Ennis Whitehead
Ennis Clement Whitehead | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Ennis the Menace[1] |
Born | Westphalia, Kansas | September 3, 1895
Died | October 12, 1964 Newton, Kansas | (aged 69)
Place of burial | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | United States Air Force United States Army |
Years of service | 1917–51 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Service number | 0-10572/A |
Commands held | 94th Pursuit Squadron 36th Pursuit Squadron Fifth Air Force Continental Air Command Air Defense Command |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II:
|
Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire[2] |
Ennis Clement Whitehead (September 3, 1895 – October 12, 1964) was an early
Over the following twenty years, Whitehead participated in
After the war, he commanded the Far East Air Forces, the Continental Air Command, and the Air Defense Command. He retired in 1951 after he was passed over for Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. Both his son, Ennis Whitehead Jr., and his grandson, Ennis Whitehead III, became generals as well, rising to major general and brigadier general respectively.
Early life
Whitehead was born on a farm near
World War I
His plans were changed by the United States' entry into
Between the wars
Whitehead was demobilized from the Army in January 1919, and returned to the University of Kansas, earning a
Whitehead was initially stationed at
In December 1926, Whitehead was assigned as the co-pilot for Major
After three years as an engineering officer with the Air Corps Materiel Division at
World War II
On graduation from the Command and General Staff School, Whitehead was posted to the G-2 (Intelligence) Division of the War Department. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on December 3, 1940.[13] In February 1941, he was transferred to Luke Field, a new training base,[14] where he was promoted to colonel on January 5, 1942.[2]
on May 1942, Lieutenant General
At this time, the stocks of the air force in SWPA were low. At the recent
Kenney assumed command of the Allied Air Forces on August 4. Three days later, he instituted a sweeping reorganization of the Allied Air Forces. The Australian components were assigned to
In his first months in New Guinea, Whitehead concentrated on building up the infrastructure there. He obtained additional engineer units and construction equipment. New airfields were developed, along with roads, housing, taxiways and
Building up Allied air power required ingenuity, improvisation, and innovation.
At the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in March 1943, Whitehead was rewarded with an important victory over the Japanese. The battle caused the Japanese to abandon all further attempts to bring supplies and reinforcements in to Lae by the direct sea route from Rabaul.[29] Whitehead was promoted to major general on March 15, 1943.[2]
Whitehead's attitude earned him high marks with the Allied land commanders.
As the Allied offensive gained steam, Whitehead's main task was to shift his aircraft forward, advancing the bomb line incrementally towards Japan. When the
Whitehead assumed command of the Fifth Air Force in June 1944, although he remained subordinate to Kenney.[5] In the Battle of Leyte, MacArthur attempted to move forward beyond the range of land-based aircraft. A long battle of attrition then began on the ground and in the air, as the Fifth Air Force struggled to gain the upper hand with inadequate numbers of aircraft that could be based on Leyte. Gradually, Whitehead gained the upper hand.[32] He was promoted to lieutenant general on June 5, 1945.[2]
Post-war
Whitehead continued in command of the Fifth Air Force, participating in the occupation of Japan. He succeeded Kenney as commander of the Far East Air Forces in December 1945. He commanded it until March 1949,[2] when he returned to the United States to command the Continental Air Command.[5] Whitehead was instrumental in splitting this organization into the Tactical Air Command and Air Defense Command, commanding the latter from January 1951.[33] He was seen by some in the Air Force hierarchy as "too attached to Kenney and MacArthur, too political, too outspoken, and too tactically focused" to be Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. Whitehead was dismayed by the appointment of Hoyt Vandenberg rather than Kenney as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in 1948 and lost his mentor when the new chief relieved Kenney as commander of Strategic Air Command in October 1948. Whitehead was also disappointed at not receiving a fourth star. These feelings, combined with ill health,[34] caused him to retire on July 31, 1951.[2]
In retirement, Whitehead testified before the United States Senate's Preparedness Subcommittee on the State of the Nation's Air Defenses. He pleaded for the fastest possible creation of an air force with an atomic "strike force" ready to take off on retaliatory raids within a few hours of an attack on the United States, enough transports to service the strike force at overseas bases, fighters to escort the bombers on their missions, and at least 30 wings of all-weather jet fighters to intercept enemy bombers. He urged that, until this was achieved, the Army and Navy should be cut back to "token" appropriations. Whitehead pointed out that the United States mainland was defended against atomic attack by fewer than 100 all-weather fighters, which could not have destroyed more than 10 to 15 percent of a force attacking in daylight. At night, or during instrument meteorological conditions, interceptors would have shot down less than 5 percent. He argued that a well-executed surprise atomic air attack would likely succeed.[35]
He died of emphysema in Newton, Kansas, on October 12, 1964,[5][33] and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[36][37] His son, Ennis Whitehead Jr., later became a major general in the U.S. Army in the late 1970s, and in March 2003, his grandson Ennis Whitehead III was promoted to brigadier general in the Army Reserve, making three generations of general officers.[1][38]
Notes
- ^ a b Hart, Maj. Bobby (December 2003). "U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Ennis C. Whitehead III: Whitehead Family Welcomes Third General Officer". Defend America News. U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Fogerty 1953
- ^ a b Goldstein 1988, p. 178
- ^ a b Goldstein 1988, p. 179
- ^ a b c d Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 457
- ^ "In Society". The Kansas City Star. November 3, 1946. p. 36.
- ^ "Obits – Hillard-Hollman". Piqua Public Library. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
- ^ Cullum 1950, p. 1524.
- ^ Goldstein 1988, pp. 179–180
- ^ a b Griffith 1998, p. 85
- ^ Goldstein 1988, p. 180
- ^ Frisbee, John L. (1985). "Valor: The Greatest Gift". AIR FORCE Magazine. 68 (September). Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
- ^ a b c Goldstein 1988, p. 181
- ^ Goldstein 1988, p. 182
- ^ Cox 2006, p. 52
- ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 393
- ^ a b Byrd 1997, p. 90
- ^ Goldstein 1988, pp. 183–184
- ^ James 1975, p. 200
- ^ Watson 1950, p. 96
- ^ Griffith 1998, pp. 55–56
- ^ a b Byrd 1997, p. 93
- ^ Kenney 1949, pp. 11–12
- ^ Watson 1950, pp. 98–99
- ^ Goldstein 1988, pp. 183–186
- ^ James 1975, p. 275
- ^ "Recommendation for Ennis Clement Whitehead to be awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Honorary)". Recommendations: Second World War. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^ a b Goldstein 1988, pp. 188–190
- ^ Goldstein 1988, p. 187
- ^ Gillison 1962, p. 685
- ^ Watson 1950, pp. 100–102
- ^ Goldstein 1988, pp. 199–200
- ^ a b Goldstein 1988, p. 206
- ^ "Ennis Whitehead". Archived from the original on March 9, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ^ "Inexcusable Risk". TIME. May 5, 1952. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
- ^ Burial Detail: Whitehead, Ennis C – ANC Explorer
- ^ "Ennis Clement Whitehead: Lieutenant General, United States Army Air Corps". Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ^ "General Officer Announcements" (Press release). U.S. Department of Defense. March 12, 2003. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
References
- Ancell, R. Manning; Miller, Christine (1996). The Biographical Dictionary of World War II Generals and Flag Officers: The US Armed Forces. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 457. OCLC 33862161.
- Byrd, Martha (1997). Kenneth N. Walker: Airpower's Untempered Crusader. OCLC 36241599. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- Cox, Douglas A. (2006). Airpower Leadership on the Front Line Lt Gen George H. Brett and Combat Command. OCLC 85856422. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- Cullum, George W. (1950). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point New York Since Its Establishment in 1802: Supplement Volume IX 1940–1950. Chicago: R. R. Donnelly and Sons, The Lakeside Press. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- Fogerty, Dr Robert O. (1953). Biographical data on Air Force General Officers (PDF). OCLC 166883913. Archived from the original(PDF) on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
- Gillison, Douglas (1962). Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force, 1939–1942. Canberra: )
- Goldstein, Donald M. (1988). "Ennis C. Whitehead: Aerial Tactician". In OCLC 17483104.
- Griffith, Thomas E. (1998). MacArthur's Airman: General George C. Kenney and the Air War in the Southwest Pacific Theater in World War II. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. OCLC 38885310.
- James, D. Clayton (1975). The Years of MacArthur, Volume II: 1942–1945. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 731262594.
- OCLC 1227801.
- Watson, Richard L. (1950). "The Papuan Campaign". In Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea (eds.). Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944. )