One damned island after another
By: [by] Clive Howard [and] Joe Whitley. Prepared by HQ, AAf, AFIPR, Personnel Narratives Division; Norman S. Weiser, director.
Contributors: Whitley, Joe, joint author.; United States. Army Air Forces. Personnel Narratives Division.
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 1946
Place of publication: Chapel Hill
Language: eng
Number of pages: 403
Subjects: United States. Army Air Forces. Air Force, 7th.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations, American.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Pacific Ocean.
Notes: "The combat hstory of the Seventh Air Force from Pearl Harbor to the end of the war against Japan."
Table of contents: title: Contents; title: I; title: A Quiet Sunday Morning 3; title: II; title: Red Suns on Their Wings 10; title: III; title: "I Never Was So Scared" 17; title: IV; title: Monday in Paradise; title: V; title: Defend! Defend! 42; title: VI; title: A Mission for Morale 49; title: VII; title: The Atoll Circuit 58; title: VIII; title: The Battle of Midway 70; title: IX; title: The Lodestar 91; title: X; title: "You Never Had It So Good" 99; title: XI; title: "They Threw the Book at Us" 107; title: XII; title: "He Who Fights and Runs Away" 131; title: XIII; title: Operation GALVANIC  145; title: XIV; title: "Spits of Sand in the Sun" 153; title: XV; title: The Marshalls Are Ours 100; title: XVI; title: I'll Never Get Out of here alive 186; title: XVlI; title: The seven-League Seventh 199; title: XVlII; title: The Marianas 217; title: XIX; title: The Little Guys 237; title: XX; title: Forgotten Corner; title: XXI; title: "What- Wonderfull People"  275; title: XXII; title: "I'm Sorry We Wrecked Your Plane, Sergeant" 287; title: XXIII; title: Assault on Iwo 300; title: XXIV; title: Banzai at Iwo 329; title: XXV; title: The Mustangs Get Those Bastards 339; title: XXVI; title: The Last Damned Island 348; title: XXVII; title: Target — Japan! 366; title: The Sun Also Sets 382; title: About the Authors 393; title: Index 395; title: List of Illustrations; title: FACING PAGE; title: A lull in the sneak raid on Hickam Field shows severity of damage suffered 18; title: Clouds of smoke hid the full story of destruction. Hangar burning during December 7 attack on Hickam Field 18; title: Oil fire sparked by Jap bombs. Hickam Field on December 7 19; title: This B-17 could still fly. Others went up in smoke. Hickam Field on December 7 26; title: Whatever could be salvaged was quickly hauled out of danger. Hickam Field on December 7 26; title: General Truman H. Landon, who led the formation of B-17's which arrived over Hawaii during the December 7 attack and who participated in early Wake missions. He later became Commanding General of the VII Bomber Command 27; title: Clarence L. Tinker and Willis Hale, famous names in the Seventh Air Force, the day they were sworn in as Major and Brigadier General, respectively, by Colonel Cheney L. Bertholf, Adjutant General of the Seventh. January, 1942 27; title: Colonel (later General) LaVerne G. ("Blondie") Saunders when he was Commanding Officer of the nth Bomb Group 34; title: A Seventh AAF dispersal bomb dump on Funafuti Island 35; title: Mosquito bars were a necessity for dengue fever patients on Tarawa. Flight Surgeon on left is Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Richard C. Haubrich of the VII Bomber Command 35; title: Aviation engineers had a rough and dirty job. This is how they looked during the early days of Seventh AAF operation on Baker Island 42; title: Improvised P-40 repair hangar on Makin Island 43; title: Marine wounded being evacuated from Tarawa by C-54 43; title: ". . . in ten minutes a man could walk to the end of his world and find only sea and sand and coral . . ." 50; title: Advance echelon unit of the Seventh AAF going ashore on an island in the Gilbert chain 50; title: B-25 Mitchell of the 41st Bombardment Group on Makin Island; title: Flak-damaged B-25 of the 41st Bombardment Group on Makin island being repaired by ground crew specialists; title: Private enterprise on Kwajalein. Windmill laundries eased washday backaches; title: A Yank post office opens shop in former Jap orderly room on Carlos Island near Kwajalein; title: The Air Force afloat— General Landon's Headquarters on Kwajalein after a heavy rain; title: Another enemy— mud. Tent area on Saipan; title: Providing a firm base for fighter operations. A company of the 804th Aviation Engineers laying Marston mat on the Baker Island landing strip; title: Loading incendiary clusters on Kwajalein based B-25's of the 41st; title: Bombardment Group. Lack of dispersal space on this small island increased operating difficulties; title: Private Merrill W. Payne, Insect Control Specialist for the VII Bomber Command Headquarters at Kwajalein, delouses his whiskers; title: Bolivar Jr. was donated to the Seventh AAF by the workers of Consolidated Aircraft after the original Bolivar, one of the Pacific war's best known Liberators, cracked up on Consolidated runwav in California at outset of stateside bond tour; title: Jockeying into position. Liberators at Kwajalein; title: Jabor town on Jaluit atoll, administrative headquarters for the Japanese-held Marshalls, the most modern city in the island group; title: Jabor town in ruins after combined Seventh AAF and Navy pounding; title: Neatly laid out and orderly Jap airbase at Maloelap in the by-passed Marshalls; title: The same base, bomb-pocked and inoperational, after visits by Seventh AAF heavies; title: Mitchell bomber of the 41st Bombardment Group in a low level attack on Wotje Island; title: Welcome mat on Jap runway at Babelthuap received impolite treatment from Yank airmen; title: Retired for a well earned rest. This Flying Fortress flew over 200 missions early in the war 90; title: The 318th Fighter Group stands final inspection on Bellows Field, Hawaii, before leaving for Saipan 90; title: The 318th Fighter Group Headquarters prepares to leave Hawaii for Saipan 91; title: Seventh AAF truck being loaded at Hawaii. Entire headquarters moved 4,000 miles across the Pacific to Saipan 91; title: Thunderbolts of the 318th Fighter Group load on a carrier at Hawaii for the long haul to Saipan 98; title: Pursuit ships of the 73rd Fighter Squadron lashed to a carrier deck en route to Saipan 99; title: Arriving at Saipan, P-47 of the 318th Fighter Group move up to the carrier's catapult for the short hop to shore 99; title: Passing the weary hours. Personnel of the 318th Fighter Group relax on the carrier deck during 4,000-mile trip from Hawaii to Saipan 106; title: Solid comfort. Lieutenants Thompson and Martin, pilots of the 318th Fighter Group make use of the carrier's library facilities during the long journey to Saipan 106; title: P-47 of the 318th Fighter Group about to be catapulted from carrier deck for short flight to new Saipan base 107; title: Catapulted from carrier deck, Thunderbolt of the 318th Fighter Group heads toward Saipan 107; title: Saipan was the story of construction. Seventh AAF engineers went ashore in the assault waves, hacked P-47 airstrip from jungle, lengthened the strip for B-25's and C-47's, added more yardage for long-range B-24's and, after digging half a million yards of coral, completed the first B-29 strip in the Marianas 114; title: Coral pit on Saipan from which all runways were built for cargo, fighter, and bomber planes. At the height of the construction effort, trucks passed this traffic control point at the rate of one every twenty seconds throughout the day and night 114; title: Sugar cane on Saipan being cleared to make room for Khobler Field airstrips. At the transit is Sergeant Eugene F. Raphel; his rodman is Private First Class Walter J. Bollinger 1 1 5; title: Tons of coral provide surfacing on Marianas airstrips 122; title: Traffic problem on Saipan. Truck hauling coral gives right of way to Thunderbolts of the 318th Fighter Group 123; title: View of coral quarry on Saipan 123; title: P-47 of the 318th Fighter Group on Saipan. Loading ammunition 142; title: A Thunderbolt of the 318th Fighter Group takes on a heavy bomb for a strike against a sugar refinery on Tinian 142; title: Night alert. Black Widow of the 6th Night Fighter Group on Saipan 143; title: Unloading supplies on the Saipan beachhead. Several LCM's have been caught high and dry by the receding tide 143; title: Loading rockets on Saipan-based P-47's of the 318th Fighter Group 158; title: Loading 500-pound general purpose bombs on 30th Bombardment Group Liberator for a strike against Jap-held Iwo Jima. Veteran ordnance men are (left to right) Private First Class Louis H. Dove, Sergeant Burton O'Donnell, and Private First Class John J. Augusta 158; title: Ordnance men ease a 50 calibre machine gun into position. P-47 of the 318th Fighter Group on Saipan 159; title: Loading ammunition on Saipan-based Thunderbolt of the 318th Fighter Group. Four guns on each wing and 385 shells for each gun add up to a lot of ammo 159; title: Street scene in Saipan. 73rd Fighter Squadron area 174; title: Ordnance men of the 318th Fighter Group overhaul machine guns on Saipan 174; title: Map showing bombing line eleven days after D-day on Saipan. Captain John Vogt, left, and Lieutenant Loflin, both 318th Fighter Group pilots 175; title: Briefing for 19th Fighter Squadron attack on last pocket of Jap resistance on Tinian 175; title: We received as well as gave. Shortly after the capture of Tarawa Jap planes dropped 100-pound bombs on the atoll, damaging Seventh AAF installations w 190; title: Two crew members of a P-61 lie dead near their smashed plane. Accident on Saipan 190; title: Marshallese chief Magode accepts cigarette, courtesy of the AAF 191; title: Slow but sure. Pilots of the 318th Fighter Group on Saipan 191; title: Killing time on Saipan. GI mattress covers make efficient surf boards 206; title: All the comforts of home. Saipan toilette 206; title: Ready shack of the 73rd Fighter Squadron on Saipan 207; title: Killing time. Pilots of the 19th Fighter Squadron, 318th Fighter Group, relax in their ready room before a mission 207; title: Spam Canyon, Saipan. Private Antone Mano heaves a final case of canned sausages on a mountain of meat 222; title: Private First Class Lionel Levant heads for his Seventh AAF Quartermaster Service Company mess hall with an armload of bread, fresh from the Saipan Island bakery 223; title: Father Bernard Spoelker, Group Chaplain of the 318th, conducts Sunday services in Jap revetment shortly after Saipan invasion 238; title: Two sugars, please 239; title: Brewing hot chocolate for the 318th Fighter Group on Saipan 239; title: Personnel of the 318th Fighter Group on Saipan acquire a war trophy 254; title: Lieutenant Shaffle (extreme right) of the 19th Fighter Squadron, 318th Fighter Group, one of the first casualties of the Saipan campaign. He went down four miles off Rota and was never found 254; title: Impromptu entertainment. AAF technicians relax on troopship during forty-four day trip to Palau invasion 255; title: Liberators escorted by P-38's lay 100,000 pounds of fragmentation bombs on Jap plane dispersal areas and warehouses around Clark Field, Manila. Fires from burning aircraft and buildings could be seen fifty miles from the target 270; title: Palau based Liberators of the 494th Bombardment Group lay fifty tons of high explosive on Lahug airfield, Cebu 271; title: VII Fighter Command area in Iwo Jima after night banzai charge by several hundred Japs. Fliers fought as ground troops that night. Captain R. B. Kessler, pilot of the VII Fighter Command, flourishes a Samauri sword 286; title: Heavy anti-aircraft emplacements on Iwo Jima take a beating during an attack by the 30th Bombardment Group 287; title: P-51 Mustangs, eagerly awaited by Iwo Jima residents, arrive from Saipan led by fighter pilot General "Mickey" Moore. Mustangs were the first planes of the Seventh AAF over Japan 287; title: The Chambermaid, Seventh AAF Liberator which limped home from Iwo for the most famous crashlanding of the Pacific War. "There was nothing the crew chief could do now to fix the Chambermaid" 302; title: D-day over Iwo Jima. Seventh AAF Liberator coming off target just before Marine assault was launched 303; title: AAF service personnel survey their new home on Iwo Jima. Suribachi in the background 303; title: Phosphorous aerial bombs, dropped by Zekes, fail to break up a Liberator formation smashing at the Bonins and the Volcano Islands 318; title: Direct hit by Jap flak tears wing off B- 2 4 bombing Koror in the Palaus. This was the only plane lost in the twenty strikes on Koror 318; title: Final inspection over, the crew of This Love of Mine stand by their Liberator awaiting takeoff time for another night strike against Iwo Jima 319; title: Ground crewmen watch as a nth Bombardment Group B-24 wings its way for a strike at Iwo Jima 334; title: Jap Kamikaze shown shortly before it crashed into AAF maintenance ship off Okinawa, from which photograph was taken.; title: Hit on plane was scored by inexperienced gunner aboard supply ship 335; title: Liberator coming off Yontan airstrip. Coral pit in foreground is about 100 feet deep, supplied most of airstrip 350; title: Okinawa also had its displaced persons. Native women moving their belongings out or a restricted zone 351; title: Jap Betty lands at Ie Shima, Seventh AAF base, to transfer the Emperor's surrender mission to an American plane for the flight to Manila 370; title: The years of blood and sweat finally pay off. Air Force personnel get a glimpse of the Jap surrender mission as they arrive on Ie Shima 370; title: P-47's of the 318th Fighter Group on Ie Shima, the Pacific's last "damned island" 371; title: Heavy bombers flatten military installations on Jap-held island of Nauru 371; title: Jap prisoners loading ammunition 386; title: Jap prisoners contribute their bit to the downfall of the Empire 386; title: Envoys of the defeated Japanese Empire leave their plane at Ie Shima to board an American C-54 for the hop to Manila 387; title: Digitized by Google.