740.0011 Pacific War/2756
Memorandum by the Director of the Central Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Struble)2
Memorandum for the State Department[:]
The American Ambassador at Chungking has requested that the contents of the following message from the Naval Observer there be communicated to the State Department:
Heavy casualties have been inflicted by air attacks in Central and South China on Japanese bases and on their air force which they had augmented to meet these attacks. Chennault, with orders which required him to defend only Kunming-Chungking and the ferry route to India, took personal responsibility to demonstrate the possibilities open to a limited United States air force in the area if assured a steady supply of ships, personnel, and spare parts. The attacks were carried out with the small force of six bombers and 40 fighters. Chennault has been informed that at present there are no spares in India, no replacements enroute, and no prospects of any. On this account he will have to abandon in the near future advanced bases at Hengyang, Kweilin and Nanking [Nanning] and will thereby give up the initiative to the Japanese. In addition to the serious effect such an action [Page 140] will have on Chinese morale it will also permit the Japanese to use all their aircraft in other areas. There remains the probability of attacks on the ferry route by the Japanese next month and the possibility of an invasion of Yunnan and additional pressure on other fronts. Chennault has shown fully his ability to forestall these possibilities and he guarantees to do so if provided minimum force with constant supply of replacements for same. It is estimated that 50 bombers and 100 fighters can be supplied with required gas, spare parts and bombs by 60 C–53 transports. On August 10 the planes available were, 8 P–40’s at Chungking, 10 P–40’s at Kunming, 14 P–40’s at Front Line, and 5 bombers in entire area.
- Capt. A. D. Struble, U. S. N., member of the Joint (Army-Navy) Economy Board.↩