Doomed at the Start: American Pursuit Pilots in the Philippines, 1941-1942 (Volume 24) (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series)

Updated December 8, 2017The 76th anniversary of the beginning of the destruction of the US Army Air Force in the Far East (USAAFE) prompted me to reflect on the sacrifices of these men and to add to my review.“Doomed at the Start: American Pursuit Pilots in the Philippines, 1941-1942” is a fine narrative history of the destruction of the 24th Pursuit Group at the outset of the Japanese attack on the Philippines and the survivors efforts to carry on after the chaotic retreat to Bataan. The title comes from a letter Lt. Max Louk wrote to his sister after a training mission against B-17s demonstrated the P-40’s limitations in its’ intended interceptor role. “Our planes—the latest P-40s—are not good enough to fight with!” Expecting Japan to attack he continued “Well, we all hope it comes soon, because we are doomed at the start.” Lt. Louk died December 8 attempting to take off under attack at Clark Field.The December 8 attacks effectively destroyed the 24th Pursuit Group. By the end of the first week of war it had lost 80 percent of its P-40s and P-35s. Barely 20 fighters made it to Bataan in a poorly managed evacuation and most of its’ personnel fought as infantry. Command failures are a recurrent theme. They were a continuing source of bitterness for the surviving pilots William Bartsch interviewed in the 1970s and 80s. Only General Harold George among senior commanders seems to have generated respect and confidence. His evacuation from Bataan in March 1942 was a major psychological blow. Ironically General George died a month later in an operational accident.The 24th Pursuit survivors steadily developed combat experience. On Bataan most performed well, especially in a ground attack role, but their numbers were so small that they had little impact on the campaign. By the fall of Bataan only 3 fighters were airworthy enough to retreat to Mindanao where they joined a handful of P-40s. Fighter contributions to the brief defense of Mindanao were minimal.As the USAAFE steadily was ground down excess pilots and their ground crews were converted into makeshift infantry, an experience mentioned in passing by several pilots Bartsch interviewed. This happened first to the Clark Field B-17 survivors and their ground crews shortly after they retreated to Bataan. Not many survived. Ben Steele did. He was the subject of an outstanding narrative of endurance: “Tears in the Darkness.” His experiences are a mirror into those of the men who supported the 24th Pursuit’s pilots.In a sad coda the Japanese captured the two remaining airworthy P-40Es in Mindanao. They forced pilots to fly them to Clark after which the planes were shipped to Japan for exploitation. Because of scant documentation Bartsch could not determine what coercion was applied. However an inference can be drawn from the execution of POW BGen Guy Fort. Six months after he surrendered the 81st Filipino Division on Mindanao he was ordered to call on those still resisting to lay down arms. Gen. Fort refused and was put before a firing squad. The 24th Pursuit survivors suffered terribly as POWs, 60 percent did not survive.Bartsch focuses on the pilots but his references to their ground crews point to many unsung heroes. Working in makeshift environments and under nearly constant attack their ability to keep fighters airworthy was as impressive as their counterparts at Wake and Guadalcanal.Pearl Harbor ensured defeat in the isolated Philippines. Although better handling of the 24th Pursuit Group and better luck on December 8 could have raised the toll the Japanese paid it could not have reversed the results. The odds were insurmountable. The pre-war build up was rushed and incomplete. As a consequence pilot training was inadequate, especially against a combat experienced foe, equipment, particularly the P-40Es, not combat ready and early warning command and control not integrated.“Doomed at the Start” complements Bartsch’s follow on “December 8, 1941: MacArthur’s Pearl Harbor.” That book provides the analytic framework largely missing in “Doomed.” It places the ordeal of the 24th Pursuit in the broader context of the strategic decisions that underlay the effort to build sufficient airpower to deter an attack on the Philippines. It also is a thorough postmortem of the causes of the December 8 debacle.

This is my third book by William Bartsch. All are about the very beginning of the USA's involvement in WWII in the Pacific theater. This book is well researched and written. Extreme detail of US pursuit pilots trying to defend the Philippines in late 1941 and early 1942. I learned a great deal from this book, as well as the other two books from Mr. Bartsch that also focus on the early air war days over the Philippines and Java. All of these books have much to offer to those wanting to learn about the USA's preparedness for war with Japan.

William H. Bartsch's book Doomed At the Start helps fill a gap left by historians concerning the events that played out in the western Pacific during the opening months of World War II. It describes a reluctant nation's hurried efforts to prepare for war, and the serious mistakes made as a result. Young, poorly trained men were sent up in obsolete aircraft to fight an opponent who already had extensive combat experience. Largely ineffectual early warning systems and accidents cost the Far East Air Force and the US Army Forces in the Far East dearly.Other good books about the early war in the Pacific would include: Through the Valley of the Kwai by Ernest Gordon; Ship of Ghosts by John D. Hornfischer; Yangtze Patrol by Kemp Tolley; and Pigboat 39 by Bobette Gugliotta.

An excellent and detailed account of how ill-prepared we were in the Philippines with focus on the Army Air Corps. Additionally, this book -- along with "The Cruise of the Lanikai" -- should convince most readers that the impending Japanese attack was not a mystery to some.

Very detailed. The timelines overlap for a novice reader like myself but I really enjoyed this book. Very enlightening.

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