AIRCRAFT
IN
THE
PHILIPPINES,
DECEMBER
1941 - Boeing P-26A |
|
In July 1941
the air force in the Philippines was still a token force, unable to
withstand "even a mildly determined and ill-equipped foe." Air Corps
headquarters in Washington had been urging for some time that additional
planes be sent to the Philippines and the Joint Board, early in 1940,
had proposed an increase in air strength for the island garrison. The
following July 1941 Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, chief of the newly
created Army Air Forces, came forward with the strongest proposal yet
made for the reinforcement of the Philippines. This proposal called for
the transfer to the Philippines of four heavy bombardment groups,
consisting of 272 aircraft with 68 in reserve, and two pursuit groups of
130 planes each. These planes, wrote Brig. Gen. Carl Spaatz, chief of
the Air Staff, would not be used for an offensive mission, but to
maintain "a strategical defensive in Asia."