1941, Friday 12 September;
The radio message had pre-warned them, allowing Brigadier General Henry B Clagett, USAAF, commander of all Army Aircraft in the Far East, accompanied by his staff, to be present, packed in the Control Tower of Clark Field, Philippines. Nine B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 14th Bombardment Squadron, still in their shiny metal factory finish, were battling through the winds of a dying typhoon, completing the last leg of a journey from the USA. The control tower operative was on the R/T to the leading Fortress, discussing the approach, the aircraft still not in view, another gust of wind bringing lashing of rain hard against the windows. All navigation lights were on to help compensate for the dark leaden sky, while binoculars scanned the sky for a first appearance. “There she is”, an officer pointing to the far distant end of the runway, as the first aircraft, a black speck, emerged from the gloom. Already she had her wheels down, the pilot battling with the winds to keep her on a gradual descending course, aligned with the runway. The plane grew in size, and the fight to keep control more evident as she swung about, taxing the pilot’s skill. Bigger and lower she grew, until her wheels touched down briefly, the plane bunny hopping, before making a firmer contact and running along the runway, past the control tower to shouts of jubilation from all watching.
Way back in May the US had made its first attempts to try and improve the air defence of the Philippines, with the creation of the Philippine Department Air Force, mostly by sending out a number of obsolete or obsolescent aircraft, all under the command of the newly arrived Clagett. The results were disappointing, the force was poorly equipped and to compound that, Clagett, who was not in good health and had suffered two periods of sickness over the summer, had clashed badly with his subordinates, resulting in a badly run organisation. Continuing with the reinforcement plans, in July, Chief of the Army Air Force, Major General Henry H Arnold, had allocated four heavy bombardment groups, 272 aircraft with another 68 in reserve, totalling 340 heavy bombers, and two pursuit groups of 130 modern fighter planes each, the majority not yet manufactured. These planes, according to Brig Gen Carl Spaatz, Chief of the Air Staff, were not for offensive missions, but to provide a strategical defence in Asia, but given the range of the bombers, the Japanese were unlikely to view them as such.
This also necessitated the development of several airfields in the Philippines to operate the bombers, while MacArthur was asked to obtain permission from the British, to have them develop a number of airfields for US heavy bomber use, Singapore, Port Darwin, Rabaul, and Port Moresby being identified, as well as a new airfield in Northern Borneo. MacArthur was also asked to do a similar thing with the Dutch. An Air Warning Service was being formed, initially using just observation posts, reporting on airplane movements through one of, five radio, two telegraph and ten telephone networks, but there had been little training in aircraft recognition. Radar had begun to arrive, which would improve things immensely, but production times and shipping the equipment over, along with building facilities and training staff, meant only one was in operation at the outbreak of war, with a second used in a training unit.
Further P40 fighter aircraft would soon be arriving, enabling Clagett to form the 24th Pursuit Group of three squadrons. This unit was forming around a cadre of 28 pilots with some experience, the rest would be straight out of flight school, and need considerable individual training, before they could undertake unit tactical exercises. Also planned to join was a Light Bombardment Group, the 27th, equipped with three squadrons of the Army, land-based version of the Douglas Dauntless dive bomber, the A-24, which would soon be shipped out, all personnel, both air and ground crews arriving in November, the aircraft in mid-December.
Clagett wasn’t aware yet, but after conversations between MacArthur and Marshall, Arnold had met with Marshall to identify his replacement. That man would be Maj Gen Lewis H Brereton, but he wouldn’t arrive until early November. Completion of the aircraft build-up would be April 1942, MacArthur convinced he had that much time, which was just as well as things wouldn’t run smoothly.
Up to now, any aircraft sent to the Philippines had been dis-assembled, crated and shipped over, but these nine Fortresses had just successfully proven that they could be flown in along an air route across the central Pacific. Flying from Hamilton Field, near San Francisco, to Hickam Field, Hawaii, then onto Midway, Wake, Port Moresby, Darwin, and then up to the Philippines, it had taken them eight days, and over 10,000 miles, mostly over water. The leg, Wake to Port Moresby, crossed over the Japanese Caroline mandate islands, but was done at night, at high altitude. Nevertheless, this was far from ideal, and a southern Pacific air ferry route was being developed. More B-17s would follow, leaving the continental USA in October, November, and December, but for now the first B-17s had arrived successfully steered by the CO of the 14th Bombardment Group, Major Emmett O’Donnell Jr, completing a magnificent feat of navigation.