In this Book

buy this book Buy This Book in Print
summary
Ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, “another Pearl Harbor” of even more devastating consequence for American arms occurred in the Philippines, 4,500 miles to the west. On December 8, 1941, at 12.35 p.m., 196 Japanese Navy bombers and fighters crippled the largest force of B-17 four-engine bombers outside the United States and also decimated their protective P-40 interceptors. The sudden blow allowed the Japanese to rule the skies over the Philippines, removing the only effective barrier that stood between them and their conquest of Southeast Asia. This event has been called “one of the blackest days in American military history.” How could the army commander in the Philippines—the renowned Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur—have been caught with all his planes on the ground when he had been alerted in the small hours of that morning of the Pearl Harbor attack and warned of the likelihood of a Japanese strike on his forces? In this book, author William H. Bartsch attempts to answer this and other related questions. Bartsch draws upon twenty-five years of research into American and Japanese records and interviews with many of the participants themselves, particularly survivors of the actual attack on Clark and Iba air bases. The dramatic and detailed coverage of the attack is preceded by an account of the hurried American build-up of air power in the Philippines after July, 1941, and of Japanese planning and preparations for this opening assault of its Southern Operations.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Frontmatter
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Foreword
  2. pp. 3-6
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Preface
  2. pp. 7-9
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. 11-14
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Prologue: “Seize This Golden Opportunity!”
  2. pp. 15-32
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part 1: “By God, It Is Destiny That Brings Me Here!”
  2. pp. 33-44
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 1: “They Have Really Ripped the 17th All to Hell”
  2. pp. 45-60
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 2: “A Troop of Boy Scouts Flying Kites Could Take These Damned Islands”
  2. pp. 61-69
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 3: “They Will Be Shot Down as Fast as They Are Put in the Air”
  2. pp. 70-90
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part 2: “If We Make Our Attack Now, the War is Not Hopeless”
  2. pp. 91-105
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 4: “Why Send Over These Ninety-Day Wonders?”
  2. pp. 106-129
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 5: “The Creation of the Five-Engine Bomber Has Completely Changed the Strategy in the Pacific”
  2. pp. 130-152
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 6: “Feasibility of Direct Attack on Luzon in the Philippines”
  2. pp. 153-178
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part 3: “The Inability of an Enemy to Launch his Air Attack on These Islands Is Our Greatest Security”
  2. pp. 179-196
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 7: “We Are Going Much Too Far on the Offensive Side”
  2. pp. 197-236
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 8: “Struck by Its Resemblance to a Railroad Timetable”
  2. pp. 237-254
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part 4: “I Shall Die Only for the Emperor, I Shall Never Look Back”
  2. pp. 255-263
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 9: “What a Fog!”
  2. pp. 264-290
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 10: “Go Get ’Em!”
  2. pp. 291-310
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 11: “Navy, Hell, It’s the Japs!”
  2. pp. 311-340
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 12: “Whatever You Do, Don’t Get under the Damned Truck!”
  2. pp. 341-357
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 13: “All We’ve Got Left Is the Key to the Airplane”
  2. pp. 358-381
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 14: “What Is the Matter with the Enemy?”
  2. pp. 382-408
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Epilogue
  2. pp. 409-424
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix A
  2. p. 425
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix B
  2. p. 426
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix C
  2. p. 427
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix D
  2. pp. 428-429
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix E
  2. pp. 430-431
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix F
  2. pp. 432-434
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix G
  2. pp. 435-438
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix H
  2. pp. 439-441
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix I
  2. p. 442
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix J
  2. pp. 443-444
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 445-504
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Sources
  2. pp. 505-531
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 531-557
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.