Lost Sky: The Grounded Airmen of the Provisional Air Corps Regiment By: Brendan H.J. Donnelly & Grant T. Willis

Figure 1: Airmen of the 27th Bomb Group, Far East Air Forces (FEAF) on the Philippines – 1941

During the first six months of World War II, the United States and our Filipino Allies fought with their backs to the wall against the might of Imperial Japan. Immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, across the international date line on December 8^th, 1941, another offensive began on the U.S. Commonwealth of the Philippines. For decades, the Americans planned for such an attack on their outposts in the Far East; however, nothing went according to plan. With the U.S. Pacific Fleet in shambles, allied positions in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Dutch East Indies, Guam, and Wake Island under almost simultaneous assault, the U.S.-Phil garrison on the Philippines found themselves behind the lines with little hope of relief. 

The campaign for the Philippines (December 1941-June 1942) would echo into the status of American military legends just like the Alamo or Valley Forge. U.S. troops experienced the very worst warfare can offer, including starvation, disease, brutal jungle combat and horrendous post-campaign captivity as prisoners of war. Among the many brave and resilient soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines that fought in the initial defense of the Philippines from 1941-1942, one group stands out as a routinely forgotten group. These men often forgotten to history are the grounded airmen of the Provisional Air Corps Regiment (PACR). The PACR was a group of pilots, maintainers, Air Corps administrative soldiers and more air base support personnel that became infantry soldiers, and pilots of what would be known as “the Bamboo Fleet”. Their exploits demonstrate an Air Force legacy that must live on.

The PACR was a necessary creation out of desperation. In the opening stages of the Japanese attack on the Philippines, General MacArthur’s Far East Air Force (FEAF) was largely destroyed on the ground and by the end of December 1941, most of those combat aircraft remaining in service were either shot down, starved for spare parts, or evacuated to the safety of Australia. Just before the entire FEAF was decimated, they possessed roughly 277 aircraft, 70 of them pursuit aircraft such as P-35s and P-40s. After continuous bombing raids by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force and Naval Air Force, the FEAF shrank to roughly 30 aircraft by December 10^th. Succeeding the initial aerial raids, the Imperial Japanese forces began to land all around the island of Luzon throughout December, forcing General MacArthur to commit to the defense of Bataan, a peninsula in Southwest Luzon, astride Manila Bay. After a brilliant rear-guard action to hold the roads to Bataan open, the entire two corps-sized element successfully evacuated into the Bataan Peninsula and manned a series of defensive lines. The U.S.-Phil Divisions tasked to hold the line would do so on low rations, water, low amounts of reserves, medical supplies, and limited ammunition. The situation was dire, and no relief force was preparing to break through to them.

Desperate for a defensive posture, the PACR was officially formed in the end of December 1941. The unit totaled 1,500 officers and ground crewmen from the 20^th Air Base Group, 19^th Air Base Squadron, 27^th Material Squadron, 28^th Material Squadron, 48^th Material Squadron, 7^th Material Squadron, 27^th Bombardment Group, 91^st Bombardment Squadron, 17^th Bombardment Squadron, 2^nd Observation Squadron, 34^th Pursuit Squadron, 21^st Pursuit Squadron, 17^th Pursuit Squadron, 3^rd Pursuit Squadron, 24^th Pursuit Squadron and 20^th Pursuit Squadron. The PACR was placed under the command of General Parker in the II Corps sector as part of half the Mauban-Abucay Line. Some of the men part of the PACR that were pilots also were called in to form the “Bamboo Fleet”.

The Bamboo Fleet was a collection of the remaining aircraft on Luzon that were charged with providing air support, medical air evacuation, logistics assistance, personnel transportation, aerial reconnaissance, and bombing raids. This group of pilots from the PACR flew an eclectic group of 20 beaten up

planes to include five P-40s, one Grumman F2J4 “Duck”, two Bellanca CH-400 Skyrockets, one 1934 Waco UMF-3 Bi-Plane, two P-35s, four Beechcraft Model-117 Staggerwings, four O-49 Sinson Model-49, and one PT-130 “Kaydet”.  As recalled by the Squadron Commander of the 21^st Pursuit Squadron, Captain William “Ed” Dyess,

Cut off from any land supply, blockaded by sea and with no conventional military airlift assts available, brave Airmen under extremely austere and grueling conditions displayed the hardiness of spirit to procure maintain and fly an eclectic group of military and civilian aircraft dubbed the Bamboo Fleet.

This jungle air insurgent force represented what Airmen are capable of when placed in an almost impossible situation. The Bamboo Fleet supported many combat actions previously unknown to the American public, one of which being Captain Ed Dyess’ attack on Japanese Forces at Subic Bay. Captain Dyess and others had received the intelligence report that three 12,000-ton tankers along with transport ships, a cruiser and some destroyers were pulled into Subic Bay on the western coast of Luzon. Captain Dyess made three bombing runs in one day. His first flight followed Lt John Posten who in his P-40 had dropped six-small fragmentation bombs on the Imperial Japanese at Grand Island. Captain Dyess flew a P-40 Warhawk that was hung with a 500-pound bomb. On his approach he flew in across the mountains of Luzon as you can see in the picture of the left. During Captain Dyess’ first run his 500-pound bomb missed one of the larger ships he was aiming for, so he turned around and staffed the Japanese forces until he ran out of ammunition.

After returning to Bataan Airfield, Captain Dyess and his crew found that he had two large holes in his wings and a third smaller one from anti-aircraft fire. While waiting for his plane to get repaired Captain Dyess sent Lt Sam Grashio to make his own bombing run with small fragmentation bombs on Grand Island. Lt Grashio was joined by two other pilots from Mariveles that were sent by Captain Joseph Moore.

On Captain Dyess’ second flight to Subic Bay he took the same route, climbed to 10,000 feet and dove at a near 45-degree angle to 2,000 feet to drop his second 500-pound bomb this time hitting one of the Japanese freighters and damaging nearby barges as well. He then spun around to strafe the bay once again damaging warehouses on Grand Island as well as some of the smaller 100-ton vessels. Upon landing a second time Captain Dyess mentions that he and his crew found several more anti-aircraft holes in his plane. Escaping safe and sound a second time Captain Dyess reluctantly got the approval from General George the air chief for a third flight to Subic Bay.

Captain Dyess on his third flight, accompanied by Lieutenant John Burns, took the same route as the previous two flights. He aimed his third and final 500-pound bomb for the day at the enormous supply dumps that were on Grand Island – and with a direct hit he destroyed these facilities. Before returning he and Lt Burns strafed the Japanese once more increasing the total causalities and chaos on the ground. In the aftermath of the Subic Bay raids the Bamboo Fleet had lost four of their P-40s to damage and were unrecoverable as well as one of their pilots.

Although the Bamboo Fleet had taken some losses, the damage inflicted on the Japanese forces were much greater. In total the raid had destroyed large amounts of Japanese supply stores, one 12,000-ton ship, beached another 12,000-ton ship, sank two 100-ton ships, and damaged the vital supply docks in Subic Bay. This damage was so significant to the Japanese that a report came later from “Radio Tokyo” that they had thought the American’s had flown several four-engine bombers with fighter escorts. This grew the impact that the Airman of the PACR and the Bamboo Fleet had on the defense efforts on Luzon.

Unfortunately, the heroic efforts of the PACR defending the island of Luzon as irregular infantry troops, as well as the incredible feats conducted by the Bamboo Fleet, could not stop the inevitable defeat. After months of fighting, flying, starvation, and disease, the U.S. forces were surrendered by General King on April 9^th, 1942. This mass surrender began an event known as the “Bataan Death March”. Roughly 75,000 prisoners were taken by the Imperial Japanese and forced the American and Filipino POWs to march to camps north in central Luzon. One of which was called Camp O’Donnell. On the way to the camp, thousands of prisoners would be killed or die due to Japanese atrocities, injuries, or sickness.

Even though the story of the Provisional Air Corps Regiment ends with the surrender in 1942, their story is still one of heroism during times of sheer desperation. These airmen, both acting as infantry soldiers and exceptional guerilla pilots, faced overwhelming odds and enabled the U.S. forces to hold out for a few extra months due to their efforts. While the rest of the Allied powers struggled to slow the Japanese supernova of expansion across the Pacific, the U.S.-Phil Garrison on the Philippines held and threw Tokyo off its timetable for six months. The PACR, their actions, and the horrific conditions that they faced in captivity must not be forgotten to the dustbin of history. Their story is an inspiration which adds to the enduring legend of the “Battling Bastards of Bataan” and highlight a significant warning to warfighters today:  Do not let this happen to you.

The story of the Provisional Air Corps Regiment, the Airmen of the Bamboo Fleet and the notable leaders such as Lt Col William “Ed” Dyess and Col David L. Hardee are on display now at the New Mexico Military Museum, Santa Fe, NM.

To further explore the history behind the exhibit, listeners can hear a recorded lecture on Lost Sky: The Grounded Airmen of the Provisional Air Corps Regiment on the New Mexico Military Museum podcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGzlRS8qeGg

Author Bio’s:

Brendan Donnelly is a Fellow with the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers (CIPR). He has an undergraduate degree in History with a double minor in Political Science and Aerospace Leadership Studies from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Brendan additionally has a graduate degree in Global Security Studies with a specialization in National Security from Angelo State University in Texas. He has published multiple articles with the Consortium, Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs (JIPA), and Nova Science Publishing. Finally, he is also featured as a moderator and guest on the Vanguard: Indo-Pacific podcast series, has served as an academic mentor and contributed to international publications such as The Rzeczpospolita and the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE).

Grant Willis is a Fellow with the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers (CIPR).  He is a distinguished graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s AFROTC program with a B.A. in International Affairs, with a minor in Political Science.  Grant has multiple publications with the Consortium, United States Naval Institute’s (USNI) Naval History Magazine, Air University’s Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs (JIPA), Air University’s Wild Blue Yonder Journal, Nova Science Publishing and Air Commando Journal.  Furthermore, he often featured guest speakers on multiple episodes of Vanguard: Indo-Pacific, the official podcast of the Consortium, USNI’s Proceedings Podcast, and CIPR conference panel lectures available on the Consortium’s YouTube channel.