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.
