Doomed at the Start

by Bartsch, William H.; Ellis, Herbert

• ISBN13: 9780890966792
• ISBN10: 0890966796
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-07-01
• Publisher: Texas A & M Univ Pr

Summary

During the first three days of the Japanese assault on American Pacific bases in December of 1941, the 24th Pursuit Group, the only unit of interceptor aircraft in the Philippine Islands, was almost destroyed as an effective force. Yet the group's pilot, doomed from the start by their limited training, an inadequate air warning system, and lack of familiarity with the few flyable pursuit aircraft they had left, fought on against immensely superior numbers of Japanese army and navy fighters.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Philippines Buildup	p. 1
"We Are Doomed at the Start"	p. 29
"You Are Not Necessarily a Suicide Squadron"	p. 37
The Fatal December Eighth	p. 55
"Hard to Believe There Was Actually a War in Progress"	p. 59
"Tally Ho--Clark Field"	p. 65
"Good God Almighty-Yonder They Come"	p. 72
Look at the Pretty Formation of B-17s"	p. 86
"I Wonder What My Chances Are of Making It All the Way to the End"	p. 98
"There Ain't No More 24th Pursuit Group"	p. 110
Last Days on Luzon	p. 121
"We Were Afraid to Stay Very Long in One Spot"	p. 127
"I'Ll Be Killed in the First Dogfight I Get In"	p. 136
"Everything All Right. Have a Safe Job"	p. 154
"Nobody but a Low-Ranking First Lieutenant Would Be Dumb Enough to Stay on That Field"	p. 171
"It Looked like a Small Dunkirk"	p. 188
Early Bataan Operations	p. 205
"One of the Most Nerve-Wracking Flights That I Have Ever Made"	p. 223
The Bastard Outfit of Bataan	p. 243
"We Want a Few `Eagles' to Chase the `Hawks' Overhead"	p. 247
"I Know My Mama is Frantic About Me"	p. 264
"The Biggest, Prettiest, and Most Thrilling Fireworks Show We'D Ever Seen"	p. 280
"A Ten-Thousand-Dollar Pilot Shot to Hell in the Infantry"	p. 295
"That's How the Slant-Eyed Bastards Are Working Now"	p. 305
"I'M Going to Put a New Pair of Shoes on the Baby"	p. 329
The Fall of Bataan	p. 351
"You Americans Can't Be Trusted"	p. 374
	p. 383
"Get Aboard. There'Ll Be No Tomorrow"	p. 401
"This is the First Time P-40es Have Been Captured?"	p. 418
Epilogue	p. 427
Index	p. 487
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.