Bibliographical Note
Documentary Sources
The unpublished documentary sources cited in the text, and on which this account of the Engineers in the war against Japan is largely based, are located for the most part in various offices and records depositories of the Department of the Army. The following is a brief description of the sources cited:
1. SWPA Files, located in the Engineer Historical Division, include selected files from the Office of the Chief Engineer, Southwest Pacific Area and Army Forces, Pacific (SWPA and AFPAC), 1942-46, together with letters, memorandums, reports, and comments which Engineer officers who served in the war against Japan sent to the Staff Branch, Office of the Chief Engineer, GHQ, AFPAC and FEC in connection with the writing of the series, Engineers of the Southwest Pacific. Most SWPA files have a number; the Historical Division has a list of the numbers with the corresponding titles of the files.
2. The Casey Files, located in the Engineer Historical Division, comprise nine volumes numbered i through 9. Numbers i through 8 are files of the Office of the Engineer, USAFFE, 1941– 42, which survived the Japanese conquest. File No. 9 contains material on the Philippines compiled after the fall of the islands. The titles are:
No. 1, General Casey’s Notes, 26 January-28 February 1942.
No. 2, Construction—General, August–December 1941.
No. 3, Landing Fields, 1941-42. No. 4, Operations, 1941-42.
No. 5, no title; papers pertain mainly to civilians engaged in Engineer operations.
No. 6, Journal File, 1942.
No. 7, Construction, December 1941– March 1942.
No. 8, Philippine Defense, December 1941–January 1942.
No. 9, no title; contains information on the construction of airfields in the Philippines before the outbreak of war.
3. The Sturgis Files, in approximately 100 folders, at present in the custody of the Engineer Historical Division, contain personal correspondence and papers of General Sturgis pertaining to Engineer operations of Sixth Army from 1943 to 1946. The Engineer Historical Division has an index to these files.
4. Engineer Historical Division (EHD) files contain documents and photostatic copies of documents pertaining to Engineer activities in the continental United States and overseas before and during World War II. Also included are letters from and notes of interviews with Engineer officers who participated in Engineer operations during World War II.
5. Canal Zone Files, pertaining to Engineer operations in the Caribbean Defense Command and the Panama Canal Department before and during World War II, were received from Headquarters, U.S. Army, Caribbean, Fort Amador, Canal Zone, and are at present in the custody of the Engineer Historical Division.
6. Alcan Files include original reports, letters, and various papers or photostatic copies thereof pertaining to the construction of the Alcan Highway, obtained, for the most part, from the Office of the Chief of Engineers. These files are at present in the Engineer Historical Division.
7. Canol Files include original reports, letters, and various papers or photostatic copies thereof pertaining to the construction of Canol, obtained, for the most part, from the Office of the Chief of Engineers. These files are at present in the Engineer Historical Division.
8. The National Archives and Records Service is the depository for unit histories, after action reports of units which served overseas, files of Engineer offices in the United States and the outlying territories, Army Air Forces Central Files, files of the War Plans Division and the Operations Division, G-4, files, files of the Alaska Defense Command, and some files of the China–Burma–India theater (CBI). Material containing file designations but for which no depository is given is located in National Archives Records Service.
9. The Federal Records Center, General Services Administration, Kansas City, Missouri, contains retired files from all types of Engineer offices and units which served overseas and in the United States in World War II. Included are files of the Engineer, Army Ground Forces, Pacific, consisting of the files of the Engineer offices in the Hawaiian Islands, Engineer files of the Southwest Pacific Area which are not in the custody of the Engineer Historical Division, files of G-3, GHQ, SWPA, Engineer files of the South Pacific Area, Engineer files of the Caribbean Defense Command and of Panama and the surrounding areas, and files of the CBI.
10. The U.S. Air Force Historical Division, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, has custody of Army Air Force Unit Historical Reports for the war period.
11. The Office, Chief of Military History, Washington, D.C., has a number of documents and narratives in manuscript form pertaining to Engineer operations overseas during World War II.
12. The Hawaii War Records Depository, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, contains a few documents not found elsewhere pertaining to activities of the Corps of Engineers in Hawaii during World War II.
Published Works
A number of published works which shed light on Engineer operations, particularly their interconnection with other Army and other service activities, have been used in the preparation of this volume. Listed here are those of a special value, but this list is by no means all-inclusive.
1. UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II—various volumes of this series (some of them in manuscript form) dealing with the War Department, the defense of the Western Hemisphere, the war in the Pacific, and the China–Burma–India theater, have been extensively used to furnish background material and explanations for Engineer activities.
2. Bureau of Yards and Docks, Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II (Washington, 1947). Two volumes.
3. Craven, Wesley Frank, and James Lea Cate (eds.), “The Army Air Forces In World War II,” vol. 1, Plans and Early operations: January 1939 to August 1942 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1948); vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1950); and vol. V, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki, June 1944 to August 1945 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1953).
4. Office of the Chief Engineer, General Headquarters, Army Forces Pacific, Engineers of the Southwest Pacific, 8 vols. Vol. 1, Engineers in Theater Operations (Washington, 1947); vol. II, Organizations, Troops and Training (Washington, 1953); vol. III; Engineer Intelligence, (Washington, 1950), vol. IV; Amphibian Engineer Operations (Washington, 1959); vol. VI, Airfield and Base Development (Washington, 1951), vol. VII, Engineer Supply (Washington, 1949); vol. VIII, Critique (Washington, 1951). Vol. V, Engineer Combat Operations, is in preparation.
Various publications of the Congress of the United States dealing with legislation pertaining to or investigations of the National Defense Program contain information on the Engineer effort During the defense buildup and war periods. Among them are:
1. Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations, Hearings, Military Establishment Appropriation Bill for 1940 and War Department Civil Functions Appropriation Bill, 1940, 76th Congress, 1st session, and subsequent hearings on appropriation bills.
2. Senate, Special Committee Investigating the National Defense Program, Hearings, Investigation of the National Defense Program, 77th and 78th Congress.
3. Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Hearings, Pearl Harbor Attack, 79th Congress, 1st and 2nd sessions (Washington, 1946).
A number of personal reminiscences and general accounts of the war against Japan or various phases thereof contain information on Engineer operations or provide background material for a better understanding of the Engineer story. Among them are:–
1. Allen, Gwenfread, Hawaii’s War Years (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1950).
2. Bowman, Waldo G. et al., Bulldozers Come First (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1946).
3. Brereton, Lewis H., The Brereton Diaries (New York: William Morrow Company, 1946).
4. Chennault, Claire L., Way of a Fighter (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1949).
5. Eichelberger, Robert L., Our Jungle Road to Tokyo (New York: The Viking Press, 1950).
6. Heavey, William F., Down Ramp! The Story of the Army Amphibian Engineers (Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1947).
7. Kenney, George C., General Kenney Reports: A Personal History of the Pacific War (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1949).
8. Krueger, Walter, From Down Under to Nippon: The Story of Sixth Army in World War II (Washington: Combat Forces Press, 1953).
9. Marshall, S. L. A., Island Victory (Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1944)
10. Morison, Samuel Eliot, “History of United States Naval Operations in World War II,” nine volumes dealing with the war in the Pacific (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1948-60).
11. Smith, Holland M., Coral and Brass (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1949).
12. Stilwell, Joseph W., The Stilwell Papers (New York: William Sloane Associates, 1948).
13. Wainwright, Jonathan M., General Wainwright’s Story (New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1946).