General Kenney Reports: A Personal History of the Pacific WarDIANE Publishing, 1997 - 599 pages General Kenney Reports is a classic account of a combat commander in action. General George Churchill Kenney arrived in the South- west Pacific theater in August 1942 to find that his command, if not in a shambles, was in dire straits. The theater commander, General Douglas MacArthur, had no confidence in his air element. Kenney quickly changed this situation. He organized and energized the Fifth Air Force, bringing in operational commanders like Whitehead and Wurtsmith who knew how to run combat air forces. He fixed the logistical swamp, making supply and maintenance supportive of air operations, and encouraging mavericks such as Pappy Gunn to make new and innovative weapons and to explore new tactics in airpower application. The result was a disaster for the Japanese. Kenney's airmen used air power-particularly heavily armed B-25 Mitchell bombers used as commerce destroyers-to savage Japanese supply lines, destroying numerous ships and effectively isolating Japanese garrisons. The classic example of Kenney in action was the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, which marked the attainment of complete Allied air dominance and supremacy over Japanese naval forces operating around New Guinea. In short, Kenney was a brilliant, innovative airman, who drew on his own extensive flying experiences to inform his decision-making. General Kenney Reports is a book that has withstood the test of time, and which should be on the shelf of every airman. |
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Common terms and phrases
afternoon aircraft airplanes ammunition antiaircraft Arnold ashore asked attack Aussies Australian Balikpapan Bena Bena Bena Blamey bombers Bong Brisbane Buna carriers coast Colonel combat commander convoy couple crew cruiser damaged destroyed destroyers Division Dobodura engineers escorted field Fifth Air Force fight Fighter Group fire flew flown flying Gasmata ground Guinea guns Halsey Harbor headquarters heavy Hollandia intercepted Island Jap air Jap airdromes Jap fighters Jap planes Kavieng Kenney kids Kokoda landing Leyte Lieutenant looked Luzon MacArthur Manila Marilinan miles Milne Bay mission morning Morotai move Nadzab night Nips operations Pacific Pappy Philippines pilot Port Moresby Rabaul radio raid reconnaissance reported runway Salamaua sent sergeant shooting shot skip-bombing soon SOPAC squadron strafing strip supplies Tacloban target Thirteenth Air Force told tons of bombs took Townsville troops vessels Vitiaz Straits Wakde Wanigela wanted weather Wewak Whitehead
Popular passages
Page 577 - From the moment of surrender the authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied powers who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate the surrender terms.
Page 320 - Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy at Culis, Bataan Province, PI, January 16, 1942.
Page 320 - From below-masthead height he attacked a transport of some 9,000 tons, scoring a hit which engulfed the ship in flames. Bombs expended, he began to withdraw his squadron. A heavy cruiser barred the path. Unhesitatingly, to neutralize the cruiser's guns and attract its fire, he went in for a strafing run. His damaged stabilizer was completely shot off.
Page 579 - And so, my fellow countrymen, today I report to you that your sons and daughters have served you well and faithfully with the calm, deliberate, determined fighting spirit of the American soldier and sailor, based upon a tradition of historical trait, as against the fanaticism of an enemy supported only by mythological fiction.
Page 579 - We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door.
Page 26 - Sutherland had always rubbed people the wrong way. He was egotistic, like most people, but an unfortunate bit of arrogance combined with his egotism had made him almost universally disliked.
Page 279 - During the two days' operations we had destroyed on the ground and in the air practically the entire Japanese air force in the Wewak area, had burned up thousands of drums of gasoline and oil, destroyed a number of large supply dumps, and knocked out the greater part of the antiaircraft gun defenses around Wewak. It was doubtful if the Nips could have put over a half dozen aircraft in the air from all four airdromes combined.
Page 293 - C-47's carrying paratroops, supplies and some artillery. The C-47's flew in three columns of three plane elements, each column carrying a battalion set up for a particular battalion dropping ground. On each side along the column of transports and about one thousand feet above them were the close cover fighters. Another group of fighters sat at seven thousand feet and up in the sun, staggered from fifteen to twenty thousand, was another group of C-47's [P-47's].
Page 44 - That there was no use talking about playing across the street until we got the Nips off of our front lawn.
Page 320 - His thousand-pound bomb struck squarely amidships, causing the vessel to explode. Although anti-aircraft fire from this vessel had seriously damaged his left vertical stabilizer, he refused to deviate from the course. From...