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NickM
28th May 2006, 09:14
..."Doomed at the Start", his book the the doomed US fighter groups assigned the the Phillipines at the start of the Pacific War? I read that while reading Morehead's "In My Sights" that he had been contacted by Bartsch in order to write about the survivors of the Phillipines fighter groups who made it out & were assigned to Java & then Darwin; I did a quick check on Amazon but found nothing; any 'grapevine rumors' to share?

NickM

Jukka Juutinen
25th June 2006, 05:33
Nick, do you have any comments on Bartsch´s book "December 8: MacArthur´s Pearl Harbour"?

Edward
26th June 2006, 04:54
Bill Bartsch is over half way through writing the manuscript for his planned book on the U.S. pursuit pilots who were sent to Java in early 1942 in the ill-fated attempt to help stem the tide of the Japanese invasion of the N.E.I.. While it focuses on the U.S. pilots who flew P-40E’s it will also include the story of the handful of 91st Sqdn / 27th BG pilots who flew A-24 dive bombers against the invasion fleets at Bali and Java. The Japanese attacks on Darwin of 19 February and Broome of 3 March will also be covered.

This project is based upon research material that Bartsch has gathered over the past 25 years and draws heavily upon the pilots’ diaries, logbooks, photo albums, rare film footage taken by one of the pilots as well as the author’s interviews with most of the surviving veterans. Dutch, Australian and Japanese historians have also contributed research for the book. It will be in the same format as his first book, Doomed at the Start, which chronicled the story of the U.S. pursuit pilots who fought in the Philippines. While Mr. Bartsch has several tentative ideas for the title nothing has been decided though the cover art is finalized. My best guess is that it will be coming out in early 2007.

Edward

Interview with Bill Bartsch
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/people/authors/bartsch/index.html

Jim Oxley
26th June 2006, 07:21
That's excellent news Edward, thanks for sharing it. One to definitely watch out for. The more books on the early Pacific campaigns the better I say. :)

Jukka, I've read it an highly recommend it. It's objective in it's analysis of events, critical in it's review of American leadership in the Philippines (why Sutherland was not court-martialed for dereliction of duty I just can't understand) and detailed in covering the actions of the Japanese and American air units.

The only part that is (to my mind) not covered satisfactorily is why Gen. Brereton, when stonewalled by Sutherland, didn't call on 'Hap' Arnold to break through to MacArthur. Nor does it cover any action/ orders by Arnold to the Philippines.

Other that that (small) reservation, a brilliant book.

Edward
25th April 2010, 05:13
The release date for William Bartsch's new book on US Pursuit Pilots in Java has been set for October 2010.

You can see the cover art at his website.

Edward

http://www.writingthepacificwar.com/publishedbooks.html

William H. Bartsch
Every Day a Nightmare: American Pursuit Pilots in the Defense of Java, 1941-1942
Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series, no. 131.
Texas A&M University Press, ©2010 College Station
ISBN: 9781603441766 160344176X
OCLC: 490809315

John Beaman
26th April 2010, 15:55
Nick, do you have any comments on Bartsch´s book "December 8: MacArthur´s Pearl Harbour"?

Jukka:

I don't know if anyone ever replied to you about this book. It is a must read if you are interested in the period. It goes into a lot of detail (well-documented) concerning pre-war planning by the AAF and McArthur and his staff. They simply ignored all warnings (they had a Purple code intercept station on Cavite) and got caught flat-footed. The author's explaination of why McAuthur and his staff were never fired and court marshalled is very revealing about the post-Pearl Harbor period of US policy and politics.

mars
13th August 2010, 00:02
Good news, according to stone & stone William Bartsch's new book "Every Day a Nightmare: American Pursuit Pilots in the Defense of Java, 1941-1942" is now available, though it is still not available for ship on amazon, but I guess it will be ready soon.