MacArthur’s Air Force: American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941

MacArthur’s Air Force

American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941–51

MacArthur’s Air Force

American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941–51

Description

General Douglas MacArthur is one of the towering figures of World War II, and indeed of the twentieth century, but his leadership of the second largest air force in the USAAF is often overlooked.

When World War II ended, the three numbered air forces (the Fifth, Thirteenth and Seventh) under his command possessed 4,004 combat aircraft, 433 reconnaissance aircraft and 922 transports. After being humbled by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942, MacArthur and his air chief General George Kenney rebuilt the US aerial presence in the Pacific, helping Allied naval and ground forces to push back the Japanese Air Force, re-take the Philippines, and carry the war north towards the Home Islands.

Following the end of World War II MacArthur was the highest military and political authority in Japan, and at the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 he was named as Commander in Chief, United Nations Command. In the ten months of his command his Far East Air Forces increased dramatically and saw the first aerial combat between jet fighters.

Written by award-winning aviation historian Bill Yenne, this engrossing book traces the journey of American air forces in the Pacific under General MacArthur's command, from their lowly beginnings to their eventual triumph over Imperial Japan, followed by their entry into the jet age in the skies over Korea.

Prologue: MacArthur and Airpower

Chapter 1: Starting Out in the Crosshairs of Calamity
Chapter 2: Shoestring Air Force
Chapter 3: Who's in Charge of What?
Chapter 4: Making Do with Nothing
Chapter 5: Clinging to New Guinea
Chapter 6: The Battles of Buna
Chapter 7: Airpower Over Naval Power
Chapter 8: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea
Chapter 9: Japanese Air Superiority Challenged
Chapter 10: Japanese Air Superiority Met Head-On
Chapter 11: Allied Air Superiority Achieved
Chapter 12: Cartwheel Over Rabaul
Chapter 13: Expanding the Perimeter
Chapter 14: The Ploesti of the Pacific
Chapter 15: MacArthur's Return to the Philippines
Chapter 16: MacArthur's Expanding Air Force
Chapter 17: Victory in Leyte and Mindoro
Chapter 18: The Bloody Road to Manila
Chapter 19: The Superfortress
Chapter 20: From Borneo to Formosa
Chapter 21: First Strikes on Japan
Chapter 23: After the War
Chapter 24: MacArthur's Air Force in Korea

Epilogue: By the Numbers

Product details

Published	19 Sep 2019
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	320
ISBN	9781472833235
Imprint	Osprey Publishing
Illustrations	32pp plate section in b&w
Dimensions	234 x 153 mm
Series	General Aviation
Short code	GNA
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

A book by Bill Yenne is always a treat, and this one exceeds his own best efforts. I can guarantee that you will be engaged by his master storytelling from his opening words to the very last page of what I consider to be his finest work yet.

Col. Walter J. Boyne, USAF (Ret.), combat veteran and aviation historian
'Bill Yenne has given readers another fact-filled, chronological book detailing the Pacific War with MacArthur's Air Force... [This book] is for the reader who wants a broad history filled in with the fun details. Who else but Bill Yenne would quote messages back and forth of American air commanders trying to rein in air ace Richard Bong as he kept wanting to fly? The tongue-in-cheek admonishments of the generals to Bong to be careful in the air are worth the price of this book

Clint Johnson, author of 'Tin Cans & Greyhounds: The Destroyers that Won Two World Wars'
This authoritative and engaging work of military nonfiction traces the history of the air forces commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, from the B-17 bomber crews defending the Philippines against Japanese invasion in 1941 to the F-86 jet pilots dueling with Communist MiGs over Korea a decade later. A must-read for anyone interested in American airpower and the epic career of one of the nation's most famous-and controversial-military leaders.

Steven K. Bailey, author of 'Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942-1945'
In this book, Bill Yenne expertly guides the reader through the development of MacArthur's air force, from just a few planes and crews to the force that would dominate the skies and lead to the final days of the Rising Sun. This revelatory and groundbreaking chronicle reinforces the legacy of a general who stands alone in modern military history.

Brian Sobel, author of 'The Fighting Pattons'