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Thread: Allied Aircraft in South East Asia

  1. #1

    Default Allied Aircraft in South East Asia

    I’m having a hard time finding any good reference material on what the Allies had for bombers in SE Asia in the first year of the war.

    I’ve found reference to a few B17Ds, Blenheims (not sure what model) and the Dutch B10s and that about it. There has to be more.

    What else was there?

    Thanks!

  2. #2

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    The Dutch in the NEI flew recon patrols and some bombing raids in their Do. 24 flying boats:

    https://pacificeagles.net/dornier-do-24/

    The RAAF operated two squadrons of Lockheed Hudson bombers in Malaya, later Australia and the Solomons:

    http://www.historyofwar.org/articles...dson_RAAF.html

    The RAF had two squadrons of Vickers Wildebeeste torpedo bombers in Singapore:

    https://www.rafseletar.co.uk/flying-...rs-vildebeest/

    The USAF sent an entire Group of Douglas A-24 Banshee dive bombers, the landplane version of the Navy SBD, to Java. Survivors evacuated to New Guinea.

    https://www.militaryfactory.com/airc...ircraft_id=491

    None of these planes was very combat-worthy. I salute the courage of the crews who flew them against Japanese fighters.

    The US had further weird and wonderful airplanes in the Philippines, but you asked specifically about SE Asia.
    Last edited by zippyfusenet; 01-19-2020 at 13:37.

  3. #3

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    Hey Zippy,

    Thanks for the great information.

    I was referring to the PI, and all the other areas in SW Pacific down to and including Australia. Really anyplace the Allies had land based aircraft in that first year.

  4. #4

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    'Kay then. You probably know that the USAAF had a few B-10s and B-12s, and more than a few B-18s in the Philippines. The B-18s were flown mostly on recon patrols, I haven't heard of them flying bombing missions. I don't know if the B-10s were used operationally at all. Most of these planes were destroyed in the big Japanese air raid on December 8. The Navy in the Philippines flew anti-ship bombing missions in PBY Catalina flying boats.

    A few of the early B-17Es flew from Java. In the closing days of the siege of Bataan, at least one squadron of early B-25s (B-25Cs?), based in Australia, flew long-range bombing missions staging through airfields in the southern Philippines.

    My personal favorite weird 1941 warbird is the North American A-27, a light bomber variant of the AT-6 trainer so obscure that I've never heard it was given a name. Ten of them were built for the Thai air force, the US government seized them and they were at Nichols Field on Luzon being used as trainers when war came. I've heard they flew a few strike missions while they lasted, which wasn't long:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_A-27

  5. #5

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    The British started the war with the very obsolete Vickers Vildebeest. They also had Bristol Beauforts.
    The USAAC deployed Martin B-26 Marauders in Australia, and later Fiji and New Caledonia.
    Some B-17Es were in Australia also.

    Karl
    It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus

  6. #6

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    i was going to point out that some b-17es were actually used early on but i see im late to the hangar lol.
    i also see to recall the philipine airforce still fielding some p-26s. could be thinking of someone else, but i think maybe they did.

  7. #7

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    In my original plannings on flying missions in the Pacific, I looked at various battles. I used wikipedia as a starter for my forces defending Singapore and Phillipines wiki page just to get in a few US planes.
    From there I kind of wiki-surfed, opening new links and then googling for other sources to look up and verify.

    I found that the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Ea...United_States) as a good starter page.
    It takes you to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Air_Force where any survivors reorganized in Australia.

    Individual battles in wiki can contain units as well.

    From the FEAF page:
    The numbers below in italicized brackets indicate the number of FEAF aircraft in the inventory actually flyable on 8 December.[59][60] If no figure is listed, the number of usable aircraft is unknown.

    Boeing B-17C/D: 35 (32) [nb 32]
    Curtiss P-40B/E: 91 (89) [nb 33]
    North American A-27: 8 (1) [nb 34]
    Seversky P-35A: (26) [nb 35]
    Douglas B-18A: 18 (15, all as trainer-transports, with 2 at Del Monte)
    Martin B-10B: 3 (1 PAAC)
    Boeing P-26A: 12 (12 PAAC)
    Curtiss O-52: 11
    Other: 46

    There were 60 additional aircraft in the Philippine Army Air Corps, including one Keystone ZB-3A bomber. 42 were Stearman 76DC trainers of varying serviceability and utility.

  8. #8

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    And I came across things like this: https://www.rafseletar.co.uk/history...stol-beaufort/
    It has a picture and the paragraph says "RAF personnel inspect six Australian-built Bristol Beaufort Mark Vs, shortly after their arrival at Kallang, Singapore. The aircraft were intended for the re-equipment of No. 100 Squadron RAF but, as they were unarmed and their crews possessed no operational training, five were returned to Australia, while the sixth was employed on photographic-reconnaissance duties."



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