Table 1
Geography of the Philippines
The Philippine Islands consist of about 1,500 islands, arranged generally in a
north-south orientation,
to the south of Taiwan, or "Formosa," as it was known
to Americans in the 1940s.
|
Luzon
|
is the northernmost large island in the Philippines
|
| Manila |
The capital of the Philippines, is located on Manila Bay on
the southwest coast of Luzon, about 500 miles from Formosa.
|
| Manila |
The capital of the Philippines, is located on Manila Bay on
the southwest coast of Luzon, about 500 miles from Formosa.
|
| Intramuros |
Spanish for "in the walls," the old city around which
Manila grew and the site of General MacArthur's headquarters. |
| Cavite Naval Base |
is on Manila Bay |
| Corregidor |
is a fortified island in Manila Bay
|
| Nielson Field |
The headquarters of the Far East Air Force (FEAF) and 5th
Interceptor Command and location of the Aircraft Warning System (AWS). Nielson
was close to the southern border of 1941 Manila. |
| Nichols Field |
South of Nielson, but still less than 10 miles from the
border of 1941 Manila. The 17th and 21st Pursuit Squadrons (PSs) were based at
Nichols. |
| Clark Field |
The most important FEAF operational base, about 60 miles
north of Manila. Headquarters of the 24th Pursuit Group (GP), the 20th PS and
the B-17-equipped 19th Bomb Group (BG) |
| Iba Field |
on the coast of the South China Sea, about 37 miles to the
west of Clark and home of the 3rd PS.
|
| Del Carmen Field |
the home of the 34th PS is 15 miles south and a little west
of Clark.
|
Table 2
Abbreviations
|
AAF
|
(United States) Army Air Force
|
| AWS |
Aircraft Warning System |
| FEAF |
Far East Air Force
|
| USA |
United States Army |
| USAFFE |
United States Army Forces in the Far East |
Table 3
U.S. Army Air Force Tactical Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941
At Clark Field and other airbases on Luzon
|
Aircraft
|
number of aircraft "in commission" from Watson [1]
|
number of aircraft from Bartsch (2003) [2]
|
| B-17 |
17 [3] |
19 |
| B-18 |
no entry |
13 |
| P-35A |
18 |
26 |
| P-40B |
18 |
24 |
| P-40E |
54 |
47 |
At Del Monte on Mindanao
|
Aircraft
|
number of aircraft "in commission" from Watson
|
number of aircraft from Bartsch (2003)
|
| B-17 |
16 |
16 |
| B-18 |
no entry |
2 |
[1]. Watson, pp. 201-202.
[2]. Bartsch, W. H. December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor. [College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2003] "Appendix C," p. 427.
[3]. Watson at p. 201, "the Far East Air Force had in commission thirty-three B-17's, of which sixteen were at Del Monte." Evidently, two of the 35 B-17s in the Islands were not "in commission."
|
|