[ARC5] [Milsurplus] History of the GO-series of USN

Tue Aug 9 19:46:40 EDT 2016

I have a copy of Rugged Ragged Warriors.  I have heard of a book called "Bloody Shambles" but have not read it.   

The B-17's they had in the PI were the early models but the B-17's that came into Pearl Harbor during the attack were the later E models and I guess they were bound for the PI.  On the other hand, they had some P-40E's in the PI but none at Pearl Harbor, being limited to P-36's and P-40B's.  There is a photo of a destroyed hangar at Pearl Harbor with the remains of a P-26 in it.

There is a WWII movie starring John Garfield, "Air Force" about a  B-17 that arrived at Pearl Harbor during the attack and then stages through Wake Island to the PI.  There is a scene where at some of the crew are in the radio compartment, listening to a radio that looks like nothing I have ever seen.  Maybe they put in a fake one for disinformation purposes.  The pilot comes back, chats with them a bit, and says "I'm going back to the cockpit.  I'll be on the Command Set."  It is all complete fiction, of course.   

Wayne
WB5WSV

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mike Everette 
  To: Glen Zook ; Robert Eleazer ; arc5 at mailman.qth.net 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2016 6:57 PM
  Subject: Re: [ARC5] [Milsurplus] History of the GO-series of USN

  "Doomed at the Start" is an excellent book -- read it when it first came out; as is the follow-on, "December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor."  Another very good book, although published in the 1960s, and not well footnoted, is "The Ragged, Rugged Warriors" by Martin Caiden. 

  If you can find it, the classic work is from the early fifties:  "They Fought With What They Had."  Wish I could remember the author's name but it escapes me at the moment.  Seems that this book was fairly common in USAF base libraries but apparently may have been purged from some a few years ago; I've seen used copies on line and just about every one is from some AFB or other. 

  The B-17s started deploying to the PI during the summer of 1941.  It is my theory that they may have ultimately been sent on to China, had war not broken out when it did.  The B-17 did not have the range to strike Japan from the Philippines and return, but could have done so from Chinese bases.

  I don't think there were any P-36 fighters in the PI, but P-40s had been supplied during 1941.  The US had conveyed the P-26s and some of the B-10s to the Philippine Army only a few months before war commenced.

  73

  Mike

  WA4DLF

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: Glen Zook <gzook at yahoo.com>
  To: Mike Everette <radiocompass at yahoo.com>; Robert Eleazer <releazer at earthlink.net>; "arc5 at mailman.qth.net" <arc5 at mailman.qth.net> 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 9, 2016 3:15 PM
  Subject: Re: [ARC5] [Milsurplus] History of the GO-series of USN

  There is a book, entitled "Doomed at the Start", by William H. Bartsch, that gives a very detailed history of the American pursuit pilots in the Philippines during 1941 - 1942.  There are over 500-pages of relatively small type font, in the book.  In my opinion, the book is well written and gives quite the insight to that period of time.

  The American pilots were flying P-35, P-36, and a fair number of early P-40 aircraft.  The P-26, B-10, and B-12 aircraft were flown by Philippine pilots.  One of the Philippine B-12 bombers actually sank a small Japanese warship.  There were a relatively small number of B-17 bombers, as well as a number of seaplanes besides the PBY aircraft.  Unfortunately, a number of the B-17 aircraft were destroyed, on the ground, after being sent out to protect them from Japanese attack immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack.  When the attack did not happen immediately, the aircraft returned to base and were then destroyed by a large bomber force that attacked soon after the aircraft returned.

  Glen, K9STH 

  Website: http://k9sth.net

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: Mike Everette via ARC5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
  To: Robert Eleazer <releazer at earthlink.net>; "arc5 at mailman.qth.net" <arc5 at mailman.qth.net> 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 9, 2016 12:50 PM
  Subject: Re: [ARC5] [Milsurplus] History of the GO-series of USN

  Thanks, Wayne!  I stand corrected.  I think the Profile on the PBY was my source, and according to that publication PatWing Ten was equipped with PBY-2 and PBY-3 in the late 30s prior to deployment to the PI.  I forgot the info about their new aircraft, received before shipping out.

  At the same time, the Army Air Corps in the PI was still flying B-10s, P-26s and P-35s, prior to the too-little-too-late reinforcement with B-17s and P-40s beginning in mid-1941.

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