Complete USN Aviation OOB Jan 1944

[ChezDaJez]

Found this while looking for information on VD-4:

USN Aviation OOB

Contains complete information on all repeat all USN and USMC air units and aviation support units in the Pacific and the Atlantic/Med including squadrons, number and type aircraft, locations, carrier air groups and their commisioning dates, spare aircraft and their locations, aircraft carriers and locations, aviation support ships and their locations. Even includes battleship and cruiser float plane units. Virtual wealth of info for modders. This was an official Navy document.

I was looking for info on VD-4 because I was reading "Shattered Sword" while waiting for the brakes to be fixed on my truck. I left the book on my chair when I got some coffee. When I returned a few minutes later an older gentleman was thumbing through my book. He asked me if it was about Midway. I said yes. His reply astounded me. He said, "I was there." Well, of course, I pumped him for more info. Turns out he had been a blister gunner on PBYs in VP-44. He arrived on Midway in May of 42 and remained until July 42 when he was shipped back to San Diego to join a new photo recon unit designated VD-4 that was to fly PB4Ys. He claims that his PBY was damaged by the Japanese aerial attacks so he never flew during the battle but that he remembers a lot of bullets flying through the air that day! He also said that was the one and only time he saw action during the war except for some flak on the occasional photo run against Wake or Truk from Eniwetok. Told me he loved the PB4Y because, as the tail gunner, he could see where they had been but didn't have to see what was coming!

Chez

[m10bob]

Thank you Chez...Major find![:)]

[wdolson]

I have an acquaintance who's father was a radio man on one of the PBYs flying patrol at Midway. He was the one who sent the message that the Japanese were retreating.

I noticed that the link you sent was onlt for Jan 1944. I went down the URL tree and found this:

[link=http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/ww-ii/loc-ac/loc-ac.htm]http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/ww-ii/loc-ac/loc-ac.htm[/link] Which gives the location and make up of USN and USMC air groups month to month for the entire war. Bill

[timtom]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I have an acquaintance who's father was a radio man on one of the PBYs flying patrol at Midway. He was the one who sent the message that the Japanese were retreating.

I noticed that the link you sent was onlt for Jan 1944. I went down the URL tree and found this:

[link=http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/ww-ii/loc-ac/loc-ac.htm]http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/ww-ii/loc-ac/loc-ac.htm[/link] Which gives the location and make up of USN and USMC air groups month to month for the entire war. Bill

Only from Feb. 42 unfortunately. It's something of a gem with hard-to-get info on fx the inshore patrol squadrons and the blimprons. Tracking the USMC early war is also interesting - they basically seems to be shifting the same 2 1/2 A/C between the sqds . The report is reorganised in '44 to list units be command rather than type, making it even more of pain to work with though. By '45 the weekly reports are something like 40 pages each.

[ChezDaJez]

Which gives the location and make up of USN and USMC air groups month to month for the entire war.

Hi Bill,

Good work. I had thought about seeing if there were other reports but got sidetracked and never got back to it. Pretty good source of info.

Now if we could find similar reports for the USAAF!

Chez

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: ChezDaJez

Good work. I had thought about seeing if there were other reports but got sidetracked and never got back to it. Pretty good source of info.

Now if we could find similar reports for the USAAF!

Chez

Best I could find was this: https://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/PopTopics/chron/contents.htm

I wrote the Air Force archivists and asked if anything like the Navy's page existed, and if it did, where was it. If it doesn't exist, it might goad them into putting up something. If I get anything useful, I'll let the forum know.

Bill

[m10bob]

http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/[:D]

[timtom]

The "combat chronology" is useful up to about the second half of '43 in that individual sqds are named, yielding information more detailed that given in Mauer Mauer's sqd and group histories. After mid '43 there are so many units banging about that they are rarely named.

Mauer's monographs are available in PDF format at this link (mono's 82 & 140):

http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/website ... s1.php.htm

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: timtom

The "combat chronology" is useful up to about the second half of '43 in that individual sqds are named, yielding information more detailed that given in Mauer Mauer's sqd and group histories. After mid '43 there are so many units banging about that they are rarely named.

Mauer's monographs are available in PDF format at this link (mono's 82 & 140):

http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/website ... s1.php.htm

I have both of these in hard cover form. They are useful.

Bill

[akdreemer]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I have an acquaintance who's father was a radio man on one of the PBYs flying patrol at Midway. He was the one who sent the message that the Japanese were retreating.

I noticed that the link you sent was onlt for Jan 1944. I went down the URL tree and found this:

[link=http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/ww-ii/loc-ac/loc-ac.htm]http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/ww-ii/loc-ac/loc-ac.htm[/link] Which gives the location and make up of USN and USMC air groups month to month for the entire war. Bill

You know this is a fascinating set of historical documents. Notice the organization of the various elements. How many of us actually play the game with the naval units organized as such?

[el cid again]

I thought everybody did!

[akdreemer]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

I thought everybody did!

Only on squadron level (or group level in the proginal game. There is no incentive or mechanism in the game to making any combination of units into a cohesive higher level oragnization beneficial.

[el cid again]

There may be. Just as Mike Wood once explained to us an undocumented way code does rescue of pilots of downed planes based on various considerations - including locations of friendly units and submarines - I note that AI assigns as HQ various things PLAYERS are not allowed to assign. Why? Presumably because all units reporting to the same corps/army will benefit from that assignment. Stuff like that may exist and we don't know about it.