Customer Reviews

MacArthur's Eagles: The U.S. Air War Over New Guinea, 1943-1944

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For a number of years there has been a need for a detail history of the air conflict over New Guinea in late 1943 through much of 1944. The WW II USAAF Official History provides plenty of event/factual data, leaves out much of the human element, and says next to nothing about the Japanese side. This volume rectifies that.

The author tells the story well, and in conjunction with the Bergerud volume ("Fire In The Sky"), the interested party can immediately grasp "how" and "why" the USAAF [along with the RAAF] dismantled the Imperial Japanese Air Forces in the South Pacific.

This volume concentrates on the destruction of the Wewak complex, and later the Hollandia fields and their IJAF forces. It depicts the air efforts as the driving function in moving the ground forces forward towards the Philippines. The major actions are well covered from both sides, and personal pilot/aircrew narratives are included to bolster the development of the history. Further, the logistical and maintainer support factors are woven into the story, which depict the stark contrast in philosophies between the opposing nations. This - along with the contrast in leadership between the USAAF & the IJAF - provides telling insight on why Japan failed miserably in the South Pacific.

McAulay also weaves in the intelligence and reconnaissance aspects that were key elements in the USAAF drive up the northern coast of New Guinea. These factors haven't been included in much of what has previously been written, and deserve mention here.

The volume is replete with unit level facts and figures that McAulay has included to plot the continuing ascendance of USAAF, and decline of IJAF airpower. It's an eye opening account. These figures cast a long shadow on the overall Japanese warmaking potential when compared to the Allied side in what was considered a "third rate" theater of war.

Highly recommended.

As the says, up until about 1942 the Germans and Japanese pretty much had control of the air, with a few places like the Battle of Britain being the exception. But by 1943 the situation was changing. The production lines in the United States were beginning to turn out new and advanced planes like the P-47, B-17 and B-24 in quantities that our enemies could only imagine.

In 1943, MacArthur was ready to begin the long road back to the Philippines and from there to Japan itself. MacArthur was fortunate to have General George C. Kenney to command his air force. The road back started in New Guinea, the first set of islands north of Australia. Here in 1943 the 5th American Air Force went to war against the 4th Army Air Force of Japan. Here the 5th American Air Force demolished the 4th Japanese Army Air Force. And here the 5th American Air Force developed the specialized modifications and tactics that they used until the end of the war when a 5th Air Force P-38 was the first American airplane to land in Japan.

This is supurbly researched book, drawing on every available bit of information from unpublished Japanese documents, interrogations of prisoners, and decoded Japanese radio traffic and similar information including official reports from the American side.

MacArthur's Eagles deals with the air war over New Guinea between the 5th Air Force and the Japanese between 1943 and 1944. The book opens by describing how the situation goes from air superiority for the Japanese to air parity between them and the Americans. Then the book focuses on how the Americans achieved air superiority by performing a series of concentrated raids against the Japanese airbases at critical times. In this book, Mr. McAulay is very complementary toward General Kenny and his men, while not being complementary toward MacArthur (interesting given the name of the book. While I don't disagree with Mr. McAulay's assessment of General MacArthur's abilities, I couldn't help but feel that part of his feelings were driven from Mr. McAulay being Australian). Mr. McAulay's description of the Japanese was interesting, complementary toward the individual soldier but very harsh toward the Japanese Generals and their aircraft industry. In addition to the story, the book contains some very good photgraphs, maps, and some great appendices for those interested in the statistical side of things

Rating wise, this book is very complex. There are two pieces to this. For the casual reader, this book is probably a 3 star book; Mr. McAulay's writing is a little flat and he fails to deliver what could be a powerful story. However if you have an interest in the 5th Air Force and how they gained control over the skies of New Guinea, the book rises to 4 stars. Since this was my interest for this book, I'll give the book 4 stars.

Lex McAulay's, MacArther's Eagles: The U.S. Air War Over New Guinea, 1943-1944, is a complex and thoroughly researched book that describes the triumphs and tragedies of the U.S. Army's 5th Air Force. This book is one of a very few on the subject and it carves itself a niche in the category that will make it indispensable to future researchers of the topic. McAulay's work details how an unprepared, undersupplied, and initially unappreciated 5th Air Force came to dominate the South West Pacific Area, and hastened the end of the Japanese presence in New Guinea.

This book is exhaustingly researched; drawing from previously unpublished Japanese documents, personal journals and radio intercepts, as well as post-war prisoner interrogations. These sources provide a unique Japanese perspective on the problems and utilization of air power in the South West Pacific Area. The many advantages and disadvantages between the multitude of different Allied and Japanese aircraft is presented, as well as the Japanese failure to completely understand air power and its many uses. Not only at a tactical level, but on a theater wide scale. McAulay explains the differences between Imperial Japanese and Allied thinking, in terms of air power, in a style that explains away the seemingly miracle like successes of Allied air attacks. The Imperial Japanese forces had underestimated almost every aspect of the Allied air campaign, from tactics, and aircraft, to pilot quality and sheer determination.

Included in book, primarily in chapter five titled, In the South West Pacific, is a delightful collection of anecdotes that colorfully illustrate various experiences of members of the 5th Air Force. This section helps to lighten the air of a work that would otherwise read like a high school statistics book. Where McAulay triumphs in research and uncovering an astounding amount of information, he fails in simply making the book readable, or otherwise enjoyable. The choppy text is littered with hundreds of references to specific Japanese and Allied squadrons and their kill ratios, probable kills, mission results, losses, and dates of engagements, all of which are listed in table format in the appendices. Intertwined in the vast amount of statistics and scores are occasional combat reflections, which are surprisingly vivid and electric. They describe the deeds of the many heroic and determined pilots on both side of the conflict and are a welcome interruption to the fore and after paragraphs. One such story recounts the air combat, and shooting down of P-38 pilot Captain James McLaughlin. McLaughlin was forced to bail out over the water, but managed to inflate his dingy and untangle himself from his parachute. After many hours in the water, a useless water logged smoke bomb and .45-caliber pistol later, McLaughlin was rescued by a PBY. Stories like this make the book worth reading in its entirety, and paint an intimate picture of the many difficulties faced by 5th Air Force pilots.

Sadly, the author's complete contempt for the Japanese militarily becomes apparent midway through the book. The constant belittling of the Japanese commanders, pilots, planes, and tactics becomes bothersome even to readers who may well understand many of the Japanese military faults. McAulay goes to great lengths to point out the many discrepancies between Japanese battle accounts and confirmed kills, and the accepted Allied accounts. McAulay may fail to recognize the power of this type of propaganda on the Japanese populous on the home islands. What may seem at present to be ridiculous claims of Japanese fighters shooting down hundreds of Allied planes, or sinking dozens of Allied ships, were very powerful tools then. It does not seem all that ridiculous when compared to U.S. claims during the First and now Second Gulf War. The Japanese people believed their armies invincible, as they had been up to that point, as many Americans believe the same of U.S. Armed Forces in more modern areas of combat. McAulay paints the Japanese in the SWPA in such a dark light, that one wonders why the war went on as long as it did with the amount of buffoonery present within the ranks of the Japanese command. McAulay's insults and accusations toward the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, although warranted in the case of atrocities and war crimes, borders on malicious. Little respect is shown for an enemy that had taught the United States a serious lesson in the use of air power little more than a year before at Pearl Harbor.

In all, McAulay's work takes a very thorough look at the 5th Air Force and their operations over New Guinea. It is bountifully filled with in-depth stories, and facts. It is truly a valuable source for researches looking for a better understanding of both the big and the little picture in this theater.