MacArthur's Air Force: American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941-51
General Douglas MacArthur ended World War II controlling one of the most powerful air forces in the world. This fascinating history, now available in paperback, traces its development from its origins in the Philippines through to its eventual victory in the skies over Japan and its key role in the Korean War.

General Douglas MacArthur is one of the towering figures of World War II, and indeed of the twentieth century, but his leadership of the second largest air force in the USAAF is often overlooked. When World War II ended, the three numbered air forces (the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Seventh) under his command possessed 4,004 combat aircraft, 433 reconnaissance aircraft, and 922 transports. After being humbled by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942, MacArthur and his air chief General George Kenney rebuilt the US aerial presence in the Pacific, helping Allied naval and ground forces to push back the Japanese Air Force, retake the Philippines, and carry the war north towards the Home Islands. Following the end of World War II, MacArthur was the highest military and political authority in Japan and at the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 he was named as Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command. In the ten months of his command, his Far East Air Forces increased dramatically and saw the first aerial combat between jet fighters.

Written by award-winning aviation historian Bill Yenne, this engrossing and widely-acclaimed title, now available in paperback, traces the journey of American air forces in the Pacific under General MacArthur's command, from their lowly beginnings to their eventual triumph over Imperial Japan, followed by their entry into the jet age in the skies over Korea.

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MacArthur's Air Force: American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941-51
General Douglas MacArthur ended World War II controlling one of the most powerful air forces in the world. This fascinating history, now available in paperback, traces its development from its origins in the Philippines through to its eventual victory in the skies over Japan and its key role in the Korean War.

General Douglas MacArthur is one of the towering figures of World War II, and indeed of the twentieth century, but his leadership of the second largest air force in the USAAF is often overlooked. When World War II ended, the three numbered air forces (the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Seventh) under his command possessed 4,004 combat aircraft, 433 reconnaissance aircraft, and 922 transports. After being humbled by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942, MacArthur and his air chief General George Kenney rebuilt the US aerial presence in the Pacific, helping Allied naval and ground forces to push back the Japanese Air Force, retake the Philippines, and carry the war north towards the Home Islands. Following the end of World War II, MacArthur was the highest military and political authority in Japan and at the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 he was named as Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command. In the ten months of his command, his Far East Air Forces increased dramatically and saw the first aerial combat between jet fighters.

Written by award-winning aviation historian Bill Yenne, this engrossing and widely-acclaimed title, now available in paperback, traces the journey of American air forces in the Pacific under General MacArthur's command, from their lowly beginnings to their eventual triumph over Imperial Japan, followed by their entry into the jet age in the skies over Korea.

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MacArthur's Air Force: American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941-51

MacArthur's Air Force: American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941-51

by Bill Yenne
MacArthur's Air Force: American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941-51

MacArthur's Air Force: American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941-51

by Bill Yenne

Paperback

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Overview

General Douglas MacArthur ended World War II controlling one of the most powerful air forces in the world. This fascinating history, now available in paperback, traces its development from its origins in the Philippines through to its eventual victory in the skies over Japan and its key role in the Korean War.

General Douglas MacArthur is one of the towering figures of World War II, and indeed of the twentieth century, but his leadership of the second largest air force in the USAAF is often overlooked. When World War II ended, the three numbered air forces (the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Seventh) under his command possessed 4,004 combat aircraft, 433 reconnaissance aircraft, and 922 transports. After being humbled by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942, MacArthur and his air chief General George Kenney rebuilt the US aerial presence in the Pacific, helping Allied naval and ground forces to push back the Japanese Air Force, retake the Philippines, and carry the war north towards the Home Islands. Following the end of World War II, MacArthur was the highest military and political authority in Japan and at the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 he was named as Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command. In the ten months of his command, his Far East Air Forces increased dramatically and saw the first aerial combat between jet fighters.

Written by award-winning aviation historian Bill Yenne, this engrossing and widely-acclaimed title, now available in paperback, traces the journey of American air forces in the Pacific under General MacArthur's command, from their lowly beginnings to their eventual triumph over Imperial Japan, followed by their entry into the jet age in the skies over Korea.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781472833242
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: 09/07/2021
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Bill Yenne is the author of ten novels and more than three dozen non-fiction books, his most recent being America's Few: Marine Aces in the South Pacific (Osprey, 2022). His work has been selected for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Reading List. He is the recipient of the Air Force Association's Gill Robb Wilson Award for the “most outstanding contribution in the field of arts and letters [as an author] whose works have shaped how thousands of Americans understand and appreciate air power.” He lives in California, USA.

Table of Contents

Prologue: MacArthur and Airpower

Chapter 1: Starting Out in the Crosshairs of Calamity

Chapter 2: Shoestring Air Force

Chapter 3: Who's in Charge of What?

Chapter 4: Making Do with Nothing

Chapter 5: Clinging to New Guinea

Chapter 6: The Battles of Buna

Chapter 7: Airpower Over Naval Power

Chapter 8: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea

Chapter 9: Japanese Air Superiority Challenged

Chapter 10: Japanese Air Superiority Met Head-On

Chapter 11: Allied Air Superiority Achieved

Chapter 12: Cartwheel Over Rabaul

Chapter 13: Expanding the Perimeter

Chapter 14: The Ploesti of the Pacific

Chapter 15: MacArthur's Return to the Philippines

Chapter 16: MacArthur's Expanding Air Force

Chapter 17: Victory in Leyte and Mindoro

Chapter 18: The Bloody Road to Manila

Chapter 19: The Superfortress

Chapter 20: From Borneo to Formosa

Chapter 21: First Strikes on Japan

Chapter 23: After the War

Chapter 24: MacArthur's Air Force in Korea

Epilogue: By the Numbers

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