Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC
midnight. The lead bomber of the stream dropped its bombs soon after
midnight, and the rain of explosives, incendiaries, and fragmentation
bombs continued until after 0300. How much damage this night bombing
inflicted upon the Japanese at Wewak will never be known. Probably it was
not great, but the purpose of the attack was to delay the takeoff of Japanese
planes early the next morning, and this was accomplished.
Two squadrons of B-25s that took off from Port Moresby encountered
very bad weather, and only 3 of the bombers reached their target. All but a
few of those leaving Dobodura reached Wewak, and 32 of them swept over
the Japanese airfields, strafing and dropping parafrags, the bombs that had
already proved their usefulness in Papua. It is doubtful that this strike
destroyed 200 planes on the'ground, certainly not 250 as some averred, but
the number was almost certainly well over 100. The next day, August 18, a
similar mission was mounted, but this time the attack of the B-24s did not
ground the Japanese fighters, and 52 B-25s encountered fierce fighter opposition.
One Mitchell was lost, but the escorting P-38s claimed 15 enemy
fighters for a loss of 2. Wewak, like Rabaul, would be reinforced, and
Allied forces would attack the base again and again, but the strikes of
August 17 and 18 established Allied air superiority from Marilinin to
Wewak. This superiority might be challenged, but it would never be overcome.
The accomplishment of objectives on the Huon Peninsula of
New Guinea, in southern New Britain, and in the Admiralty Islands could
now
The Allied surface offensive on the Huon Peninsula began on September
4 with an amphibious attack on the Japanese base at Lae. Australian
infantry was firmly ashore before the day was over. This marked the beginning
of a period of astonishingly successful international cooperation
between the Australians and Americans, and intraservice cooperation
among the Seventh Fleet of the United States Navy, American and Australian
ground forces, and the AAF and RAAF ground and air units. Before
the end of the war, American carriers would add another ingredient to this
mix. The Japanese air force resisted the landing, but fighter cover directed
by an AAF team aboard the destroyer Reid vectored American fighters so
as to turn back most attacks. The success of the operation was never
endangered. On the next day, one of the most spectacular operations of the
entire war in the Southwest Pacific took place as paratroopers descended
upon Nadzab, already selected as the site for a new American air base.
Nadzab quickly became a major fighter base, especially after a road from
Lae permitted bringing in supplies by sea. On September 22, another
amphibious invasion brought the occupation of Finschhafen. In the interior,
the Australians moved up the Markham Valley to Gusap, where two fair
weather strips and a 5,000-foot asphalt strip were serving a fighter squadron
as early as November 1, 1943.50
The Allied Air Forces in August and September 1943 still had a major
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