http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Far_East_Air_Force The
Far East Air Force (FEAF) was the military aviation arm of the
United States Army in the
Philippines just prior to and at the beginning of
World War II. Formed on
16 November 1941, FEAF was the predecessor of the
Fifth Air Force of the
United States Army Air Forces and
United States Air Force.
Initially FEAF also included aircraft and personnel of the
Philippine Army Air Corps. It was largely destroyed during the
Battle of the Philippines (1941-42). When the remnants of the small heavy bombardment force were withdrawn from Mindinao in late December 1941 to bases in Australia, Headquarters FEAF accompanied it. Nearly all ground and flying personnel, number nearly 7,000 men, were then used as ad hoc infantry units on Bataan, where most surrendered on
9 April 1942. The surviving personnel and aircraft were re-organised in
Australia in
5 February 1942 as the U.S.
Fifth Air Force.
United States Far East Air Forces, also known as FEAF, was organized on
3 August 1944 as a headquarters in
Brisbane, Australia, under the command of Gen.
George Kenney to oversee the operations of the Fifth,
Thirteenth and
Seventh Air Forces. Although using the same acronym, the two organizations were not related.
History:
1941-42
Far East Air Force was created as the
Philippine Department Air Force on
6 May 1941 as the United States hurriedly attempted to expand its air defenses in the Philippines. It consisted of five squadrons and 210
aircraft, mostly obsolescent
P-26s,
P-35s which had been diverted from a sale to Sweden in November 1940,
B-10s,
B-18s which had been shipped in March,
A-29s,
C-39s, and various observation planes, but also 31
P-40Bs which had arrived in April. PDAF Headquarters was located at
Nielson Field, however, the majority of the planes were at either
Clark Field or
Nichols Field.
On
26 July 1941, United States Army Forces in the Far East (
USAFFE) was created by the War Department to reorganize the defenses of the Philippines against a Japanese invasion. The PDAF was renamed
Air Force, USAFFE on
4 August 1941, and consolidated with the
Philippine Army Air Corps on
15 August 1941.
Also in July, Chief of the
Army Air Forces,
Major General Henry H. Arnold, proposed sending four heavy bombardment groups (340 bombers including spares) and two pursuit groups (260 P-40 fighters) to the
Philippines, as reinforcements for the Far East Air Force.
Reinforcements in autumn, 1941
By
2 October, 81
P-40s had been shipped or were en route to the islands, and a new group, the 24th Pursuit Group, activated with three squadrons on
16 September 1941. Nine B-17s of the
14th Bombardment Squadron (11th Bomb Group, based in Hawaii) had pioneered an air ferry route from Hawaii to the Philippines. Two squadrons of the
19th Bombardment Group (H) followed in November. With the attachment to the 19th BG of the 14th and 28th Bomb Squadrons (the latter had been a longtime part of the 4th Composite Group, disbanded
16 November 1941), a total of 35
B-17 Flying Fortresss constituted the FEAF's heavy bombardment force.
By March of
1942, the
War Department planned to have 165
heavy bombers and 240
fighters based in the Philippines. The
7th Bombardment Group (H) staged in California and B-17s of its 38th and 88th Reconnaissance Squadrons were en route when the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Army Chief of Staff General Marshall wrote on
December 1,
1941, "We must get every B-17 to the Philippines as soon as possible."
Two squadrons of the 35th Pursuit Group reached Luzon at the end of November 1941, were attached to the 24th Pursuit Group, and received their aircraft the day before the outbreak of hostilities. Its two other squadrons, and the 52
A-24 Banshee dive bombers of the recently arrived 27th Bombardment Group (Light) were in convoys en route to the Philippines but were diverted to Australia.
Major General Lewis H. Brereton was named to command FEAF on
3 November 1941. Plans formulated in October to create a bomber command and service command for the FEAF became effective on
16 November 1941, at the same time FEAF came into being.
FEAF, 8 December 1941
SOURCE: AAF Historical Study No.34,
The AAF in the War Against Japan, 1941-1942 The final FEAF order of battle:
- V Bomber Command
- 19th Bomb Group (Heavy) (Headquarters, Clark Field)
- 14th Bomb Squadron (Del Monte Field, 5 December, 8 B-17)
- 28th Bomb Squadron (Clark Field, 8 B-17)
- 30th Bomb Squadron (Clark Field, 9 B-17)
- 93rd Bomb Squadron (Del Monte Field, 5 December, 8 B-17)
- 27th Bomb Group (Light) (without aircraft)
- 16th Bomb Squadron (Fort McKinley)
- 17th Bomb Squadron (San Fernando Field)
- 91st Bomb Squadron (San Marceleno Field)
- 2nd Observation Squadron (Nichols Field, 21 various aircraft)
- V Interceptor Command
- 24th Pursuit Group (Headquarters, Clark Field)
- 3rd Pursuit Squadron (Iba Field, 18 P-40E)
- 17th Pursuit Squadron (Nichols Field, 18 P-40E)
- 20th Pursuit Squadron (Clark Field, 18 P-40B)
- 35th Pursuit Group (headquarters enroute to Philippines)
- 21st Pursuit Squadron (attached 24th PG, Nichols Field, 18 P-40E rec'd 7 December)
- 34th Pursuit Squadron (attached 24th PG, Del Carmen Field, 18 P-35A rec'd 7 December)
- 6th Pursuit Squadron, Philippine Army Air Corps (Batangas Field, 12 P-26)
The number in () indicate the number of aircraft estimated in commission. Where un-noted, the number of usable aircraft is unknown.
There were additional aircraft attached to the
Philippine Army Air Corps.
Within 130
km of
Manila, there were six airfields. Outside of
Luzon, there were another six airfields. In August 1941,
$10,000,000 was spent to improve the airfields. Most of these funds were spent on Nichols and Clark Fields, with the rest spent mostly on auxiliary fields at
Iba, on the
Zambales coast, to the west of Clark, and various points on northern Luzon.
Clark Field was originally the only base that could support
heavy bombers. On 27 November 1941 the newly arrived 5th Air Base Group was hurried to Mindanao to begin work on a second bomber base, Del Monte Field, to be the base of the 7th Bomb Group. Construction of one strip was completed by 5 December, when the first B-17s were dispersed from Clark, but no maintenance facilities and only a single radio were operating when war commenced. Another bomber base was scheduled for construction in the
Visayas.
FEAF support units and personnel, December 8, 1941
As of November 31, the force contained 4,940 enlisted troops, under the command of 669
officers. The August strength was at 2,049 enlisted troops, under the command of 254 officers.
The numbers in brackets indicate the number of personnel, as of November 31.