THIS IS THE SIXTEENTH EDITION IN AN ANNUAL SERIES OF THIS PUBLICATION WHICH BEGAN IN 1946. A CALENDAR YEAR BY MONTH THROUGH AUGUST 1945 EDITION, ARMY AIR FORCE STATISTICAL DIGEST WORLD WAR II (PEARL HARBOR DECEMBER 7, 1941 TO VJ DAY, 31 AUGUST 1945) SUMMARIZED WORLD WAR II DATA, INCLUDING COMBAT OPERATIONS, SOME OF THE TABLES ALSO INCLUDED DATA AS FAR BACK AS JULY 1939. THIS PUBLICATION WAS FOLLOWED BY A SUPPLEMENT THAT COMPLETED DATA FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 1945 AS WELL AS OTHER AVAILABLE DATA FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR AND PREVIOUS YEARS, CALENDAR YEARS 1946 AND 1947 CONTINUED SUMMARIES FOR THE RESPECTIVE YEARS AND ALL AVAILABLE DATA FOR PREVIOUS YEARS SUBSEQUENT TO 1907. THE PUBLICATION WAS MADE AN ANNUAL REPORT UNTIL 1955 WHEN IT WAS REQUESTED THAT SUMMARIES OF PREVIOUS YEARS BE RESTORED BUT THEY WERE DISCONTINUED AGAIN AS OF FY 1960 EXCEPT FOR NEW TABLES THAT MIGHT BE INTRODUCED. IN THIS EVENT, AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO GIVE A COMPLETE SYNOPSIS OF THE NEW TABLE DATA, . FROM 1946 THROUGH 1948 THE PUBLICATION WAS KEPT ON A CALENDAR YEAR BASIS AND AFTER THAT TIME IT WAS CONVERTED TO A FISCAL - JANUARY 1949 THROUGH JUNE 1950 BEING THE FIRST UNDER THIS STYLE OF ORGANIZATION. THE SEQUENCE OF MATERIALS AND PARTS OF THE FY 1961 EDITION ARE SEQUENTIALLY THE SAME AS 1960 WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE PART TITLED FISCAL. THIS PART HAS BEEN PLACED AT THE END OF THE BOOK. A NUMBER OF THE TITLES CARRY NO REFERENCE TO USAF BUT IT IS GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT ALL TABLES ARE OF USAF DERIVATION.