SUMMER 2012 - Volume 59, Number 2 UNPRECEDENTED F35.Com POWER TAKES to the SKIES
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SUMMER 2012 - Volume 59, Number 2 WWW.AFHISTORICALFOUNDATION.ORG UNPRECEDENTED f35.com POWER TAKES TO THE SKIES Freedom is a precious gift. And it is the mission of America’s service men and women to preserve it. The F-35A F-35A Lightning II is a stealthy, agile, fl exible high-performance fi ghter that gives the U.S. Air Force the LIGHTNINGLIGHTNING IIII power to dominate the skies. Anywhere. F-35 Lightning II. Designed with freedom in mind. UNITED STATES THE F-35 LIGHTNING II TEAM NORTHROP GRUMMAN BAE SYSTEMS PRATT & WHITNEY LOCKHEED MARTIN Summer 2012 -Volume 59, Number 2 WWW.AFHISTORICALFOUNDATION.ORG Features Making Do: The Air War in East Africa, 1940-1941 Daniel J. Kostecka 4 The Bamboo Fleet: How a Ragtag Airlift Operation Supported Besieged U.S. Forces in the Philippines in World War II John F. Farrell 14 American Airmen Held as POWs in Far East Russia during World War II George A. Larson 24 Closing the North Atlantic Air Gap: Where Did All the BRITISH Liberators Go? John F. O’Connell 32 Book Reviews Mosquito Mayhem: de Havilland’s Wooden Wonder in Action in WWII By Martin W. Bowman. Review by Al Mongeon 44 How the Helicopter Changed Modern Warfare By Walter J. Boyne. Review by John F. O’Connell 44 Bombs Away! The World War II Bombing Campaigns over Europe By John R. Bruning. Review by Kenneth P. Werrell 44 Mission to Berlin: The American Airmen Who Struck the Heartland of Hitler’s Reich By Robert F. Dorr Review by Steven D. Ellis 45 Realizing Tomorrow: The Path to Private Spaceflight By Chris Dubbs and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom Review by Grant T. Weller 45 Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance in the First World War By Terrence J. Finnegan Review by Scott A. Willey 46 Air Force: An Illustrated History By Chester G. Hearn Review by Elizabeth Yarlett 46 Come Up and Get Me: An Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger By Joe Kittinger and Craig Ryan Review by Matthew Dietz 47 Confronting the Chaos: A Rogue Military Historian Returns to Afghanistan By Sean M. Maloney Review by Gary Lester 47 U.S. Marine Corps Aviation Since 1912, Fourth Edition By Peter B. Mersky Review by Joseph T. Anderson 48 Dambuster: The Life of Guy Gibson, VC, DSO, DFC By Susan Ottaway Review by Anthony E. Wessel 48 The Tejas Story: The Light Combat Aircraft Project By Philip Rajkumar Review by Gerald Abbott 49 Finish Forty and Home: The Untold World War II Story of B–24s in the Pacific By Phil Scearce Review by Joe McCue 49 F–5 Tigers over Vietnam By Anthony J Tambini Review by Mark R. Cordero 49 The Right of the Line: The Role of the RAF in World War II By John Terraine Review by Daniel J. Simonsen 50 Final Cut: The Post-War B–17 Flying Fortress and Survivors, Fourth Edition By Scott A. Thompson Review by Scott A. Willey 50 The Science of Bombing: Operational Research in RAF Bomber Command By Randall T. Wakelam Review by R. Ray Ortensie 51 Call Sign Dustoff: A History of U.S. Army Aeromedical Evacuation from Conception to Hurricane Katrina By Darrel Whitcomb Review by Alexander X. Milhous 51 Launch Pad UK: Britain and the Cuban Missile Crisis Departments By Jim Wilson Review by Curtis H. O’Sullivan 52 Black Sheep: The Life of Pappy Boy ington By John F. Wukovits Review by Steven Agoratus 52 Books Received 53 Coming Up 54 President’s Message 56 Letters, News, Reunions, and History Mystery 60 COVER: Rare color photograph of an LB–30A in RAF service. The Air Force Historical Foundation The Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation Summer 2012 Volume 59 Number 2 Publisher Alfred F. Hurley Editor Jacob Neufeld Asst. Editor, Layout and Design Richard I. Wolf Air Force Historical Foundation Technical Editor P.O. Box 790 Robert F. Dorr Clinton, MD 20735-0790 Book Review Editor (301) 736-1959 Scott A. Willey E-mail: [email protected] Advertising On the Web at http://www.afhistoricalfoundation.org Jim Vertenten Circulation Officers, 2012 Board of Directors, 2012 Angela J. Bear President/Chairman of the Board and Col Kenneth J. Alnwick, USAF (Ret) Chair, Executive Committee Lt Gen Russell C. Davis, USAF (Ret) Maj Gen Dale W. Meyerrose, USAF (Ret) CMSgt Rick Dean, USAF (Ret.) Air Power History (ISSN 1044-016X) is pro- Vice President/Vice Chairman Maj Gen Kenneth M. DeCuir, USAF (Ret) duced for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter by Gen John A. Shaud, USAF (Ret) Lt Gen Michael M. Dunn, USAF (Ret) the Air Force Historical Foun dation. 2nd Vice President and Chair, Gen Ronald R. Fogleman, USAF (Ret) Development Committee Col Charles J. Gross, USAFR (Ret) Prospective contributors should consult the Maj Gen Silas R. Johnson, Jr., USAF (Ret) Col Richard G. Hellier, USAF (Ret) GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTORS at the back of this journal. Unsolicited manu- Treasurer and Chair, Brig Gen Alfred F. Hurley, USAF (Ret) scripts will be returned only on specific Finance Committee Maj Gen Silas R. Johnson, Jr., USAF (Ret) request. The Editor cannot accept responsibil- Lt Col Lawrence Spinetta, USAF Lt Gen Timothy A. Kinnan, USAF (Ret) ity for any damage to or loss of the manu- Chair, Technology Committee Mr John F. Kreis script. The Editor reserves the right to edit Maj Gen Kenneth M. DeCuir, USAF (Ret) Maj Gen Dale W. Meyerrose, USAF (Ret) manuscripts and letters. Chair, Services Committee Jacob Neufeld Maj Willard Strandberg, Jr., USAF (Ret) Gen John A. Shaud, USAF (Ret) Address LETTERS TO THE EDITOR to: Publisher Lt Col Lawrence Spinetta, USAF Brig Gen Alfred F. Hurley, USAF (Ret) Maj Willard Strandberg, Jr., USAF (Ret) Air Power History Executive Director Col Jere Wallace, USAF (Ret) 11908 Gainsborough Rd. Lt Col Jim Vertenten, USAF (Ret) Potomac, MD 20854 CORPORATE SPONSORS, 2012 e-mail: [email protected] Correspondence regarding missed issues or New Contributing Members, Platinum Level ($20,000 or more) changes of address should be addressed to March 2012 - May 2012 Lockheed Martin Corporation the CIRCULATION OFFICE: Gold Level ($10,000 or more) Dennis Drew EADS North America Air Power History Claudius Watts III P.O. Box 790 Tyler Morton Silver Level ($5,000 or more) Clinton, MD 20735-0790 David Dirksen Harris Corporation Telephone: (301) 736-1959 Charles Van Pelt L-3 Communications e-mail: [email protected] David Miller Pratt & Whitney ADVERTISING Harry Goldsworthy Bronze Level ($1,500 or more) Sarah St Jules Jim Vertenten Ken Alnwick P.O. Box 790 Harold Pressel Clinton, MD 20735-0790 James Mullins (301) 736-1959 Willard Emch e-mail: [email protected] Robert Bazley Charles McManus Copyright © 2012 by the Air Force Historical Vincent Scannelli Foundation. All rights reserved. Michael Gamble, Jr. Periodicals postage paid at Clinton, MD Jon A Reynolds 20735 and additional mailing offices. Thomas Griffith Postmaster: Please send change of address to the Circulation Office. 2 AIR POWER History / SUMMER 2012 From the Editor All of the featured articles in this summer 2012 issue of Air Power History are about World War II. They share another similarity as well—all four spotlight interesting but lit- tle-known episodes of that conflict. In the lead story, “Making Do,” Dan Kostecka takes us to East Africa in 1940, where an ill-equipped and ill-supplied contingent of the Royal Air Force and its British Commonwealth allies face off against Italy’s Regia Aeronautica. Fortunately for the British, the Italians’ air arm was in no better shape. After seventeen months of fierce fighting, the Allies won and secured for themselves air and sea lines of communications to North Africa, the Middle East, Iran, and India. The second article, “The Bamboo Fleet,” by John Farrell, is another story of wartime scarcity. Here, a group of U.S. Army Air Forces pilots flew decrepit, unarmed military and civilian planes through hostile skies to deliver ammunition, fuel, medicine, and personnel to relieve their beleaguered comrades stuck on Corregidor and Bataan. Although the outcome was never in doubt, the pilots of the Bamboo Fleet sought only to delay the inevitable Japanese takeover. Article three, “American Airmen Held as POWs in Far East Russia,” by George Larson, concerns the treatment of B–29 crews by the Soviets. Although the U.S. and the USSR were allies in the European theater, the situation was quite different in the Far East, where Joseph Stalin practiced neutrality to avoid having to go to war against Japan. The American airmen, who were forced to land in the Far East, were caught in the middle, while U.S. diplo- mats developed strategies to free them. In the fourth article, “Closing the North Atlantic Air Gap,” John O’Connell, a former U.S. Navy submarine commander, asks why the most effective antisubmarine weapon—the very long range B–24 Liberator—was not made more available to RAF Coastal Command. In the course of his research, O’Connell came across disturbing allegations that blamed Admiral King, the U.S. Navy CNO for the shortfall presumably because King wanted the planes for the Pacific theater. O’Connell followed the evidence and found the allegations against King baseless. Actually, during 1941 and 1942, the British received a great number of B–24s. But most of the planes went to bombardment and transport units. Moreover, of the few B–24s assigned to Coastal Command, very few went to 15 Group. Don’t miss the twenty new book reviews by our steadfast gang of reviewers. Also, check new books received, upcoming symposia and professional meetings, reunions, news, letters to the editor, and the ever-popular “History Mystery.” Who won the Best Article published in 2011? Turn to page 60 for the answer.