The link below has a detail PDF doc of the Rainbow 5 plan.
http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm/ref/collect ... l8/id/4282"RAINBOW 5" WARPLAN
Navy Basic War Plan "Rainbow 5" or WPL 46 was issued in May 1941. This was the basic plan under which World War II was fought. It provided for a two-ocean war, of a coalition of allies against a coalition of enemies, including Germany, Italy, and Japan.
"Immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the War Department instructed its department commanders to put the Rainbow 5 plan into effect. This was the Orange Plan, which identified the Japanese as the primary aggressor, and singled out the Panama Canal as one of the key defense initiatives.
By the time the build-up was complete, defenses consisted of nine airbases and airdromes, 10 ground forces posts, 30 aircraft warning stations, and 634 searchlights, antiaircraft gun positions and miscellaneous tactical and logistical installations. Twelve outlying airbases were also constructed in Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. An outer defense parameter of 960 nautical miles from the Canal was established and patrolled by air and sea.
When the United States found itself enmeshed in a two ocean war, the Panama Canal suddenly became the most strategic point on the globe. The convergence of naval and merchant fleet traffic at this point offered German U-boats a vital and tempting target. As a result, it became necessary to ring the canal's ocean approaches with protective bases. Agreements with the governments of Caribbean, Central American, and South American countries made it possible to secure sites for new bases throughout the area. The Lend Lease Agreement, consummated with Great Britain in September of 1940, yielded still other possible bases in this crucial locale. Not only were new base sites rapidly acquired, but United States bases already in existence were enlarged. Under the Greenslade Program of 1940, the three pre-1939 naval installations located in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Panama Canal Zone were all expanded."
Below are a collection of photos showing various aircraft station in and around the Panama canal zone during the war.
Most of these photos came from a service member stationed in Panama during 1943 that were for sale on ebay.
Unfortunately not much for information.
Below a series of photos of the6th USAAF 43d FS Canal Zone
Below Albrook Field seen from Balboa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrook_Air_Force_Station
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