December 8, 1941

December 8, 1941 PDF Author: William H. Bartsch
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1603447415
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 569

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Book Description
Ten 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.

December 8, 1941

December 8, 1941 PDF Author: William H. Bartsch
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1603447415
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 569

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ten 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.

Every Day a Nightmare

Every Day a Nightmare PDF Author: William H. Bartsch
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1603442464
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
Bringing to life the story of American pursuit pilots in the Pacific during the disastrous early days of World War II ...

The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume One: Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942

The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume One: Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942 PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915869
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 863

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Book Description


Into Fields of Fire

Into Fields of Fire PDF Author: Austin J. Buchanan
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465322779
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
This story is taken from notes Austin Buck Buchanan wrote in notebooks he carried in his pocket all during World War II. Buck is no longer with us. W. L. George Collins edited and compiled Bucks notes into a manuscript that became this book. Here you will ride with Buck as he flies his plane through a field of fire so intense that one shell blows a hole in the plane big enough for a man to go through and uncountable bullet holes perforated the plane. All aircraft controls are shot out except elevator and ailerons. You will ride with him as he manages to complete his mission and bring his barely flying plane back to England. And you will ride with him through hundreds more such harrowing trips, in his C-47 with no armor plate and no guns, into other fields of fire and often impossible weather. W. L. George Collins was a pilot in the same Troop Carrier Group as Buck. His writings have been published in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. He was awarded the George Washington Honor Medal by Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, among other writing awards.

Fortress Against The Sun

Fortress Against The Sun PDF Author: Gene E. Salecker
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 0306817152
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
Most often remembered for its role in the air war against Germany, no book has ever before been devoted to the B-17's Pacific operations. The author combines technical and operational detail with eyewitness accounts by crews and commanders to present a fascinating account of a famous aircraft at war.

The Army Air Forces in World War II: Plans and early operations, January 1939 to August 1942

The Army Air Forces in World War II: Plans and early operations, January 1939 to August 1942 PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 874

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Book Description


The Army Air Forces in World War II

The Army Air Forces in World War II PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 882

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Book Description


Overlord's Eagles

Overlord's Eagles PDF Author: John J. Sullivan
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476611394
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched Operation Overlord, the largest, most hazardous amphibious assault in history. The objective: establishment of a lodgment area in Normandy from which the Allies could strike at the heart of Germany and destroy the German armed forces. Air supremacy over northwest Europe was an absolute prerequisite for the success of the invasion, and to achieve it the U.S. Army Air Forces launched two campaigns aimed at destroying the Germans' transportation advantages in the area. In the months and days leading up to the assault, the Army Air Forces ceaselessly bombed rail centers, rendering most of the railways in northern France and Belgium unusable. Once the actual invasion was underway, the Allies shifted to an interdiction campaign, using precise air attacks on critical transportation installations near the battlefield to neutralize Germany's efforts to resupply and reinforce their troops. This work makes use of many wartime records that had remained classified until recently.

At the Hinge of History

At the Hinge of History PDF Author: Joseph C. Harsch
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820336866
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
In a news career spanning more than sixty years, Joseph C. Harsch was a firsthand witness to many of the great events of the twentieth century. As a reporter and columnist for the Christian Science Monitor, and as a correspondent for all three of the major networks, he became one of the most respected figures in the profession, a mentor to a generation of journalists covering international affairs. At the Hinge of History is Harsch's career autobiography. What is most striking in this deftly rendered account is Harsch's uncanny knack for being at the right place at the right time. He was a reporter in Washington when President Hoover began to grasp the magnitude of the economic crisis that became known as the Great Depression. While traveling to the Soviet Union in 1941, he arrived in Hawaii just before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was with General MacArthur in Australia on the occasion of the "I shall return" speech. He reported from the liberated death camps in 1945, went behind the newly forged Iron Curtain in 1947 and 1949, and was stationed in London when certain postwar pressures tested the Anglo-American alliance. Throughout the book, Harsch reveals an overarching perspective that places major events in a larger historical context. This is especially evident in the later chapters when he discussed the course of the Cold War, the role of ideology in the American view of China and the conduct of the Vietnam War, and the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The book is filled with fascinating sketches of his encounters with such figures as President Roosevelt, General MacArthur, Dean Acheson, Walter Lippmann, and Adlai Stevenson. On occasion, Harsch recalls events not recounted elsewhere, and he frequently casts a new light on familiar ground. In one eye-opening chapter, for example, he describes the international effort in the 1930s to resettle European Jews in Angola--an effort that collapsed when Hitler invaded Poland. He provides a chilling firsthand recollection of the complacency and unpreparedness that preceded the Pearl Harbor bombing. In still other chapters he relates his role in the "capture" of Nazi leader Albert Speer and in the investigation following the mysterious murder in Greece of his fellow correspondent George Polk. At once refreshingly direct and replete with self-effacing irony, At the Hinge of History is a memorable testament to the personal qualities of its author, to the art and science of journalism, and to the tumultuous twentieth century.

World War II

World War II PDF Author: Howard J. Langer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135946337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
An all-encompassing book with more than a thousand quotations, this work breathes life into an era unprecedented in world history. It looks at World War II in a new way with quotations from speeches, news accounts, memoirs, and interviews. Represented, too, are captured documents and material from Ultra and Magic, which broke the German and Japanese secret codes. All major political and military figures of the war are included, as well as many hitherto unknown. In addition, the encyclopedia serves as a lexicon of slang, nicknames and code names, and of war movies and war songs.