T H E B A T T L E L I N E I N T H E P A C I F I C
five P-38’s were due in at Elmendorf Field at Anchorage; and a P-39
fighter squadron was en route to Alaska, destined for Kodiak. Seven
new B - I ~ E ’ swere coming in for the 36th Bombardment Squadron
(H), and upon their arrival the squadron strength would number
eleven bombers, including one at Ladd Field, Fairbanks. However,
four of these (three radar-equipped) were assigned to the Air Search
Group with the PBY-5A’s of Panving 4. One-half squadron of B-26’s
(six planes) was ordered out to dismal Umnak, and one-half to Cold
Bay.”” Already, on 2 3 May, ten P-40’s of the I Ith Fighter Squadron
had landed on the spongy runway on Umnak, and, when reinforce-
ments followed, on this westernmost field there were by 3 June twelve
P-~o’s,six B-26’s of the 77th Squadron, six PBY’s, and two B-18’s, with
half the 77th and I Ith squadrons back a t Cold Bay (Fort Randall).”’
Here, too, came the six B-I~E’sand one LB-30 of the 36th Squadron,
ordered out from Kodiak to Cold Bay on 2 June, where they arrived
on 4 June.121These were the dispositions and the Jap did not know
them-he was completely unaware of the field on Umnak.
Out along the Aleutians the weather had turned bad; beginning on
29 May and for a week thereafter it was practically prohibitive for
flying. Ceilings ranged from zero to 500 feet with visibility seldom
exceeding five miles, and there was almost continual rain and fog. T o
reach this area, a B-17E of the 36th Bombardment Squadron was
ordered to Umnak to conduct a daily reconnaissance of the Aleutian
chain. T h e pilot, Capt. Russell A. Cone, reported that the mat laid on
the porous volcanic soil gave the effect of landing on an inner-spring
mattress. Heavy planes took off with difficulty from the springy strip,
but on 28 May the B-17 ran its first search mission, covering the area
between Umnak and Tanaga, the first island west of Adak. T h e crew
sighted nothing, although the plane covered every inlet and bay along
the island chain.’ 2 2 At Umnak, conditions were extremely primitive.
Bomber revetments and hardstands had been built, but they had not
been floored and in wet weather the heavy plane would have mired
in; the B-17 stood in the only available parking space, leaving the
fighters ranged along the shoulders of the runway.lZ3
Combat crews set up their own tents and until 5 June cooked their
own meals. Their bivouac area was a sea of mud; water covered the
ground inside many of their tents and all crews were on alert from
dawn to dark, which at that time of the year extended from 0400 to
2300.’24 They went with little or no sleep for @-hour periods, and
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