but coconuts to live on and no proper shelter or medical care for their wounded, hoping that the wrecked plane would be spotted by a friendly aircraft. On the tenth day, they were picked up by a Navy Consolidated PBY Catalina. Additional attacks against the Japanese were made but such attacks were on too small a scale to do more than delay the Japanese, to whom one or two transports were but minor losses. The effort to fulfill this program was out of all proportion to the final result; and, as the Japanese continued their moves south through the Dutch East Indies towards Java. On 3 February, the Japanese counter-attacked by attacking Singosari Airfield where a dive-bombing and strafing attack caught the Fortresses on the field. There had been no warning and there was no defense except for that provided by some old World War I French 75s of the 131st Field Artillery. Five planes were destroyed on the ground. That was not yet the end of the day's black news. The 7th Group, running its first mission out of Jogjakarta Airfield that morning, had sent nine B-17s up to Balikpapan. Eight came back. That made a total of six B-17s lost for the day. From then on new replacement B-17s coming in from the States via India and Africa were barely able to keep pace with the losses. The airdromes were never safe from enemy attack and being without adequate antiaircraft defenses, planes that could not get off on a combat mission early enough to evade the expected raids were sent away from the airfields at the first alarm to spend the day cruising aimlessly up and down off the south coast of Java 100 miles west of Malang, putting hour after hour on the engines and increasing the frustration of the crews. On the morning of 8 February nine B-17s of the 7th Group took off on a mission against the airdrome at Kendari from which the Japanese were now launching most of their raids on Java. Almost immediately after taking off the formation was attacked by the Japanese. Three were shot down and the other six jettisoned their bombs and attempted to hide in the clouds. Only one of the nine planes dispatched that morning from Malang one that had returned early with engine trouble, came back undamaged. Nineteen men had been killed. On 15 February when