeventhAir Force , , , , : , Fa.ciogP. 20E Targets Hit By Seventh Ajr Force F.rom Okinawa, .-FacingP, 20

    TADLBS AND STATISTICSF TO .Ds of Bombs Dropped-Seventh Air Force. ' ,. 21G Reconnaissance Pballe--7 Dec. 1941 To 13Nov. 1943. ,.,.,.. 22H Gilbert Islands Campaign-13 Nov, To 6 Dec,1943.. ',.,' 22I Marshall Islands Carnpaigo-7 Dec. 1943 To 2Mar. 1944. . 22

    Mariana Islands Campaign-3 Mar. To 15Aug. 1944.. ,.,. 22K Palauand Philippines Campaigns--16 Ang.To nec. 1944 22L Iwo Jima Caropaign-l Jao. To 31Mar. 1945. , "......... 22M Ryukyu Campaigo-l Apr,To 30June 1945. . . . . .. 23N AirWar AgaiuSIJapan-1 July To 14Aug. 1945........... 23o Forces Available, Pacific Ocean Area ,... 23P Seventh Air Force Combat Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-Q Seventh Air Force Tactical Units " .Facing P. 24R Ship,PiogStrikes-Seventh Air Force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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    miles from Oahu, to moun a limited air offcnsi v . . O reven to make reconna issane o f iJI enemy,

    r3. U. S. Bases.a. In 1942, our forward base was the Hawaiian

    Islands. anton, Midway and Christmas I landswere being developed. But even the Dearest of these.elm 011 , W:J. 'lmor . . than a thousand miles from theenemy.From anton to Millewas 113~mile. FromMidway to Mil le wa s 1467 mil 5. J.l idway, in fac t,wa s neve r u sed for o tt ack of the - ; \ f araballs, being OU tof rang even for recounaissanee missions aga inst theMarshalls.b. 10 order to obtain bases within rnn,ge of the

    enemy, preparations w rn made to move into theEll ice Island. TIl ls group ofBrit ish-owned at Ilswasin the unoccupied No-Man's-Land between theJIIpanese in t he G ilber ts a nd the Al li ed nth Pac if icba 'So fF ij i a nd amos. (The Japanese never l andedinthe Ell ice Islands.) The Marinestook overFunafutiill the latter part of 1942, and a runway was car vedOut of the :oconut groves . Dur ing 1943, by . tagingfrom Oahu through anton and Funafuti, severala tt acks were made agu in st t he G ilber t .Th . .di taneeJ r o r u F\IUIlJuti to t i l e Jap' s n ew base at Tarawa W l L S704m iles: to a tack it B-24 flying from shu had tomake fl round trip of 4346 miles,c. During 1942and most of 1 9 4 3, t he only forwardbases available to t he ven th AF for reconnai ssance

    and attack were Midway, Funafut i and anton.4. Enemy Bases.a. In 194-2 tit Japan w r e wel l e nt re nched inthe Marshal l Islands, '1'11y had sir bas s at Mille,

    Maloe lnp and Wot je . They al so had ' " seapl ane baseat Jalui t from which t iley opera ted reconnaissancep lanes inc luding fou r-eng ined f ly ing boat s. Theywere developing airfields at Kwnjalein and Eniwetok.b . ' I' ll Japanese had 'posse ss ion o f 'Wake on thei r

    n r th ern Bauk only 537 mil e f rom Bniwe tok ,c. In the Gi! oort Is lands, tbey had tak n over t he

    Bri tish Islands without oppo i tion and were bui ld inglUI a ir b ase a t Tarawa .and a seapl ane base at Mak in .Nauru also ha I b een eaptured and was being d vel-oped as an air base.

    1.RECONNAISSANCE PHASE, 7 DECEMBER 1941 TO 13 NOVEMBER 1943

    RllSTRICfED

    1. The Pearl Harbor Attack.a. The Japanese att-ack On the i land of ahuHawaiian Islands, On t JI unday morning of 7 De-c em b e r 1941, MIS an exce l l en t example of t he e f fe c -

    tiveness of air power . The Japanes e had accur ateinformation Oil ou r d ispo i ti on , and ! .h ey achi evedcomp let e surpr ise. They 0poned w ith eount er -a i , .act ion: they dive-born bed and strafed the Army airbases at Hickam and Wll el r and th Navy air basesat, Foro Island, Ewa, and Kaneohe , They destroyedon t he g round o r damag d beyond repai r two -thi rd sof nil t he aircraft ill til .Hawaiian Islands.b, The main a tt ack , however , was 011 th warshipsin Peal~1Harbor. The mission of the Japanese was to

    des troy o r immob il ize enough o f our Bee t to make i timpossible fo" the nited tates Navy to interferewith the Japanese conquest of the southern resourcesarea, Th attack 011 Oahu wa followed by the rapidJapanese oc cupat ion of ake, i \' Il ln il a, Guam, HongKong, Rabau I , a nd S ingapore, a nd by l anding s in theDutch ERst Indies, Borneo and Jew Guinea. In75 days t hey were to make advances ov rome5,000 mi l e s , f rom Burma to tho G ilbe rt I sl ands .2. Strategic Situation.a, The strategic ituation in th Pacific on 7

    December 1941 WIIS all in favor of the en my whohad tahft the i ni ti at iv e. He had i sl nnd bases wh ichcontrolled til Pacific air and sea I an s almost to theHawaiian Islands. H po d superior air WIdsurface strength, With the ini tia. tive inhis hands, h isre a lm of possibi li ties inc lud d at tacks on any Pucif icI lands 1](>desired inc luding the Hawaiian Islands.Also possible we r small scale attacks 011 the PanamaCanal, AJaska, Canada and the West ColIS! of thenited tates,b. We were on the defen sive agn iu sf a n nemy who

    could strike I> t many po in ts and who could fur th erexploit. th element of S 1 1 1 1 > r i ! ! C . Our air nnd sea~~"engtll \V1lS infer ior to Lh nemy's , and We had butfllW uir buses in tho Pac if ic . These baSI'Swere not wel lequipped for extensive ap,:rations Of i van for t hei rOWIl defen se . Fur th ermo re , we had no bases wi th inrang . o r the enemy. The Seventh AF could not r achtho enemy in the Marshal l I sl ands , wh ich were 2,000

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    .. .. the "total in Ute Gilbert snndd Ti lls . e : ~ w tu em . .M ~ ~ aU s 01 7 a ir ~ (Mille, M l li o el n p, W o t je ,, ._ . k t T a raw a) a nd 2 se a -K w. ajn le in , E ni we to ', . 1 I u . r u , . . ' d~iBM bases (Jaluit, Makin).. This d id n o t m du ethe ir bases i n t he O il -m i m es whl?h s t r o ng !Ys u p p o r led[ he M ll l'\ 'h aU s w it h n d i r e c t line o f s up p ly 10 thehom e la nd. , . . tbe . T he J spanese 0at 0nl y roll! r o ne d t he atr !II. ' "C en tr al P ac if ic w e st o f M .i dw Il Y I sl an d, b ut Um t edS t" te s i n fo f ll m ti o n o f Jap an e s e b as es W a S m ea ge r a n dinSIOmcoa se s non - e xi s t e n t.5. Jl1isjilm.Til e m i s si o n 0 f t he S ev en th A .Fw a s th p defense of

    lhe H "" '1 li ia n I sl a nd s , a n d the re cc n n ai~co of nl ls ea IM "s a nd e ne m y b as es w ith in r an ge ,6 . Tg ;rg e l$H i , .a. Raeonnaissance Dr bombing m i s s i o n s were f l own

    a ga in st a ll o f th e is l a n d s in the G i lb er ~ G ro u p, in-cluding N Bum an d O l l e !l l l. R ec on na is sa n e e m is si on sw er e f lo wn o ve r tw o o f the M ars ha lls : Ja lu ~t a nd] \ I[ [Ue . Seve ra l m i s s i o n s a lso were f lo \\ ' l l ag;. i nstWa keby staging t h ro u g h :M i dw a y .

    b . W ! ik e fell to t h e J a p a n es e on 2tDe c em b e r 1941.O n J an ua ry 1 91 2 a n d 1 4 F e br ua ry 1 9 42 , s in gle . B.-1 7sw en t o ve r W "k e o n p ho 1 .0 re oo nn aiss a n ee m is sio ns ,Na .v y c ar rie r n ttaeks were carried 011 t inFe bruarya nd M ar ch On th e l\[ ar sh alls , t he G ilb er ts , W a kll,a n d : I, ja r cu s . T h ~ S e\ "e n th A ir F or te 's p ho to gr ap hs o f1 ; 1 ; 1a ke w er e u tili ze d in p lan n in g the n c f io n o f th en a v a l t as k f o r ce ,7. B a tt !e o f i Hi dw 4 Y.II. Th e en emy to o k th e inif a ti ve in the Ce n t ra l

    P ac i6 c o n ly o nc e a fl er " Pe ar l Harbor," li n d tha t w asin the Battle o f M idw ay in June 1 .942 .h. Based o n :llidtlll'y to mee t CXp!'ctrd attack were

    9 8 Nav y a nd ).1B rine Co r p s f ig h te " , (FZ-A3 andFEl-F-3), dive b om be rs (S BD -2 a ni! S B2 --0 -3 ), to r.p ed o b om be rs (T BF ), a nd p atr ol b om be rs (PBY-5).e . T he Seven tb A F \Ill.ii.ll O n M id wa y c om p ri se d

    4 B-26s. modi f i ed 10 c a rr y t o 'J }l l< l oe s , a n d 1 7 B -1 7 s.d. T h~ to t al fo ro o o f 1 19 a rm y lin d n av y 3ir p l an o a

    " ' 1 18,moN l t I l a ." t h e 1 \ , J i dw a y a ir b as e c o ~l d dispprsc Or!l

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    5 . 0 11 '1 'BasesII. The H~w~ i i a l l I sl an ds a nd t hl ' f nl lo wi ug far-

    w a rd b a se s :CantonFun a f u t i 1N"ukllfew.u ~. .Ellice IslandsN 3 1 1 0 n w n JBaker

    The Inst three, N\lkL1f~tau,Nanomea, and Bakerwe r e ' '' '! l II . . d for t h e o p e r at in n .6. Force . A.IIlIi/able.a. There wereavailable to tim Yll BomberCom-

    mand for 'employment against the above six targets,preceding the Gilbert;; i nvas ion , seven heavy bom-b!U:-dmentsquadrons, having an "vcm~e strength of8 0 B _2 4s. Abou t ;'j p e r c en t of the airplanes on handwere kept ill oo= 'o ;; ;on. The d istances flown tom a c h more t h l l . l 1 half of the targllt '8, for BII bu t th et wo s q ua dr on s b "" -" "d c U N a no me a, wa s su ch tba tstagiog through the advlInced bases of Nanomea andBaker Is lands wa s required.7. Remits if. CCi)T/I PIisbed.n. The pnrmy air bases attackerl bv the \ ,11

    Bomber Command in the Gil bert nnd UarshaU

    Islands fOnlwd.rtn (H'Cof mutually ~IIPPOI'~ill!(ba ~110 t mort' thnn IL f~II' 1 1uud rnd m iles apu r t. 'Sb. TIl.I"!lwa wes the ce 11 tel' of enemy reei slanoe in

    thp Gilberts, Maloo l ap was the best dofcndnd Cnlli llyair base in the ~'[an;halls,c. In the week between 14and 20November 1943

    inclusive, i ll pr paration for the amphibious a s s a u l twhich was made 01 1 21 November, th . . VII BomberCommand hells lrnmhers flew six missions ciJ'Opping_50 tons on t l", J -squa re -mi lc i sl and of Ret io wheretI", Tarawa "irfipld find defenses ware cnnC(!ntr[ltC(1.d. The other targets dur ing this per iod were Jaluit

    a n d ; o. [a ki n, site of enemy s ea pla ne b as es , and ilililleM.nlo~lllp,and Nauru airfields. 'e . Asn result of the Seventh AF lind minier s tr ikes ,

    the enemy air bases were Euff\cicn til' neutr.alized topermi t the occupMion of th e Gilbert Islnnds withuegligible air 0pposi ti on, Th ere were Iou r enemyattacks against our air bases .f . The Gilbert I slands were successfully occupied,

    and the Japanese Ili.irfieldat Tal'a wa was repaired an dimproved for our lIS~, as we 1 1 as aneth er f ield crealedon the atoll . MllkiJ l and Abemema also we l 1 l r a p id l ycouverted into [.irfieIds, giving us a total 0 f f0\1r newairfields [01flltlll'e operations.

    III.MARSHAlllSLANDS PHASE, 7 DECEMBER TO 2 MARCH 1944

    1. GmeralObjective.a. The objeefives o f th is operat i () n wer e accoIn-

    pl.i s lled intwo phases: (L) the occupatio n of Kwllj a-lein and Majuro atolls, and (2 ) Ih G occupation ofEniWl'tok at~lI.2. !o j ission;a. The mission of t he &VcnU l Ai ' f or f he fi r, stph!lSllwas:(1) To neutral~~ctbe cnemy air bases at Mille andJ~hllt b!!fore~dllrmg, aDd afl~r OUr ru.;saulton [,"'ajn-lem l m d M aJ Ur o.(ll) To destroy ~nlimy a'rcraft 'Ind fa '~t"Maloela W t n__ GI . we aLp,. 0Ie, ';illl, and Kwo.jalein if the f ieldt.ller;)was operation III. . .

    (3) On D2 clay an d th e reafter, to assist oth e rf(}J"c~$in denying lli 'ot;je and M aloe lap to the enemy.(4) 1 '0 destroy enemy shipping.(5) In additio n, 1'1 di re e t gr ou n d-s u p po r t m i ss io n

    was f low n On D d&y. B-246 dropped Z,oOO-poundbombs on KWlljalci ll beach-defense positions.b. For the second ahase, the oceupanion ofEnill'c-to k,thc miss ion n f the Seven til AF

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    try all-out incendiary IItacks on Z2Fcbruar j' l ind26Februarv The laticr attack, with 25 B-24" drop-ping 5 tons, IIlIl tty ineendiary, supplied the COIIP degrace. The cumulative damage of these raids praeti-cally destroyed the [own, The southern waterfronts ec ti on w as a lm o Icomp le t e ly wiped o ut . L \: bl oc ksof thP residential n re a w as burned to the ground,in olu din g a r a dio s ta tion Mel a lo !.a I o f n 1OIT" l ha n300 buildings,l. The seaplane base a rLangar i sl et , on h Northshore of Ponape, also was pounded in 0 unserviee-

    ability. Its faci l i t i es were el l destroy d.m, The en m y s e ld o m dared t o r isk shipping in the

    G i lb e r ts , ) f ar s b nU s , and a ro l i n e s areas during thisp e ri od . , ," 'b e n t he enemy tried to bring in supplies,B-2. '],; i1y ing at 25 to 20 0 feet hit shipping in WODe ,Maloelap, and Jaluit lagoons with bombs, 75 rumcannon, lind 50 caliber machin gun.n. During th KwajII lein phase of operations, 7

    f re ight ers were c la imed u nk , I> probab ly de t royed,

    nn( l21 damaged . 1 DD or CL was l is ted liS lJrobnbl.,de t royed , and 2 CA l ind 1PC as d lUnaged. In . lidd:tlon, 12vessels (length less than 100 feet) were hit 0 ;which two were slink.o. During the month of February 1944, 2 4. small

    craft (under l00-f ()~t) were unk and 36 damagedprobably destroyed. One small f reigltLel' was S l I : ~and one probably destroyed,p. O u r i nv as io n f or cl iS ,mcountered no IIi r I " t' s is h .l n

    either onroute to their objectives 01" dUl'ing the Iml~~ings at K w a ja l e iu and i \ l : t j uro atolls.q. However, th - enemy did succeed in makin

    numerous attucks on our ai r bases before the Mn!shalla landings . There wer 30 a tta cks by ap p r ox i -mately 145enCITl'yaircrnft on OUr bases aLTarawilMakin, Funa fu ti , and Apemama , but in 20 of thc~enemy attacks, no damage was don Two of OUra ir cr af t w er e d es tl 'o yp .d and 10 damaged b y th es eenemy air attack .

    IV.MARIANA ISLANDS PHASE, 3 MARCH TO 15 AUGUST 1944

    1. G~'J~al Objer:tiue.B. The objectiv dur ing this per iod weretheoccu-

    pation o f S a ip a n, T in ia n , and Guam in theMar i an u sgroup, and the development On tiles!' i s land of 'litb a s e s for Seventh and Twentieth AF operation _.2. !If ission.. a. The missiono f t he venth AF wa s lbe destrun,tIOn ofenemy shipping and he Deutm[j?.atioo of theb yp as se d e ne my a ir b as e _i n the Marshalls and alsoonWak ,and Nauru i s land,b. Targ Is ~ igned 10 t he Seventh in order ofimportance, were : '

    (I) Truk(2) Ponape(3) Wake(4) Nauru(0 ) Others

    c. Arter the landings in the Maria thAF W3.8 t ',. h' n u s , C v en t h- .' 0 malO.am t. e all"defc!1l!!strafed enemy posi-t ions on I ,heirway in f rom the car riers,j. Two flights of P-GI night f ighters f lown fromahu also arr ived and, with the P-47 operating fromdawn to dusk main tained" n ight and day GAP.k. Throughout, the Saipan and Tinian battles , theSeven th AF figh te rs took otT from I ley Field onSaipan and lIi t enemy air fields within sight of theirt akeoff. Sn ipan and T in ian a re pam ted by only ath re e-m il h an ne l, This W:lS the first time milt unitsof the Seventh operated in clo support, and gavthe Seventh the dlstinetion f havinj; flown some ofthe shortest, "s wel la s the longest, combat. missionsin tim history of warfare.1. For soma lillie Iwforl ' D day on Tinian , P, ,' 17sassi ted ill softening up enemy de f en s e s b)" hittingbeach defcn ,gun emplacements and other vitaltnrgets, There were 5 or 6 mission a day wit h ap-proximately 10 6gbters per udssion. 1'11 intensity oftheso assaults increased a nd r ea ch ed it peak on D-1d!1Y.Supporting missions and special bombing andstnlfing missions were accomplished daily tbroughout, the Tinian battle w hi ch w as completed on 1 August1944. Th .. P-47 on theSll missions used Napalm

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    incendiary bombs [or the 6rst limn in venth AFoperation.m. The P..41s also fu rn iahed some a ir support inthe occupation of Gua m. By 15 Auguli! 1944, P-47so f the 31 h Fighter Group bad f l own almost 2,700combat- ser tie not counting Comba t Air Patrolsor alerts.n. Seventh AF B-25s slsofigured in c los e supporte p er ar ic u s, I ur ni sh in air up po r t fo r A rm y a n dMarine landings on Tinian and Gu am , Dying 17suchsuppo r t missions between 26 July and Augus t 1944.(I. Then [be he av ies n f the Se ve n th I\.F began tobranch out in th e direct ion of J apan, Uni ts of the

    30th Bomb Group arr ived at ipan during the first10days o f A u gu s t and began ope r a t i on - again theenemy bases at Iw n l ima and Chichi J ima .p. In snmmerv, it may be sa id tha t the Seventh

    A X ' helped batter Truk into offllllBivc use l e s sne s s ,The main bastion of enemy strength in the CentralP ac if ic w a s UMble to threaten our ba se or hamper

    O Ur m ov em en ts ill the assault and occupation f.Marianas Islands. 0 theq. In the occupa tion of the Jl ;I ari anas the a

    of th e Seventh AF P ..47s and B ..2Ss 'we re UP=rtfactors. po nt. r . T~e enemy was nna.ble to launch a. single attacke i th e r a r r or su r fa ce , agamst OUT bases in the Gi lbe r~or Marahalls,s, The Marshall and E!Ultern C8J'oline ls I d

    , w re kept neutralis d during the entire oper :.n sL". t duri .. 8 Ion..I:.C\'cep urrng on e nusaion over Ponapa no en. ft '11 db 'CIUYa lfc ra were sig te y Seventh AF I l . ira . ra f t intha reas . Co~ider ing the mUll.ber of troops on th:bypassed islands , any supplies or ammunition til toouid.have been smuggled in was insignificant. Enen:yshipp ing was se ldom soon, bu t 5 smal l vess el s werec la i me d destroyed.t.The culmination of the operation was the Seventh

    AF bombmgof the Bonins, only 73 6 miles from Japan.

    l ind Volcano Islands. lwo J il na W !L Bthe heavies t hit .Pagan, si te ofan e nemy airfield in the Mar ianas, waaneutralized am i used as a training target. The neu. .tralizatiou raid. against Truk were oontinued through-ou t the p er io d .4. EJJo.rt Expended.a, A tota. ] o f 7,063 tons were dropped 01 1 enemy

    targets in4,525 effective sorties. These attacks variedf rom individual sort ie s agains t i so la . d rocks l ikeMedin i l l a and M u ko J im a , w he re less than a. ton wasdroppedvto the a~taoka agains t Iwo J imn tota l ing1,466 sor ties and more than 3,000 tons dropped.

    1,400

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    m is si on s w er e assigned to hit 1 1 1 1 0 an d dur ing themon th o f O c to b er , 1 6 m iE si on s . Th e s< l l! ; t ll I ~ ks moun t e dto 30 du rin g Nav ro lbe r an d 'i9 dur ing Dcccn lb e r .T hC S( ! p e n; is te n t a n d \igotous nigh t a n d d a y I It t] j. ~ ksh e l p ed to in te rd iot 1"'0 Jim.1I a s n so urc e of majorcounterattack, althou~ the e n em y made rvery effortto ge t at Ih~B--29base, i n t he iltarianm;" disp!l. t o rungsome 80to 10 0 sorties, m o stly in n i gh t r ai ds .e . Truk, a seeond most impor tant Imp,t o f Sev-c n th AF units during this p er io d, w as th e primarytarget (If ou r "1 Bomber Command heavies sta-tioned On Kwsjaleln. M is si on s n v r-r Truk wen : con-ducted in I u r e e on an av e r ag e of twice 01 w r ek b e tw e en]6 Augu s t an d H i O cto be r, a ll bu t Om wing highaltitude, daylight s rikes, Prior i ty t,~rlle!s, in addi-tion t.o s hi pp in g, w en > Ih.. mrf ie l ds a nd in s t -: ; Il f lt iOMon Mom , Etcn. and Parnm Islands, t be MocnaodDublon seaplane bases, and naval installnticnsalDu blon. In tereeption wail C ncountered on 18 .0 r the20 missions, Anri,ai:rcroft f ire ranged from m~ag~ r tom o d er a te , i na c c ur a te IQ accurate, None of o u r p l an e swas lost over the target, tbuugh one crash-landed atits base as a result of combat damag e .f. In Augu;; , th" enemy was able 10 put up 12to

    lib planes in defense of T ruk, but thi s numbe r de-dined in B e p te m b e r to ab o u t I Ia l ld in Oc tobe r 1 . 03 o r4. On 22 November, a ft er a mon th ' s respite fromB--24aH"cks, the eoem.'"'''as able 10put up 8 planes,some - of tb.tIl p roba bly con glom cra tes _m ble d bymechanics with plenty of salvngc wruckage on thei ,bands.

    g, . Alm~gt 1 ,000 tons .o f bombs were dropped onT~ during t hi s p er io d. Results were, fo r mostmlSSlODs, . good, ~ith damage inJI lc ted to a i r f i e ld ;; a n dother milita I} installa tio!1$, and the enemy k ICOn tinUJl;lb'off bala nee, eph. The bYPil.Bl;edslands also wooivcd [LtLeui ~

    Bef?re ou r penelmtion into the wl' t ers oflhe Ceut':iPacifie, the rnemy had thl'llC poten t ia! ' . . !routes to hia bases in thp Gilberts and ;Vla:~~I~:~I1~led f.rom Japan through t he N am pn S bo t{ ) a n d th~Martanas to th " wcstern Cilrounes and Truk nn dthenc.o thr{)ugh P O I _ U l p e to th~ Marshall!! " , o d GiI-wrts, n S l !~ o t ld led d Ie et f ro m .Ja pa n lh rough Ma r .to Wake and the n I , , . 10 the ::VIrsha lis nnd Glhe ellSthe hhi~dled.frQm,Japan through th (Ii. . Ida;a nd Fo rm oM .io the PhilippinCl!~Ild t~;n:~' Sbol

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    7 . R e s ul ts AC (; Q f! lp l is h ed .II T im e ne my b a s e s in t h . . w es te ro P ac if ic w hO !! O

    l ! eu . tr ~ 1 i zn t io n w a s e n t ru s t ed to the Sev en t h ..I.F.wel'l't he s ou rc e o f n o r ea l d is tu rb an ce to th e m o,'e me nts o fUni t " ,d St...tes f n r c l '! l i n t he a re a, a nd t he dev e lo pm en to f e ur ba se s in tho Ml lr i a .n ! t. SW l IS o o n ti n u ed a lm o st

    wi thou t anY enemy interr up tion . Iwo J ima, whichws s the ~flrest p o tl ln ti a l t hr e at during this phase ofo p e l1 lo b i oW l ,was ro.d.u ced to II at.ate where it ClC'W,l Objectives.a. T he c ap tu re o f O kin aw il. brought to a to cu s til("two" p ro ng ed IIt ack f rom. the Sou tilwest an d Cen tralPacific. T he f ir st s ta rt ed "~tll the i nv a si o n o f G u a da l.canal in Allgu s t 1942, and inched through the Solo-

    m on s, N ew Guinea , and the Phi lipp ines . The other,through lhe Cen t r a l Pacif ic , did not get u nde r w ayun t il N o ve rn be r 1 943 w i1 .1 1th e in v as io n o f the OJ 1-berts, It continued through the M a r sh a ll s, b yp a ss e dthe C a ro l in e s , hopp ed to th e ]I!Iarian a s, a nd f in allyroached the Ryukyus, on the doorstep of Japan,b . From Okinawa, o p e r a t i o n s became les s ] ) 1 " 1 1 -dominantly n av al. L ar ge land masses were within

    o pe ra ti on al r an ge . O k in aw a was thelargest i s land yetco nq u e r ed where a Seventh Al~base was established,an d it was s uita ble f or the c on str uc tio n o f m an y air-f ie lds . Fro m O kin aw a, a n a mp hib io us in va sio n w ithair s upport was p l an n ed similar' to the o n e w h ic h tookthe Allied forces from England to lhe eoas t of Nor-mandy in June 1944, .

    c. Okinawa p ro v i d ed nirflelds f ro m w hic h theSeven th AF COld d participa to ill the f nul nssaul t onJap an . 1 t w as to b e p re ce de d l in d a cc om p an ie d by al luir assau lt , not only by vel'ylong-range B-29s f romth e Marianas escorted by long runge fighters fromIwe J im a and ca rr ie r p l a 110 IIt a cks , bu to also byh '",,)1, me di am an d ug h t b o rn bers, an d by 6,g)ltcrsf ro m O ki na wn , T hi s m e an t H E, i nC

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    major afforta of the Sev en t h .4F in the i nvas ion ~rSoutnND l(yushu (Operation Olympic). At the Wf t T"Send it wasstill secondary to the attack on en r u n y airpo ' ; "r , although s u c c e s s ; 111 attacks had b e en c a rr ie dou t a .g am s t m a] o r marsha l li n g y B .r o s, a n d at t anks hadbeen made on key mil1\~y bridges in Kyusbu.4. Effort E:penoed.

    80 . The Seventh AF reached mepeak ofis ~izeandsc tivi ty for the air wa r S g , : a i l l i l t the .J a p an es e ho m e -Land.The max imum effort "''lIB exp ended during thef ina l month of operations whie h brought Japan toher knees.b. Bombers (B-24, B-25, and < 1 . . 2 6 ) He w 3,055effective sorties and dropped 4,.840 tons on enemytargete in Jnpan, China, and tile Ryut;yus. Townrdthe closing days ofthe war, ITllUlY Seventh AF planes,espi!oiaUythe B-2';' s of the 4 1s t B om b G I'O UP , oftenlIewtwo missions per day. (Statis tics on me opera-

    tions o f t h e fighters!lro not a"llilable at present a s t heM a c i n e u n it s wen ! on l y opemti onally attached to theSeventh .'I.F).

    ( mOAT lXPENPEn 1 JUH TO , . AUG. 1941)nfTR@Qr~c.

    iB-:M.~ :'t;g "" ":h'l4i_~~_::: II'"'A - " ' _ _ ~ ~ _ ._ .. . . ,.. .. . . JC . , . ,T - o t a .L . . ., . .. _ , . 1?1.AJC ' " ' " ' 7H5. U..S. Bases.a. Oki n awa was the headquattern. of the SeventhAFand the \11 Bomber C01DlI!an i i . Yontan, Radella,and MachiDllt , o airfields WereOUr bases. The fighters

    were based on Ie Shima, an offshore island withinsight of Okinawa,h. For the fust t imes lnce Iea"i.D,g H&wai l, theS e , , " nth had R U ofi ts lactica I uuis nna aingleis landgroup.

    6. PO''Ce5 Available.II. Seventh AF uniI",operati ng fmlll.Oki n awa IVl l reunder t"Omm1l.ndofthe Na.vy TaGtical Air ForceRyukyu. , until 14July 1945. 'b. ~n that date, operation!!.! oontwl 01 SeventhAF uruts pBs s ~d 10CG SeVenth AF, und!!.rFEAF0 : 011 14,July, . the Seve.nth AF had avail"ble :nt

    Ok10:>\\a ba&>$ tWD B24 heavy bombsrdI ! lent groups(the.11th aod 494th); one light, A-26 (31Gth)and .onernedium,B-Z5 (4.1st). In addition, three 6ght\'r~upa ~the 318tb, 4.1lBtand 507th), and the 548thNight Fighter SqUadron, making up the 301s t Fighter

    Wmg , were attached to the Seventh A F for oj)Cra_t i onal COil trol,d. On the 28th of July, th~ 373rd LAB Squadron

    waa :redeployed from the India-Burma TIU la ; 1 \n j a n d, ns s igned 10 the V II Bomber Command,

    e . O n 2 Au~st, the 2 nd M a ri ne Ajr W in g, m ad euporiour Mar ine f ighter groups, was pnt under OPer-ational co n t r o l of the Seventh A F. T he se , h ow ev erwere am p loyed exclusive Iy in the ai r defense or th~Ryukyus and canne t he considered p a rt of t he n f i' c. D_s iv e p ow er of the Air Fgrce.

    f. Arerage s t reng th dur ing July lind Atlgus~ (air-Graft re lldy for ecmbat ) was 93 B-24s , 59B-2~s and45A-Z~s.7. Results .Accompl i shed .a, From 22 June , large-scale enemy attacks On

    Oki n awa decreased steadily with our incre~sin!!;at-taeksonenerny airfieldsin KYllllhu andia theShlUlghaier ea , Enemy a iTc rl lft and a i r instaUa. ti io llS wer epriotity targets, It wasmade increasingly difficult fo rthe euerny tomount anysizeable coun t(l)"1). ttacks, TImenemy also was hoarding his s trength in preparationfor United St a re s landings on KyuShu.h. Wh.enthe Will ended, attacks already were being:lcoompli:shed Oi l s econd and thi rd priori ty tar get s;shipping and trausporta tion, .C. Operat ions f rom Okinawa r epresen ted a new

    phase of Seventh AF operations in the natu re of 0\11bases and of the enemy targets . Heretofore, effor tshad bee 11 co n cen trnted against a few specific e n em ybases, such as Truk, Tw o J im a , ek, with the miss ionof oomplete neutralization. Now, our atoocks werediJfused over the home islands O f Japan, where morethan sixty welJ-developed air fields and hundreds ofmlnor fields were within range. Th e problam ",lUIchanged from the neutralization o r a few islands tothe inlerdiction of many .a i r f i elds .d . The major enemy a ir bases at I(anoya , Omura ,buiki, and Usa were primary t argets.. Indu BtrialinstaliatiQll1l and mm"5hal~ng yards Il .t Nagasaki,

    Kagoshima, and Tarurn j.u al so wwe importan t o lrj~cLives .Co1DlI!un icll t jons and transpor!.ation incllld-IDg shipping were ",.100vital to the military p Op "O It l . . bu. !",il'iJIllell dl!lll"lll .thf i t suhwn .Bytb" tim, Ib, >to p p ed .u p olr . ! i : o

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    I X .s UMMARY

    1. ap eraNOIIS.The operations of the venth AF were con-

    tinuous in nature, In order to visualize these opera-tions in erma of the amphibious landing campaigns,however, th~y m ay be sepa ra ed into phase;

    c. In Nov, 194,3 ,with the begil ln ing of the Gilbc amp a i g n , the tactical u n its o f the Seventh AF erl~assigned to TF 57. IVe l l ld. Aso per ations continued across the PMif ic .0_ th AF' ,Unlt~of the ""ven were assigned to var ious Nil' ,ta k force commander s. Fol lo lVing i s a chronol . ~tabulation: ogl~_ " " " " ' . u P " "1 9 ~ 1 7 o . . . m b e t

    t. (Batl".1 ~Ud'''f, JUIl . 11ll2)I94l 1 3 . . t 6 \" " t 1 i J W

    C i ll < ri 1 1 I w ~"",,,,,il1'13S""""he rIn (7.". ... w.din~:2 0 N . v . 1 9 1 3)6 Dettmber

    IU.I/",Wl/JlaadJ ~'''l'''ig.19J J i Immlzr ( K n ja l o in I a o di a g ;S I J.". til-H)to \Eai... lnldlJldq: I~r.b.1914)11 m !, 1 I n : l !

    2. Command () f the S"vel1tbAP.B. The V"nth iU' w ..1942, a t Hickam Fi; ld O~s a1~!" 'a tcd 5 Febl1Jary

    took over the tactical ~n i t s~ rh R. The ~venth AFb . F ro m dat of activ' ~ 1 lh" mg .Seventh AF w~ uodur ~.on unt.114 -luly 1945, the

    theatre commander Th mmhn~dofClNCPOA, theth h .. C8.II!o fcorn d"mug an mtcrmediateman W as1943, this il1.terrncdiatc com : ~~ ande r . Until r ov.Dept. . n was the Hawaiian

    16 .! .ugwt" 'I D e c o m ! . : rI JAllllltyt.

    3 1M a r d i

    I Apr il" 'O J . . .1 July" '~ A I Ig u !t

    II'Mlnt~ U J ! l ! U b CtJJllpdip

    (Sai"", I . "d i ng : 1 5 J""" 1lI14)f

    P a l. . ~ P k i li " pi . .. " . , . " " i V '[pelelku laMing; 15 Sept, I I l .H]( L ' r ' " I""ding: :IV 0 < 1 . 19~~J

    n{frO J i1 l l t : l C a : m , p a i g l l l

    vn8,u,.. C.~)l!lIf11(Oki..... h nd in g: I A p nl I O lS j

    finA ir I rlV' A , a n . . I / J d P ' J '

    Dal1l lnl, ,",roi~1< C o m "'""d"7 Dee, 1 9~I 1 0 S F o b. 1 942 H.waiian D.pt. i n " "' lI lJ lo d 0 1 1 1 1 0

    I ~ hB om b, W in g, . hi oh .. .. I .b ec o .. .t ho S ov e n tJl AF .

    5 E ,b . 1 !1 42 1 3 N.v , J U 4 J H o w. ii M D e po r tm . nt .1 3N 1 !I .e ! 3 M ar, 1 9 44 CTF .7 i n .. m m il. nd o r S ev .. . 1 h A f '

    t n .t i c nl u n i bl i n t h eE I I i "" -Ci l bo , I . . . .. .3 MAr. 19 j4 :! O Nov. L044 CTF 51 ) (Comlllilnder Sh"""n fSOd nlr-a ra ft , F or w a r d A re a )

    20 Nov . 1 9 44 6 Dce,~1 9H C TF U .5 (Sa me ""m m on d, hu t m " ,Ifc h a ng e 0 1 n u m b e r) .e 0... 1 9 44 1 Ap r. 1 !45 CTF 03 (C,mm.n

    (epp ... .) Force, P ifi. 0009. Are .) ,ond

    C TF 9 4 ( Co m ma nd er F or nW d A l? . . )L at .r .. 11.d Commander Mar l .. " ,Area .

    23 Ap,. Ig~:; H July 194~ [crJ' 99 (C"mll1Jlnd" Tool;",1 .~ir(appro.,) Fo r ee , Hyukyu . .) .(On 14 July 1945, command of the Seventh AJI

    passed toFar East Air Fore . T he . venth AF head-quar te rs wa s reins tat ed in the ope rat iona l chain o fcommand).3. MissifJr/,~.The mission of ~beSeventh AF throughcut nlo .t

    of Its op rat ion s wa s (1) the r connaissance and inter-di ct ion o f the enemy sea . l anes and a il ' b ases , a nd (2)the defense of OUI'Own bases.b. The venth AF wall i n e ff ect a l and -based a irarm of the avy. During' tb first 'two years o f tbe

    war, unt il November 1943, the mission ofthe SeventhAF WIIS mostly a er ia l r econnai ssance o f the ses ap -proa che s to th Hawaiian I lands.c. In the Battl of Midway, B-l7s of th Seventh

    Ail' were employed by CINCPOA the thoat re COID-mander, in reconna.i anee mjssi~ns from 71IDdwnyIs!olld and also lnhigh levclbombingaUackaOnJIIPl1n-ese HeetlInits. The B-17s were the fi.rstto discover Il.eenemy task fOI 'ee heading towa rd Midway on 3 .JunG1942. Th y f lew approximate ly 55 sorties dropping~or ne 80 tons on the enemy during 3,4, nnd 5 Jlln~ .rho Battle of Midway ill ()Overed in Chll-p!J'I, oft bl s r epor t, p age 2.

    l 6

    d. The offensive in t he Cen tr al Puei fi c wa s nott aken unt il rovemb J 1943, with the ~ult on theGilb' r t Islands. With 3 a il 'bases in thoEllice Islands,the VII Bomber Command began consistent a ttackson the Gilberts, As events developed, this campaigno f n su tr al ie at ion o f enemy a ir power con ti nued al lthe way across bhe Pacific UCHan to Japan,e. The mission of Hw Seventh was to nartieipate

    in the ueutralization ofenemy air bases. 'Ianyenemyislnnds were Jeff. to "wither on th vine ". Tb enemyw as u n a b le to r ei nf o rc e hi a isla n d b us es Or to rea l izeany pot en ti al o ff en ive powe r in them . Thi s i s ilIUB-t rat ad by our ab il it y t o eoncentmtc a irpl ane" wi thimpunity on islands like Kwajalein aud Saipll.ll,park-ing wing-tip to wing-tip and tail-to-tail,f. IN POA' tactics w I'I! to obtain island a irand s ea bases and make them secure from enemy at-

    Nick . This was accomplished by blanket ing a ttacks011 all enemy airfields within range.g , How ver, another concept might wel lhnve beenconsidered at thia e ar ly s ta ge when the enemy wasex tended, t hat o f a tt ri ti on. By al lowing !Jle enemyto bring in some reinforcements, to his outlyingMarshall .Island bases, 1ll01'C losses migh ha" beeninflicted on him, than could resul t from our blanket-ing ffort . very a irplanehe eculd get to the Marshullswould have cost heavily in op arat ional losses, SO thatev e ry combat los we could have infiicted in theMarshal l. would a ctua ll y have meant an ac tual l osso f not on , but seve ra l e nemy a ir craf t.h. The mission o r the Seventh AF included groundsupport s orties in conjunctlon with landings On

    Kwajal ..in, Tinian and lwo Jima island.I . S tmteg ic bomb ing was the mission of Seven th

    AF attack as cur ly as April 194.3,when attucks on'nu.'11Island damaged the phosphate works, trate-g ie bomb ing was a ccompl ished (29 .July to 1 Aug,1945, inclusive) agaiust steel und shipbullding plantsat Nagasaki, Japan.j. In endiary bombing WII suceessfully nccom-

    p li sh ed by the Seventh AF agains t. Pouape, i n raidswhich resul ted in the destruc tion or 11105&01 the town,Napalm inendia.y bombs WEll! used in at ta cksagainst 'Tinian.k, :Milling operrttions were conducted by the v-

    euth against en amy harbo in tJ'!l Bonin Islands,e peei al ly hi eh i J ima and Hnha J ima.4. Tat-gets Attacked.

    [L TIII'gets \Vt'l'!) u tt nclwd ! Il l t h" way ,\CTOSS theFa.cific rl'nm the lligh ~e!lS nround Nlidway, throughth" G i lb e rt " M l IJ 'S ) II l. L l, CnlUl.ine, Mllrirums, Bonin ,

    Volcano, and Ryukyus Island. to the Japanesehomeland, lIS hown by tbp following table:TtlJ]~

    J~11H,2~o, l~ OQ '. 1 1H ~No'. IIf42-Oet I~Peb . 19+1-Apr_ UH6A p r ' . ~(Hf-A,if. 1 0 4 : 1 ' : 1A t l l! : .I : I H + -- _ . .. .pr, UJ . I l i

    : l \ :O : ' - 4 I Ii +I - Ap t . 1 'I f ;4 O :Jul y I I1 ld Au, ," I 1k&l ui )' Q .n dAug . I t: l$luly mudAD,. I~'5. Effort Expended.a. The _"",nth AF .HI'W marc than 26,000 sorties

    and dropped more than 30,000 tons on the enemyinc luding : bombs, mine s, t orpedoe s, d epth eharg ,and napalm incendiary tanks. All of th i , except 202-tons, wa s IICCOII!l ished during the last hII\ f o f a p or a-tiODS, in 22 months.b. o rn e 17 ,000 comb a t hours were Bown; total

    hours flown mounted to nearly 440,000 hours.c. Losses totalled 291 a irplanes. Comba t 10 S,

    122 airplane, w re 1 than perationallosses,169.d. The 30,000 Lon dropped by the venlh AF i

    IIsmall f igu recompared ,,,jth the 159,000 tons droppedby the Twentieth AF on Japan, but it i not 50 smallwhen limiting factors are taken into consideration,6. 0111'Bases.a. At the outbreak of the war , our chief air bases

    were al l the island of Oahu in the Hawai lan g roup.There were landing str ips on 'Midway, Canton, andbr i tma s Atol ls . Not unt il 1943, WPTe fields COD-sku ted on Bak I' Island and in the Ellice Group(Funafuti, Nukufetau, and Nnnonsea). By December

    1943, we had airfields in the Gilbert" ( Tar awa,Makin, and Abemams).b. By March 1944, the " venth AF was in theMarshalla (KwILjal!>inand Euiw~lok). in the Mari-alias, beginning ill Augus 194-4,operat ions wereconducted Irom Saipnn and Guam.c. In the Ryukyus, 1111nits of the eventh AFwere for t he f ir st t ime brought t ogethe r on a s ingl eisland, Okinawa. The first fighter mission were flown17 May 1945, and bombing mission s commenced1 July 1945.7. Forces Af!dil4b/~.a . Twelve diffe rent a ireraft, types were opera ted

    by th!' S"venf.h AF. These WeI'" the B-17, B-24, B-25,A-24, A-26, P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47, P-51, P-61 >Jodp-70. In addit ion obsolete (;ypltS, the B-1 , P.36,A-20, and C-47 wereoperated in the Hawaiian Islll.nd~

    17

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    du r in g Dece mbe r 1 91L Du rin g the Ba Ul" o f "lidw ny. o ne m i s ia n \V IIS B OI\'ll by 4 H -2(ls c arry in gt o r p edo e s .b. 01( Na, 'Y type also can be lueluried in th elo ng list c o nt ro ll ed b y the vcnth A.F. At kinawa,fo r example. tit" Seco nd Marine Aircraft WinK , a t -la ch ed to ti le v e nth A F fo r o p c ra rlo n al co n tro l,f le w the F4U a nd F 6F.

    . The heavv b omb e r was the baekbon of Sev-nth AF op-rntions due til the nature of the theatrea nd le ng th o f the m iss io n flo wn . T he B -1 7 w as OPN-atad during 1 9 42 , f or t wo m i ss ic ns against W u ke a ndInr some 55 sorties agalnst th e Japane. ., flee.!duringth~ Battl o f M i{ hm y. B eg in nin g i n 1942 the 8-24"'!IS e mp lo ye d a nd continued to By m er! o f th e . v-c nth A F bo mbin g m iss io ns u p to the e nd o f th e war.d. The forces available were seldom 1II0rt than a

    d oz en s qu a dr on s o f B-24s, p lu s s om e 0 her u ni ts . T heaverag Dumbc ro fB-24s available fo r comba~ in th ef o rwa rd area, between Novemb e r 1943 and f;J", en dof t he war , W8. 'l 9 l.

    c . The hea vv b om be r WaS he o nly typ e u se d fo J'venth AF attacks against enemy ba until theeonelusion of the Gillxtrt c amp a i g n .!. In Decemb e r 1943, llght and m e di um b om b er sa nd a lso 6 hte r a irc ra ft b ase d in the n ew ly-w on Gil-ber t began t o h it cnerny b a s e in th e M ar sh aU s. T hetr"ngth of B2'! available f or c om b at averaged 61a ir p la n e s . .Th a ve ra ge n um be r o f other t yp e s a v a il -a bl e f or c om ba t a t th is lim e 1V< ' ' ' ' , !2 B - '2 ; 5 Z 2 A - 2 4sP~3gsand 26 P-to...g. W ith th e winning of the Marshall th nexttarget a rea was the Caro lin . and again i t was a job

    fo r the heav i . T ru k, Po n ap e , an d o the r Ca ro lin eI...ands were attacked.h . Th: B-24 co n tin u ed to IX ' lh\' c hi ef w e ap o nnble to hit the c DPm y aftpr IVe reaehod t h e M a r i an a s .

    T ru k, 1 "' 0 Jimn,l\IarclI a n d t be B o ni n ls lJ ln d s IV I"tbe main B-24 targets. Th e maximum f or ce o f B-24savailable Wall 151 nirplane in Dcccmbp r 1944 whena Lia ck s w or e Iwinlllm ad e 011 the Pbi lipp in!l .~ 111'0Jima, and Truk, 'i. O ki~ aw 8 fu rn is he d th e b a..: lr ur n W h1 Ch l ig ht

    a nd m e diu m bornbo rs n gn in c ou ld r ua eh a nd hil tln-enemy: Ave ra ge bom be r t rc n gLh o f he v en th A li'011 Okm aw a WaS 9 3 B -24 50 B-2 ,o ,s , an d 45 A-26 .The r e W( 'J 'r t w o heavy bomb group8, I mpdiu IJ light gmup-, m o n t

    8. ReSllltsAcaomplished.,a .. T he ('''c o th AF played a l ar g" p ar t i ll t he i Dl er .dJctlOn o f tb r cnpmy ' " b~; ! all th ~ way a e ro & ! t lw

    C en tr al P ac if ic , 1 I1 1 '0 ugb th e G ilb er ts , M ar sh lllJsCsro lines , Maritlllns, and ;R.yul..-yllS. E ne m y a ir b llS C> ~which wert' not captured IVPI,(, ullcwed to "witho r ont he v in e" . The la l.t e r in clu de d e ne my ba se l! in L lII'Ryukyus, Mnr ianas, arolines ( including Truk) , l indin th (> M s rs ha llI ela nd , A lth ou gh th ey r Cll1 nin C1 dn .a potentinl threat up to V-.I day. tlw e n em y w an ev e r able' t o m a t e r ia l iz e this threllt.,h. The en emy ' s a tt aeka on ou r bases were rein-

    tiv e ly few and w ere m ad" v e ry co s tly to him . om -plete neu t ralizat ion eventually was accornpllshed ofthe bYPJlssed enemy a ir bases: in b h e M ! l; rs h! ll l~(Jnluit, Mill, Maloelap, and Wot j e ) , in the Marianas(R ota a nd Pagan ), in t .h,. arolines (Truk, Pouape,KUMie, Satawan, W al ai, and Puluwat), and th,.Nampoho t o (Chichi J ima) , and Marcus, Truk feltth e w eight o f m or e than c t,O OO to n s ",fSev en th AFbom bs , Navy a nd Marine a il' u nit p a r t io ip ! ltd inthe Marshalls and against Truk as well as Thirteenth.AF and 1 ' 1 1 ' ntieth AF p l an e s .

    G , a r r i {f r a i r power p l ay ed an importan t part in thein te rdic tio n o f e n em y a ir ba s s , e sp ec ia lly in the p re -invasion phases of operations. Th e Thirteen th AFpart i c ipated, with the eventh AF in th e eakly at t acks011 Tru k. In th e Byukyu s and M a.r ia n a .~ , the f i rs ta tta ck s w er e carrier-borne. The Sev en th AF e ff o r tassis ted in the c on tin ua l d is lo ca tio n a nd desteuctiono f e n em y a ir and se a communications w hic h p re -v en t ed the e n em y from organising counter-attackso r p utti ng u p d am ag in g r es is tu ue e.

    9. Tbe Seventh AF Accomplished Its Mission:a. By lleutra!izi1lg 6 1 1 1 ' ; 1 1 1 1 1 ,.ir fields. The enemy ai r

    p owe r 1\ ' 1\ n ev e r able to hinder th e United. tatt'sa d " an ce th ro ugb th e Central Paci f i c , The e n em y o ft enpuL up nair interception to our uttacks.

    b. B y d e ll tr o yi 1l {} e n emy a ir c ra fl o n the gro u nd n ndin the ai l , Th.. effectiveness or o u r n e u t l' a li 1 J tt i ol lm ade it im po ss ib le fo r th e en em y to m ain lain nn yi t . .eab le ai r s treng th a l h is f o rwa rd bases , Some 336aircraft were claimed de s t r o y ed in the ail' a nd 1 22 0[1the g ro u nd . TJI~ t o t al claims, airborne a n d n o n -l ,i r-bo rn e, w ere 58 e ne my a ir cra ft de t ro y er !, 1 1 1 1 p r al lablr, an d 2 6 damaged.

    c_ By a ll ac ~ :i ng " ' nem .y sMppi'lg will. bom ll s am11l1inCb', A \though enpmy shipping wall a priority tn-f-l'I~t,s bi p B i gb ~ in g w " re relatively f ew , indicating t l! l~ tthe en em y did n o t htwe undisput.ed a c e ! !! ; !! t o hIShllrh ors o r sh iPl> in g la ne . S v Cllbh A F a tt9 ,c ks Oila!',jppi~lg du rin g the la Lte r pnrt of o p en L Li on s l ir elisted III "Exhib i t R", PUIl;!~ Z~ i ,

    d. By CQnducting 0 rill I rCl:onl1lvi"lIo1l"(l o f e ne mysealnnes, ai rf i elds und i s land bases . The Seventh AFaccomplished ~he f i rs t photo rcccuunissanen of \'lakeIsland ufter it loss to thr- enemy, and then r e co n -n o i t e r ed , in tUJ1l,bh.. Ellice, Gilbert, an d MarshallI slands , The S venth AF par ticipated with the Navyi n t he fil"St la nd-b ase d re eo nu al a nc R igh!s o ve r theMar i an a , Throughout al l operations, v isu al a ndphotogrnphie r e eo n n a i s s n n ec wn continua lly madof "IIPIl]Y b as es w it hi n r an ge .

    e. By defending our b ( U l e 1 ; agains t aerial a t t a ck .Thl'OUghout the operations in tile Central Pacific, thee n em y was n ev e r ab le to cuny out [, sus ta ined a iro f f en s i v e , although vulnerable aircraf t a nd o th erchoi e target s lay o p en to v ie w. T he Iimited siz ofo w ' a ir fi el ds m a de d is pe rs al 01 e am o nf la ge o f a ir er at tImpractical. Des p i t e thi s, the enemy wa s able tocarry o ut o nly a lim it e d n um be r o f u n co or din ate d a t-ta ck , an d these w ere m os tly in tbe i n i t i al phases ofoperatious, as during the beginning of our operationsag a i n s t the Marshalls I rom the ( Ii lber ts , The e n em ya ttu ek s w er e made very c o s! .! )' t o h im , and the dam-ag e done w as r el at i v e ly s m al l.(1) The e n em y accomplished Oil s u c c e s s f u l trikeagains t a ipan w h ic h g a in e d Sl Irp ri by com i ng inatlo w le ve l, a t n oo n, a nd c on side ra ble da ma ge w as doneto aircraft o n the ground,(2) At Okinawa, an nemy airborne ommandolanding s uc ce ed ed in d es tr oy in g e V C> 'a la ir cr af t, b uth e c os t to ths e n em y was greater than th e resultsaccomplished. (3 ) AU ill all, our ab i li ty 0 build airfields and baselarge numbers of ai rcraf t without excessive [ear ofenemy air attack i ndicated the degree of secur ity of~IU b a s e s .I.By contribulillg air strikes in s u pp o . .t of (lmphibi-OU8 lu.nd'ings in th e Gilberts (Tarawa and Mak i n ) ,th e Marshalls wajalein), the Mar i an a s (Tiniana nd Gu am ), a nd the V o l ca n o I sl an d s (IWQ J i m u ) ' .g. 8 11 r ie si l7 lc Mo li o f e ri e- my d !i c8 a nd i11i/u",nat

    re801m:es at.Nauru Island ( p il 0 6p i l! l te w o r k s) ; Pouape(town burned); Nag as ak i , Japan (s te elw or ks a ndshipyards put o u t o f operatiou}; and the J!\P~escindustria! c it ie s o f Kumumotc, Ornuta, and Oita,10. Limitittg Factors. . .a.Limi t ing factOJ 'S inevclltb I o p e r a t i o n s whIch

    wcre cbarnetcr i s t i c 01 th a g eo gr o,p hi c c on ditio ns o ft.he PllCific thuo .t re were:( 1) Th great di st&noos bet .ween i s .lunds in th elltrn.1 Paci f i c .( 2) L i m it ,e d rallgll ill ai l"Crnft

    (3). L ac k o f a ir ba se s w ithin ra nge o f t he p np my.(4) Inadeq uate wea t h e r fOIl'casting.(5) Pro ble ms o f n av iga tion o ve r gr mtL distances

    and the lack 01nnvigationul aids.(6) The limited dimensions o f m os t o f th T.sland

    i n th 'en r a I P a ci fi c.These f a c t o r s were clJective ill limiting OPCl'IltiOIl8

    m o st ly d ur in g L he f ir st th m e yea rs o f the w a r, T I1maximum efficient range of the B-24 was about 1,000mi le . Evon when wedid have IIf o rwa rd base withinrange of the enemy, such as Midway, Nanornea,M a k in , o r E n iw e to k , it c o ul d 0 0 u s ed o n ly f or s ta gi ng ,dne to limited capacity. Mo st o f the i sl ands in theantra] Pacifi are atoll or mall reef ilands without

    enough dry land 1. 0 p ro v i d e It s ingle 5,000 foot run-way. much I any mom fo r dispersal, h ou sin g, o rrvicing areas . The lIat, lo w " tol l, and reef type of

    i s land (not mar than 10or 20feet above sea level) jehn r ao t e r i tic o f the is la nds W es t o f th e Ha wa ii a nIslands, i nc lu di ng t he Ellice, Gilbert, a n d : 'I la n i lu l llI slands , and all of the 52 Caroline Islands , except 5:KUM i e . Ponape, Truk, Yap and Pa lau . The" , b e i n gwell-defended, were bypassed. Thu s itWI'" Dot untilwe reached the MRr i an a s , that we had a b8S~whichw as m uc h la rg er in e f f e e t tban an anchored aircraf tcarrier. Saipan with an a re a o f 46 square mil seemedt r em endou s in comp a r i s o n with o u r p r ev io u s ba s e .b. Other li Iniing f a c t o r s were:(1) Lack of s up plie s a nd l ac k o f " hip pin g ror tbe

    t ra n sp o rt at io n o f s up p li es W a dv a nc ed b as es .(2) Lack of maintenance Iacil it ies at advanced

    b ase s. D ue to la ck o f f ue l tru cks du rin g e nrly o pe ra -tions f ro m G u a d! ll Cl in a l a n d 1 1 '1d w ay , f ly in g p e rs o nn e lhad to service their own airplanes , and thi \\'lIS donedirectly f rom 55-ga l. drum .

    (3 ) Necessity fo r m ov ing in to a dv an ced ba s e s be -f o r e adequate Iacilities could be set up.(4) Lack o f a irc r a f t c rew s . n ti l August. 1944,

    there were not en o ug h rews to man aU avai lab leB .2 4and B-25 airplanes. III the month of December1 94 3, I c o m ba t r ep la ce m en t c re w w as r ec ei v ed ; d ur in g~nth ab o u t 20 were lost. D ur in g m a ny m on th s,n o r ep la ce m en ts w er e r ee ch 'e d.

    (5) L ac k o f a rle qu a.te tr nin in g i n c re ws trsimld inth a 'U ni ted ta teS. The Sev en th AF se t u p schools LotClIch gUI I n e ry lllld nav igat ion .

    ( 6) L uc k o f r ad ar .o ll qu ip pe d b om b er s.(i) Lack o f a ir pl an es , p a rt s, a n d e qu ip m en t.

    19

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    (AES1l l lGTEDlS EV EN TH A IR F OR CEA IR B AS ES I N T HE G IL BE RT A ND M A RS HA LL IS LA NDS(N O VE M BE R 1 94 3)

    LEGENDt:,:~"'$_uNDER CONSTRUCTlo..

    _OMONt ' 5 LANOS

    MARSHALLI SLANDS

    A A U K -GHA lN~ .. w ~~ ~MI I( II . rOl.!.. . . . . .: - j ~ ~~~O~ ..... r

    #,,~". -/,/ D "" " " 'L '- > O ',/

    .r'"''''.-.-./#!-/~.

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    110'

    RH!f;POM.,"p~NGEl A~

    110 180

    CHINA(RESTRICTED)

    AIR BASESSEVENTH AIR FORCE

    't'oO'" .CHICH JIM"\

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    liD lID 180

    (RESTR ICTED)

    CHINADATES OF FIRST MISS IONSSEVENTH AIR FORCE

    H,AWAII ANI ~ " "~, ISl ANOS

    FRE!i ICHINDO-

    CHIN..

    SOUl>!,C>!IN"SEA

    $PULUW,tl i,TO"O~IL

    A OM\1!4LTyIS LI INOS . ., ~~

    RABA.U~1>ELANOJ ! 0 . . : 1 0 UO.o, 'N\I'u..NEW8!11TAIN '.J (">... SOLOMON~~ ISLANDS~.~ D..u:ANAL

    1700 160liD 'ItO- 170

  • 8/3/2019 USSBS Report 70, The Seventh and Eleventh Air Forces in the War Against Japan

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    CANToN

    no' 160' 110'( RE S T RI C iT E D )

    CHINATA RGETS H IT.BY SEVENTH AIR FORCE

    TONNAGE DROPPED 7 DEC 1941 TO 14AUG 1945FIGURE AFTER EACH ISLANO NAME IS TONS OROPPED

    FRE tICIiINDO-

    CHINA

    :EFFECTIVE TONNAGESORTIES DROPPED

    7 CEC 1941 TO 13 NOV 1943 237 Z0213 NOV 19~3 TO I~ AUG 19~s 2~ ,B51 30,392

    TOTAL 26,066 30,594HAWAfIAN., IS,LANOS

    SOUTI'!CHINA,SE. " , 'JO, : !NS 'TQN,

    ~jW'Ol.,E.~! ~Ofi~ 10ISt/,'

    ~ PULU_" y ~~T_ !ISLAI'I09, ~~A~I~ g

    6 ,1 L.B 'E R T 15 ,1,.AN'OS~ ~T AF tA W A ~~JiAPAMAMA

    8~OW".NO~aAKER

    ADMIRALTY""'. "'o~I~19LANOSRAaAUlj ,irE ~AN 0,q~... NOUGANIIU ..L.EW BRITAIN \..",) SOLOMONNE '\:::.~ISLANDS

    co "~~AOI",CA"Al

    NAURU .bile.n-="=t:!o ................OC~AN PI'!OENIX- (llcArH"OM

    " ISLANDS; i

    130' 166' 110' 'ISO'

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    .K 0 R EA

    YELLOW SEA

    TA-CHANG 104WU-SUNG 11 6CHIANG-WAN 330LUNG-HUA 75SHANG-HAl 32

    KURUME 144~ SASEBO HARBOR 44 0c_......-' OMUTA 91 I

    OMURA 257t;)

    NAGASAK.I 299KUMAMOTO 146IZUMI 43KUSHIKINO IKAGOSH IMA 406CHIRAN 103MAKURAZAKI 19VAMAKAWA 3

    C H I N A

    TA RGETS H IT BYt} ~ SEVENTH AJR FORCEFROM OK INAWA

    J U L Y 1945 - 14 AUGUST 1945(RESTR ICTED)

    NOTE: Fi I;Jure followin9 each nomeis tonnOl;Je dropped

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    .._'UII

    5 EV E H1 H A lA F Of K :I ::TOIlS a: I I ONBS DROPPED

    C H I N A

    r w - o - o ' - U - " - - ~ - ' - - - ; r " ~ ~ ' F = = = = 1 ~ _ + - _ _-+~1CHUSAN A~F !5 ~

    ;!i.OfrK:; HA

    RYUKYUS

    ; I! '99..91014_.,~O ( J I fO iSH "

    I ,N U ., I O A I ' ( T . aN EGA ) '2 4I70 E& O HVBOR 44,D -WCURA5A lC I KMBO I i 00.:.8UR..A1S.U II!U BUUT6N .0PUGASJ I (HR OR 26!i!iHl.CiA.SAICI R.R.."I 'IRO , 0 - 0 ~T ' O ' r O O i L "" "'. ~!lUl! I I t. R~ Y AA O 3.0.cl.iQlOSKO aeI tUMA."O fO . , F " . .l.MfU!III'PZU M~.iI,'taIi:OIIIOJI3 .H~M~ !UT . . . ~TSUI i( I . " , " , , , ,K UM AN 1 S HO A /- . . . il lo n . . : . It", u.AO . ." !IIOTA IC _I F 2 .1 ({ &I IK R ~T TO - . . ." IY~Ool!O I Jf . . .: ! ; , I I oI ! ! ! ' : . I AFF .,; Z ' "

    " ' , .

    S l P P; " " "2 !IIK~OO , . . .-I'T'A,lAI(I . . . . . .( U~1 fi.il.O -[IJRUME IU.ol ! iUSU l [J . 6 :1 1 1 E 1 . llful ClSlJ Irt.ft. ' I" .6f IlD$ ".73-.KI! :,..ClH,l .R.,I. .. .TAu!1,I . ,

    21x

    J~

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    E""mr.On lmON 'N. lt S S. c \N 'CB PHASE'f P e: ce mb er lQ .U T o ia N M~ be r l D4 3.

    Ul 1610 :l

    E.m mrr HGILBERT ! SU ! "n s C ." M PA IG N13No"'t .mbe:rTo IfJ Doo : !m 'l : x" r HH : )

    ! 8t 1'CC U~ :! io flf es . .. ~ ~~ ~. _.~ ~. ~ ~. __ .. _" ' r~ r~ . ~ . ~ . ~ .iSDftit! l ;[Jbcrtl~e..~ ~ ~_~ ~, ~ _~ ~~~r~.~ ~.~.~.~_.~~_..m a4T n g - tlornbEfiI6ILllUd~_~~.~ ~~.~.~~ .._. ~.~ ~~ 10l ' 98 ~ "'o~l bomb lR~n~.o.~ fO~~~ .. ~~. ~r~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ _ ~ 39~ lo: : r n ; ! l J I 1 ' ~1'1nt~~Alrbarnt::0 . , , " " , _ _ _ . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Probab le d t : !! i C 'tD } "~ _ ~ _ ~ _ r . ~ _. __ ~ __ ~ ~ ~ l:r

    .lhJ>l _ _ ... ._ _ . _. _ ....... __ .. Nml..gjrbornt : " "" "' . . < 1_ ._ ._ . .. . _ . . _ . _ _ .. .. _ ._ .

    Probob!> d4 :l 11 - : fj l

    UIa,10 1

    H17'II

    III

    u-

    ExHIH>TiIlIty t lK Y t l C AMPA IG NI J ! . ] : ! r U T 'o 3 O JU I) O 1 94 n.

    .DlJrnb[nimrtlf:l!! 1 " NJ'n.llc~,., . r _ ~_ r _ _r.~. ~. ~ _\V Ql !! jJ ~ r ~r_ r , r . ~ _~ ~ _

    Jl,1Inl)'lllrr ~r.'r~_.- _.~_~__ 'J~ ~Ir.l'..."...................__~_._.. , 1......miltnlluul :bll; !J_hlml. OUOIO;!L_. 'r .~_r ~_lJ :! t n MP uC I1 "" ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~r ~ r ~_~.E! eo :rt_ r r ~ ~~ ~. r~._.~ 'r ~~~.~~_~_ChIJJafL.~ '..~~.~~~ ~~r~r ~~ r~.~~.~_.~K:yu .!bg ~~_~ ~_. rr.~_. ~.~r_. _

    U-ttlllGnm-p ((/fJ_4Lt 'rh 4nN"tJilbenli J}.JIIU_~__~_._~,. r1 1 b IJ I p p :l . n _u , ' ~ ' I b ld B .1 ;! I! IQ o ) ~ .~

    r". . . . r.M0011,1mj

    NC!o-a trbo rno :D.. " " y o d . ~_ _ . _I'robablo d"IrD)'i'

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    S E V E. "' Tf r A f fi FORC E COM ll A T OP El U 1 't ONS13 N"O\'l!mbr!r4a-l'l _\ug~l5t"~u.s. Jllrel'll!t t S t M) dormlalnp.

    24

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    If)! : : :z:;)..J

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    SHIPPING STRIKESE l I' ll lB l T " R " S EV EN TH A IR F On CE

    ~l"'lo" TYI" l lO,,""1III101' OW...D.!)io--rrjnU~ uuaibee 0 1 A / a NEl.rriutvl ) D~Lroycd J)1iIm!ipd N~m(g J.oco .I lop

    l ul y 1 8 F ' 1 ( f 1 1 T l i St : lOll ..t-II 11-26 . . Ale ON "tl .I .,C: tr .ANa MY ftrlke bom~d IAK .t -1AOf .' ' 'lp]l11l8 IlIJA~'(JPIJ RrVER..lull'',!1 In-30'E1\l(I; ~1-1'2 B-'I.; A t ll U lk c d 2 ' t. K ! oo b c d !. h l' lt ! i N .A ,Z E K .O AMA - : : i ! t l U l . 1 r : e n lll-2lS,rf~0o-Sl!fMA. Uotb ItIton IhllJ.lJ.cU_;ett.U ,1 I i 1.5-3Jt!July 21 . 9 8 1.-26 Af.w"edse 2 oooobod t iink,, :n NAZI! : K:O. :!mnt~~ 2 8 - - " 1 4 . N " .AMAMI 0 5 lf l~ {A . S ", r e d 8 h i, . o n . . .. .. l~E' l l .L I : y 2 2 tn.o~er. & hits 0(1amnll with 100l0 I ',0 . 1 1 0 4~ 1 1 ! 6 B-2' N f, gh t I 5I U. IO I. M: Ir I l .U I ! . e . ' k : ( ; II I 1 J l' ] 1l "Q:y. D .mppood : a : l~ i \~ ,1'.iil l J (J QJ). 1~"VE Mh H O r) [mpe ,c t u nd p er - L~EJuly2'J: ~IS1(!D"rod.Il1o'ilo.1 1 0 1 1 "9-1-127 B-2'" ~O $. tOO OP S U lv Q d h i HUANO P U R IV ER sm~l boat :n-IIiiN.d u r in g I l Lt A c lc . K lA .N 'GW ' " ANA /F f ir e d .s m l ll l 11 '1-308oo . cl 1 or c d bo LkL101 \ y221110 ...1-1,1 0....$ 1ia~'\}~RL~i~ ~l~~~~r:I~t,t5~~1~ 1r.r!.l,htu ~1 - 10 1 ' t 1 ,J u l y 2 8 llJ-30. 1 1 0 0 I I -

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    1D..'ll!E!T "II"l~i!i :\liSJioQ T , > " .D:a.IIP"'-T{F_fi i ! l l_U J!!btr {l'A'C

    l u. \y 1 7' >00 . . . . . . "P'--fjJ1J.I) Iila m tIlum '[n!lVJtI".f rtd;I!~ : [ U ! : o d , !:An.l!d. tSrootll.i!ii .t Ui-.!!ihl~ In hllirbQr. on" : t : o . r n . rruns-~~,~:r.~ilul~,:.hll~ bg:mr ll_ TFDf ." jn :d 0 0 , n fbt.lfill: ' C f > 5 e : J , h ru -o o r ~ 1 It. K:tJ EI : A ~7.. . "J.1 " rU 'I x J . b: l G S .A8 ! " OC :' I ! :" ' U ~ J. I ' l k l wu '0 P. bou I I I ,YJl,~'rAR"..i\WA..l ( o cL i : - !. ! ' le t i ; t . :r t d I . U 'I l t tf J . , 8 r ({I 11 n '~ l ! i I m tl , 2in.t:I~li!Iblp.'l..Slnle-i 8 J ' : J f l d t1 itmYEd 00, , ~ &bj nJ ! bcac I.,drvaoot.St: na ttd e ml dJ lm B, ~ . .. .J: ,f(I h l U~ !f lI j : Il l.F 'O 'k ."" l 1SLUMA.2,h.n.rbar tJD : ! i I 'L ! I i aCIi iJcd .nil n r Pd : ~ , .. : :rr.~U!ir ~ ~ .

    OOOloo t '~ 1ao o 'ootT.

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    6 0 1 \ f l : !I J J. n 1\~IS.'8/'11

    ao n I1MluJl:c n . 1 'L .

    26

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    ~E= , . ,~ ~ , . ,:3 I-Jm .121- .3 ( 1E2~~N[121-00

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    1~i~,.;

    ~Xl1!l!!T "Jl" SHIPPING STRIKES5EVEN ' l1 ! A IR FORCE f lOMB ! ll 1 Sn~m.Q

    Jil-&)X.I~E~~.1$:3'!~ - . . . r ~1:!2-Zl~!~"l.. . . . . . , E" " " ' " " ' ., . , . . . E"'_",y,lill-iDEit:i~~:J.i-,17~13! :- :5ENOfJU;

    27

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    PART TWoELEVENTH AIR FORCE OPERATIONS

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    I Backgrou.nd of United States Air Power in Alaska , ..II Phases ofEleventh Air Force Activiries and Limiting Factors.III Strategic Defensive Phase , , , .IV Tactical Offensive Phase .V Strategic Bombardment Phase.' .VI Conclusions .......................................... , .VII Staristics , .

    28

    34.

    42

    LIST OF EXHIBITSA General Map of Canada, Alaska and the Aleutians .

    Map of the Aleutian Islands ..Great. Circle Chart Showing Relation of Aleutians andKuriles to rhe Japanese Homeland " .

    D ArmY.;vr Force Planes in the Alaskan Theatre (Heavy andMedium Bombers) , , , , , -, :

    30B 30c

    31

    32E Army Air Force Planes in the Alaskan Theatre (Fighters), .

    Command Channels During the AttuKiska Campaign .33

    F 3734G Photographs of Salmon LagGon Runway ..................H Photographs of Main Japanese Camp on Kiska, .

    39353644

    40Gun of a Japan.ese Coastal Defense Battery Oil Kiska PutOm of Action by 600 Lb. Bomb ., ,............ 41

    49 Gun of 'a Japanese 75 MM AntiAircraft Battery on KiskaDestroyed by Direct Bomb Hit , , .. , " , , " ,49

    K Command Channels During Bombing of the Kuriles , . , . . . . . 43L Bomb Ton.nage Dropped Monthly by Eleventh AF During

    Strategic Attacks on Targets in the Kuriles , . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46M Average. Combat Hours Flown Per AS!ligned Crew During

    Bombing of the Kurues "., . '" 47N Japanese Fisherres and Canneries.,." ,., , , ... ".. 48o Map of Kurile Islands-Principal Targets Facing P. 50

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    ."n"U 1C1LCIUC~ U~

    MILSO (-J!>UfO. o t _ - TQ(yQ Z.S50It.TTU.PAR_IROt~) eo o

    :30

    _"hJhil C GREAT aRCLE CHART SHOWING RELATION OF AL TIANS AND K RILES TO THE JAPANESEHom eLAND. (Thr G,.t!ill Orel, 11;1' rONlrj.,."m ~"IIII! II; 'T(JJ:19(}I~/he AllIl i l i tms. "m' Kkril~1 is. Jttutiy J,.;l.OO ilil' lfIi/~j tlHwUI'thall t h r : fDI t~ ' - h n J I I g ! J H~wa;;~)

    U.S.S."R

    Cl-llNA,.'

    0 - -

    ~I

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    lU0: :. . .C(l&II. . .ZC(lI:enC(..J VIC( Ct:11. JmI.IJ ~I 0. . . mZ ~: : : : >ae n 11. Jl&I ~ZC( a..J za.. -I.IJ >0 -20: :C(

    T1 0 0 " ' " /~~ . . . 'I III, \oj. . . .

    t lit. ~~: I \L~I ~ eI ~~

    ~I j g",, v . . , 1 : ;. . . . . . . . . I ~ . .. . . I ",'".,~ , 0'"i " ' " . : ; : ;I II II :IIi ILI -.jI' / 0" z- - " " ' - V 0~, 7 It)" '- . . .p :::I ~~~;I! . .'".. . J .!!!~ - . .'. i/> ,. ~J . ~~1!i!;"" . .. . . . . . . ' " ,. . . . . :II\ . .,.\ :II_, . " ILr--~y ILl:- . . - . I!! .,'.. . 'i ~I~ 07 1 z~'\.. I ~ 0l' w j : '"7 . . . . . . . . . . !I&I . .

    " ' I o . ~ ~ ., . . .. .0 '" 0 '" 0 '" . .o '". o '" o

    . .-::Ii '". . .IL

    0-zoIt). . .., .:10. .

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    1& 1... - It)1aI9 ID ::.",,,,..JLLi.alcD::I20OlDcD

    >-~:>-..01 & 1 ' ":1:2I !32

    E.XHIBIT 0

    I1 ' - .I.-""" "'~,) aI -I " " " ' - - .. . ~"-- . .'""- GI-I 21~:I . . . . .I ::>a : . ,II "'2

    I,,. .J 0\ zII 0'"~~., . . . . . ./ I : if! . .- - . . . . . . . . . U!~~ .. ,'- ~!C:= -a/ s~ . .I :.7 .. ."I.../ Ii . .v ~ i ! S ! 0

    ::;0"" z~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - 0

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    I.BACKGROUND OF U. S. AIR POWER INALASKA

    1. Formation.Alaska had no air defenses un il the outbreak of

    WIlT in Europe at which time t he ceustruction of anetwork of air bases centering at Anchorage WIlS be -gun. InAugust, 1940, tlle first aircraft assign. d to theAl askan D flln'l'l For arrived and by mid-1941 af ighter squadron ofP-36's and a bomber squadron ofB-1S's were operational. Five weeks after PearlHarbor an "Al.H.skan Air Force" was created and on4 February 19,1,2 i t was designated off icial ly a thEleventh AF.2. Areas oj Ope.,atiolls.Alaska has about one-third th area of the conti-

    nental nited :tates. From wllStemAlaska the bar renand foggy Aleutian Islands stretch outinto the Nor tbPaeif ic more than 1,150 miles along the Great Circlerome between Nor tb America and the Orienb, At tbestart ofwar with Japan th population of Alaska WaSabout 90,000, of which approximately two-thirdswere native Alaskan Indians and Eskimos. The onlywhite inhab itan ts of the Aleunans, as ide from mis-s iona ries and t raders, wer e personnel of weathe rstations onthe.larger islands and ofthe Dut-chHarborNaval base. Outside ofa few Alaskan "cities" such asJuneau and Fairbanks, not many modern facil it ies oftransport and eommunieations existed. Only some100 miles ofrailroad were inoperation and there werefew roads. Long distance travel was byboat along thecoast and by commercial air line, suppl 'lInented byai l' cha rter moos, in the interior. The Alaskan ai r-

    por ts were mostly r iver seudbars or clear ing on. thetundra not suitable for militery operations, Wintertemperatures of40 degrees below z er o i n the Alaskanioter ior created many new problems lor planes builtto lIy in more temperate zones . Such (!Kt , remely lowtemperatures do oot occur in the Ale~ltill.n8.3. ForcesAvailable.The Eleven th AF a:t no t ime duting the war hadlarge numbers ofaircraft at i ts disposal. The follow-ing ummary shows the maximum for each type:a. Heavy Bombers: The maximum number ofheavybombers in the Alllskn:nThoo.tre was 33 in December

    J9!l2. From then until the fo llowing August , theave rage number was 30, and a fter tha t u.nt il tbe endof the war the number f luctuated between 13 a nd 2 2.b. M e d i un i B ombe r s: Fifty-four medium bo m hers,the maximum eoneenbration, were on hand in August19 !13 . From then unt il the Japanese surrende r inAugust 1945 the number Buctua .t ed be tween 23and 50.c. Fighters: InAugust 1943 there were 192 f ighteraircraf t inthe Alaskan theatre, the maxim urn for anymonth of tbe war . From thlt date until the end of thewar ,the number f luctuated between 112 and 158.It i of intere st that the Japanese est imated 800American aircraft to be based in Alaska. throughou tthe war,although the actual number, including Naval

    aircraft, usually wa s between one -thi rd and one-fourth of that number./"

    11 .PHASES OF ELEVENTH AF ACTIVITIES AND LIMITING FACTORS

    1. Phases oj Eleventh AF Activities.Operations of the Eleventh AF i n the war withJapan may be div ided into three ma jor phases:a. S t rr d e gi c D ! jt ll si u e Phm;e-7 Decemaer 191il-4 Ju.ne 194:This phase ' ended when the Japanese invaded the

    WeJ!tern Aleutians whilp. simultaneously attlwkingMidway.

    b. T ad .i ca l A ir O ff en si ve A ga in .t A tt u a nd K is ko .-4 JU1te 191,$-10 August 1943: Thil l phase saw allpossible air power brought to bear against Japanesepcsi t iona on Attu and Kiska, and ended wi tb theabandonment ofKiska by the Japanese under eoverof fog tbree months after Attu was stormed byAmerican troops.

    34

    c. Strategic BombinlJ OjfeMive-lO July 191,9-14 A UI/ItS! 19J ,5: This phase began while th e Japnnese01 1Risko. still were under tactical at!.n.ck an d endedonly with the complete eurrcnder of Japan.2. Limiting Factors.a. We al"~r: The chief limiting fll.lltorin EleventhAF oper at ions throughout the war was \Veat ll er.

    Clouds, fog, rain and ice were the rulerather than theexception, and Ult')' were always 1 lI 0] 'e o f a menace toa bombing mission than Japanese f igbter a.ircrnft .Eleventh AJi'pilots who weretrained inTexas had loadjust themselves to flying in a region where airportcould suddenly become closed- in by fog and wherehigh velooity williwaws eapabl of tearing the wingsoff a combat plane often developed. Even in fore.cas ting, many factors combined to handicap UnitedStates weather men. III the Nortb Paci f i c , weathermoves f rom we t to east. terms swinging northeastalong the coast o f the Japanese Is lands into Ber ingSea sometimes appeared in Ut e Aleutian area withlit tle warning. Russian weather repor ts f rom Kam-chatka, when available were invaluable, but werefrequently garb led in transmission.When Eleventh Alf operations began, bombing ofnecesslty WE;; entirely visual. Aircraf t sometimesbecame lost in fog while returning to has ,and pilotsHewwtth the mental handicap ofknowing that deathf rom exposure might follow bailing out 0]' a forcedlauding.A nUruber 0f nil, i ga bi on a 1 aids were adopted

    by tho Eleventh AF which resul ted in a con tinualimprovemen t of the aituaion, and to a large degreeoffset the limiting effects ofweather upon operations.In 1943an inmrument flyingschool W88 establisbedfor Eleventh AF pilots. During the f in lt part of 1944,the installation ofSCS-51 equipment forlocating air-craft in tb air and of Ground Controlled Approachsystems lessened the po ibi li ti es of Uni ted tatesaircraft becoming lost or having landing aceid 0 infog. The problem of weather at tb target sti ll . Te-r n a i n ed , however. In Ja n ua ry 1 9 4: 5, high r e s o lu t io nH2X equipment was introduced which made it pos-s ible to bomb targets through a complete overcast,Out of 263Eleventh AFsorties during 1945on whichbomb. were dropped, visual bombing was aeeom-pIished on 126 an d radar On J 37, bu t neatly all thesort ie s employed radar to some degr ee be fore theactual release of the bombs.b. Ol"er i m po r ta n : l im i ti ll g ! a do r s:(1) Japanese flak which was ~ry effective, partie-ularly againsf low-HyingmedIUIll bombers, and whichbecame more concentrated around importan targets

    in the Kuri les a s Eleventh AF strategic bombingprogressed.(2) Lack of aircmft and equipment.(3) Lack ofany great number ofimportant targets

    within bombing range dur ing be strategic bombingphase.

    2. Defense Plans.The initial d Iense plan- called for two major basesat Aruiliomgeand Fairbanks and 10ormo re advancedbases s t rct chin l): f rom Poin Barrow above the Arcticira! to Juneau in the Alaskan "panhandle" . Con-struetiou for these was pu h d dur ing 1940and 1941-In October 19101he \Var Department ga,,,, permi s-

    s ion for the diver ting ofman and equipment to ColdBav 00 the A1f lskan penin ula and Otter Point 00mnak Island of the Aleutians to construct airfieldsfor the defen e of the ' aval Base a t Dutch Harbor.

    1 I 1 .STRATEGIC DEFENSIVE PHASE

    1. Genera! Concetu.I t was recognlzcd before the outbreak ofwar thatai r power was the key to the de fense of Alm;ka . I o1922Brigadier Gun rn] Willi am Mitchell, Ass i s t ll .n t

    Chief of the Air orps said: "Alaska could becomethe stepping-stone of invasion from the OrienLa~~ itcan be defended only by air power ." In11140MQ,JorG~n e Tl l' ( then Colonel) Si1Il0 n Bolivar Buokner J ro oground forces officer COllllll lUtdiog rho Alaskan Do-PllJ"tm(lntITpolted to Washington thllt "onegq~n~ollofheavy bombers isofmore use to me than n divisionof ilToulld troops,"

    35

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    Construction of th two air fields was car ried on8.11hrough the winter of Ul41-42, and by he follow-ing pring Ii5,000 foot runway had boon completedat each location, When it was found thaL surfaceshipping was not bringing in bomb and ammunltionfast enough, commercial planes and pilots f lew themin.3. JapnllBse Inuasion.During the last da~ of l-lay 1942, a Japan seNaval Task Force, oo--

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    n atu ra l smoke e cr eon (m su(f"et shlps bringingsup-p lie s f rom th e Ku ril es , ' .1 1m Unit ed St.nr,," nir effortwaa directed towards disrnptio.g this mov""u'ut ofsupplies and relnfurecmcnts whenever possibh- bysinking ships: and t owards des troying j .2 .c ti ()ul targets(Ill tlw t wo i sl an da , s u ch D"'$UPP ly du m p s a n il barrackareas, Italso had the j:ob 01 preventing the enemyIrom bui lding airfield Jacilines wh ich would enableh im t o r e1 l1 n~ h is Hoat Z eros w it h b et te r p er fo rm ingland-based a~rcror t. The major tactical targetstherefore were:

    a, JapllD"east of Kiska. .n d by d ra in in g a tt da l l ngoon, Were able to constructlUl excellent airfield in less than 15 , io :YlI . On 14ptember 194:2, th e f ir st li gh tr r- < lr ,r te d bombing

    mission against t h r- Ja panese posi t io u s to ok o lf f romAdo.k_ In October 1942, the f ield headqua rte rs of theEie"en-th AF was moved fr om Kodiak to Adak .On H J anu Bry 1943, AI!!eri can troops wen l ashoreou Amch i tk n 1 8 11 1 O d,only 75 miles f ro m K is k a andOne mOD tlt la t er Ame ric a n fighte r pi I 0tilwP,," t akingcrii from !l. newly-built a ir str ip . D espit e b ad wea th erand poor visibil ity Ele"l'llth AF fight ers and bomberscoutinued TO a tt ac k t he .r apanese posit ions Ihrough-out ehe winter of l!I42-43. These attacks delayedpro gress of J apanes e c cnatruction cr ews in building a'run "'!l.)' a t Sa lmon Lagoon on Kiska [!nd dOB~roy~df loot-liypc Zero lighters as f""l 811 th e e nemy ne wthem in. A r f . t > r March 1943, fp w enemy a lr er af t w er ebasad in the Aleutians. On I Aprll 194~, AdmirolKink aid, wh o h a d been Laid thai; "ffenlliw operntionswore &0 be car ried out with tilt' Iorces already at hiBdi spoSl I, presomtcd 10 tbe Joint Chiefs of Staff in

    Wash i ng to u ,\ p la n to i so hlLC t he !Uai n Japanese ba seon J {is ka by fir.t ca ptur ing Atfu, and occupying sev-pnd other i slands b('tw{'('n Kisk" and Japan, TI1is WIl.Sapp roved and on L l ; "I lln y1943, Amenc en ~t '( )o ps w en tn s h o re , L . ~t o l \ I! 1 Yand ~nr ly June 1 '< ' at 1 - h ( , begi! lningof Ih . . SC(L."Oll nf worst fog in the Aleutians but th"E lc "p nl-h A .F w as u b le to carry out st.mfing attackson J ap an es e ~t ro n] !. ' p o in ts in udd iti on to p er fo rm ingvaluabl e scout ing duty.The Navy brought in tho baby carrier NASSA.U

    to help provide air cover for Lbe amphibious {orGe,'uud J nt, 1' ft hr carri er 's ' 'Wil dc l1 t' '6gh ters were ass ignedto close sup port of the ground forces ashore, Of tIlecarrier's 2'" airoraft, 7 "r(!re lost from all C!lllse~-mostly bad wP~ thor;4...Lad ojJapmltse Air Potuer.Sa thorough Iy had J epanese air strcn gth been

    made inoperative as far as the Battle of Attu wascon eerned, tha t the Japanese TIl ade only three njrnttacks-l\LI at 10Dg range from Paramushiru in theKuril~s-in an attempt 1 -0a id their eml ia tt led forces.'Phe first two, on 13 and 22 NIay (14 a J}{123 May ,Japanese L im e) \V er< 'a bo rtiv e. O n 2 3 M ay 1 24 M IlY ,J.apanese time) the enemy sent ou t 17 twin-en ginedbombers , which wer e interce pted by EI ,eve nth Ali 'P,38s. The Japanese lost about Jive. lIircrMt in thecombat.5. Camplligu Against Kiskll.On 29 " ,la y, the da y On which Aut . ! W(l:S declared

    clc!> red of J apanes e tr oops, American f orce s s eize dthe !lUll

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    DESTR CTION Of JAPANESE SEAPLANE HA GAR AT MAlN CAMP ON ".15K'" BY El.EV1:NTIolAlR FORCEBOMBS

    71":211--17-7

    41

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    '""

    42

    COMMAND CHANNELS DURING BOMBING OF THE KURILES

    COM NOR PAC(NAVAL COMMANDER,NORTH PACIFIC)

    IAIR TASK FORCE 90

    (AIR FORCES OF THE N. PACIFICl

    1 1AIR STRIKING GRP AIR SARCH GR PTASK GRP 90.2l IoSK G II P 9 0. 1

    FLEET AIR WING 4I ELEVENTH AF'

    21TH 101llARD GRP (COMPOSITE) 343RD FTR GRP

    IBOMB so 11-24) 11TH FTII SQ (P-401404TH 18TH HR SO {P- 40!17TH IOIUI SO (B'25) 344TH FT R SQ (P40

    54TH FTR SO (p.3I)

    HOTE: ALSO UNDER ELEVEIITH AF WERE'TH E 54TH TIIOOP CAIIIIIIII SOeo THE 11ITH TOW T""GET SO

    EXHIBIT K4: 1

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    the -m :;tn c am p a re a . In additio n , 7 build ings ha dbeen damaged by t h b omb i ng . ~~O!:1 . miles, a nd c on se qu en tly ~ v~ ry m is sio n in-v o lv e d a n ov e rw a te T !light o f m O re th M 1 ,60 0 m ile s . .

    Of [ ' I! n t h e overwatcr el i stance IVas neurer 2 ,0 00 m i I c s .A f o r c rc l I l In d in g nt sea meant I , Jmos t cer t ain dca.thf ro m e X' pO SU I "P . . T i n~Jo ii' 'lUi pe" !Illcl "ChnO' ' ' wereIlm plo y cd fm m I;im e to tim e IIJld Japanese rad&fs t at ions ill t h e K u r ilM r a .e l y piektd u p U n ik d Stl l- tesb om be rs m o re th aD 2 0 m in ute s a wa ylr om the wr get .At t im e s , h o we v e r, t he J ap a n es e f lak in t ho K u r il esw as v ery a cc uro te n od the D um be r I) f g un s a nd !l ot i to -m a ! ;i c w e a po n s i n cr ~ a1 i ll d.

    In Febru a ry 1 9(1 5, fo r m u..m pJe , the en em y had84 guns Iln d ll7 a u t om atic w ea po ns o pp oa in .g Elev-entb AF a ttacks; by the e nd .o f the w ar the c ou nt w us

    44

    J1 :i - un d 1 i5 2 ," Cg p< le ti vc l~ . O n e f m l Il at io n o f ~ ig htbaa:" , ' h om ber s ha d .5ve lu:rcral, dll:m~J!;~dby Hl!.kanddlllJI'~ on . t ,h r (! e -m o n t l~ p e r io d in 194.5 , m o re t ha n50 p er c ell~ of the m ediu m bo mbe r fm ee WIlS "hotd awn 01 f o n : ed to l an d i n n e ut ra l territory.2. Filc~tAttn cks.On 1 0 July 1 9 "' ~, s ix B -: 2S "Mikhail" med i um

    b o mh ll l1 l t oo k o ff f ro U , t be newly-cQmple tl '{jluDwn.o n A ttu and m ade tho long f l ig h tt .o P n r am u sh i ru t~corry off t l l p . first direct attnck ()II th e Japauesa h om eislands s in ce t he "Doolistle r ai d" o f" ] 2 Apr i l 1 9 4 2. A llretu rned safely. A weak la te r a B -24 m iss io n whileh om b in ~ s ec ~r-ed the s f O l ' t photog raphs (If Jap n n e s e1D1I t t l il IL I li on s I I I the Kuriles, O n II A llgu st 1 943 the~ ~ A m.e ri ca l l a i r c r a f t w a s ! > ,s L111m- th e l' d r o PI :> e c lII'OSJlUl~ 1945when 96.8 tal l" fe l l o n [ 'l rg r- ts i n t hp Kuriks."I. B,dld-(lp Q j J"pall,ese. Defellses.At a bout tim t im~ Attu WO" being m o pp ed l ip hy

    A lt mr iC l> Il f ot :c es t he . )u pa n( s c b O~ 1 I t p t nk " a ct iv es lo ps 1 0 c oun t e r w ha t t he y "onsLcll ' l" " I I

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    BOMB TONNAGE DROPPED MONTHLY BY ELEVENTH AFDURING STRATEG IC ATTACKS ON TARGETS

    IN THE KURILESTONS

    1945

    EXHIBIT L16

    AVERAGE COMBAT HOURS FLOWN PERASSIGNED CREW DURING BOMBING

    OF THE KURILES

    so(HEAVY BOMBERS I , _I)1 \ j~ V "1\V \ J r \VI'.V 1 \i\L V \ J

    l/

    40

    30

    20

    10

    o JfNAIIJJ ASONOJFNA",JJA1944 19411

    eo (JEOIUII BOMBERS'

    J~l- V \ /t-r\_V "V - V" r-, ' "I J J It

    40

    30

    20

    10

    o SONOJfllllA19 4'

    J F III It iii J J A, 9 4 4

    EXH IBIT M47

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    LEGEND" SI

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    4. tis.Losus.

    It ill of int er es t t o not e that due to the wea ther ,rough terrainand other haadieaps, the Eleventh AFI

    . . . .

    bad a ratio of total theatre los s to combat 108$ ofapproximately 6.5 to 1 as compared with an averageo f a p pr ox im ate ly 3 t o 1 f or a ll o th er Pacific,air forCatI.5. us. CWms.

    50

    ii,. ,

    SEA

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    SEA OF OKHOTSK

    ~U'RU'PPU - 10

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    oo . . .

    . . . . r ,. rEXHIBIT 0

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    UNITED STATES STRATEGIC BOMBING SURVEYUST OF REPORTS

    The fOI l( }Wi.n g ;5 a b ib ll ok rn pby o f r apor ts r .~l t; jt lg f romtIle Sur vey's studies of the Eur opoan and Paeifie WIll'S. Thoser eports marked w ith an a ste ris k (0) may be pur chase d fr omtheSuperiDtendcnt of Dceuments at the GoverumantP rin .ti ng Of fi ce , Wnsh in gto n, D . C .

    Buropean WarOFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN

    '1 The United taws Strategic Bombing Survey: Sum-mnry Report (Eur opean War)

    "2 The United tales Strategic Bombing Survey: Over.allReport (Europea n War )"3 The Effects of Strategic Bombing on the German

    Wll.Econ(}myAIRCRAFT DIVISION(By Dl viai.oItand Branch)

    4 Aircraft Di vis io n Indus tr y R epor t5 l!lSpection Visits to Various Targe ts (Spooit d Repor t)

    A id"rames BranchJunkers Aifcraft nnd Aero Eng in e 'Wo rk s, Dessau,Germany

    ErIn Maschinenwerke G m b H, Heiter bliek, aermllDA T G Masehinenbau, G m b H, Leipzig (Mock"u).Germany

    Gothaer Wnggcmf"brik, A G Gotha, GermanyFocke Wul i A ir cr af t P la nt , B remen, O" rm1l J.1Y

    (over.au Report

    M essersch mitt A G, Port AAUgliburg, Germany Part B .

    Appeudices T, n, lITDor nier Works , Fr iedr tchs hafen '" Munich, GermanyGerhard Finslilllr Worke G m h B, I{u"""I, GermanyWiene r Neus tu ed ta r F lu gs eugwerke , \V i ener Neu-stadt , Austrin

    Aero Engines BranchBussing NAG FlugmoLorenwerkc m b H, Bruns-wick, Germuny

    Mittel.Denlsel", Motorcnw rke G III h H, Taucha,G many

    Bavarian Mol

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    Abn.sive..~ B(liOch51 The Oermnu Abrn sh "e Industry5 2 M n .) f ~r a n d S ch m id t, Q iT un hf lu h 011 Mn l n , Germany

    AntiFrierion Br-anc:b" '5 3 T he G erm an A nt i-F rl eH c.: m & tn -i uw o Jndust ry

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