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war and social upheaval: World War II Pacific air campaign country air forces
World War II: Pacific Air Campaign--Country Air Forces
Figure 1.--Discussions of the air war in the Pacific geneally focus on technology and America's immense industrial capacity. This is probably a reasonable approach, but wars at the time were fought by men. And here the Japanese were also at a huge disadvantage. It was not that they did not have good eyesight which was widely believed at the time. The Japanese carrier pilots who began the war were some of the finest pilots of the War. But Japan was a much smaller nation with a population of about 700 million, almost half of the 130 million Americans. But this over states the Japanese disadvantage. Japan had a much older population and thus a smaller number of young men in the age coharts from which the military drew. And if that was not enough, American kids grew up with cars and farm machinery, even people of modest means. Here we see an Amnerican boy with the family Model A Ford, probably about 1930. (The Model-A was produced 1927-31). As Will Rogers quipped during the Depression, "America was the first country in history to go to the poor house in the automobile." Large numbers of young men were able to work with cars and machinery. This meant that the American Army and Navy had access to large numbers of young men who could be trained to maintain aircraft which used piston driven internal conbustion engines. Too often military accounts concentrate on pilots. Often ignored were the mechanics and maintence crews which kept air craft in the air. Not only did this boy's generation fight the War, but the Ford plants that made this car produced jeeps, planes, tanks, and trucks. Ford plants alone profuced more heavy bombers than the entire Japanese aviation industry.
The air war in the Pacific was primarily fought by the United States and Japan. British and Chinese forces were also involvedin a marginal way and the Siviet Red AirForce in the final days of the War. The air war proved to be a mismatch because of the huge industrial and technological capability of the United States. This was not the case in the first year of the War. The Japanese calculation was that they could over come the American superority in manpower, resources, and industry, by building a powerful military force, including a modern airforce before the United States coverted its industry to war production. Japanese naval planners in particular as part of their preparation devised a long, through training program. And as a result at the beginning of the War had the best trained pilots in the world, although because of the rigorous training program, a relatively small cadre of pilots. And they were equipped with the best carrier fighter in the world in 1941-42, the Mitsubishi A6N Zero. The Japanese calculation that these pilots and the Zero and other aircraft would provide the margin of victory in a climatic naval battle at an early point of what they believed would be a short war. When the Imperial Fleet failed to force a conclusion to the war in the first year, America's industrial capacity very quickly reversed the advantage the Japanese had in the air during the first year of the War. The basic organization of air forces was similar at the beggining of the War. There was no unified air force, but both army and navy air forces. During the War, U.S. Army Air Forces moved increasingly toward an independent force. The Japanese army air force never did. The huge industrial capacity of the United States converted the relatively Army Air Corps into the large air force in the world, far exceeding the combined air forces of the Axis countries. The United States produced a wide variety of new aircraft types so that the planes in use at the time of Pearl Harbor were a forgotten memory. The B-29s that destroyed Japanese cities was beyond the comprehension of the Japasnese militarists that launched the War. The Japanese on the otherhand were still using the same aircraft with which they began the War and were reduced to suiside tactics. The untested aspect of the air war was the secret Japanese airforce assembled to repel the anticipated American invasion.
More than any other country the United States decided to fight the War with a massive air force. President Roosevelt is known for his affinity with ships and the Navy. Less well known is hit commitment toward building a massive air force. About 25 percent of American war spending was devoted to the air war. Not only was this a greater share than Germany devoted to the Luftwaffe, the industrial capacity of America was much greater than that of Germany. The British focused on bombers. The Americans produced a wide range of aircraft for its various commands as well as for its allies. It was the most powerful air force of the 20th century. It took some time for the Allies to perfect tactics and production priorities, but by 1944 the Allies unleased a torrent of destruction, first on Germany and then on Japan that was in terms of destruction unprecedented in modern warfare.
Australian Royal Air Force
British Royal Air Force
The British Royal Air Force (RAF) played a key role in preventing a NAZI victory in Europe before America entered the War. But it required Britain to marshall the great bulk of the RAF's strength in Britain. The RAF forces made available to defend Singapore and Burma proved inadequate to stop the Japanese invasions after Pearl Harbor. And the British did not have modern carrier aircraft. At the time of Pearl Harbor (December 1941) they were still usingobsolete Fairy Swordfish biplanes. As a result, the Pacific War air campaigns would be largely fought by America and Japan.
The Meiji Restoration (1868) was largely the result of the realization that Japan would have to modernize to resist Western imperialism. As a result, one of the primary goal of the new Japanese imperial government was to build a powerful military along European lines with modern arms. Thus in the early-20th century when Western countries began assessing the military potential of the airplane, the Japanese military followed these developments. Japan at the time did not have the capability of designing and building their own aircraft. The first Japanese-owned plane was purchased by a private individual (1910). It was similar to a plane designed and flown by the French aviator Henri Farman. The Tokugawa Balloon Factory began to build the plane on a limited basis (1911). Japan had a naval treaty with Britain abnd joined the Allied side when World War I broke out. As a result, the Japanese military acquired several advanced Allied aircraft types, including some French Nieuport fighters and Salmson 2A-2 bombers. After World War I, Japan actively followed air craft developments and acquired mostly European techhnology. They hosted military aviation delegations and sent their own military delegations abroad. Slowly Japan was able to develop their own aviation design capability. Both the Army and Navy had active programs, but there was no independent air force established. The Japanese dominated the skies over China, until the United States began supplying modern aircraft and trained pilots to China--the Flying Tigers. The Allies significantly underestimated the effectiveness of Japanese aircraft. Before the Japanese struck, it was widely thought in the West that Japan was not capable of maaking high-performance modern aircraft or that Japanese pilots were particularly skilled. The Mitsubishi Zero shocked the Americans and British. The result was the virtual destruction of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor and the loss of wide areas of Southeast Asia and the Paciic in 1942. The Japanese, however, badly miscalculated their ability to compete with American industrial strength. Japanese aircraft designers were competent, but their industry had a limited capacity. The U.S. Navy ad Army Air Corps fought the first year of the Pacific War with inferior aircraft. Within less than a year of Pear Harbor, American air units were receiving new aircraft that out performed the Zero and other Japanese aircraft. New types continually rolled off American assembly lines while the Japanese continued to use the same aircraft types with which they began the War. The Japanese in the final year of the War were reduced to using suiside tactics--the Kamakazze. And their aircraft could not capable of reaching sufficent alditudes to engage the American B-29s that reduced Japanese cities to ashes.
Soviet Red Air Force
The Soviet Red Air Force at the beginning of World War II was the largest in the world. The Luftwaffe destroyed the Red Air Force in the first few days of Barbarossa. . As a result the Red Air Force was not a factor during Barbarossa. The Red Army during the Barbarossa had to fight with virtually no air cover. The Luftwaffe did not, however, destroy the Soviet aircraft industry. Relocated Soviet began factories begun producing improved aircraft types in huge numbers. Thus the situation in the air gradually changed and by 1943 the Red Air Force was again an important factor in the War. Several factors were involved here. The Soviets did have a substantial aeronautics industry and the Soviet war plants that had been moved east by 1943 had reached full production. America through Lend Lease was delivering planes to the Soviets. The Allied strategic bombing campaign forced not only forced the Luftwaffe to withdraw assetts from the Eastern Front to defend German cities. In addition the bombing disrupted German production as well as casused substantial lossess in German fighters. Many accounts of the air war do not give sufficent attention to the impact on the Luftwaffe of engaging the Allied bombers even before long-range fighter cover became available. The Red Air Force was deployed in strength in the invasion of Manchuria (August 1945). Many historians believe that the Soviet delaration of war on Japan had a greater impact in convincing the Japanese to surrender than the atomic bombs.
