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D Delo -> (1/8/2003 11:39:46 AM)
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nikademus
[B]Morale was also a problem too. IIRC, Kenney actually sent the entire 19th BG home in november that same year and dispersed the unit due to 'exhaustion' At the time, this was an unusual move as army units were not rotated with the same frequency as naval and marine units. [/B][/QUOTE]
This is not quite the whole truth. Last year I met my co-workers father who was the lead navigator in the 19BG, over lunch he told us of their exploits. The 19BG ferried the B-17s over to Clark Field, in a time when air navagation was far less developed that it is today. The 19BG was operation at Clark prior to 7 Dec. They fought a retrograde action through the southern PI into Dutch indonesia finally ending up in Australia.
The 19BG was one of the few US units in the Pacific during the first year of the war. Not only were the troops worn out, but so were there aircraft. Additionally, the crews of the 19BG had learned valuable lessions in combat which needed to be passed along to the units being formed in the States.
My co-workers Dad spend time in the training pipeline as an instructor, and later worked operational development issues at Eglin Field.
Somewhere I have a powerpoint presentation of his story, if anybody is interested let me know and I'll dig it out
Dave
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