Preface
This volume covers Engineer operations in support of the U.S. Army in the war against Japan. The story begins with the defense build-up in 1939 and ends with the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship Missouri on 2 September 1945. Geographically, Engineer operations extended from the Panama Canal to India and from Alaska to Australia, in actual or potential areas of conflict. The author has attempted not only to depict various types of Engineer operations but also to indicate how Engineer work helped implement Allied strategy. Included are discussions of the Engineer position in the command structure and a general account of both Engineer combat and service missions within a given theater.
Above all, the author has attempted to indicate the many problems that had to be resolved—problems stemming from terrain and climate, from the inadequacy of long-range planning, from insufficient preparations, and from organizational shortcomings, as well as from the Japanese foe—before the Engineer mission could be successfully accomplished.
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to present and former colleagues in the Historical Division who helped in the preparation of this book. Dr. Jesse A. Remington, Director of the Historical Division, gave valuable advice and encouragement. Miss Lenore Fine offered many helpful suggestions. Miss Louise Marr did research and drafted sections on the defense triangle and on the 1945 Southern Philippines Campaign. Dr. Leslie Anders prepared the initial drafts for the chapters on the China–Burma–India theater. Dr. Kenneth J. Deacon wrote the first draft on the Alcan Highway, and Mr. David Latt did the initial research on the engineers in Panama and Alaska. I am indebted to a large number of Engineer officers who were participants in the war against Japan and who reviewed portions of the manuscript and provided additional information and also pointed out errors of fact; the names of nearly all of them are recorded in the volume. In this connection special mention should be made of Col. Desloge Brown, C.E., Maj. Gen. Hugh J. Casey (Ret.), Maj. Gen. Edmond H. Leavey (Ret.), Col. Willard P. McCrone, C.E., Maj. Gen. George J. Nold (Ret.), Col. Earl North (Ret.), Maj. Gen. Bernard L. Robinson (Ret.), Col. Harry A. Skerry (Ret.), Lt. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, Jr. (Ret.), Maj. Gen. Leif J. Sverdrup
(AUS, Ret.), Brig. Gen. Benjamin B. Talley (Ret.), Lt. Gen. Walter K. Wilson, Jr., and Col. Theodore Wyman, Jr. (Ret.). For the facts presented, I am alone responsible.
Mrs. Caroline Moore and Mrs. Lois Aldridge of the World War II Reference Branch, Office of Military Records, National Archives and Records Service, were most helpful in locating engineer files. Many typists in the Historical Division labored over the manuscript, but special credit is due to Mrs. Margaret Lillian Tucker, who typed the final version of the manuscript. Mr. George H. Weitzel of the U.S. Army Engineer District Office in Baltimore prepared the maps.
I am also indebted to members of the Office of the Chief of Military History, especially to Dr. Stetson Conn, Chief Historian, and to Dr. John Miller, Jr., who, as Deputy Chief Historian, offered numerous valuable suggestions for improving the manuscript. Mr. David Jaffe was responsible for the final editing, assisted by Mrs. Marion P. Grimes. Miss Mary Ann Bacon, Chief of the Editorial Branch, gave valuable advice in the editing of the manuscript. Miss Ruth A. Phillips selected the photographs. Mr. Nicholas J. Anthony compiled the index.
Karl C. Dod
Baltimore, Maryland
18 June 1965