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

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC
always a ship, because ships were so especially vulnerable to this type of
attack.
The landings at Leyte went well, and the ground troops were soon
firmly established ashore. This landing brought out the Japanese fleet and
led to the Battle of Leyte Gulf. However, the Japanese naval air force was
already reduced to such straits that the carriers in this engagement served
only as bait to draw Admiral Halsey away from the beachhead so that
surface forces might be able to attack American shipping. This battle
was, of course, an overwhelming victory for the United States Navy,
and the Imperial Japanese Navy as such was no longer a factor in the
war. But Imperial Japanese Navy aviators, because of their willingness
to sacrifice their lives to deliver a blow, most definitely were a factor,
and they inflicted heavy losses on Allied naval forces, especially the escort
carriers that were scheduled to cover and provide ground support for the
troops ashore.
The kamikaze attacks during the Leyte campaign might not have been
so devastating had the establishment of air bases on the island gone as
planned. Unfortunately, the invasion had been made at the rainiest time of
the year, and the soil on Leyte proved to be extremely difficult to make into
runways that could stand the shock of landing aircraft. Steel planking was
laid down, but it was soon driven into the mud, causing many accidents,
and, of course, accidents reduced still further the few land-based planes
available. General Kenney was able to bring in thirty-four P-38s on
October 27, but this was not nearly enough to defend the airfield adequately,
much less to carry out all the other work needed to be done.
The escort carriers that had been giving what air defense and support the
beachhead had received during the first week after the invasion had
suffered such heavy losses and damage during the Battle of Leyte Gulf
and from kamikaze attacks that they could no longer accept the responsibility
for air defense. Yet the Japanese, kamikaze and otherwise,
kept coming. Seldom were more than a dozen aircraft involved, and often
only three or four, but there was so much shipping in the harbor, and
the beach was so crowded, that bombs or bullets delivered almost anywhere
did damage. The original thirty-four P-38s were reduced to twenty
very shortly.68
The truth of the matter was that the Far East Air Forces had lost air
superiority to such an extent that the Japanese were able to reinforce Leyte
massively. For the first time since before the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in
March 1943, entire Japanese convoys were able to get to a besieged base
and land reinforcements. These reinforcement efforts were costly, and not
a few Japanese soldiers landed on Leyte’s shores without their equipment.
Yet the transports and destroyers loaded with troops made the perilous
run from Luzon to Leyte. As the airfields on Leyte gradually improved,
medium bombers were staged through to bomb and strafe the ships
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