In this Book
- December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor
- Book
- 2003
- Published by: Texas A&M University Press
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
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. 11-14
- Chapter 9: “What a Fog!”
- pp. 264-290
- Chapter 10: “Go Get ’Em!”
- pp. 291-310
- Chapter 11: “Navy, Hell, It’s the Japs!”
- pp. 311-340
- Appendix A
- p. 425
- Appendix B
- p. 426
- Appendix C
- p. 427
- Appendix D
- pp. 428-429
- Appendix E
- pp. 430-431
- Appendix F
- pp. 432-434
- Appendix G
- pp. 435-438
- Appendix H
- pp. 439-441
- Appendix I
- p. 442
- Appendix J
- pp. 443-444
Additional Information
ISBN
9781603446624
Related ISBN(s)
9781585442461, 9781603447416
MARC Record
OCLC
54093066
Pages
568
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No