Every Day a Nightmare: American Pursuit Pilots in the Defense of Java, 1941-1942 (Williams-Ford Texa

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Bartsch, a former United Nations development economist and independent consultant now exclusively researching and writing on the Pacific War, lives in Reston, Virginia. Bartsch's command of the subject is impressive and his skill as a first-rate historian is evident on every page. What readers are saying. What Readers Are Saying: This insightful day-by-day treatment of his subject is demanding of the reader, yet also rewarding, since it puts all aspects of the battle in perspective. Every Day a Nightmare is a superb book for the scholar and the dedicated buff " - Walter J.

Author Bartsch, William H. Subjects Pell, Floyd J.

Every day a nightmare : American pursuit pilots in the defense of Java, 1941-1942

Army -- History -- World War, Air Corps -- History. World War, -- Aerial operations, American. World War, -- Campaigns -- Indonesia -- Java. World War, -- Regimental histories -- United States. Fighter pilots -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Military operations, Aerial -- American. Summary In December , War Department sent two transports and freighter carrying P fighters and pilots to Philipines to help Gen. On January 12, , the first of key refueling stops in East Indies fell to rapidly advancing Japanese forces, resulting in a break in their ferry route and another change in their orders.

This time pilots would fly their aircraft to Java to participate in Allied defense of that Japanese objective. Except for pilots from the Philippines, almost all of other pilots assigned to five provisional pursuit squadrons ordered to Java were recent graduates of flying school with a few hours on P Only forty-three of them made it to their assigned destination; the rest suffered accidents in Australia, were shot down over Bali and Darwin, or lost in sinking of USS Langley as it carried thirty-two of them to Java. Even those who did reach the secret field on Java wondered if they had been sacrificed for no purpose.

As the Japanese air assault intensified, the Allied defense collapsed.

Only eleven Japanese aircraft fell to the Ps. Bartsch pored through personal diaries and memoirs of participants, cross-checking primary sources against Japanese aerial combat records of the period and supplementing them with official records and other American, Dutch, and Australian accounts.

His thorough research situates the Java pursuit pilots' experiences within context of the strategic situation in early days of the Pacific theater--Publisher's description. Never in our history has there been a time like the present Plans for reaching you quickly with pursuit are jeopardized We are virtually a floating ammunition dump We came 4, miles and are pigeon-holed! The news from Wavell is all bad There goes our ferry route Second lieutenants are expendable You are not forgotten men A collection of the worst landings I have ever seen I'm all shot to hell!

These guys are really inexperienced Someone is crazy!

I deeply regret failure to hold Abda Area I was thoroughly enjoying myself Nothing will ever happen to me He was wholly unrecognizable How can we operate against such odds? Not to be missed, in particular if you have an interest in this part of the war. Apr 02, Michael rated it really liked it.

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Bartsch's attention to detail is amazing. He gives nearly a minute by minute account of the pilots, how they lived, how the fought and, for far too many, how they died. Bartsch sheds much needed light on these heroes who have been nearly forgotten.

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If you are interested in aviati "Every Day a Nightmare" is one in a series of books by William Bartsch detailing what happened in the Pacific during early World War II when American pilots fought overwhelmed and often unsupported against the Japanese. If you are interested in aviation or World War II or just want a good read on a little reported period of history this is just the ticket. Larry rated it it was amazing Jan 31, Alec Almazan rated it liked it May 12, Ted rated it it was amazing Feb 26, Mark rated it it was amazing Jan 14, Eric Hammel rated it it was amazing Nov 06, David Graves rated it really liked it Aug 24, William rated it really liked it Mar 18, John rated it it was amazing Jul 14, Rachel rated it it was amazing Apr 23, Francis Soares rated it really liked it Jul 13, Bill Bartsch rated it it was amazing May 03, Sjebens added it Jan 29, Jim marked it as to-read Jan 31, Andrew marked it as to-read Jul 06, Jeff marked it as to-read Jul 25, Reza Gazali Renville marked it as to-read Sep 17, Ann Jamison marked it as to-read Sep 28, Mary marked it as to-read Apr 03, Eric is currently reading it Jul 06, Roger marked it as to-read Jul 07, Magnus marked it as to-read Mar 28, Matthew Scott marked it as to-read Jul 09, Andrew marked it as to-read Mar 23, Paul marked it as to-read Jul 07, Becky marked it as to-read Sep 28,

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