[ Philippines - WWII Air Target Maps & Aerial Photos ] Joint Intelligence Center Pacific Ocean Areas Air Target Maps and Photos No. 108-A LUZON

Philippines Invasion Planning Restricted JICPOA Air Target Maps and Photos No. 108-A Luzon, 1 July 1944 A complete pre-invasion strike dossier prepared for Fifth and Seventh Air Forces and the fast-carrier task group. 8" x 8.5", in original front wrapper with printed title. Stapled spine. Complete with 49 leaves, printed to recto only. Front wrapper and a few leaves with dog-eared or creased corners (not affecting printed area). Minor offsetting and shallow dents to margin of p. 18. Faint soiling to verso of p. 49. 49 pp. (=49 ff.). Philippines Invasion Planning Restricted JICPOA Air Target Maps and Photos No. 108-A Luzon, 1 July 1944 A complete pre-invasion strike dossier prepared for Fifth and Seventh Air Forces and the fast-carrier task groups then massing for General MacArthur s invasion and recapture of the Philippines during World War II. Prepared in Honolulu by the allied Army Navy Marine JICPOA, this combat-intelligence booklet was issued to bomber groups, carrier wings, and invasion planners as the United States began shaping operations for retaking the Philippines. The volume exemplifies JICPOA s mission to fuse aerial reconnaissance, captured documents, hydrographic surveys, and coast-watcher reports into a single field manual that crews could consult en route to target. Compiled barely six months before the Lingayen Gulf landings, the volume epitomizes JICPOA s wartime mission fusing hydrographic sheets, pre-war Bureau of Public Works plans, coast-watcher reports, photo-recon mosaics, and POW interrogations into a single, field-ready reference. Classified Restricted and marked For Use by Operational Personnel Only, these booklets were flown to carrier ready-rooms and bomber briefings to guide initial fighter sweeps, parafrag runs and naval gunfire. The liberation of the Philippines began in earnest on 20 October 1944, when General Douglas MacArthur s Sixth Army stormed ashore on Leyte, fulfilling his celebrated promise I shall return. Supported by an enormous U.S. Navy task force, the landings triggered the four-day Battle of Leyte Gulf, which shattered what remained of Japan s surface fleet and opened the archipelago to Allied advance. By December, American and Filipino guerrilla forces had cleared Leyte and driven westward toward Mindoro, securing airfields that brought U.S. heavy bombers within easy range of Luzon. On 9 January 1945, more than 175,000 troops hit Lingayen Gulf in northern Luzon; within weeks they were racing south through the Central Plain toward Manila while other formations leapt down the island chain to seal off Japanese garrisons. The climactic struggle for Manila erupted on 3 February 1945, when elements of the 1st Cavalry Division and Filipino scouts dashed into the city to liberate internees at Santo Tomas. A brutal, block-by-block battle followed: U.S. infantry, armor, and engineers fought through fortified university buildings, walled Intramuros, and riverside warehouses while Japanese naval troops exacted a horrific toll on civilians. Manila fell on 3 March, but mopping up continued in Luzon s mountains through the summer. By V-J Day in August 1945 more than 260,000 Japanese soldiers in the islands had surrendered or been killed, restoring Philippine sovereignty and providing the Allies a massive forward base for the planned invasion of Japan a campaign rendered unnecessary by the war s sudden end. Rarity Surviving examples of this dossier are now extremely rare. This is the first example we have seen. No copies listed in OCLC or RBH.…