1945 USAAF Florida, Caribbean Aeronautical Charts and Aerial Photographs, World War II

The Allies' 'Trampoline to Victory'

This is a rare 1945 restricted / confidential pilot's handbook and photographic supplement prepared by the U.S. Army Air Force's Aeronautical Chart Service. Containing several dozen aeronautical charts and photographs of airfields, it guided pilots along the World War II-era South Atlantic route that ferried supplies from Florida, over the Caribbean, to Brazil, across the Atlantic Ocean, and finally to Allied armies in the field.

A Closer Look

The pilot's handbook contains a key map and twenty-nine double-sided sheets with one side consisting of an aeronautical chart of the approaches to a given airfield and the opposite side being a chart of the airfield itself and its immediate vicinity. Each contains of a diagram of landing procedures and helpful navigational information. The twenty-nine airfields included are:

1. Amapa, Brazil
2. Atkinson Field, British Guiana
3. Batista Field, Cuba
4. Beane Field, St. Lucia
5. Belem (Val De Caes), Brazil
6. Benedict Field, St. Croix
7. Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico
8. Camaguey, Cuba
9. Carlsen Field, Trinidad
10. Cayenne (Rochambeau), French Guiana
11. Ciudad Trujillo (Andrews), Dom. Rep.
12. Coolidge Field, Antigua
13. Fortaleza (Adjacento), Brazil
14. Guantanamo (Mccalla), Cuba
15. Homestead Army Air Field, Florida
16. Key West (Boca Chica), Florida
17. Miami Army Air Field, Florida
18. Nassau (Windsor), Bahama Islands
19. Natal (Parnamirim), Brazil
20. Port Au Prince (Bowen), Haiti
21. Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico
22. Recife (Ibura), Brazil
23. San Juan (Isla Grande), Puerto Rico
24. Sao Luiz (Tirirical), Brazil
25. South Caicos I., Bahama Is.
26. Vernam Field, Jamaica
27. Waller Field, Trinidad
28. West Palm Beach (Morrison Field), Florida
29. Zandery Field, Surinam

A supplement to the pilot's handbook contains aerial photographs of the various airfields, noting the date and altitude from which the photograph was taken along with a simple compass. The photographed airfields are:

1. Acarahu, Brazil
2. Amapa, Brazil
3. Atkinson Field, British Guiana
4. Batista Field, Cuba
5. Beane Field, St. Lucia Island
6. Belem (Val De Caes) Brazil
7. Benedict Field, St. Croix
8. Borinquen, Puerto Rico
9. Braganca, Brazil
10. Camaguey, Cuba
11. Camocim, Brazil
12. Cayenne (Rochambeau), French Guiana
13. Ciudad Trujillo (Andrews), Dom. Rep.
14. Clevelandia, Brazil
15. Coolidge Field, Antigua
16. Fortaleza (Adjacento), Brazil
17. Guantanamo (Mccalla), Cuba
18. Homestead, Florida
19. Igarape Assu, Brazil
20. Joa Pessoa, Brazil
21. Key West (Boca Chica), Florida
22. Miami Army Air Field, Florida
23. Nassau (Windsor), Bahama Islands
24. Natal (Parnamirim), Brazil
25. Paracuru, Brazil
26. Parnaiba (Santos Dumont) Brazil
27. Piarco, Trinidad
28. Port Au Prince (Bowen), Haiti
29. Recife (Ibura), Brazil
30. Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico
31. San Juan (Isla Grande), Puerto Rico
32. Sao Luiz (Tirirical), Brazil
33. Turi Assu, Brazil
34. Vernam Field, Jamaica
35. Waller Field, Trinidad
36. West Palm Beach (Morrison), Fla.
37. Zandery Field, Surinam

Photographs of several check points and terrain are also included:

1. Bahama Islands: Great Issac Light, South Caicos Island Landing Strip
2. Brazil: Araras Mountains About 8 Miles W of Fortaleza, City of Sao Luiz
3. British Guiana: Shell Beach Emergency Landing Strip
4. British West Indies: Tobago Island, Crown Point Emergency Landing Strip, Trinidad, Galera Point Emergency Landing Strip and Lighthouse
5. Puerto Rico: Cape San Juan

Supplying the War Effort from Florida

Established in 1942, the South Atlantic Wing of the USAAF's Air Transport Command (ATC) served as the vital South Atlantic route during the Second World War. In fact, preparations for such a route began even before the U.S. entered the war, with Pan American Airways, via its subsidiary Panair do Brasil, negotiating with the Brazilian government to upgrade airfields in northern Brazil in preparation for use in the event of a war. Once the U.S. did indeed enter the war, Pan Am and several other airlines carried supplies until the Army Air Force took over the supply runs.

Bypassing the severe, unpredictable winter weather of the North Atlantic and avoiding the heavy Axis U-boat presence at sea, this logistical lifeline successfully ferried thousands of aircraft, personnel, and critical lend-lease supplies to global theaters. The transit pipeline typically originated in Florida (primarily out of Morrison Field in West Palm Beach) and hopped through the Caribbean down to northern Brazil, where Natal's Parnamirim Field became famously known as the 'Trampoline to Victory.' From Brazil, transport crews undertook the daunting overwater leap across the South Atlantic, frequently stopping to refuel on the isolated volcanic outpost of Ascension Island, before making landfall in West Africa (such as Accra or Takoradi) and pushing northwards to sustain Allied campaigns in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the China-Burma-India theater.

The work of the USAAF Aeronautical Chart Service (ACS) was crucial to the safety and precision of these transoceanic flights. Flying over the vast ocean and the poorly mapped, dense expanses of South America and Africa presented immense navigational hazards for relatively inexperienced pilots flying by dead reckoning. To mitigate this, the ACS, working alongside agencies like the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, rapidly compiled aerial photography and geographic data to produce aeronautical charts detailing topography, safe altitudes, and radio frequencies.

Publication History and Census

This map handbook and photographic supplement were prepared by the Headquarters of the Aeronautical Chart Service of the U.S. Army Air Force in 1945. The charts were continually updated and corrected, dated by stamps on the cover of the map handbook, with the latest being September 24, 1945. We are only aware of one other example of this handbook, held by the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland, New Zealand.

Condition

Very good.

References

Museum of Transport and Technology, Accession number 1970.208.24.