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1. 10 more pursuit squadrons
2. 7 medium bombardment squadrons
3. 3 heavy bombardment squadrons
In 3 months:
1. 3 more heavy bombardment
In 6 months:
1. 3 Pursuit squadrons
2. 2 medium bombardment squadrons
3. 4 heavy bombardment squadrons
Casey to Evatt Washington, 17 December 1941
Cablegram 1163
Most Secret
United States is sending "in the next few days" two fast ships (President Polk and President Cooleridge) [sc. Coolidge] from the Californian coast to Australia, containing 125 P 40 fighter aircraft, 5 transport aircraft D.C. 3 type, together with United States Army Air Corps fourth mobile depot group of about 550 officers and men. Each aircraft will be accompanied by pilot, crew, observer and armourer. Above ships will also carry some ammunition and bombs. The mobile depot group will have hand tools and such other necessary maintenance equipment and machinery as the ships can carry. This depot group is to establish itself at the most appropriate place in Australia (they presume either Brisbane or Townsville) for the assembly of the above-mentioned and subsequent arriving aircraft. Subsequently about 35 or 40 P 40 fighter aircraft with pilots, bombers and ammunition may be expected monthly as reinforcements by subsequent ships.
All of the above fighter aircraft are destined on the present plans to fly to the Philippines via Darwin and appropriate stopping places. ......
How about his kid who was a Light Colonel USAAF , I believe was CO of a Squadron up in the AleutiansOK.. If we can't recruit Chennault, how about building a time machine go back and collect some hair from the floor of his barbershop, go forward in time to clone him, and then take our clone back to the PI and set him to task. That might work swell until he read what the chinese were paying Chennault prime.
Of course if we could just find someone as capable as Chennault that might work too. and involve no pesky paradoxes.
Wing Commander Tuck was sent to the USA during 1941 to share his expertise. Let's accept the British offer. From August 1941 onward the Philippines had top priority. The U.S. Army Air Corps will request him by name to assume command of 5th Interceptor Command in the Philippines. That gives him control over all fighter aircraft in the Philippines. I suspect Wing Commander Tuck would be thrilled to have this assignment rather then strafing targets in France.The Duxford Wing was led by Tuck over France until October 1941, when he was taken off operations. Along with fellow ace Adolf 'Sailor' Malan, Group Capt. Harry Broadhurst, leader of the Hornchurch Wing, and three highly decorated Bomber Command pilots, Tuck was sent to the United States to share his expertise with Britain's allies.
Tuck returned to England in December 1941
Wing Commander Tuck would be in the FEAF fighter control center giving orders to his P-40 squadrons. He may screw up but I tend to think he knew what he was doing. He certainly couldn't do much worse then what happened historically.
He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) for the destruction of over 300,000 gross register tons (GRT) of allied shipping
Werner Baumbach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
View attachment 193861
This is the guy I want commanding FEAF bombers. After a couple months of his training we shouldn't have any problem sinking anchored IJA troop transports.
Chennault, as special representative of Chiang Kai-shek and sort of quasi-leader of the Chinese Nationalist AF, knew of Japanese use of the Zero over China from July 1940, at first small trial quantities of Model 11's, then eventually a couple of small 'air groups' (much smaller than the early Pac War ones of 45 or so a/c) equipped with Model 21's in 1941. But all JNAF fighters were withdrawn from China just before the Pac War. And, Chennault's idea of combating Japanese fighters with diving hit and run tactics was mainly a product of observing some (though limited) success in such tactics by Chinese and Soviet piloted I-16's in China v JNAF Type 96's in the late 30's. When the Zero was used over China, it was faster than its opponents and preferred hit and run tactics itself; in fact this was standard IJN fighter doctrine as of December 1941. And the Zero totally dominated its opposition over China in 1940-41, total real losses on Chinese side not clear (v 100+ claimed by the Japanese), but there's no documented case where Chinese fighters downed any Zeroes at all in that period. They mainly quit coming up in 1941. So nobody had learned to deal with the Zero prior to December 1941.Think that Chennault never encountered Zeroes, let alone before 1942?
Yes, it appears to be a possible solution, but would Tuck with his RAF and Eurpoean war experience repeat the Darwin Spitfire V experience? Knowing about European fighter direction may not translate well to the Far East. Would he be victim of the same european-ethnocentrism that hampered American, British Dutch preparation for the inevitable conflict? Would he share the belief that the greatest threat to USAAF P-40s were IJAAF and IJN flown Bf-109s? The thinking in that conclusion escapes me. Where did these Bf-109s come from? Did they materielize out of thin air? was there suddenly an IJN carrier based version shared by the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine? It appears rumors were sustained and confirmed by observation. The USAAF pilots apparently believed so strongly that they couldn't have been beaten by anything but Bf-109s that when they flew and encountered A6M's they 'saw' and reported Bf-109s. How do commanders who don't know what they are facing; or worse assume an enemy possessing a far more inferior capability, properly prepare forces to face the real threat? In other words, we are back to a Channault-like surrogate. It is just possible Chennault was unique in terms of capability, position and knowledge. If you want to think out of the box... How about recruiting a high ranking officer of the Chinese Air Force who had worked with Chennault enough to know the business? I don't know of such a person, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist. It just may be an indication of my lack of exposure to historical accounts written in Chinese. No a CAF officer wouldn't work. Americans wouldn't listen to or believe in such an officer...
Is there a free agent clause that would allow us to hire an IJN officer? same problem...