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Thayne -> Sunday, March 1, 1942 (7/5/2005 3:46:35 AM)
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Sunday, March 1, 1942
Henry
You can call it "absent without leave" if you want to. You can fire me if you want to.
There was something about that attack on Diamond Harbor that just got to me. The air war against the Japanese in Burma was the one shining spot in the whole war. Each day we further reduced the ability of the Japanese to support themselves in Burma. The 7th and 19th Bomber Groups were eroding the strategic value of Burma to the Japanese.
Then, in one blow, the 7th Bomber Group was destroyed.
I could not accept it. I could not handle it. Every day, as soon as I get a little bit of hope that we might have some potential to standing up to the Japanese, it gets destroyed. It has been just one loss after another.
I have braced myself for the expected losses such as Bali and Myitkyina. The loss of Sian in northern China, where the Japanese army drove Mao Tse Tung's defenders from the city today, was not such a blow, because I expected it.
However, this destruction of the 7th Bomber Group at Diamond Harbor was wholly unexpected. Japan's earlier assaults against airfields have been totally ineffective. Suddenly, they destroy 50 bombers in one assault. (Many of the bombers are reparable, but first the airfields themselves have to be put back together to handle repairing the airplanes.) In one move, my one bright light was snuffed out.
I took the PBY and headed out, by myself, to be alone.
If you need to know where I went, I flew to Endurbury Island, about 40 miles southeast of here. I landed the seaplane, took a raft, and rowed to shore. I just sat there, thinking about this war.
I had some pretty horrific thoughts going through my head. I imagined the whole planet sinking into a new Dark Ages, and it was all my fault. I am an avid reader of history, as you know, and have read more examples than I care to remember of some leader -- military, political, or social -- who bumbles his way into a disaster. The way that the writers of history ridicule such people always bothered me, and I imagined myself being the target of that writing.
"Ethan Lynde simply was not cut out for the military. He was too timid, unwilling to take any action to stop the Japanese. He seemed to feel that it was his duty to keep all of his soldiers alive. As a result, the Japanese were able to freely conquer the Pacific Ocean -- adding India and Australia to its lists of conquests in 1942, and declaring war on Russia in 1943. Finally uniting their forces with those of Hitler in the Middle East in 1944, Japan and Germany jointly destroyed the Soviet Union and took control of Africa. With all of the resources of the old world at their disposal, they could bide their time before launching a joint attack against the new world. Japan would launch its forces against Alaska and western Canada, while Germany crossed from western Africa into Brazil and the Caribbean."
It is not easy to consider yourself the cause of such a horrendously dark future history.
It took me at least two good hours to calm down. Eventually, the thought came to me.
I want to do something to hurt Japan. I do not want to sit back while they take one bite after another out of the free world. Even if it was just a token burr under the Japanese saddle, I wanted to do something to strike back.
With that attitude, I finally returned to Canton Island.
The rest of this report contains my weekly summary. It is not cheerful. I have already mentioned the two major items of the day -- the loss of Sian in N. China, and the loss of the 7th Bomber Group at Diamond Harbor.
As the next week unfolds, I expect we will see the loss of Port Moresby, Thursday Island, and the rest of New Guinea to the Japanese, this week.
Tomorrow, I will write about what we may have come up with to strike back some against Japan.
Losses
Naval Losses: 34 Ships (2 ships lost in the last week)
BC Repulse
CAs: Houston, New Orleans
CLs: Du Ruyter, Danae, Tromp
DDs: Panther, Flusser, Lawrence
PGs: Isabel, Asheville
SSs: S-38, KXV
ASs: Otus, Canopus
DMS Southard*
MSW Penguin, Turkey*
PTs: PT-21, PT-31, PT-32, PT-34, TM-13, TM-14, TM-15
AP President Madison
AKs, Large: Steel Voyager, Mormacdove
AKs, Small: Taurus, Empire Elk; Governor Wright; Idaho
TKs: Gertrude Kellogg, Manataway
Air Losses: 1365 Planes - 50 in the last week
670 planes shot down (+11)
448 planes destroyed on the ground (+16)
34 planes destroyed by flak (+2)
213 planes lost due to accident and wear (+21)
Top 20 Air Losses by Type
154x P-40B Tomahawk
113x Hurricane (+3)
102x Buffalo
89x Whirraway (+1)
82x P-40E Warhawk (+1)
78x Brewster 339D
77x Hudson
47x PBY Catalina (+2)
42x Martin 139 (+1)
38x SB-2c (+1)
37x B-17 Flying Fortress (+6)
29x Blenheim IV (+1)
28x CW-21B Demon
27x P-36A Mohawk
27x P-39D Airacobra
25x F4F-3
25x Blenheim I
24x P-26A
24x C-47 Dakota (new addition)
23x LB-30 Liberator (new addition)
Airplane Shortages
I have mentioned before the airplanes that we have shortages in. I thought, this time, I would tell you how great our shortages are -- how many airplanes I need just to bring existing squadrons up to full strength.
Brewster 339D (16)
Buffalo I (24)
Catalina I (48)
Martin 139 (14)
P-26A (10)
P-36A (66)
P-39D Airacobra (21)
P-40B Tomahawk (92)
P-40E Tomahawk (40)
If you could see fit to have these spare airplanes delivered, I would appreciate it. Please note that I am not asking for additional squadrons. I am simply asking for the planes that would be required to fully equip the squadrons that I have -- and the pilots to go with them.
Damage Inflicted
Military intelligence estimates the losses suffered by the Japanese to be the following
Enemy Naval Losses: 14 ships
1x Destroyer
8x Submarines
1x Minelayer
2x Minesweeper
1x Cargo ship
1x Troop transport
Enemy Air Losses:
These, of course, are approximations.
Air to air combat: less than 200
Flak: 120
Destroyed on the field: 30
Summary By Region
North Pacific
"Horseshoe"
CV Enterprise and AO Guadalupe rendezvoused at Dutch Harbor today. They will join up and sail into the waters north of the Aleutian Islands, where they will wait for CV Hornet. CV Hornet is about 3 days away -- southeast of Dutch Harbor.
Present deployment, from the furthest outpost to Anchorage
Kiska: Near the tip of the Aleutian Islands, MSW Oriole performs frequent patrols to the southwest to see if Japan is trying to get through the open waters.
Amchikita: 250 miles east of Kiska, AVD Gilles and VP-41 (12x PBY) to patrol the approaches to Alaska.
Dutch Harbor: 400 miles east of Amchikita, 24,000 troops + 1200 combat infantry. 24x P-36A. 32x Bombers.
Kodiak: 350 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor; 19,000 troops + 2200 combat infantry.
Anchorage: 4300 troops.
Nome: 5800 troops + 1100 combat infantry.
Central Pacific
Japan holds Guam, Wake, and Baker Islands. Nothing else that started in Allied control (with the exception of Pearl Harbor on December 7th) has even been subject to attack.
Engineers have built a crude port and airstrip at French Frigate Shoals, and just completed an airstrip on Laysan Island (400 miles southeast of Midway). These airstrips will allow us to ferry shorter-range aircraft from Hawaii to Midway.
There are just over 90,000 troops on the Hawiian Islands themselves (from Big Island to Lihu), with garrisons at Pearl, Hilo, Kona, and Lahina and Lihu. The 27th USA Infantry Division is on Big Island. This week, the 102nd USA Regimental Combat Team will occupy Lihu, 100 miles west of Pearl Harbor. These units will prevent Japan from easily landing on these islands and threatening Pearl Harbor.
Palmyra: 16,000 troops, 24x fighters, 65x bombers, 12x Patrol planes
Christmas Island: 20,500 troops plus 1900 combat infantry. 16x bombers. 12x Patrol planes.
I consider these islands to be at risk, now that Baker Island has fallen. For atolls, these islands are fairly large, capable of holding more troops than places like French Frigate Shoals and Midway. Engineers are working to fortify the islands.
Johnson Island: 4,500 troops. This island is also at risk. With a fairly well developed airfield, it would be useful for Japan to keep Hawaii in check. It needs reinforcements.
South Pacific
Japan occupies Nanomea Atoll. This small island sits about 600 miles south of Apamama and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. I originally feared that this was a part of an offensive to move south. However, the fact that Japan has made no attempt to turn either this island or Baker Island into an air base suggests that these islands may be intended for use as a buffer while the Gilbert Islands are built up.
Still, I am not taking chances. The units on Canton Island, American and British Samoa, Tongatapu, and Fiji have orders to dig in and prepare for a possible Japanese assault.
Canton Island: 15,000 troops, 24x fighters, 50x bombers, 12x patrol planes. Transport ships are again visiting this island without any hindrance from Japan. Supplies are plentiful as a result.
Samoa (Pago Pago): 26,000 troops split between American Samoa (16,000) and British Samoa (10,000). Also, holds the fighter, bomber, and torpedo squadrons of CV Saratoga while that carrier undergoes repairs for a torpedo hit at Pearl Harbor. Added to this, the islands have 12x Patrol Planes, 21x Fighter, and 16x Bomber.
Tongatapu: 3,500 troops, plus 60x bombers flying ASW missions along the route from Samoa to Fiji, and 12x patrol planes carrying out reconnaissance.
Fiji: 17,000 troops (New Zealand), 50x bombers. 16 patrol planes. Fiji has become home to the 5th Bomber group, formerly stationed at New Caledonia. Its mission is to try to hit the Japanese at Nanoumea Atoll to the northeast, but it has so far failed to do so.
New Caledonia: 4,000 troops, 1 squadron of Hudson bombers. Reinforcements for the island, which is calling itself the Americal Division, is about 500 miles southeast of the big island of Hawaii, heading for American Samoa (Pago Pago).
Southwest Pacific
Japan has taken all of the Solomon Islands and all of New Guinea except the bases on the southeastern tip of the island, including Port Moresby and Milne Bay. Recent military intelligence suggests that they are making a drive on this area, using about 100 ships fully supported by the entirety of its fleet (heavy) carrier air force.
They have continued to keep the airbase at Port Moresby suppressed. All air units have been withdrawn to Australia. The units are well supplied. However, with a Japanese carrier force nearby, it is not possible to reinforce the area. In fact, I have recently given the order to pull some of the defenders off of Port Moresby so that they can live and fight another day.
Port Moresby: 5,000 troops, now sits under the Japanese air umbrella out of Rabaul and Lae. Its airfields have been closed down by Japanese air assaults out of Rabaul. Efforts are underway to pull some of the defenders out of the city before Japan attacks and captures it. Approximately 500 soldiers have already been retrieved.
6th and 7th Australian Division: The 7th Australian Division is now in the waters south of Australia and is approaching Sydney by sea. The units should arrive in the middle of next week (around the 10th of March). The 6th Australian Division is still in the Middle East.
North Australian Navy. There is one ship left, other than submarines, along the north coast. CL Boise is undergoing repairs at Wyndham (southwest of Darwin) before making the trip to Perth.
Supplies: On the bright side, Australia has received a generous amount of supplies recently delivered on over 80 cargo ships. These are being unloaded at Australian ports and include oil, fuel, and whatever war goods the United States had available at the time the ships launched. If Australia gets cut off, they will at least have the supplies to withstand a siege for a while, so long as they can raise their own food. Additional supplies are en route both from the United States and from Great Britain through Africa and India.
Air Power: Australian Command has 120x fighter bombers (Whirraways), 80x Bombers (Beaufort with some Hudson), 16x transports, and 20x patrol planes. The Southwest Pacific Command has an additional 140x fighters, 220x fighter bombers, 110x level bombers, 35x torpedo bombers, 40x reconnaissance aircraft, 16x transports, 10x patrol craft. This comes to a total of approximately 800x airplanes. This is a sizable air force that should serve Australia well in case of invasion.
ABDA Command
Bali fell to Japan this week, leaving Timor and Aru Island as the only areas where there is still resistance to the Japanese. Because of the efficiency with which Japan destroyed the Bali fortress, the Aru Island defense now sounds like a bad idea. Therefore, the allies will slowly be withdrawing from that island.
Timor Timor has been largely abandoned, except for a token force at Koepang, on the western tip, and a small garrison of 10 fighters and a like number of bombers. Koepang is significantly short of supplies. There is no expectation of holding the island. As soon as the Japanese show up in force, the defenders will, as much as possible, retreat to the mainland.
Aru Island: As mentioned above, this has proved to be a bad idea. Japan moved on Bali with a force of 45,000 soldiers, all landing in 1 day. If they do the same to Aru Island, it will quickly fall. Rather than risk the loss of another group of soldiers trapped, we are withdrawing units from this island.
Burma
Japan owns all of Burma except Lashio, and this is a mere technicality that I am certain Japan will correct before the next week is out.
The next issue is that of an air war over Burma. Two Allied heavy bomber groups have been working to reduce Burma to a wasteland that Japan cannot possibly profit from. Japan, just today, destroyed one of these bomber groups at Diamond Harbor. Earlier, the Japanese air force was effective at eliminating allied fighters, downing allied fighters in a 20 to 1 ratio in a series of battles.
To combat these developments, the allies have disbursed their assets over the large number of airfields in the region. Fighters and bombers alike are scattered across a dozen airfields. None of these fields has a force strong enough to withstand a substantial Japanese attack. However, that attack can only threaten 10% of the allied air force at any one time.
Ceylon
The British have nearly 40,000 troops on Ceylon -- including the 18th UK Division -- to resist any Japanese invasion of this island. We also have 10x fighters and 70x bombers, and 12x patrol planes stationed on the island, with 20x more fighters at nearby Madras.
As is being done elsewhere, engineers are focusing on fortifying their positions rather than building infrastructure. Once the fortifications are in place, the infrastructure will be built up behind them.
There are troops stationed at every port on the east shore of India -- including (from south to north) 7,000 at Mannargudi, 3,500 at Madras, and 2,500 at Yanam.
China
Japanese forces finished their project of clearing the Shanghai-Hanoi railroad a couple of weeks ago. It then moved its main army north, and launched a campaign that drove through Homan and took the town of Sian today.
The AVG and the bulk of the Chinese air force has moved to Yunan to protect the airfields there from Japanese assaults. Those airfields will be used to receive supplies from India.
Thayne
[image]local://upfiles/12310/E5F5633D93F64B3A81DAE6E578C21ECD.jpg[/image]
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