Clash of Wings: The Story of World War II in the Air The Biggest Battleground (1998– ) Online

Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands of the southwest Pacific, is kind of interesting per se. A Spanish explorer discover the island and name it after his home town Guadalcanal in Andalusia, Spain. The name comes from the Arabic Wadi al Kanar, which means "Valley of the Stalls" or "River of Stalls", referring to the refreshment stalls which were set up there during Muslim rule in Andalusia. The "Wadi" in the Arabic name is the same "waddy" that means "dry river bed" in Texas. The Arabic language influenced the language of other cultures it came in contact with, perhaps by means of alchemy.

The episode describes the conflict between American and Japanese air in the Pacific and necessarily tracks the development of the aircraft carrier during the war. The usual comparisons are made between the F4F Grumman Wildcat and the Japanese Zero. The former was heavier, slower, less maneuverable, had a shorter range, and was more rugged. The Zero was faster, lighter, had enormous range, was extremely nimble, and lacked protective armor and self-sealing gas tanks and so was more vulnerable. The American pilots were inexperienced and had to learn to avoid dogfights with the Zero, whose pilots were well trained and had had combat experience in China. More than passing credit is given to theP-400, the Army Air Force's export version of the P-39 Aircobra -- no good against enemy airplanes but splendid ground attack aircraft. I've always kind of like the P-39 because of its sleek design and its many innovative features, even though the innovations didn't work well.

Half the program is taken up with Guadalcanal, which we won in the end. Conditions were brutal for both sides and there were controversial decisions made by commanders. It was critical that the Japanese grossly underestimated the number of American troops on the island, and that the Japanese troops suffered from starvation and illness so that about half of them died before the evacuation. The Japanese also devised the usual independent attacks that required a kind of precise coordination that was never realized, the same error Allied planners made in Europe in Operation Market Garden. The remaining Japanese troops slipped away unharassed.

The remainder of the program deals with MacArthur's advance through New Guinea. MacArthur had no Navy to speak of -- a few submarines -- but he had a lackadaisical air force that was reorganized and recharged under General George Churchill Kenney. The film ends with the interception and downing of Admiral Yamamoto's "Betty".