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Text originally published in 1946 under the same title.
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Although in most cases we have retained the Authors original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern readers benefit.
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THE
THE WAR IN THE AIR IN THE PACIFIC, MIDDLE EAST AND EUROPE
3 October 1941 8 May 1945
BY
LEWIS H. BRERETON
Lieutenant General, U.S.A.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER
DEDICATION
TO
THE MEN, LIVING AND DEAD, WHO BOMBED THE PLOESTI OIL REFINERIES
AUGUST 1, 1943
PREFACE
T HIS book is a record of events of World War II as I saw them. No attempt was made to write a history of the war.
I was fortunate in serving in most Theaters of Operations and seeing action in many of the important campaigns of the war. Even before war broke out, I realized that an accurate on-the-spot account of what happened and my impressions at the time would have considerable historical value and interest for me. After World War I, I resolved that if we were ever to have another conflict, I would try to keep a daily account of events as they happened in my own sphere. I am sure that others have tried, like myself, to reconstruct at some later date what happened and found that memory is not only short but tricky.
So far as possible, this journal was written in the field. Many of the notes and data made in the Philippines were lost to enemy action or destroyed in the interests of security. However, sufficient records were available, and events were so fresh in my memory and to my staff that I believe the Philippines story is as accurate as it can be. Fortunately, this phase and the Java campaign were completed prior to our evacuation of Java, as it was impossible to take with me anything but my own compiled notes. I was fortunate, too, in having the assistance of members of my Far Eastern Air Force staff, including Frank Brady, Gene Eubank, Charlie Caldwell, Emmett ODonnell, Reggie Vance, and my aide, Norman Lewellyn.
I did not think seriously of publication until after I arrived in the Middle East. Two persons influenced meFrank Gervasi, war correspondent of Colliers, and Captain George Kirksey, a former newspaperman who joined the Ninth Air Force in the Western Desert in June 1943. They pointed out separately, but in almost the same vein, that a single commanders version as a participant in many different events of the war might have value as a public document.
When the Ninth Air Force moved from Africa to England, I appealed to George Kirksey, who later was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and joined my headquarters staff, to aid me in gathering, documenting, and editing the material for this book. He constantly prodded me to make observations and comments which otherwise would have been left out.
In the last year of the war, the job of trying to even record the daily happenings became so difficult that I wondered if I was not undertaking too big a job. Except that it furnished definite relaxation, I probably would have abandoned the task. On these occasions Kirksey would say: This is the greatest news story in our lifetime. Lets get it all down as it happens and worry about whipping it into shape later. His encouragement, assistance, and editorial judgment were invaluable.
Many others offered helpful encouragement and advice, and I should like to mention a few of them: Bill Courtney, Colliers ; Demaree Bess, The Saturday Evening Post; and Col. Edward J. Nolan and Lieut. Col. Charles Morgan, the last two members of my staff.
So far as is humanly possible, this is an accurate account, through my eyes, of what happened from the day I landed in the Philippines until Germany capitulated.
L EWIS H. BRERETON
Tampa, Florida .
1 March 1946 .
PART I PHILIPPINE PHASE
PHILIPPINES: Far East Air Force
T AMPA , F LORIDA , 3 October 1941. Brig. Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, Chief of Staff of the Air Corps, called me from Washington.
Lewie, he said, Hap Arnold wants you to come to Washington immediately to confer with him about a permanent change of command. When can you be here?
Whats it all about? I asked.
I can give you no further information. You must report to him without delay.
Ill leave by plane tomorrow morning.
The call upset my plans. I was busy reorganizing the Third Air Force for the coming Carolina maneuvers. Promoted to Major General in July, and given command of the Third Air Force, I had one of the toughest jobs of my military career. We were in a race against time to remedy the unpreparedness of the Air Corps due to lack of appropriations.
In the recent maneuvers in the East Texas-Louisiana area, the largest-scale war games ever held in the United States, we had encountered many difficult problems concerning the Air Forces participation.
The Third Air Forces mission in the Louisiana maneuvers was to set up and operate two Air Corps Maintenance Commands for the two air arms supporting the opposing armies. It was a difficult job because we lacked sufficient trained staff to handle the maze of organization and detail. On the basis of the lessons learned, I was now reorganizing the maintenance and supply setup for the Carolina maneuvers. It required undivided attention.
In the Louisiana maneuvers the ground forces, for the first time in my experience, demonstrated a reasonably accurate assessment of airpower from a purely tactical viewpoint. But disturbing things had been happening in Poland, Norway, and France, to open our eyes.
Too many of our leaders had been preparing our military organization on the basis of the last war. They forgot Marshal Fochs axiom of war stated in 1922:
The military mind always imagines that the next war will be upon the same lines as the last. That has never been the case, and never will be. The greatest factor in the next war will obviously be aircraft. The potentialities of aircraft attack upon a large scale are almost incalculable.
The Luftwaffes vital role in Germanys pattern of war was plain to all. The airplane had become a most potent weapon. By this time we had a few B-17s, but the ground forces, although impressed with the B-17s size, speed, and firepower, did not appreciate its strategic value. They still adhered to the theory that aircraft were mere supporting weapons to the Army.
