This Day In The War, In The Pacific

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1939
Khalkin-Gol: Trapped Japanese forces attempt a breakout, it fails. Southern Group captures Peschanaya Heights and Zelenaya Hill and clear the left bank of the Khailastyn-Gol.JAPAN: Third Fleet (Adm Halsey) stands into Sagami Wan, the outer bay to Tokyo, Japan.

1940
CHINA: Britain completes the withdrawal of troops from Shanghai.

USA: US President Franklin D Roosevelt signs a joint resolution authorizing the callup of Army Reserve and National Guard units for a period of one year. The induction of National Guard units will begin on 16 September and continue for a seven-month period until March 1941.

1941
JAPAN: The Japanese government sends a protest to the US government concerning the shipment of goods from the US to Vladivostok, USSR via Japanese waters.
Prince Fumimaro Konoye, prime minister of Japan, invites U.S. President Roosevelt to meet with him "to discuss from a broad standpoint all important problems between Japan and America covering the entire Pacific area, and to explore the possibility of saving the situation."

1942
ALASKA (11th AF): 4 B-17s, 6 B-24s, and 2 P-38s fly weather, reconnaissance and patrol missions over Kiska and Atka . The Japanese begin to transfer the Attu garrison to Kiska, which is completed on 16 Sep.

SWPA (5th AF): USAAF B-26s and P-400 Airacobras of the Allied Air Force bomb Buna Airfield, Northeast New Guinea, while RAAF Kittyhawks strafe the beachhead and fuel dumps at Milne Bay, Papua New Guiena.. 403d Bombardment Squadron, 43d BG (Heavy), moves from Laverton to Torrens Creek, Australia with B-17s; first mission is in Oct.

NEW GUINEA: During the day, fresh Australian troops advance unopposed to K.B. Mission but during the night, the Japanese, with tanks, renew their attack and split the defending force which withdraws. Meanwhile, the Japanese overland drive on Port Moresby continues, with the Australians falling back gradually but Australian reinforcements are moving to the forward area.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, A battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment lands about 1,000 yards west of Kokumbona and starts east along the shore while a company pushes west from Kukum by overland trail to intercept the Japanese withdrawal inland. That night, the "Tokyo Express" lands 128 Imperial Japanese Army troops northwest of Taivu Point.
The rear echelon of the USAAF's 67th Fighter Squadron, fourteen P-400 Airacobras, arrives at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands.

U.S.: The first of the four Iowa Class battleships, the Iowa, is launched at the U.S. Navy Yard, New York, New York.

1943
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 5 P-40's strafe a large truck convoy between Sintsiang and Yoyang, destroying 5 trucks and damaging 15 others; 1 P-40 is downed by ground fire; 6 other P-40's hit communication lines between Yoyang and Hankow; targets include 2 small steamboats, a gunboat, several railroad cars, and a water tower.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 10 B-24's Snoopers equipped with radar devices that permit blind bombing, begin operations from Carney Field, Guadalcanal Island. 12 B-25's, 8 P-40's, and 8 US Navy F4U's strafe barges and shoreline targets at Kakasa on Choiseul Island; and P-39's strafe barges and shore targets at Ringa Cove on New Georgia Island.
The U.S. 172d Infantry Regiment of the 43d Infantry Division lands on Arundel Island off the northwest tip of New Georgia Island. The regiment meets determined opposition by the Japanese.
Ten USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Snoopers, i.e., B-24s equipped with radar devices that permit blind bombing, begin operations from Carney Field, Guadalcanal. Twelve B-25s, 8 P-40s, and 8 USMC F4U Corsairs strafe barges and shoreline targets at Kakasa on Choiseul Island; and P-39 Airacobras strafe barges and shore targets at Ringa Cove on New Georgia Island.
The USN's Fighting Squadron VF-33, equipped with F6F-3 Hellcats, lands on Guadalcanal for shore-based duty. These are the first F6Fs deployed to the war zone.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): B-26's attack bridges in the Bogadjim area; and A-20's strafe barges and troops along the Babui River in the Lae area. On Timor Island, B-25's bomb Dili and Cape Chater airstrip. The 67th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d Troop Carrier Group, arrives at Port Moresby, New Guinea from the US with C-47's.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 5 B-24s bomb and photograph Kashiwabara, Parmushiru Island in 2 raids; and 4 B-25s on a shipping sweep E of the N Kurile Islands bomb and strafe picket boats damaging 1 and leaving another sinking.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 23 P-47s support ground forces in the Pinbaw area, hitting Kondangyi and troops and strongpoints near Pinbaw; and the 90th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, moves from Moran, India to Tingkawk Sakan with P-47s. In India, the 2d Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, arrives at Sylhet from the US with C-47s.

BURMA: The British 36th Division, continues down the Mogaung-Mandalay railroad corridor and captures Pinbaw.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 7 B-25s bomb Hengyang, Tien Ho, White Cloud, and Pailochi Airfields; 9 others hit road and river traffic in the Yoyang, Hankow, Changsha, and Hengyang areas; 120+ P-40s and P-51s hit targets of opportunity in the above areas plus Yangtien, Chachiang, Anjen, Leiyang, Sintsiang, Siangsiang, and Siangtan, damaging or destroying numerous trucks, many rivercraft and hitting several troop concentrations.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): A Saipan based B-24 bombs Iwo Jima while another, after photo reconnaissance of Woleai Atoll, bombs Yap. P-47s bomb AA positions on Pagan Island and strafe buildings on Alamagan Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Fighter-bombers hit Miti and airfields at Babo, Ransiki, Sagan, and Manokwari. Lost is P-38J 42-104359. Fighter-bombers hit bivouacs near Boram, troops between Abau and Boikin, and a fuel dump and barges at Kairiru Island; and the 75th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), moves from Stirling to Hollandia with B-25s.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: USN submarine USS Stingray lands men and supplies on Luzon to support guerilla operations against the Japanese.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 533, AUGUST 27, 1944
1. Liberators of the 7th AAF bombed the airfield and defense Installa¬tions at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands on 25 August (West Longitude Date). More than 42 tons of bombs were dropped while the Liberators fought off 8 to 10 enemy fighters. Two fighters were destroyed and two damaged, and several Liberators were damaged. Antiaircraft fire was intense.
2. A single 7th AAF Liberator bombed Yap and Woleai Islands on 25 August. There was no opposition at Woleai, and only light antiaircraft fire at Yap.
3. Truk atoll was bombed by Liberators of the 7th AAF on 24 August.
Sixty four tons of bombs were dropped on defense installations. Eight enemy fighters intercepted, and one fighter was damaged. All of our planes returned.
4. In the Marshall Islands, Wotje and Mille were attacked on 24 August by Corsair fighters and Dauntless dive bombers of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing. Harassing raids were carried out during the night of 24 25 August against Wotje, Maloelap, Jaluit, and Mile. On 25 August Corsairs again bomber and strafed Mille and Maloelap.
5. Aguijan Island in the Marianas was bombed and strafed by our aircraft on 25 August, starting several fires.
6. Ponape and Nauru Islands were attacked on 25 August, Ponape by Mitchell medium bombers of the 7th AAF and Nauru by Ventura search planes of Group 1, Fleet Air Wing Two.

1945
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: An armed truce has been declared throughout New Britain Island.

BURMA: Contact has been established with the Japanese troops in the Sittang valley and they now await specific surrender instructions.

JAPAN: With most surrender and occupation arrangements made, the Allied fleet prepares to enter Sagami Wan (Bay) and the adjacent Tokyo Bay. To facilitate this operation, the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Hatsukakura brings out several Japanese naval officers to provide piloting services. Fear of treachery remained strong, so the visitors are carefully searched and treated sternly. However, there are no hostile incidents, and the pilots safely bring the U.S. and British warships into their anchorages. Part of this armada is the USN's Third Fleet under Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. The Third Fleet consists of 23 aircraft carriers, 12 battleships, 26 cruisers, 116 destroyers and destroyer escorts and 12 submarines.

JAPAN: A USN PB4Y-2 Privateer of Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Sixteen based on Iwo Jima, lands at Atsugi Airfield because of mechanical problems. The Japanese do not approach the aircraft and the plane returns to Iwo Jima the same day. Actually there was no mechanical problem. The squadron commander had rounded up an all-volunteer crew and planned the whole thing.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Isolated Japanese garrisons are reported to be ignorant of the ceasefire.

U.S.: President Harry S. Truman says that the situation in the Pacific continues to have many elements of danger and urges Congress to continue the draft (conscription) for a further two years.

CENTRAL PACIFIC Twentieth Air Force: B-29s begin supplying prisoners-of-war and internee camps in Japan, China, and Korea with medical supplies, food, and clothing. The first supply drop (to Weihsien Camp near Peking, China) is followed by a concentrated effort of 900 sorties in a period of less than a month. 4,470 tons of supplies are dropped to about 63,500 prisoners in 154 camps.

WESTERN PACIFIC: Unit moves: HQ XIII Bomber Command from Morotai to Clark Field; and 67th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d Troop Carrier Group, from Clark Field to Iwo Jima with C-46s.

 

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1941
AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister Robert Menzies resigns as the leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) and as Prime Minister. He is replaced by Country Part leader A.W. Fadden. Menzies had formed a coalition government before the war but victories by the Labor Party in the September 1940 election had severely weakened the coalition forcing him to resign.
U.S.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull meet with the Japanese Ambassador, NOMURA Kichisaburo at Nomura's request. Nomura hands the President a communication from the Japanese Prime Minister, Prince KONOE Fumimaro requesting a meeting between the two. Roosevelt states that it would be difficult and time consuming for him to travel to a meeting in the Territory of Hawaii and suggests a possible alternative, Juneau, Territory of Alaska. The only point raised by Nomura is that the conversation be held as early as possible. Nomura then hands the President another note which states that Japan desires "to pursue courses of peace in harmony with the fundamental principles to which the people and Government of the United States are commuted." At the conclusion of the reading of the communication, the President said to the Ambassador that he could say to his Government that he considered this note a step forward and that he was very hopeful. He then a
dded that he would be keenly interested in having three or four days with Prince Konoye, and again he mentioned Juneau.
In Washington, President Roosevelt signs an executive order establishing the Office of Price Administration (OPA). The new government agency is charged with controlling consumer prices in the face of war. OPA initially imposed rent controls and a rationing program which initially targeted auto tires. Once the U.S. entered the war, the agency began issuing coupon books for sugar, coffee, meat, fats, oils, and numerous other items. Though goods were in tight supply, Americans were urged to stick to the system of rationing. The agency's record of service during the war is fairly impressive: by VJ Day, consumer prices had increased by 31 percent, a number which was noticeably better than the 62 percent bloating of prices during World War I.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Thirty eight Alaskan Scouts debark from the submarines, USS Triton and USS Tuna, and land on Adak Island to reconnoiter; Adak is about 219 nautical miles east of Japanese-held Kiska Island. They find no Japanese on the island.
In the air, three USAAF 11th Air Force B-17s bomb Japanese-held Kiska Island, one fails to return; all available B-24s and two flights of P-38s fly naval cover at Nazan Bay, Atka Island located about 84 nautical miles ENE of Adak Island; and an attack mission to Japanese-held Attu Island is cancelled due to weather.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Eight USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25s of the China Air Task Force (CATF) hit barracks and ammunition dumps at Hoang Su Phi and a fuel dump at Phu Lo; this is the largest force of B-25s used by CATF to date, and the first B-25 mission flown without escort.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, Japanese artillery fires from dawn until about 0800 hours local preparing for an attack on Isurava. The Japanese attack does not succeed and the Australians inflict heavy Japanese casualties. In Milne Bay, the Japanese attack at 0200 hours local supported by a tank and force the Australian defenders back to an area west of No. 3 Strip.
Today, Australian Major General Alan Vasey, Deputy Chief General Staff, writes to Major General Sir Sydney Fairbairn Rowell General Officer Commanding New Guinea Force at Port Moresby, that a state of near panic prevails at General Douglas MacArthur's Headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He also writes that that morning, MacArthur has finally taken the decision at a conference to fight the Japanese in New Guinea.
- B-26s pound forces at Milne Bay, New Guinea.
- Miline Bay - Additional Japanese land at Milne Bay.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, returns from an attack begun yesterday, west across the Matanikau River. This is the second of many small unit actions, over the next 2 1/2 months, that will attempt to deny this area to the Japanese. The unit returns after having its Commanding Officer, Colonel Maxwell relieved. The Japanese units were allowed to slip away during the night, after he had requested evacuation of his unit by boat the previous afternoon.
In the air, two SBD's spot troop-laden Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers, carrying elements of the Kawaguchi Detachment, in New Georgia Sound at 1700 hours local; this is only 70 miles from Guadalcanal. The two SBD's attack the ships but do not score any hits. By 1730 hours, eleven SBD's of Navy VS-5 and Marine VMSB-232 are airborne and attack the ships at sundown. A VS-5 pilot scores a direct hit on the destroyer HIJMS Asagiri off Santa Isabel Island; three other destroyers are damaged. The destroyers retire without landing the troops.
Light minelayer USS Gamble (DM-15, ex DD-123), escorting a supply convoy, sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-123 about 40 nautical miles east of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, in position 09.21S, 160.43E. The supply convoy safely reaches Guadalcanal.
Imperial Japanese Navy Rear Admiral JOSHIMA Takaji, at Rabaul, New Britain Island, forms a unit of float planes from various sources, known as "R Area Air Force." These float planes will operate from bases in the Solomons, i.e., Shortland Islands and Rekata Bay, Santa Isabella Island, and begin regular nightly patrols over Guadalcanal. They will become known to the Marines as "Washing Machine Charlie" and "Louie The Louse".

U.S.: In Richmond, California, the Liberty ship SS John Fitch is launched 24-days after her keel is laid at the Kaiser Shipyard.

1943
SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon Islands, B-25's, P-40's, and US Navy F4U's bomb and strafe barges, buildings, and personnel in the Sigolehe Island-Barora Ite Island area.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): 26 B-25's bomb and strafe dumps and shipping in the Hansa Bay area, sinking a small freighter, a power launch, and 8 barges and luggers. Lost is B-25D "Reluctant Dragon" 41-30345; and 20 B-17's and A-20's bomb jetties at Lae and Voco Point and hit barges in Samoa Harbor between Lae and Salamaua. P-47 Thunderbolt force lands at Redscar Beach.

ELLICE ISLANDS: Elements of two USN Seabee battalions and the 7th Marine Defense Battalion land on Nonomea Island, only 400-miles from the Japanese-held Gilbert Islands. Work immediately begins on an airfield.

1944
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Brigadier General Haywood S Hansell, Jr assumes command of the XXI Bomber Command at Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Brigadier General Lauris Norstad succeeds Hansell as Chief of Staff of the Twentieth Air Force.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 4 P-47s bomb a tank pool at Momauk, while 5 others hit Myintha; and 2 P-47s support ground forces in the Pinbaw area.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 8 B-25s bomb Tien Ho, White Cloud, Hankow, and Pailochi Airfields; 8 more attack river and road traffic from Chiuchiang to Hankow and from Hengyang to Puchi; 32 P-40s pound targets of opportunity at Hengyang and Pailochi; 23 P-40s attack Taying storage buildings and 10 P-40s and P-51s hit Anjen and nearby targets of opportunity; and HQ 311th Fighter Group moves from Tingkawk Sakan, Burma to Pungchacheng.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan based B-24s pound Iwo Jima by day and night. P-47s hit Pagan and Maug. A B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Yap. Gilbert Island-based B-25s strike Ponape Island; Marshall Islands-based B-24s hit Truk Atoll.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s hit the airfield on Koror, and the seaplane base on Arakabesan. Lost is B-24J 44-40603. A-20s and fighter-bombers attack small vessels along the E coast of Ceram Island. Fighter-bombers hit Kokas, vessels off Point Karakra, barracks at Nabire, storage facilities at Moemi and Manokwari and Boram fuel dumps.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: The USN's Task Force 38, with eight fleet carriers and eight light aircraft carriers, sorties from Eniwetok Atoll to attack Japanese bases in the western Pacific in support of the upcoming invasion of the Palau Islands. The aircraft carriers, and their assigned groups, of TF 38 are
- Task Group 38.1 (TG-38.1)
USS Belleau Wood with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty One CVLG-21
USS Cowpens with CVLG-22
USS Hornet with Carrier Air Group Two CVG-2
USS Monterey with CVLG-28
USS Wasp with CVG-14
- TG 38.2
USS Bunker Hill with CVG-8
USS Cabot with CVLG-31
USS Independence with Night Light Carrier Air Group Forty Two [CVLG(N)-42]
USS Intrepid with CVG-18
- TG 38.3
USS Essex with CVG-15
USS Langley with CVLG-32
USS Lexington with CVG-19
USS Princeton with CVLG-27
- TG 38.4
USS Enterprise with CVG-20
USS Franklin with CVG-13
USS San Jacinto with CVLG-51

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 535, AUGUST 28, 1944
1. Liberators of the 11th AAF and Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Onekotan Island in the Kuriles in separate strikes on 26 August (West Longitude Date). In the first raid by Navy Venturas buildings on the island and several small craft offshore were bombed. Several enemy planes were airborne but did not attempt interception. Antiaircraft fire was meager. In the second raid by 11th AAF Liberators, warehouse facilities and piers were bombed. Several fires were started. All of our planes returned. On 25 August an enemy patrol vessel was sunk near Paramushiru Island by two Mitchell bombers of the 11th AAF. Two enemy fighters attacked the Mitchells, which probably destroyed one fighter. Both of our planes returned safely.
2. Pagan and Alamagan Islands in the Marianas were attacked by our aircraft on 26 August.
3. Yap and Woleai in the western Carolines were attacked by Navy Liberators of Group 1, Fleet Air Wing Two on 26 August. Fires were started in a supply area at Woleai. On the same day a single 7th AAF Liberator bombed Yap.
4. Runways and gun emplacements at Nauru Island were attacked by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two on 25 and 26 August. Antiaircraft fire was meager.
5. In the Marshalls, Corsair fighters and Dauntless dive bombers of the 6th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed Mille atoll on 25 and 26 August. On 26 august Mille was bombed by Navy Catalina search planes, and a small motor launch near the atoll was sunk. Jaluit atoll was harassed by bombing during the night of 25 26 August.

1945

JAPAN: The occupation of Japan officially begins as an advance party arrives in the Home Islands. When the news of the Japanese proposal for surrender came on 15 Aug, the 68th Army Airways Communications System (AACS) Group, 7th AACS Wing, received orders to fly into Atsugi Airfield and set up the communications equipment necessary to guide in the first contingent of occupation troops. AACSs mission was to provide navigational aids, point-to-point communications with Okinawa, air-to-ground communications for planes in flight, weather data, and air traffic control. Colonel Gordon Blake quickly assembled a special unit of 5 hand-picked men. Colonel Blake and his AACS men, part of a 150 man task force, flew from Okinawa to Atsugi with 24 C-47 aircraft laden with equipment. In order to carry as much equipment as possible, the load was lightened by carrying only enough fuel to reach Atsugi. Although the Japanese had surrendered unconditionally, Blake and his communicators still did not know whether some might still be hostile. The sight of hundreds of Japanese Navy guards lined up along the airfield was not encouraging to the occupants of the first aircraft to land, but they were met by a group of courteous, English-speaking Japanese military personnel. The navy guards were in their honor. The AACS-men lost no time in getting operations into full swing, and by 29 Aug, the Atsugi control tower was completed. The first planes to arrive on 30 Aug were 5 additional C-47s carrying components to set up the first airborne radio station in Air Force history. Within a few hours, the first C-54 aircraft of the official occupation forces landed at Atsugi and by mid-afternoon Blake's AACS crews had directed 340+ takeoffs and landings at the rate of 1 every 2 minutes. On 30 Aug, Atsugi was the busiest airport in the world.
USN underwater demolition teams (UDT) land to check prospective Tokyo Bay landing beaches and ensure that fortification are neutralized. Minesweepers begin clearing mines from Tokyo Bay.
In the air, the 386th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), based on Okinawa, flies its last combat mission, a photo reconnaissance mission, with the Consolidated B-32 Dominator.
Destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy joined Royal Navy and United States Navy ships in Tokyo Bay to receive the main Japanese surrender on 2 September.

CHINA: HQ 443d Troop Carrier Group and 1st Troop Carrier Squadron move from Dinjan, India to Chihkiang, China with C-47s.

BURMA: Japanese forces sign a formal surrender in Rangoon.

CANADA: French General Charles de Gaulle arrives in Ottawa, Ontario, for talks with Canadian Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King.

CHINA: Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-Tung arrives in Chunking to confer with Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek in a futile effort to avert a civil war.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: The Viet Minh form a provisional government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh as president, Vo Nguyen Giap, as interior minister and Pham Van Dong, as finance minister.
In Laos, Prime Minister Prince Phetsarath wires provincial governors notifying them of the Japanese surrender. The Prince further declares that the proclamation of independence is unaffected and that the governors should resist any attempts at foreign intervention in their administration. The French Resident Superieur is released from prison but Phetsarath refuses to recognize his authority.

JAPAN: The occupation of Japan officially begins as an advance party arrives in the Home Islands. When the news of the Japanese proposal for surrender came on 15 Aug, the 68th Army Airways Communications System (AACS) Group, 7th AACS Wing, received orders to fly into Atsugi Airfield and set up the communications equipment necessary to guide in the first contingent of occupation troops. AACSs mission was to provide navigational aids, point-to-point communications with Okinawa, air-to-ground communications for planes in flight, weather data, and air traffic control. Colonel Gordon Blake quickly assembled a special unit of 5 hand-picked men. Colonel Blake and his AACS men, part of a 150 man task force, flew from Okinawa to Atsugi with 24 C-47 aircraft laden with equipment. In order to carry as much equipment as possible, the load was lightened by carrying only enough fuel to reach Atsugi. Although the Japanese had surrendered unconditionally, Blake and his communicators still did not know whether some might still be hostile. The sight of hundreds of Japanese Navy guards lined up along the airfield was not encouraging to the occupants of the first aircraft to land, but they were met by a group of courteous, English-speaking Japanese military personnel. The navy guards were in their honor. The AACS-men lost no time in getting operations into full swing, and by 29 Aug, the Atsugi control tower was completed. The first planes to arrive on 30 Aug were 5 additional C-47s carrying components to set up the first airborne radio station in Air Force history. Within a few hours, the first C-54 aircraft of the official occupation forces landed at Atsugi and by mid-afternoon Blake's AACS crews had directed 340+ takeoffs and landings at the rate of 1 every 2 minutes. On 30 Aug, Atsugi was the busiest airport in the world.
USN underwater demolition teams (UDT) land to check prospective Tokyo Bay landing beaches and ensure that fortification are neutralized. Minesweepers begin clearing mines from Tokyo Bay.
In the air, the 386th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), based on Okinawa, flies its last combat mission, a photo reconnaissance mission, with the Consolidated B-32 Dominator.
Destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy joined Royal Navy and United States Navy ships in Tokyo Bay to receive the main Japanese surrender on 2 September.

 

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1941
FRENCH INDOCHINA: The Franco-Laotian Treaty of Protectorate signed by Vichy French Admiral Jean Decoux, Governor General of Indochina, and King Sisavang Vong of Louangphrabang, attaches the provinces of Vientiane, Xiangkhoang and Louang Namtha to the king's domain recompensing the loss of Lao territories to Thailand and normalizing Laos' status as a protectorate of Vichy.

1942
ALASKA (11th AF): A USN PBY reports a force of 3 cruisers and 4 destroyers NW of Umnak ; thereupon all aircraft of the 11th go on attack alert; the surface force then identifies itself as friendly.

CBI (CATF): B-25s pound Lashio, Burma, scoring numerous hits on the airport and starting 3 large fires in warehouse area SE of the city.

SWPA (5th AF): B-26s and P-400s hit the airfield at Buna; P-40s hit facilities in the Milne Bay area as enemy ground forces continue their drive over the Owen Stanley Range toward Port Moresby. B-17s pound Lakunai Airfield. A C5M Babs piloted by Shigetoshi Kudo chased 8 x B-17s. flying up to 7,500m then dropped an aerial burst bomb. He aimed for the B-17s on the left of the formation. The #1 plane was hit and went into clouds, so he claimed an unconfirmed. #2 caught on fire and went down.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF B-17's of the Allied Air Force bomb the airfield at Rabaul, New Britain Island.

CORAL SEA: The Australian transport Malaita is torpedoed by Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-33 in the Gulf of Papua off Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. An escort destroyer, the Australian HMAS Arunta, carriers out four depth charge attacks and sinks the sub about 10 nautical miles SSW of Port Moresby in position 09.36S, 147.06E.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, both the Australians and Japanese launch attacks during the day but both sides are stalemated.
In Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, a reconnaissance aircraft spots a Japanese force consisting of seven destroyers and two patrol boats heading for the bay at 1633 hours local. At about 2100 hours local, 770 Japanese troops land and prepare for an assault on No. 3 Airstrip tomorrow night. The Japanese ships twice enter Milne Bay to shell Australian shore positions around Gili Gili, each time scrupulously avoiding firing on the brightly painted and lit-up hospital ship. This contrasted with the behaviour of their IJA comrades ashore who were mutilating and torturing Australian prisoners.

SOLOMONS ISLANDS: Shortly before midnight, Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyer Divisions 11 and 24 plus Patrol Boats 1 & 34 land the the Imperial Japanese Army's 1st Battalion 124th Infantry and most of Ichiki's rear echelon on Guadalcanal near Taivu Point, east of the Lunga perimeter.
Their orders include an anti-shipping sweep after landing the troops. Due to aircraft flying from Henderson Field during the night, the sweep is called off. Admiral Tanaka relieves Captain Murakami for this action.
In the air, three "Betty" bombers bomb Henderson Field on Guadalcanal early in the morning. At 1200 hours local, ten USMC F4F Wildcats and 14 USAAF P-400 Airacobras attack 18 "Betty" bombers which are escorted by Zero fighters. The Marines claim five "Bettys" and six Zero's shot down but this claim is much too high.

U.S.: The U.S., the American Red Cross, reveals that Japan has refused free passage of ships carrying food, medicine, and other necessities for American POWs held by Japan. Japan refused to allow even "neutral" ships to enter Japanese waters, even those on humanitarian errands. Despite protests by the Red Cross, Japan allowed just 10 percent of what POWs elsewhere received to reach prisoners in their territories.

1943
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 9 B-25's, with fighter escort, bomb the airfield at Chingmen, China.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, 35 B-24's, escorted by 44 P-38's, strike airfields at Wewak and Boram; and 48 B-25's and 2 B-17's bomb and strafe Alexishafen and Bogadjim areas. A-20's hit dumps at Gasmata. B-24's bomb Babo, New Guinea and Adodo in the Moluccas Islands.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 8 B-25s attack targets in Katha and hit 2 bridges just N of the town area; 8 P-51s attack Bilumyo; 5 P-47s destroy a road bridge at Mainghka and 5 others hit buildings in Bhamo; and HQ 80th Fighter Group moves from Nagaghuli to Tingkawk Sakan.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 24 B-24s escorted by 45 fighters, blast railroad yards at Yoyang; 15 B-25s bomb Pailochi, White Cloud, Tien Ho, and Hankow Airfields; 10 others hit trucks and other targets of opportunity from Hengyang to Yoyang, from Hankow to Chinchiang, and near Anjen; 18 P-40s hit a storage area and targets of opportunity around Tangyang; 17 attack trucks and buildings from Siangtan to Changsha; 14 P-40s claim 8 fighters downed over Shayang; 22 others attack trucks, supplies, and troops at Wuhu, Ichang, S of Isuho, SW of Lungling, and N of Hengshan; and the 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium), based at Yankai, sends a detachment to operate from Liuchow with B-25s.

CHINA: The Japanese 11th Army, consisting of seven divisions, starts south down the railroad from Heng-Yang threatening USAAF Fourtheenth Air Force bases at Kweilin and Liuchow.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Twentieth Air Force): INDIA: Major General Curtis Emerson LeMay becomes Commanding General USAAF XX Bomber Command, Twentieth Air Force, with HQ at Kharagpur, India. LeMay assumes command after Brigadier General LaVerne G Saunders is seriously injured in a non-operational flying accident.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan Island-based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima and Pagan Islands during the evening. P-47s strafe AA positions on Pagan while a B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Yap. Gilbert based B-25s bomb Nauru.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In the Palau Islands, B-24s bomb Koror, and Malakal Islands, a seaplane base on Arakabesan Island, and supply area N of Ingesebus Airfield. B-24s bomb barracks at Amboina on Ambon and P-38s hit a seaplane base at Halong on the Celebes Island. In New Guinea, the 22d Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group, moves from Garbutt Field to Finschhafen with C-47s; and the 868th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), Thirteenth Air Force, moves from Los Negros to Noemfoor with B-24s (the squadron uses airborne radar for low-level attacks at night and PFF operations).

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 536, AUGUST 29, 1944
1. The airfield at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands was bombed on 27 August (West Longitude Date) by 7th AAF Liberators. Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered. During the night of 26 27 August a single Liberator of the 7th AAF bombed Iwo Jima, encountering no opposition.
2. Pagan Island in the Marianas was attacked on 27 August by 7th AAF Liberators and in a separate strike on the same day was bombed and strafed fighter planes. Buildings and gun emplacements were the principal targets. Alamagan Island was also bombed on 27 August.
3. Yap Island in the western Carolines was attacked on 27 August by a single 7th AAF Liberator. Meager antiaircraft fire was encountered.
4. Further neutralization raids against enemy positions in the Marshalls were conducted by Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing on 27 August.
5. On 26 August Liberators of the 11th AAF bombed Paramushiru in the Kurile Islands, starting several fires.

1945
JAPAN: The USN's Task Group 30.6, commanded by Commodore Rodger W. Simpson, arrives in Tokyo Bay to undertake emergency evacuation of Allied POWs in waterfront areas. Accompanying Commodore Simpson is Commander Harold E. Stassen, USNR, Flag Secretary to Commander, Third Fleet, Admiral William F. Halsey. Guided by TBM Avengers from the light aircraft carrier USS Cowpens (CVL-25) and taken to the scene in LCVPs from the high speed transport USS Gosselin (APD-126), Commodore Simpson carries out his orders. The appearance of the LCVPs off the camp at Omori (the first liberated) triggers "an indescribable scene of jubilation and emotion" by the former captives, some of whom swim out to the approaching landing craft. Many of the POWs, suffering from malnutrition and other health problems, required immediate medical care and the hospital ship USS Benevolence (AH-13) is stationed nearby to receive them. Their treatment as POWs was described as an "inquisitional form of barbarism."
Soviet forces occupy Etorofu Island in the Kurile Islands.
Off Japan, the USN submarine USS Segundo encounters Japanese submarine HIJMS I-401 off the northeast coast of Honshu, and "after considerable negotiation, " places prize crew on board.
General MacArthur is appointed supreme commander of the Allied occupying force in Japan
Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, famed leader of the Black Sheep Squadron is freed from a POW camp in Japan. Boyington had been shot down over Rabaul two years earlier.

INDONESIA: The New Republic: The constitution that had been drafted by the PPKI preparatory committee, and announced on the 18th, is adopted (UUD 45). Sukarno is declared President, Hatta is declared Vice-President. PPKI (originally BPUPKI, founded under the Japanese occupation the previous March) is remade into KNIP (Central Indonesian National Committee). KNIP is the temporary governing body until elections can be held. The new government is installed on August 31.
The Patih (chief advisor) of Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX of Yogya dies. No successor is chosen; the Sultan takes charge of his own affairs, and begins to institute reforms in Yogya
Tan Malaka reappears in Jakarta.

EAST INDIES: The Japanese garrisons on Halmahera and Morotai Islands in the Netherlands East Indies surrender.

HONG KONG: The British Navy arrives to reclaim the colony for the U.K.

MALAYSIA: Japanese troops in southeast Asia, numbering about 740,000, surrender in Singapore to British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander Southeast Asia. General ITAGAKI Seishiro, Commander of the 7th Area Army, signs the document for the Japanese.

U.S.: Secret Army and Navy reports of official enquiries into the raid on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 are made public. The blame is placed on a lack of preparedness, confusion and a breakdown of inter-service coordination. Former Secretary of State Cordell Hull, General of the Army George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, and former Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Harold R. Stark are criticized. President Harry S. Truman objects to the findings on Hull and Marshall.

1941 FRENCH INDOCHINA: The Franco-Laotian Treaty of Protectorate signed by Vichy French Admiral Jean Decoux, Governor General of Indochina, and King Sisavang Vong of Louangphrabang, attaches the provinces of Vientiane, Xiangkhoang and Louang Namtha to the king's domain recompensing the loss of Lao territories to Thailand and normalizing Laos' status as a protectorate of Vichy.

 

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1940
AUSTRALIA: Convoy US-4 (Australia to the Middle East), consisting of four troopships, sails from Sydney, New South Wales, for the Middle East. The heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra escorts the convoy as far as Colombo, Ceylon.

FRANCE: The Vichy French government signs the Matsuoka-Henry Pact and yields to Japanese (1) demands for an end to shipments of war material to the Chinese nationalists via the Hanoi, French Indochina - Kunming, China, railway, (2) grants Japanese forces transit rights and access to military facilities in Indochina and (3) the right to station troops in Tokinchina. Japan agrees to recognize continued French sovereignty over Indochina. Vichy reciprocates with formal recognition of Japan’s "pre-eminent" role in the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The USN lands 4,500 US troops to occupy Kuluk Bay, Adak Island, amidst a terrific storm and they start building a runway; this airfield, later named Davis AAFld. Adak Island is located about 219 nautical miles east of Japanese-held Kiska Island.
Five USAAF 11th Air Force B-24s photograph Kiska Island but do not bomb due to overcast, and then fly patrol and photo reconnaissance over Amchitka and Tanaga Islands. P-38s fly patrol between Great Sitkin and Little Tanaga Islands. The occupation puts North Pacific forces within 250 miles of occupied Kiska and in a position to maintain a close watch over enemy shipping lanes to that and to Attu. The tender Casco, conducting support operations from Nazan Bay, was damaged by a submarine torpedo and temporarily beached.

AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area, sends a message to Washington stating ".... as I have previously reporated am not yet convinced of the efficiency of Australian units (at Milne Bay), Papua New Guinea and do not attempt to forecast results."

POA (7th AF): 6th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, moves from Wheeler Field to Kahuku, Hawaii with P-40s.

SWPA (5th AF): B-17s attack shipping in Saint Georges Channel

NG - Additional Japanese land at Milne Bay 1/124, anti-tank 6

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: B-17s of the Allied Air Forces attack shipping in Saint George's Channel between New Ireland and New Britain Islands.

BURMA: Myitkyina, northernmost Japanese supply depot and airfield in Burma, from which fighters could hit Dinjan, India (terminus of the Assam-Burma Ferry), is bombed for the first time by eight China-based B-25s of the 10th Air Force's China Air Task Force.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, troops of the Australian 53d Battalion near Abuati are ordered to withdraw to Alola after being unable to get behind the Japanese troops. At 1500 hours local, the 39th Battalion is ordered to withdraw to Eora Creek, about 2 miles south of Alola. The officer commanding 39th Battalion, Lt Colonel Arthur Key, was later captured by the Japanese, interrogated and murdered. In Milne Bay, Australian troops continue patrolling and find several Australian dead with their hands tied behind them, arms broken by gunshot wounds and bayonetted.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 1400 hours local, 18 Zero fighters of the HIJMS Shokaku and HIJMS Zuikaku air groups, temporarily land based at Rabaul on New Britain Island, attack Allied targets. The Zero's outmaneuver 8 Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-223 F4F Wildcats and attack the high speed transport USS Colhoun wrecking the ship's boats and the after davits and starting a diesel fire from the boat wreckage.
The Zero's are then intercepted by USAAF P-400 Airacobras of the 67th Fighter Squadron, later joined by the VMF-223 Wildcats; the Americans shoot down five Zero's while losing four P-400s. Three F4Fs are written off when they land on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal leaving a total of five Wildcats to defend the island. After this action, the USAAF's P-400s are limited to medium-level interceptions and ground-attack missions. The evaluation of the P-400 by the Commander, Air South Pacific was, "No good at altitude and disheartening to the brave men who fly them." The 67th Fighter Squadron's
historian put it this way: "We can't maneuver and dogfight with the Zero -- what good are we? Our enlisted men are risking their lives every day trying to get the planes patched up -- for what? We're just eating up food -- and there's not enough to go around anyway, and using up valuable gasoline -- and the gas supply is getting lower every day. Hell, we can't fight. When the Japs come we're told to 'go on reconnaissance. ' What good are we?" In the ground attack role, the P-400 (P-39) will perform much better. The Japanese will give them the nickname of "Long Nosed Planes".
At 1517 hours local, 18 "Betty" bombers make an unopposed attack on USS Calhoun scoring a succession of hits on the starboard side which brought down the foremast, blew two 20 mm guns and one 4-inch gun off the ship, and damage the engineering spaces. Two more direct hits kill all the men in the after deck house. Tank lighters from Guadalcanal rescued the crew, and Calhoun sinks about 2.2 nautical miles WNW of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in position 09.24S,
160.01E with the loss of 51 men and 18 wounded. Shortly after 1500 hours, shortly before the "Betty" bomber attack, the first sizable aerial reinforcements arrive at Henderson Field in the form of 19 F4F-4's of VMF-224 and 12 SBD-3's of Marine Scout Bombing Squadr VMSB-231). At days end, the Cactus Air Force on Guadalcanal consisted of 86 pilots and 64 aircraft (including three USAAF P-400s and ten USN SBDs).
- Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 launches a "Glen" seaplane to reconnoiter Santa Cruz Island.

1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): The 73d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 28th Composite Group, based on Amchitka Island with B-25's, begins a movement back to the US.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 13 B-25's, some with P-40 support, attack Owchihkow and Shihshow, blasting fuel stores and several buildings; the P-40's strafe gun positions outside Shihshow; 10 P-38's and P-40's on armored reconnaissance from Sinti to Yoyang to Sienning, strafe and bomb several targets of opportunity; 3 locomotives are exploded and another damaged, a water tank is knocked down, and several railroad stations are heavily damaged. 4 other P-40's attack a convoy E of Hong Kong; 1 freighter is hit amidships, causing heavy damage; 2 other vessels are also effectively damaged.

In the Solomon Islands, 24 US Thirteenth Air Force B-24s, along with 20 P-40s and P-39 Airacobras and 20+ USMC F4U Corsairs, pound Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island. Allied airplanes claim more than 30 Japanese shot down; 6 US aircraft are lost.
On New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, US Fifth Air Force B-26s bomb Cape Gloucester Airfield while B-25s sweep along the northwest coast, bombing and strafing barges and enemy-occupied villages.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): B-24's pound Dagua, But, and Tadji; and A-20's hit barges on the Bubui River. On New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, B-26's bomb Cape Gloucester Airfield while B-25's sweep along the NW coast, bombing and strafing barges and enemy-occupied villages. The 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, transfers from Dobodura to Tsili Tsili, New Guinea with P-40's.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): Several P-47s bomb and strafe the town of Man Sai, Burma. The 3d Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, arrives at Sylhet, India from the US with C-47s.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, B-25s attack Hengyang, Pailochi, and Hankow Airfields, roads in the Nanyo and Changsha areas, and boats between Changsha and Hengyang, and Kichun and Wuhsueh; in the Kweiyi and Sintsiang areas 33 P-40s claim 58 trucks destroyed, 175 damaged, and at least 100 Japanese killed; 10 P-51s hit scattered targets of opportunity in the same areas; 21 P-40s hit barracks, trucks, and a bridge in the Siangsiang and Siangtan region; and 34 P-40s and P-51s attack a variety of targets, including railroad traffic and facilities, occupied areas, and trucks, at Yangtien, between Hengshan and Nanyo, NE of Ichang, SW Hengshan, and near Hengyang.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): A B-24 on armed reconnaissance from Saipan bombs Yap. P-47s strafe positions and storage areas on Pagan. Kwajalein based B-24s hit Mille Atoll.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Koror and Malakal Islands are pounded by B-24s. B-24s hit Wasile Bay storage and personnel reas in the Moluccas Islands while B-25s make a low-level attack on Kaoe town. P-38s bomb oil tanks, barracks, and AA positions at Boela. P-47s hit Urarom runway and Manokwari storage area, P-38s bomb airfields at Babo and Ransiki, and P-39s hit targets of opportunity along the W coast of Geelvink Bay; HQ 58th FG moves from Saidor to Noemfoor; and HQ 403d Troop Carrier Group moves from Espiritu Santo to Los Negros.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: USN submarine USS Narwhal lands 10-tons of supplies, two Filipino officers and 18 men in Dubut Bay in eastern Luzon.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE 537, AUGUST 30, 1944
1. Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four attacked Paramushiru Island in the Kuriles and several enemy vessels discovered near the island on 27 August (West Longitude Date). One of the Venturas obtained a direct hit on a medium tanker, setting it afire. Another Ventura bombed a large cargo ship at Suribachi, causing a heavy explosion, while a third attacked an enemy patrol vessel. One Ventura was damaged in an engagement with three enemy fighters. On the same day two 11th AAF Liberators sank an enemy patrol vessel and badly damaged another near Paramushiro. Neither Liberator was damaged.
2. During the night of 27 28 August Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands was attacked by 7th AAF Liberators which bombed the airfield. Two enemy fighters were airborne but did not attempt interception. In a second strike on 27 August 7th AAF Liberators attacked Pagan Island, causing fires. Fighter planes bombed and strafed Pagan on 28 August.
3. Nauru Island was attacked on 27 August by Ventura search planes of Group 1, Fleet Air Wing Two.
4. The airfields at Moen Island in Truk atoll were bombed by 7th AAF Liberators on 28 August. Seven enemy fighters intercepted our force and damaged one Liberator, but all of our planes returned.
5. Mitchells of the 7th AAF attacked Ponape Island on 28 August, while Corsair fighters and Dauntless diva bombers conducted further neutralization raids against Mille and Maloelap in the Marshalls on the same day.

1945
JAPAN: The occupation of Japan in force begins when the US Army's 11th Airborne Division is flown to Atsugi Airfield and the 4th Marines of the 6th Marine Division lands at Yokosuka naval base. After securing Atsugi Airfield, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, flies in and sets up a temporary Supreme Allied headquarters at Yokohama. Meanwhile, the USN light cruiser USS San Diego ties up at the Kurihama Naval Base. Aboard the cruiser are Rear Admirals Oscar C. Badger and Robert B. Carney to join Marine Brigadier General William T. Clement for the formal transfer of that important naval facility from Japanese to U.S. control.

JAPAN: Landings by the occupation forces begin in the Tokyo Bay area under cover of guns of the Third Fleet plus Naval and USAAF aircraft. MacArthur arrived in Tokyo on August 30, and immediately decreed several laws: No Allied personnel were to assault Japanese people. No Allied personnel were to eat the scarce Japanese food. Flying the Hinomaru or "Rising Sun" flag was initially severely restricted (although individuals and prefectural offices could apply for permission to fly it). The restriction was partially lifted in 1948 and completely lifted the following year.

CHINA: Tenth Air Force: HQ 1st Combat Cargo Group moves from Myitkyina, Burma to Liuchow, China.

OKINAWA: The 159th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 3d Air Commando Group [attached to 5th Air Liaison Group (Provisional)] moves from Mangaldan to Okinawa with UC-64s and L-5s.

U.S.: In Detroit, Michigan, a pale green Super Six coupe rolls off the Hudson Motor Car Company's assembly line, the first post-World War II car to be produced by the auto manufacturer. The Super Six boasted the first modern, high-compression L-head engine, though it garnered its name from the original Hudson-manufactured engine produced in 1916.

 

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1939
MONGOLIA: The Japanese are cleared from the Remizov Heights after Soviet tank forces cross the Khailastyn-Gol River which has had the riverbed strengthened at night by Soviet engineers. Thus all Japanese have been cleared from the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic. By the end of the campaign. Soviet losses: 10,000 killed and wounded. Japanese losses: 52,000 to 55,000 killed and wounded.

1940
FRENCH POLYNESIA: The French colony of Tahiti joins with the Free France.

1941
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: US Admiral Thomas C. Hart, Commander of the Asiatic Fleet, has advised British Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton, Commander of the RN's East Asia Squadron, that Washington is refusing to endorse proposed British plans for Allied cooperation should war come.
British Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, Commander-in- Chief Far East, has made two visits this month to Manila to confer with Hart and General Douglas MacArthur, Commander US Army Forces Far East.

1942
ALASKA: A PBY-5A Catalina of USN Patrol Squadron VP-42 based at NAS Kodiak, Territory of Alaska, and a PBY of VP-43 based in Nazan Bay, Atka Island, catch the Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-61 on the surface 5 miles north of Cape Shaw, Atka Island. The crew of the PBY-5A depth charge the sub and heavily damage it. At 1915 hours local, the sub is located by the destroyer USS Reid which sinks it with gunfire about 27 nautical miles NNE of the village of Atka on Atka Island, in position 52.36N, 173.57W. Five survivors are rescued from the frigid waters.
In the air, of two USAAF 11th Air Force B-24s flying weather, reconnaissance and patrol missions over Tanaga Island, one returns due to weather. Tanaga Island is located about 49 nautical miles west of Adak Island.

BURMA: USAAF B-25s of the 10th Air Force's China Air Task Force bomb Myitkyina for the second consecutive day.

EAST CHINA SEA: USN submarine USS Growler sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship about 77 nautical miles ENE of Taipei, Formosa, in position 25.43N, 122.38E.

NEW GUINEA: Japanese Army General Hyatutke Seikichi, Commander of the 17th Army with HQ at Rabaul on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, decides to evacuate the troops that were landed at Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. The evacuation is complete on 7 September. He thinks he must concentrate on the fighting on Guadalcanal.
At Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, Japanese troops attack the Australians at 0300 hours local attempting to take No. 3 Airstrip. The Japanese attack four times but fail to dislodge the defenders. The Japanese again attack at nightfall but again fail to overcome the Australians. The ground troops are supported by RAAF Kittyhawks of the Allied Air Forces who attack landing barges and strafe gun positions.
In the air, B-17s of the Allied Air Forces attack an ammunition dump at Buna; B-26s and A-20s attack Lae Aerodrome, and P-400 Airacobras strafe Japanese at Wairopi.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Silversides, on its second war patrol, sinks a 300 ton trawler by gunfire about 469 nautical miles east of Tokyo, Japan in position 33-51N, 149.39E.

SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS: A torpedo from the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-26 strikes the USN aircraft carrier USS Saratoga at 0748 hours local when she is about 90 nautical miles west of the Santa Cruz Islands in position 10.34S, 164.18E. The torpedo slams into the blister on her starboard side and floods one fireroom, but the impact causes short circuits which damaged Saratoga's turbo-electric propulsion system and leaves her dead in the water. The heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis takes the carrier under tow while her aircraft fly off to Espiritu Santo and on to Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, to augment the Cactus Air Force. By early afternoon, Saratoga's engineers have improvised a circuit out of the burned wreckage of her main control board and which gives her a speed of 10 knots. (After repairs at Tongatabu in the Tonga Islands from 6 to 12 September, USS Saratoga arrived at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 21 September for permanent repairs.) Among the 12 men injured is Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher who also heads stateside. This marks the end of the fighting commands for Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander Cruisers Pacific Fleet, who has commanded the US carriers since early in 1942. His actions since August 7, have sealed his fate.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, Lieutenant General KAWAGUCHI Kiyotake, Commander of the 35th Brigade, lands from the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Umikaze, with 1200 additional troops loaded on seven destroyers, of the 4th Infantry Regiment, at Taivu Point (east of the Lunga perimeter).
The 124th Infantry, under Colonel OKA, will follow by barge and land west of the Lunga perimeter. General Kawaguchi now commands all of the Japanese troops on Guadalcanal.
Rear-Admiral TANAKA Raizo, Commander of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron, relinquishes command of the Guadalcanal Japanese resupply efforts to Rear Admiral HASHIMOTO Shintaro. Richard Frank says: "But unlike U.S. Admiral Fletcher, this marked an interruption, not an end, to Tanaka's tenure."
The 3rd Marine Defense Battalion establishes an air-search radar station using the SCR-268 radar system near Henderson Field.

U.S.: The Secretary of Agriculture, Claude Wickard, warns of possible meat rationing in the US.

1943
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 7 B-24's bomb Gia Lam Airfield; and 22 P-40's and 2 P-38's bomb a dike near Co Bi barracks. 6 B-25's hit Ichang Airfield, China while 3 others attack an oil storage area to the E; P-40's also hit the oil stores. 3 P-40's claim heavy damage to a freighter off Stonecutter's Island near Hong Kong. In China, 4 P-38's dive-bomb Yoyang railroad yards and Sinti warehouses; a P-38 is shot down by ground fire.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Seven USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24s bomb
Gia Lam Airfield and 22 P-40s and two P-38s bomb a dike near Co Bi barracks.

EAST INDIES: In the air in the Netherlands East Indies, (1) USN PBYs sink small Japanese cargo vessels off Ceram; (2) RAAF Mitchells sink a small Japanese cargo vessel off north coast of Alor Island; and (3) U.S. aircraft sink a guardboat off Halmahera Island.

NOTRTH PACIFIC: The USN's Task Force 15, consisting of the aircraft carriers USS Essex with Carrier Air Group Nine (CVG-9), USS Independence with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Two, and USS Yorktown with CVG-5 with a battleship, 2 light cruisers and 11 destroyers, attack Marcus Island located about 725 miles NW of Wake Island. A total of 275 sorties are flown against the Japanese and several IJN "Bettys" are destroyed and ground facilities are heavily damaged.
This strike marks the combat debut of the Grumman F6F Hellcat. The fighting squadrons on all three aircraft carriers are equipped with F6F-3s, (VF-5) in USS Yorktown, VF-9 in USS Essex and detachments of VF-6 and VF-22 in USS Independence. The Hellcats destroy four aircraft on the ground and later in the day, an F6F pilot shoots down a Japanese aircraft.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): P-40's, in a running battle over Vella Lavella, claim 5 Japanese airplanes shot down; other P-40's strafe barges in Timbala Bay on Vella Lavella Island. 22 B-25's and 50 US Navy airplanes bomb gun positions and the radio station at Vila.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO (Fifth Air Force): Bombers fly scattered strikes against shipping and shore targets in the Saint George Channel and in the Netherlands East Indies.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 6 B-25s bomb targets of opportunity at Katha and 3 hit bridges at Bawgyo and Hsenwi.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 B-24s bomb Takao harbor, damaging the dock area and claiming 2 tankers sunk. Lost are: B-24J 44-40783 and B-24J 44-40831; 14 B-25s attack Tien Ho, White Cloud, Kai Tek, and Hengyang Airfields; 8 B-25s attack numerous trucks S of Sintsiang and near Sinshih, hit roads S of Nanyo and damage a freighter near Sinshih; and 60+ fighter-bombers attack trucks, barracks, supplies, rivercraft, bridges and troops in or near Sinshih, Changsha, Yangtien, Hengyang, Nanyo, Siangtan, Teian, and Shihhweiyao.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: The USN's Task Group 38.4, consisting of the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise (CV-6) with Carrier Air Group Twenty (CVG-20), USS Franklin (CV-13) with CVG-13 and the light aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) with Light Carrier Air Group Fifty One (CVLG-51) plus supporting ships, launches aircraft against Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. The strikes are intended to neutralize Japanese installations there and provide a diversion in advance of planned operations in the Palau, Morotai, and Philippine areas. Off Iwo Jima, F6Fs from USS Franklin sink a merchant ship and an auxiliary minesweeper. The strikes are repeated on 1 and 2 September.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan Island-based P-47s strafe gun positions at the airfield on Pagan. Yap and Pagan are bombed by single B-24s.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, the operations on Noemfoor and Sansapor are declared at an end.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: USN Submarine USS Redfish lands supplies and evacuates people from Palawan Island.

PHILIPPINE SEA: U.S. aircraft sink a Japanese merchant cargo ship about 45 nautical miles NNE off Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, in position 24.46N, 141.19E.

SOUTH CHINA SEA: U.S. submarines attack a Japanese convoy bound for Manila, Philippine Islands, and four ships are sunk about 40 nautical miles SSE of the southern tip of Formosa in the Luzon Strait. USS Barb sinks an auxiliary minesweeper and an army cargo ship. USS Queenfish sinks an army tanker and USS Sealion sinks a minelayer.

EAST CHINA SEA: USN submarine USS Seawolf sinks a Japanese army cargo ship and a merchant cargo ship about 180 nautical miles SSE of Shanghai, China, in position 28.30N, 123.05E.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 538, AUGUST 31, 1944
Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force and Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four attacked installations at Paramushiru Island in the Kuriles on the night of August 27 (West Longitude Date). Antiaircraft fire was meager and all of our aircraft returned.
Yap and Woleai Islands in the Western Carolines were bombed by a single Seventh Army Air Force Liberator on August 28 and 29. On both days antiaircraft fire was meager.
During the night of August 28 29 Seventh Army Air Force Liberators bombed Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands.
Pagan Island in the Marianas was bombed on the night of August 28 29 and on August 29. Gun positions and storage facilities were hit and several fires started.
Mitchells of the Seventh Army Air Force bombed the airfield at Nauru Island on August 29. During the preceding night Nauru was attacked by a Catalina search plane of Group One, Fleet Air Wing Two.
Mille Atoll in the Marshalls was attacked on August 29 by Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing.

CINCPAC RELEASE NO. 539, AUGUST 31, 1944
Lieutenant General Millard F. Harmon, USA, has assumed command of all Army Air Force units operating in the Pacific Ocean Areas. His jurisdiction extends throughout the theater commanded by Admiral C. W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas.

1945
JAPAN: Soviet forces occupy Utruppu Island in the Kurile Islands after fierce fighting with Japanese troops.
U.S. Marines of Company "L," Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, land at Tateyama Naval Base, Honshu, on the northeast shore of Sagami Wan, and accept its surrender. They will reconnoiter the beach approaches and cover the landing of Army's 112th Cavalry Regiment. Meanwhile, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I 401 surrenders to submarine USN submarine USS Segundo at the entrance to Tokyo Bay.

PACIFIC: The Japanese garrison at Marcus surrenders to American General Whiting.

HONG KONG: The RCN armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince Robert enters the Crown Colony where her commanding officer represents Canada at the surrender ceremonies of Japanese forces.

 

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1939
CHINA: The USN light cruiser USS Marblehead (CL-12) transports U.S. Marines from Chinwangtao to Shanghai to bring the 4th Marine Regiment to full strength in the event that the Japanese try to take advantage of the war in Europe.
UNITED STATES: President Roosevelt appoints Admiral William D. Leahy, who had recently retired as Chief of Naval Operations, as Work Projects Administrator for the Territory of Puerto Rico.
George C. Marshall is sworn in as US Army Chief of Staff.
The entire long range bomber force of the USAAC consists of 17 Boeing four-engine bombers: one XB-15, 13 Y1B-17s and three B-17Bs.

1941
CHINA: In Shanghai, the US Consul General, the Commander of the U.S. Navy's (USN's) Yangtze Patrol and the Commanding Officer of the 4th Marine Regiment, recommend that all US naval forces in China, i.e., river gunboats and US Marines, be withdrawn.
SEA of JAPAN: : A Japanese fishing trawler strikes a mine and sinks near the Soviet port of Vladivostok. Japan demands a guarantee of safety for their ships and reparations for the lost ship. The Russians tell Japan they would pay for nothing and they should stay clear of Soviet ports.

1942
JAPAN: Japanese Foreign Minister TOGO Shigenori, taking the blame for Japan's failure to conclude a quick end to the war, resigns and Prime Minister General TOJO Hideki assumes the post of Foreign Minister. On the 17 September, TANI Masayuka is appointed Foreign Minister.
The Japanese government creates the "Greater East Asia Ministry," to run its empire. Headed by AOKI Kazuo, the function of this ministry is to exploit the labor and resources of the conquered territories as much as possible.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kododa Track in Papua New Guinea, the Japanese continue their assault on Australian troops but the Australians hold their ground. During the day, Australian troops in Milne Bay patrol forward up to a mile east of K.B. Mission.
RAAF Kittyhawks of the Allied Air Forces hit a Japanese headquarters at Wagga Wagga on Milne Bay while USAAF P-400 Airacobras strafe Kokoda and Kokoda Pass in the Owen Stanley Range.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 6th Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees) lands on Guadalcanal to maintain Henderson Field.
USAAF B-17s bomb and damage a Japanese flying boat support ship and a destroyer off Buka Island.
Throughout September 1942, Americans on Guadalcanal lack adequate fighter strength, although carrier planes that can be spared are employed at Henderson Field. A trickle of supplies to the garrison increases only slightly.

UNITED STATES: A federal judge in Sacramento, California, upholds the wartime detention of Japanese-Americans as well as Japanese nationals.

ALASKA (11th Air Force): US forces complete the occupation of Adak. During Sep, HQ 343d Fighter Group moves from Elmendorf Field, Anchorage to Ft Glenn, Umnak , Aleutian . The detachment of the 11th Fighter Squadron, XI Fighter Command, operating from Ft Randall, Cold Bay, Alaska with P-40s, returns to base at Ft Glenn.

SOUTH PACIFIC: During Sept, the forward echelon of the 26th Bombardment Squadron, 11th BG, begins operating from Guadalcanal, Solomon with B-17s; the squadron is based on Efate , New Hebrides .

(SWPA, 5th Air Force):Australian ground forces continue a slow retreat over the range but make progress in Milne Bay offensive; and the 89th Bombardment Squadron, 3rd BG, moves from Charters Towers to Port Moresby with A-20s.

1943
ALASKA: 2 P-40's attempting to intercept Japanese aircraft reported near Attu abort because of weather.

CORAL SEA: In the Coral Sea, USN destroyer USS Wadsworth picks up an underwater sound contact and drops seven patterns of depth charges sinking Japanese submarine HIJMS I-20 about 148 nautical miles NNE of Port Vila, Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands, in position 15.38S, 166.57E.

CENTRAL PACIFIC:
BAKER ISLAND: The US Army's 804th Engineer Aviation Battalion lands on Baker Island, about half way between Australia and the Territory of Hawaii, to build an advance airfield to support the upcoming invasions in the Gilbert Islands. The landing is supported by the USN's Task Force 11 (Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee, Jr.), formed around small aircraft carriers USS Princeton and Belleau Wood. The dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 1) in this operation pioneers the use of this type of ship in amphibious operations. Also involved are the PBY-5A Catalinas of USN VP-33 based on Canton Island. The squadron conducted day searches toward the Gilberts covering the occupation of Baker Island.
From this date through 14 Sep, 8 B-24's conduct daily sea-search operations from Canton in the Phoenix Islands.

INDIA: 10th AF: A detachment of the 9th Photographic Squadron, Tenth Air Force, based at Pandaveswar, India begins operating from Dinjan, India with F-4's and F-5's. The 459th Fighter Squadron is activated at Karachi, India and assigned to the 80th FG. The squadron begins training with P-38's.

BURMA: USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb rail facilities at Mandalay.

CHINA:7 B-25's, supported by 8 P-40's, attack a Japanese destroyer at Shihhweiyao; no hits are scored on the ship but considerable damage is done to the surrounding dock area; 6 P-40's sink a small tanker down river from Ichang, damage 2 large boats between Ocheng and Shihhweiyao, and strafe cavalry troops at Ocheng; 3 other P-40's heavily damage a small ship at Swatow harbor and strafe the nearby airfield; 3 P-38's and a P-40 dive-bomb and strafe barracks at Yangsin, demolishing 3 buildings; and 2 nearby locomotives are also destroyed. The fighter-bombers then heavily damage a small steamer at Wuchang, sink 1 tug and damage another at Kutang, and blast a train and an AA position S of Puchi. During Sep 43, HQ 23d Fighter Group transfers from Kunming to Kweilin, China. During Sep 43, detachments of the 449th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group based at Lingling, China operate from Hengyang and Kweilin, China with P-38's.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): 70+ B-24's and B-25's hit the Alexishafen / Madang area, dropping 201 tons of bombs (heaviest by Fifth Air Force to date). Other B-25's hit Iboki Plantation in the Bismarck Archipelago, barges on the Bubui River in New Guinea, the Rein Bay on New Britain area and several villages in New Britain. B-17's bomb Labu , New Guinea. B-26's attack Cape Gloucester area on New Britain . B-24's and B-25's strike targets in the Lesser Sunda . The 68th and 69th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 433d Troop Carrier Group, arrive at Port Moresby from the US with C-47's. The 432d Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group, ceases operating from Port Moresby and returns to it's base at Dobodura with P-38's.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Vella Lavella Island, a battalion of the U.S. 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, driving on the Kokolope Bay, reaches the Orete Cove area, about 14 miles (23 kilometers) northeast of Barakoma.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A B-24 bombs Kashiwabara on Paramushiru , Kurile s during the night of 31 Aug/1 Sep; a B-25 bombs a shack on the SW coast of Paramushiru and sinks a nearby ship; and 5 other B-25s on this mission turn back due to overcast.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): A few P-47s attack Bhamo, Burma and strafe river boats in the area. In India, the 164th, 165th and 166th Liaison Squadrons (Commando), with UC-64s and L-5s, and the 319th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), with C-47s, are activated at Asansol and assigned to the 1st Air Commando Group.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-24s claim a small freighter sunk in Formosa Strait; 12 B-25s bomb Kai Tek Airfield, Hong Kong, and a supply depot S of Canton; B-25s hit a road S of Nanyo, a runway at Hengyang, and targets of opportunity near Anjen; 61 P-40s and P-51s attack bridges, roads, shipping, airfields, troops, and other targets of opportunity at or near Yangtien, Nanyo, Hengyang, Anjen, Changning, and Chiuchiang; and the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force, moves from Guskhara to Kunming with F-5s. During Sep, the 528th Fighter Squadron, 311th Fighter Group, based at Shwangliu, China with P-51s, sends detachments to operate from Hanchung and Liansshan.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan based P-47s carry out rocket and strafing strike against Pagan. A single B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Yap and Marshall based B-24s bomb Truk.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: 50+ B-24s bomb Sasa, Matina, and Likanan; others, failing to reach Mindanao, hit Beo in the Talaud Islands. Lost is B-24D 42-73453. Fighter- bombers hit Boela and Amahai Airfield. In New Guinea, A-20s, P-40s and B-25s bomb runways at Babo and Urarom; and HQ 374th Troop Carrier Group moves from Townsville, Australia to Nadzab.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USN Task Group 38.4 surface units, heavy cruiser USS New Orleans, light cruiser USS Biloxi and four destroyers, bombard Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. The Japanese do not return fire.

INDIAN OCEAN: In the Arabian Sea, German submarine U-859 sinks a 7,422 ton British merchant freighter about 725 nautical miles SSW of Karachi, India, in position 14.10N, 61.04E.

NEW GUINEA: In preparation for the invasion of the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters moves to Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The USN submarine USS Narwhal lands 10 tons of supplies, five Filipino officers and 18 enlisted men on the east coast of Luzon. The sub takes out four U.S. enlisted men.
Fifty five USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Likanan and Matina Airdromes on Mindanao.

UNITED KINGDOM: The British Chiefs of Staff propose an airborne and amphibious assault on Rangoon, Burma, in 1944. This operation is coded Operation DRACULA

UNITED STATES: Selective Service announces that no men over 26 years old will be drafted (conscripted) during the rest of 1944.

1945
JAPAN: Two civilian internment camps are located in the Tokyo area and the captives are freed and transferred to the American hospital ship USS Benevolence (AH-13).
Soviet forces occupy Kunashiri and Shikotan Islands in the Kurile Islands.

CHINA THEATER (AAF, China Theater) Fourteenth Air Force: The flights of the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth AF, at Chihkiang and Nanning, China with F-5s, return to base at Chanyi.

WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The 371st and 372d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 307th BG (Heavy), move from Morotai Island to Clark Field, Luzon with B-24s.

 

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1940
FRENCH POLYNESIA: On Papeete in the Society Islands, the Provisional Government of the French Settlements in Oceania announces the colony’s adhesion to Free France.

1941
EAST INDIES: The Japanese consulate in Batavia, Netherlands East Indies, sends a message to Tokyo, Japan, stating that "conditioned by our military invasion of French Indo-China, it was a fact that the government of these islands had drastically stepped up their anti-Japanese tendencies and very evidently assumed an attitude of aid to China."
UNITED STATES: The government grants a large loan to Mexico for cooperation for military and economic defense of the hemisphere. Meanwhile, the government also negotiates currency stabilization agreements with Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Coincident with the Japanese Ambassador's call on President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the morning of 28 August 1941, Major General ISODA Saburo, Japanese Military AttachŽ, called by appointment on Colonel R. S. Bratton, Chief of the Far Eastern Section, Intelligence Branch. The following were notes of Colonel Bratton on the visit:
(1) Due to restrictions imposed by the U.S. export control, the Japanese have begun to use a portion of their war reserve of petroleum;
(2) Japan made a great mistake in joining the Axis;
(3) the Army frequently gets out from under control of the Civilian Government and had to be restrained by Imperial Command; and
(4) Japan had her back to the wall. She can be pushed just so far, then will have to fight us to save her national honor and integrity, though war with the United States was the last thing desired by Japan.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The 11th Air Force dispatches six bombers and 12 P-38s to fly cover and photo reconnaissance over Nazan and Kuluk Bays on Adak Island, and Amchitka and Semisopochnoi Islands.

MALAYSIA: In Singapore, Japanese troops recapture two Australian and two British POWs who have escaped captivity. Major General FUKUEI Shempei, Commandant of Prisoner of War Camps in Malaya, orders the POWs shot, a violation of the Hague and Geneva Conventions. Further, the shooters will be Indian Sikh POWs. The four were executed in the afternoon.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australians on the Kokoda Track move back to Templetonas Crossing. At Buna, the remaining 1,000 Japanese soldiers of the 41st Battalion land. In Milne Bay, the Australian troops continue to clear the north coast of the bay; during the morning, the Australian destroyer HMAS Arunta escorts the transport Tasman into the bay and both leave later in the day.
- The IJN at Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, was notified and during the night, two Japanese destroyers sail into the bay to sink the two Australian ships but they were long gone.
- USAAF P-400 Airacobras of the Allied Air Forces bomb and strafe forces in the Kokoda and Alola areas as the Japanese continue to push toward Port Moresby.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The submarine USS Guardfish sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship 13 miles southeast of Chikyu Mizaki, Hokkaido, Japan, in position 42.08N, 141.15E.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The IJN sends 18 "Betty" bombers, escorted by 22 "Zero" fighters to bomb Henderson Field on Guadalcanal at 1200 hours local. USMC F4F pilots intercept and shoot down three Bettys and four Zero's. During the day, USN and USMC SBDs and USN TBFs attack an IJN supply convoy en route to Guadalcanal damaging a ship. Meanwhile Royal Australian Air Force Beauforts attack Japanese shipping at Faisi on Bougainville Island.

1943
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 10 B-25's and 5 P-40's bomb Hong Kong hit- ting the Kowloon area and attack shipping off Stonecutter's and in the Lai Chi Kok area.

CHINA: CHINA: Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, commander of the U.S. China-Burma-India Theater, Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, commander of the Northern Area Combat Command and deputy commander of the South-East Asia Command, issues “A Program for China,” in which he recommends that 60 Chinese Nationalist divisions be reformed.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Australian troops encounter strong resistance around the town of Finschhafen while the 2/2nd Independent Company ambushes the Japanese near Kesawai in the Ramu River Valley inflicting heavy casualties.

SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): 24 B-25's and 60+ US Navy aircraft pound Vila, hitting AA and artillery positions and the area E of Ringa Cove on New Georgia. 18 B-24's, 20+ P-40's and P-39's, and 60+ USN planes attack Kahili; shore installations, the airfield, and bridges N of the strip are hit.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): B-25's, with P-38 escort, attack shipping at Wewak Harbor, claiming 1 vessel sunk and 2 left aflame; 10 enemy interceptors are claimed destroyed; barrage balloons offer some protection to the enemy ships. This is first AAF observation of Japanese use of such balloons in the Southwest Pacific Area.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 8 B-25s hit targets along the Burma Road S of Wanling, including the road itself and bridges at Kawnghka and Namhpakka; another B-25 hits an alternate target, an area in Indaw; and 24 B-24s haul fuel to Kunming, China.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 2 B-25s bomb the runway at Hengyang Airfield; 30 P-40s attack gun positions, troop concentrations, and sampans in the Hengyang and Changning areas; 20 P-40s hit similar targets S of Changsha, W of Pengtse, and in the Siangtan area; and 12 P-51s damage a bridge at Yangtien.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Two Saipan based B-24s hit Yap and Pagan. P-47s hit AA positions on Pagan with rocket and strafing attacks. Marshall s-based B-25s bomb Ponape , Caroline and Nauru.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao, 24 B-24s bomb supply and personnel areas at Lasang, 12 B-24s hit shipyards and personnel areas at Bunawan, and 22 B-24s hit Likanan Airfield. 345th BG sends 13 B-25s are sent to hit Langoan Airstrip, but when their fighter cover fails to arrive, they divert to hit troops, warehouses and shipyards along Lembeh Strait. Two B-25s are damage and crassh land at Middleburg, one is repaired and returned to service, the other is scrapped. Other B-25s hit a position near Pitoe Airfield on S Morotai. B-24s bomb Koror , Palau. Fighter-bombers hit the Sorong area and forces at Cape Pus and Boikin.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USN carrier-based aircraft of Task Group 38.4 again attack installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. After recovering aircraft, TG 38.4 retires to participate in attacks in the Caroline Islands. A TBM Avenger of Torpedo Squadron Fifty One (VT-51) in USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) was shot down off Chichi Jima and the only survivor, the pilot, was rescued by the submarine USS Finback (SS-230). The pilot was Lieutenant (j.g.) George Herbert Walker Bush, A-V(N), USNR, who becomes the 41st President of the U.S. in 1989.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, operations in the of Wakde-Sarmi area were terminated. On Noemfoor Island, a second 7,000 foot (2 134 meter) runway was completed at Yebrurro (Kornasoren) Aerodrome. On the Vogelkop Peninsula, the first aircraft, a USAAF C-47 Skytrain, lands at Mar Airfield located just east of Biak.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 543, SEPTEMBER 2, 1944
1. On 31 August (West Longitude Date) a Navy search plane of Fleet Air Wing Two while on routine patrol near Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands sighted and attacked an enemy convoy, consisting of two small cargo vessels and three sampans. One cargo vessel was sunk and the other damaged by strafing. Another Navy search plane on the same day strafed and sank a sampan near Jaluit Atoll.
2. Pagan Island in the Marianas was attacked on 30 and 31 August. In these attacks heavy damage was done to gun emplacements and other defense Installations by rocket fire, bombing, and strafing. On both days antiaircraft fire was meager.
3. A single Liberator bomber of the 7th AAF bombed Yap Island in the western Carolines on 30 and 31 August, encountering moderate antiaircraft fire.
4. Mille atoll in the Marshalls was bombed on 30 August by Corsair fighters and Dauntless dive bombers of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, plus two 7th AAF Liberators. Gun positions and buildings were hit. Antiaircraft fire was meager.
5. On 30 August a lone Navy search plane of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed Nauru, encountering no enemy anti aircraft fire.

1945
CAROLINE ISLANDS: Japanese troops in the Palau Islands and Truk Atoll surrender to US forces.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: In Vietnam, Vietnamese communist Ho Chi Minh declares the independence of Vietnam from France and proclaims himself president. The proclamation paraphrased the U.S. Declaration of Independence in declaring, "All men are born equal: the Creator has given us inviolable rights, life, liberty, and happiness!" He was cheered by an enormous crowd gathered in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square.

JAPAN: The battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) was the scene of the signing of formal surrender documents by representatives of the Japanese government. The "Mighty Mo," and much of the U.S .Third Fleet, was anchored in Tokyo Bay. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Pacific, signs for the Allies; Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Ocean Areas and Pacific Fleet, for the U.S.; Admiral Sir Bruce A. Fraser, Commander-in- Chief, British Pacific Fleet, for Britain.
Other Allied commanders were present along with former POW Lieutenant Generals Arthur Percival, former commander of the British Malaya Command and Jonathan Wainright, former commander the U.S. Far East Command. The Japanese Foreign Minister SHIGEMITSU Mamotu and General UMEZU Yoshijiro, Chief of Imperial General Staff, sign for the Japanese government.
The treaty calls for a U.S. Army of Occupation which will rule the Japanese Home Islands, but Emperor Hirohito remains the head of state and Japanese political and police officials maintain their positions.
The Americans progressively disband the high command and military organizations. U.S. forces occupy island possessions in the Pacific. Korea was placed under American and Soviet occupation, pending the establishment of a democratic Korean government.
The Japanese cede the Kurile Islands and the southern half of Sakhalin to the U.S.S.R. Outer Mongolia becomes part of the Soviet sphere of influence and the Soviets share the facilities and supervision of Lushun (Port Arthur) and the Manchurian railways with China.
The Chinese regain sovereignty over Inner Mongolia and Manchuria, as well as the islands of Taiwan (Formosa) and Hainan. The British regain control of Hong Kong.

MARIANA ISLANDS: Japanese troops on Pagan and Rota Islands surrender to US forces.

 

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1937
CHINA: Japanese forces advance rapidly through northern China, without meeting much resistance from the Chinese. The Japanese rapidly gained control of Zhangjiakou (Kalgan) today.

1939
AUSTRALIA: Australia declares war on Germany. Prime Minister Robert G. Menzies speaks on a national radio broadcast stating, "It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequences of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia was also at war."
INDIA: Lord Linlithgow, Viceroy of India declares that India was at war with Germany.

NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand declares war on Germany.
UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares in a fireside chat that the U.S. would remain a neutral nation in regard to the war in Europe, but he could not ask every American to remain neutral in thought as well as action.

1940
UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the "destroyers - for - bases" agreement. The President tells Congress that he acted on his own authority in trading the 50 overage destroyers for bases in British colonial territory in the Western Hemisphere.
In New York City, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) television station W2XAB transmits the first high definition color TV broadcast from the Chrysler Building, using 343 lines of resolution. This was the first telecast of any kind from CBS since the closing of their scanner station in 1933.

1941
CHINA: Nationalist Chinese forces recapture Foochow from the Japanese.
UNITED STATES: The government negotiates currency stabilization agreements with Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the Japanese Ambassador replies to the message and the statement received from the Ambassador on 28 August. In formulating his replies, the President could not overlook the attendant circumstances and developments. Because of these circumstances and developments, the President and his consultants felt that, to ensure any hope of the success of a meeting between the President and the Japanese Prime Minister, the achievement of a prior meeting of minds on basic principles was a necessary condition precedent. Hence, the President in replying expressed a 'desire to collaborate with the Japanese Prime Minister to see whether there could be made effective in practice the program referred to by the Japanese Government in its message of 28 August and whether there could be reached a meeting of minds on fundamental principles which would make practical a meeting such as the Japanese Minister has proposed. . . . At no time, then, or later, did
the Government of the United States reject the Japanese proposal for a meeting; it strove hard to bring about a situation which would make the holding of such a meeting beneficial.

1942
ALASKA (11th Air Force): In the Aleutian , of 6 bombers and 5 P-38s off to bomb Kiska and flying air cover over Kuluk Bay, Adak , 5 bombers and 3 fighters abort due to weather; the others strafe seaplanes and boats in Kiska Harbor and nearby installations; between 1 and 4 seaplanes are claimed destroyed on the water; this is the longest over-water attack flight thus far in World War II; the 2 fighters which reach the target area return from the 1,260 mile round trip with only 40 US gallons of fuel; and the 21st Bombardment Squadron, 30th BG (under control of the 28th Composite Group), arrives at Umnak from the US with B-24s.

AUSTRALIA: Lieutenant General George C. Kenney assumes command of the 5th Air Force in Brisbane, Queensland, where the 5th's HQ was remanned at Townsville, Queensland. The 5th has not functioned as an air force since February 1942 while USAAF units served under the control of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM). After the dissolution of ABDACOM USAAF units served under U.S. Army Forces in Australia and later the Allied Air Forces. General Kenney retains command of the Allied Air Forces. The new 5th consists of eight groups, five bomber groups, three fighter groups and a photographic reconnaissance squadron.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force B-25s dump bombs and pamphlets on Hanoi in the first U.S. raid against that city; munitions, supplies, and several parked aircraft are destroyed or damaged; nine Japanese interceptors pursue the B-25s for about 30 miles but fail to make contact. For the next three weeks, bad weather and inaccurate Chinese weather forecasts severely limit bomber operations.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Australians continue their withdrawal to and beyond Templeton's Crossing.
- In the Milne Bay area of Papua New Guinea, the Australians continue their advance against Japanese. During the night, two Japanese destroyers enter the bay and receive a report that there are only about 200 effective Japanese troops left to fight; as the two destroyers depart at about 2400 hours, they shell the shoreline without much effect.
- In the air, USAAF 5th Air Force P-400 Airacobras bomb and strafe the Kokoda Pass area, hitting the airfield at Kokoda, and in the vicinity of Alola, Isurava, and Missima; B-25s and A-20s attack the Mubo-Busama- Salamaua area in Northeast New Guinea.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USMC SBDs bomb and strafe 34 Japanese landing barges off Santa Isabel Island and a USAAF 5th Air Force B-17 strafes seaplanes at Faisi Island in the Shortland Islands.
On Guadalcanal during the evening, the first USMC R4D Skytrain lands at Henderson Field. Brigadier General Roy S. Geiger, USMC, and a small staff, will establish the advance HQ of the 1st Marine Air Wing which will have operational control of all Allied aircraft. The R4D departs with Marine wounded.

UNITED STATES: The government announces agreements for Reciprocal Lend-Lease Aid to the United States and its Armed Forces by the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and the Free French.

1943
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 11 P-40's and 2 P-38's blast the barracks area at Pho Lu, French Indochina. HQ 68th Fighter Wing and 69th Bombardment Wing are activated at Kunming, China. Neither unit will be manned until Dec 1943.

SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): 20+ B-24's, 14 P-40's, and 30+ USN airplanes attack Kahili Airfield. Vila Airfield is bombed by 5 B-24's and 10 USN aircraft. P-40's strafe a wharf at Webster Cove on New Georgia.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Three USN vessels sink three Japanese vessels:
(1) The destroyer USS Ellet sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25, about 173 nautical miles NW of Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands, in position 13.10S, 165.27E;
(2) The submarine USS Pollack sinks a transport about 124 nautical miles S of Tokyo, Japan, in position 33.65533;38'N, 140.65533;07'E;
(3) submarine USS Pompano sinks a merchant cargo ship about 391 nautical miles NE of Tokyo, Japan, in position 41.00N, 144.34E.

EAST INDIES: The USAAF Fifth Air Force flies light raids against targets on Ceram Island in the Moluccas Islands and Timor Island in the Sunda Islands, both in the Netherlands East Indies.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, RAAF Catalinas bomb Gasmata Airfield and USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb the Cape Gloucester area.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): Heavy and medium bombers blast gun emplacements and terrace defenses in the Lae, New Guinea area. Other heavy bombers hit the Cape Gloucester area on New Britain . Light raids are flown against targets on Ceram in the Moluccas and Timor in the Sunda.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 4 B-25s attack and slightly damage the Tabpalai Bridge NE of Hsipaw; 1 B-25 knocks out the center span of a railroad bridge in the area and another causes considerable damage at Indaw. In India, HQ 33d FG moves from Pungchacheng, China to Nagaghuli; and the 4th Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, arrives at Sylhet from the US with C-47s.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 B-24s pound marshalling yards at Nanking; 7 B-25s destroy at least 45 trucks and damage about 100 others during armed reconnaissance from Hengyang to Tungting Lake and Yoyang; 2 others bomb Hengyang Airfield; 100+ P-40s, P-51s, and P-38s attack troops, railroad targets, bridges, and other targets of opportunity in areas around Changning, Hengyang, Sungpai, Chuki, Yangtien, Hengshan, and in French Indochina, near Haiphong, and in the Red River Valley.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima. P-47s hit Pagan and Maug with rockets. A single B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Yap.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Celebes, B-24s pound Langoan Airfield and Lembeh Strait warehouses and shipping. B-25s hit the village of Tobelo on Halmahera . Fighter-bombers hit oil tanks and a radio station at Boela. Fighter-bombers hit Babo, Warren and Nabire Airfield, Manokwari storage and personnel areas, strafe areas along MacCluer Gulf, and fly coastal sweeps in the Wewak area, strafing troops, supplies, and occupied areas. 42nd BG B-25s fly sweep over New Britain in search of targets of opportunity. Lost is B-25H 43-4513 that force lands.
HQ XIII Bomber Command moves from Los Negros to Wakde; and the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron, 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, moves from Nadzab to Biak with B-24s and F-7s.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: A lone USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24, on armed reconnaissance bombs, Yap in the Caroline Islands.

EAST INDIES: On Celebes Island, Fifth Air Force B-24s attack two targets: 22 bomb Langoan Airfield and 37 bomb Lembeh Strait warehouses and shipping. B-25s hit the village of Tobelo on Halmahera Island. Fighter-bombers hit oil tanks and a radio station at Boela on Ceram Island.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets near Haiphong, and in the Red River Valley.

MARIANA ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts hit Pagan and Maug Islands with rockets.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force fighter-bombers hit Babo, Warren and Nabire Airfields, Manokwari storage and personnel areas, and strafe areas along Maccluer Gulf. Meanwhile, RAAF Kittyhawks conduct another strike against Babo Airfield and for the first time, carry a 1,500 pound bombload. The 50 percent increase in bombload was made possible by the sturdier build of the Kittyhawk Mk. IV (= USAAF P-40N) with which the squadron was equipped.
In Northeast New Guinea, the fighters fly coastal sweeps in the Wewak area, strafing troops, supplies, and occupied areas.

WAKE ISLAND: On Wake Island, the USN's Task Group 12.5 (Rear Admiral Allen E. Smith), comprising the small aircraft carrier USS Monterey (CVL-26), three heavy cruisers, and three destroyers, pound Japanese installations.

1945
BONIN ISLANDS: Off the Bonin islands, Lieutenant General TACHIBANA Yoshio, the local commander, signs the surrender documents on board the USN destroyer USS Dunlap (DD-384) off Chichi Jima. General Tachibana was later convicted and executed for a particularly gruesome series of war crimes perpetuated against U.S. airmen who has been captured in the area during 1944-45.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: In Laos, Franco-Laotian forces enter Vientiane and release interned French civilians.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Japanese General YAMASHITA Tomoyuki Yamashita, the commander of the Philippines, surrenders to Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright at Camp John Hay, Baguio, Mountain Province, Luzon, Philippine, Islands

WAKE ISLAND: Off Wake Island, the Japanese surrender in a ceremony on board the American destroyer escort USS Levy

New Guinea - Crashed droping surrender leaflets is Beaufort A9-622.

 

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1932
SWITZERLAND: Victor Lytton, chairman of the League of Nations mission to Manchuria, produces the so-called Lytton Report on the conflict between China and Japan and accuses Japan of being the aggressor. Japanese special interests are acknowledged and it proposes to make Manchuko a autonomous part of China under Japanese control.

1939
AUSTRALIA: In Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, the Chiefs of Staff Committee, comprising the chiefs of staff of the three military, is formed to provide advice to the government on operational matters and strategic considerations. A larger body, the Defence Committee, which comprises the chiefs of staff, an officer of the secretariat of the Department of Defence and, on occasions, the Controller-General of Munitions, the Controller of Civil Aviation and the Chairman of the Principal Supply Officer’s Committee, advised the government on overall defence policy.

JAPAN: The new Prime Minister, ABE Nobuyuki, promises to keep out of the war in Europe.

1940
UNITED STATES: Secretary of State Cordell Hull warns the Japanese government that aggressive moves against French Indochina would have an adverse impact on American public opinion.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Two 11th Air Force B-24s and a P-38 bomb and patrol Nazan and Kuluk Bays on Atka Island, but bombing of Japanese-held Kiska Island is cancelled due to weather.

AUSTRALIA: U.S. General Douglas MacArthur Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area, orders "all available naval forces" to cover convoys in the Coral Sea and prevent Japanese reinforcements of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: During the night of 4/5 September, a Japanese evacuation force sets sail from Rabaul, New Britain Island to Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. The force consists of a light cruiser, three destroyers and two patrol boats.

EAST CHINA SEA: USN submarine USS Growler sinks a Japanese ammunition ship about 64 nautical miles ENE of Taipei, Formosa, in position 25.43N, 122.38E.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Australian forces continue to withdraw southward fighting the Japanese as they go. Under cover of darkness, the Australian 2/16 Battalion reaches Myola.
- In the Milne Bay area of Papua New Guinea, Australian troops move forward and come up against Japanese postions at Goroni. Repeated attacks fail to dislodge the Japanese. During the night of 4/5 September, the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Yayoi, covered by two other destroyers, evacuates 224 wounded Japanese troops.
- RAAF Kittyhawks bomb and strafe forces in the Milne Bay area at Goroni, Wagga Wagga, Ahioma, and north of Lilihoa.
- B-25s search for Japanese ships off Milne Bay. Lost is B-25C "The Queen" 41-12472.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Guardfish, operating off the northeast coast of Honshu, Japan, sinks two merchant cargo ships and a passenger cargo ship off Kuji Bay, Iwate Prefecture and USS Pompano a guardboat northeast of Honshu, Japan.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Marine 1st Raider Battalion lands on Savo Island and finds it free of Japanese troops. During the day, F4F Wildcats, SBDs and P-400 Airacobras bomb and strafe Japanese landing barges attempting to cross open water between Santa Isabl and Guadalcanal Islands.

SOLOMONS SEA: During the day, two RAAF Hudsons attack two Japanese destroyers northeast of Normanby Isalnd, D'Entrecasteaux Islands. They drop eight 250-pound bombs; two just missed the stern of one of the ships.

1943
AMERICAN ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): HQ XI Bomber Command transfers from Amchitka to Adak in the Aleutians.

CENTRAL PACIFIC (Seventh Air Force): The 19th Fighter Squadron, 318th FG, transfers from Kipapa Field to Stanley Field, Territory of Hawaii with P-40's.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 10 B-25's and 11 P-40's pound Tien Ho airfield at Canton, China; 3 of 15 intercepting Zekes are shot down.

SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon , 23 B-25's hit the Dulo Cove area on New Georgia; 9 B-24's, 15 AAF fighters, and 20+ USN fighters hit the airfield on Ballale.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): The Allied offensive against Lae begins as forces land at Hopoi and the mouth of the Buso River; B-24's support the landings by pounding Lae air- field, B-25's hit the Hopoi area and bomb the airfield at Cape Gloucester on New Britain; A-20's and RAAF planes hit the airfield on Gasmata; supporting P-38's intercept 100+ enemy fighters and bombers, which are airborne despite the attacks on airfields, and claim 20 shot down. Lost was Beaufort A9-204, P-38H 42-66748

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USN Task Force 76 (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey) lands the Australian 9th Division, Australian Imperial Force (AIF), on Huon Peninsula at Hopoi and the mouth of the Buso River near Lae, in Operation POSTERN. This landing is the largest in the Pacific to this date. It forms part of the largest triphibious operation ever carried out in the Pacific but has received very little recognition. 9th Australian Division landed at Red Beach east of Lae as part of a I Australian Corps operation to envelop and destroy the Japanese 51st Division. 9 Division is the "right pincer".
The holding force is constituted by 3rd Australian Division at Salamaua and the left pincer by 7th Australian Division AIF air landing at Nadzab tomorrow. This plan is conceived by General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces Southwest Pacific and Commander-in-Chief Australian Military Force.
The initial landing is by two brigades, HQ and support elements of 9 Division, carried in vessels of the USN 7th Amphibious Force. 532nd EBSR (US) also took part in the landing. The balance of the division came in the second wave two days later. Blamey had insisted on landing the entire 9th Division instead of the single brigade envisioned by GHQ planners. Events on shore later would vindicate his judgment. Although there is negligible resistance on shore, Japanese aircraft scored hits on LST's in the initial landing and in the follow-on force. 2/4th Commando Squadron loses about a quarter of its strength to a bomb hit while an infantry battalion lost its commanding officer and other personnel. There is no Allied Combat Air Patrol (CAP). After securing the beachhead, 9 Division began its advance westward along the coast towards Lae. Somewhere ahead is a lot of enemy.
At 0705 hours local, six Zekes and three Bettys attack the Allied naval craft landing troops at Lae and sink the infantry landing craft LCI-339 and damage the USN destroyer USS Conyngham and tank landing ships USS LST-471 and USS LST-473. At 0800 hours local, nine USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators support the landings by bombing Lae Airfield; at 0900 hours, 24 B-24s attack gun emplacements and other targets at Malahang Airdrome at Lae. At about 1400 hours, 40 P-38s and P-47s intercept about 100 Japanese naval aircraft over the departing invasion force; a "Val" dive bomber hits an LST and score near misses on two USN destroyers while a "Betty" bomber scores a torpedo hit on an LST killing 51 and wounding 30.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines sink two Japanese vessels:
(1) USS Albacore sinks a gunboat about 133 nautical miles SW of Ponape, Caroline Islands in position 05.25N, 156.37E;
(2) USS Tarpon sinks a guardboat about 887 nautical miles E of Tokyo, Japan, in position 35.56N, 157.59E.
In the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Sunfish sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 40 nautical miles SW of Tainan, Formosa in position 22.06N, 119.50E.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 6 B-25s fly an antishipping sweep close to Paramushiru and draw shore-based AA fire; 8 fighters intercept but there are no losses on either side.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 24 B-24s haul 32,000 US gallons of fuel to Kunming, China; and though heavy rains curtail combat operations, 9 P-47s attack Bhamo and Myothit, Burma.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 B-25s blast sampan, barge, and motor launch concentrations in the Kweiyang area; 6 B-25s, with P-51 support, pound the Paishul and Lingling areas, considerably damaging the town of Lingling and killing an estimated 60 soldiers and 10 horses; 100+ P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance kill large numbers of troops and horses, pound river and road traffic, and a variety of other targets of opportunity in the E Burma-SW China region around Changning and Lungling and throughout areas mainly to the S of the Tungting Lake-Yangtze River section of inland SE China, mainly around Hengyang, Lingling, Leiyang, Yangtien, and Kiyang.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 5 B-24s, on armed reconnaissance, snooper mission, and training flight, bomb Iwo Jima, Marcus, Yap and Pagan . P-47s hit Pagan with rockets and strafing attacks. In the Marshall s, B-24s from Kwajalein strike Wotje Atoll.

[SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Bad weather cancels most large scale operations. In New Guinea, A-20s and B-25s hit Urarom Airfield and fighter-bombers attack Moemi and hit Napido.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Five Fifth Air Force B-24s, on armed reconnaissance, bomb Yap Island.

EAST INDIES: During the night of 4/5 September, 23 Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Kendari Airfield on Celebes Island.

MARCUS ISLAND: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb Marcus Island in the North Pacific. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles WNW of Wake Island and is used as a refueling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.

NEW GUINEA: Following an estimate by Australian Lieutenant General Sir Frank Berryman, Chief of Staff Advanced Headquarter Allied Land Forces South-West Pacific, that the Aparri, Philippine Islands, operation would require three Australian divisions, Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces Southwest Pacific and Commander-in-Chief Australian Military Force, writes U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander Southwest Pacific Area, requesting the use of the Australian 6th Division, which by then (January 1945) would be at Aitape , Papua New Guinea.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Bowfin sinks a Japanese guardboat in the North Pacific.

CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 113, SEPTEMBER 4, 1944
Chichi Jima and Haha Jima in the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands were bombed and strafed by aircraft of a carrier task force on August 3 and 31 and on September 1 (West Longitude Dates). On August 30 and September 1 Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima were bombarded by cruisers and destroyers of the Pacific Fleet. Our aircraft dropped 196 tons of bombs in these operations and fired 490 rockets. The following damage was inflicted on the enemy:
Ships sunk: Three small cargo ships and a landing barge at Iwo Jima. One small cargo ship southwest of Haha Jima, damaged by bomb¬ing and later sunk by a destroyer. One small tanker and six barges at Chichi Jima. One small cargo ship northwest of Chichi Jima.
Ships probably sunk: One small cargo ship and one sub chaser northwest of Iwo Jima. One sub chaser southwest of Chichi Jima. One sub chaser at Haha Jima.
Ships damaged: Two sub chasers at Iwo Jima. One sub chaser and a sampan near Chichi Jima.
Aircraft destroyed or damaged: 10 enemy aircraft shot down near Iwo Jima. One twin engine bomber shot down over our task force. 33 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground, 29 probably destroyed, and 10 damaged at Iwo Jima. Two seaplanes destroyed at Chichi Jima.
Damage to ground Installations: Extensive damage was done to hangars, shops, warehouses, fuel dumps, and antiaircraft positions by bombing and shelling during these attacks. Several antiaircraft positions were destroyed at Iwo Jima, a large warehouse was destroyed at Haha Jima, and at Chichi Jima the seaplane base was demolished.
Own damage: In these operations we lost five aircraft in combat. Our personnel casualties were one pilot and three flight personnel. There was no damage to our ships.
Cruisers and destroyers bombarded Wake Island on September 3, and aircraft of a carrier task group bombed the island. Several coast defense guns and antiaircraft emplacements were knocked out. Extensive damage was done to other gun positions and buildings. Three small craft in the lagoon were heavily damaged. There was no opposition from enemy aircraft, and return fire from shore batteries was ineffective. We lost no aircraft and there was no damage to our ships.
Iwo Jima was bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators on September 2. More than 95 tons of bombs were dropped on air facilities. A single enemy fighter attempted to use phosphorous bombs against our formation without effect. Intense to moderate antiaircraft damaged three of our planes.
Pagan Island was the target of our planes in two attacks on September 1 and one attack on September 2. Rockets and strafing were employed in the later two attacks and little opposition was met.
Rota Island gun emplacements, bivouac areas and air installations were bombed on August 31, September 1 and September 2. Antiaircraft fire was meager.
Maug Island was attacked by our fighters using rockets on September 2.
A single Liberator of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Paramushiru in the Kuriles on August 31. No interception was encountered. A lone Mitchell bomber attacked southern Paramushiru later in the day, sinking a small cargo vessel at anchor and scoring a direct hit on docking facilities. The bomber returned undamaged.
Truk was hit with approximately 55 tons of bombs on September 1 by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators. Antiaircraft fire was meager and only one intercepting Zero was encountered.
Runways on Nauru airfields were bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells on September 2 and three of our attacking planes were damaged by meager but accurate antiaircraft fire.
Ponape Airfield was hit on September 1 by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchell bombers. Antiaircraft fire was meager.
In the Marshall Islands on September 1, gun positions, ammunition dumps, a radio station and personnel areas on Mille, Wotje and Maloelap Atolls were bombed and strafed by Corsair fighters and Dauntless dive bombers of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing. Sixty three tons of bombs were dropped. Antiaircraft fire ranged from meager to moderate.

1945
MARIANA ISLANDS: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter CG 83434 became the first and only USCG vessel to host an official surrender ceremony when Imperial Japanese Army Second Lieutenant YAMADA Kinichi surrenders the garrison on Aguijan Island on board. Rear Admiral Marshall R. Greer, USN, accepted the surrender for the United States.

WAKE ISLAND: The U.S. flag is raised over Wake Island as a U.S. Marine Corps bugler plays "Colors." This is the first time the Stars and Stripes has flown over Wake since its capture by the Japanese on 23 December 1941.

 

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1939
AUSTRALIA: The Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) is formed and there is a call for volunteers. (Australia needs to raise a volunteer force for overseas service while the militia are only allowed to serve in Australian territories.)
Prime Minister, Robert G. Menzies, sends a cable to the Australian High Commissioner in London, Stanley Bruce, summarizing Australia's position, and stating that until Japan's position is made clear it would "be useless to discuss the sending of [an] expeditionary force [overseas". Menzies thought that Australia might reinforce Singapore or the Middle East, but "any suggestion at present of sending troops out of Australia would be widely condemned." The Prime Minister therefore approaches the sending overseas of an Australian expeditionary force cautiously, and the government is also hesitant about releasing ships of the Royal Australian Navy for service outside home waters.

JAPAN: Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs SAWADA Renzo announces that Japan will maintain neutrality in the European war.

UNITED STATES: The announcement of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the 3 September of U.S. neutrality, becomes official.
President Roosevelt proclaims the neutrality of the United States in the war between Germany and France, Poland, the UK, India, Australia and New Zealand, and orders the U.S. Navy (USN) to form a Neutrality Patrol. As a result, Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, directs Rear Admiral Alfred W. Johnson, Commander Atlantic Squadron, to maintain an offshore patrol to report "in confidential system" the movements of all foreign men-of-war approaching or leaving the east coast of the United States and approaching and entering or leaving the Caribbean. USN ships are to avoid making a report of foreign men-of-war or suspicious craft, however, on making contact or when in their vicinity to avoid the performance of unneutral service "or creating the impression that an unneutral service is being performed." The patrol is to extend about 300 miles off the eastern coastline of the U.S. and along the eastern boundary of the Caribbean (see 6 September)
. Furthermore, U.S. naval vessels are to report the presence of foreign warships sighted at sea to the district commandant concerned.
President Roosevelt asks Canadian Prime Minister W. MacKenzie King if Canada is at war. King replies "no." which is a relief to Roosevelt, as the U.S. is sending war supplies to Canada. Under the American Neutrality Act, it cannot send supplies directly to countries at war.
The U.S. Maritime Commission issues Hydrographic Office Special Warning No. 9 directing that all U.S. merchant ships en route to or from Europe are not to steer a zig zag course, are not to black out at night, and are to paint the U.S. flag on each side of the hull, on hatches fore and aft, and on sun decks of passenger vessels, and to illuminate the colors flying from the flagstaff at night. In Hydrographic Office Special Warning No. 12 (promulgated the same day), U.S. merchant vessels engaged in domestic, "near-by foreign" or transpacific trade are not required to paint the flag on hull, hatches and decks, but otherwise are to follow the other instructions contained in Special Warning No. 9.
In New York City, the U.S. steamship SS President Roosevelt off-loads the British Scott-Paine-type motor torpedo boat PT-9; PT 9 will be the prototype for the motor torpedo boats constructed by the Electric Boat Company.
In New York City, stocks soar on Wall Street as investors predict a war boom.

1940
AUSTRALIA: The first Australians leave Sydney, New South Wales, for Canada for training by the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. More than 10,000 Australian airmen will be trained in Canada during the war.

1941
COSTA RICA: The government offers Coco Island to the U.S. for the defense of the Panama Canal. This 9.3 square mile isolated island is located off Costa Rica's Pacific coast about 326 nautical miles WSW of David, Panama.

AUSTRALIA: The Australians reiterate to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill the request made by Australian Prime Minister Robert W. Menzies and General Sir Thomas Blamey, General Officer Commanding Australian Imperial Force, for the relief of the Australian troops at Tobruk, Libya.

JAPAN: Admiral YAMAMOTO Isoroku, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, presents his "Plan Z" to the Naval Staff College. This plan describes an attack on the U.S. Territory of Hawaii by carrier-based aircraft.

UNITED STATES: U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, issues a memorandum giving a "Brief Periodic Estimate of the World Situation." The estimate for Japan states "beset with uncertainties, may do nothing, may attack the Maritime Provinces, may seek to expand to the Southwest; it is even possible that she may withdraw from the Axis. Japan also has the capability of concentrating her newly augmented forces against China and seeking a decision there. No indication or likelihood of this is seen. In the general picture and excluding China, where she must continue to fight, her most likely, but by no means certain course is inaction."

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Three 11th Air Force B-24s abort the bombing of Japanese-held Kiska Island due to an overcast.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australians continue their fighting withdrawal on the Kokoda Track and set up defensive positions at Efogi. In Milne Bay, the Australian 2/9th Battalion attacks behind an artillery barrage and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Kittyhawk fighters strafing. The Japanese are forced to retreat and the Australians capture the Wagga Wagga supply dump, the main Japanese supply base. During the evening, the Japanese evacuation force consisting of a light cruiser, three destroyers and two patrol boats enters Milne Bay and picks up 1,318 men. Only 100 or these are fit for action and 311 are wounded. The ships sail just before 2400 hours leaving behind 625 dead or wounded.
- After the Japanese evacuation force has been sighted near Kitava Island, Trobriand Islands, located north of the east end of New Guinea, six Beaufort Mk. Vs of the RAAF's No. 100 Squadron arrive at Gurney Airfield (No. 1 Strip) at Milne Bay.
In the air, USAAF 5th Air Force P-400 Airacobras strafe Kokoda, Kaile, Isurava, Alola, Buna, Sanananda, and Buna-Kokoda trail; and the airfield at Buna is strafed and bombed by P-400s and A-20s.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Seal sinks a Japanese merchant passenger-cargo ship about 76 nautical miles south of Nha Trang, Vietnam, French Indochina, in position 11.00N, 109.32E.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Japanese forces on Guadalcanal, are again reinforced last night. Japanese light cruiser HIJMS Sendai and 11 destroyers bring 1000 men of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment and remaining troops from Colonel Ichiki's 28th Regiment to Taivu Point. The destroyers HIJMS Yadachi, Hatsuyuki and Murakumo are detailed to bombard Henderson Field but they sight USN high speed transports, USS Gregory and Little, and sink them about 5 nautical miles NNW of Henderson Field in position 09.20S, 160.01E. The two APDs are spotted due to light from flares dropped by a PBY Catalina crew attempting to assist Marine gunners on Guadalcanal. Both USS Little and Gregory attempt gunnery, but with three 4 inch guns apiece they are no match for the more modern Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers. Both sink within minutes.
A separate barge convoy in scheduled to arrive on Guadalcanal at 0500 hours bearing another 1000 troops under Colonel Oka. Only 150 reach Guadalcanal today after interception by USAAF P-400 Airacobras. Another 400-500 will be found in various places during the next several weeks but these late comers will not be available for the next Japanese offensive.

UNITED STATES: The Office of Price Administration (OPA) imposes rent controls to prevent price-gouging.

1943
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 15 fighter-bombers pound the marshalling yard SE of Lao Kay, French Indochina; 16 others hit barracks in the city.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN submarine USS Swordfish sinks a Japanese army transport north of New Guinea.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, 82 C-47's drop paratroops at Nadzab (first such landings in the Southwest Pacific Area) following bombardment of the drop zone by 52 medium bombers and pounding of Lae Airfield by 24 heavy bombers; a smoke screen is laid over the landing area by A-20's; Nadzab Airfield is quickly put into operational condition and will subsequently become a major Allied airbase.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea at 1022 hours local, 82 USAAF Fifth Air Force C-47s, escorted by 146 P-38 Lightnings and P-47s, drop paratroops of the U.S. 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment and 31-men of the Australian 2/4th Field Regiment equipped with "short" 25 pounder (87.6 mm) howitzers at Nadzab Airfield (first such landings in the Southwest Pacific Area) just west of Lae.
The drop follows the bombardment of the drop zone by 52 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25s and numerous fighter-bombers, the laying of a smoke screen over the landing area by A-20s and the bombing of Lae Airfield by 24 B-24s. Nadzab Airfield is quickly overrun and by 1840 hours, the site of the dirt strip has been cleared so that an Australian infantry division can be flown in. After landing, the paratroops link up with the Australian forces in the Bulolo Valley.
This is the "left pincer" of Australian General Thomas Blamey's Operation Postern. Today we would call it a "Point of Entry" operation. The immediate object is to secure the Nadzab airstrip, potentially the largest in New Guinea. A further objective is to outflank the strategically vital town of Lae. This is the first time Australian soldiers have parachuted into action. I believe it is also the first time that any force in the world has parachuted into action with artillery. The overland force did not come from Tsili Tsili but via the Bulolo Valley.
It consisted of an engineer company and a pioneer battalion from Australian 7th Division Australian Imperial Force (AIF). They have floated their heavy equipment and plant down the Markham River on rafts the day before, then "laid up" in thick cover until the drop started. The U.S. paratroopers and Australian gunners secured the airstrip while the engineers and pioneers set about clearing and preparing it for the fly-in of the rest of Australian 7th Division.
The paratrooper drop is very well organised by the USAAF Fifth Air Force - it is no easy task to plan and execute the drop of a complete regiment plus artillery. It is supported by copious fighter cover and smoke screens dropped by bombers. Fifth Air Force also dropped dummy parachutists in other areas to confuse the Japanese. No Japanese resistance is encountered (at this stage), tribute to General Blamey's skill in convincing the Japanese that the true objective of the campaign is Salamaua, located 43 miles to the southeast. As a point of interest for those who like big guns: the "short" 25 pounder (87.6 mm) is developed at the Australian Army School of Ordnance in Victoria. Its ballistics are worse than a conventional 25 pounder (not surprising) but it packed a bigger punch than a U.S. 75 mm pack howitzer. The short 25 pounder could be broken down into sections for transport by aircraft. This is done at Buna and at Wau where the gunners assembled their guns under fire on the airstrip. Now at Nadzab, Australian gunners have shown that it could be successfully dropped by parachute as well.
The Australian 24th Brigade lands at Lae at 2300 hours local.

RAAF - Two Beaufighters attack Cape Glouscester Strip. Lost is Beaufighter A19-33. That morning, Boston of 22 Squadron attack Gasmata being repaired. 10 Beauforts of 100 Squadron attack Gasmata Airfield. Three are shot down: Beaufort A9-374, Beaufort A9-183 and Beaufort 186. One crashes at its home base, and another Beaufort A9-362 crashes at Vivigani. They were escorted by 8 P-40s of 76 Squadron.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Arundel Island, the U.S. 172d Infantry Regiment unsuccessfully attacks Japanese positions about 600 yards southeast of the base of Bomboe Peninsula.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 8 B-25s pound targets at Indaw, Burma, 21 B-24s fly fuel to Kunming, China and numerous other cargo and troop carrier sorties are flown to various CBI terminals.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 25 B-25s pounding Kiyang and Hengyang cause considerable damage in both towns and at the Hengyang Airfield; 6 others attack trucks and other targets of opportunity at the Siangtan ferry crossing, near Hengyang and Kiyang, in the Lingling and Yoyang areas, and at Samshui; 2 more B-25s bomb Kowloon shipyards; 26 P-40s blast concentrations of river junks, troops and horses in the Kiyang-Wangyang area; and other fighter-bombers, operating individually or in flights of 2-10 aircraft, hit a variety of targets of opportunity throughout the Hengyang, Kiyang, Yungfengshih, and Lishui area.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 20 Saipan based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima and 2 others on armed reconnaissance hit Marcus and Yap. P-47s make strafing and rocket attacks on AA positions on Pagan. Gilbert s-based B-25s attack Nauru and Ponape.

[SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s hit Peleliu Airfield. Small-scale B-24 strikes hit Kendari Airfield on Celebes while fighter-bombers attack Galela Airfield and nearby villages on Halmahera , Moluccas’s. Almost 60 B-24s blast Langoan Airfield on Celebes while a sizeable B-25 force bombs Djailolo Airfield, several villages, and Kaoe AA positions on Halmahera . In New Guinea, fighter-bombers hit Soepiori Peninsula villages and Waren and Moemi Airfields; the 405th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th BG (Medium), moves from Nadzab to Biak with B-25s; and the 547th Night Fighter Squadron, Fifth Air Force, arrives at Oro Bay from the US with P-38s and P-61s.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Australian minesweeper HMAS Kiama lands a reconnaissance party of 13 Australian Imperial Force officers (from New Guinea Force and the 5th Division), 12 RAAF officers, 73 other ranks and ten natives at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain Island.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, small scale pre-dawn strikes by USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24s hit Kendari Airfield on Celebes Island while fighter-bombers attack Galela and nearby villages on Halmahera Island, Moluccas Islands. Almost 60 B-24s bomb Langoan Airfield on Celebes Island while a sizeable B-25 force bombs Djailolo Airfield, several villages, and Kaoe antiaircraft positions on Halmahera Island, all.

MARCUS ISLAND: A USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 flies an armed reconnaissance flight over the island. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles WNW of Wake Island and is used as a refueling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.

MARIANA ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts make strafing and rocket attacks on antiaircraft positions on Pagan Island.

NEW GUINEA: Replying to the request by Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces Southwest Pacific and Commander-in-Chief Australian Military Force, for the use of the Australian 6th Division at Aparri, Philippine Islands, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, says that the intelligence estimate of enemy strengths in northern Luzon is over-generous and that there would be little opposition. His plan is that when the 6th Division has accomplished its task at Aitape, Northeast New Guinea, it would be brought to the Philippines, where it would be landed in the Lingayen Gulf to participate in the final drive to Manila. This would probably occur in March, 1945.
In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force fighter-bombers hit Soepiori Peninsula villages and Waren and Moemi Aerodromes near Ransiki.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Allied submarines sink two Japanese ships: (1) USS Albacore sinks a merchant cargo ship north of Muroto Saki, Japan 32°24'N, 134°15'E., and (2) HMS Tantivy sinks a merchant cargo ship off Sumatra 05°44'S, 104°58'E.

PALAU ISLANDS: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24s hit Peleliu Airfield on Peleliu Island.

1945
CANADA: Soviet Cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko defects from the Soviet Embassy with more than 100 secret documents under his coat, detailing the workings of a major Soviet spy ring in Canada, with tentacles reaching into the Department of External Affairs code room, the British High Commissioner's Office and the Chalk River, Ontario, nuclear facility. His defection results in 20 espionage trials and nine convictions. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police give Gouzenko Canadian asylum and a new identity, and he dies in hiding in 1982. (Dana Andrews played Gouzenko in the 1948 film "The Iron Curtain.")
Canada's first nuclear reactor, ZEEP (Zero Energy Experimental Pile) at the Chalk River Laboratory, Ontario, achieves criticality.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: The Japanese surrender Yap Atoll in a ceremony on board the USN destroyer USS Tillman.

CHINA: Allied forces occupy Tientsin, China.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: In Vietnam, Laotian Prince Souphanouvong flies to Hanoi in an aircraft provided by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services. He meets with Ho Chi Minh to discuss Vietnamese aid in forming an Indochinese bloc opposing the return of colonialism. Laotian Prince Phetsarath opposes the initiative.

JAPAN: Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose," is arrested in Yokohama. In 1949, she is tried for treason in a U.S. court in San Francisco, California, convicted of the charges and sentenced to ten years in prison and a $10,000 fine. She served six years at the Federal Reformatory for Women in Alderson, West Virginia, and is released early in 1956. She maintained her innocence, asserting that she has not said the words used to convict her, and that she has remained a loyal American. Though forced to broadcast to the Allied troops, she claimed that she, with the help of American POWs assigned to the radio broadcasts, made herself and her words purposefully ridiculous. She has refused to give up her American citizenship, despite pressure and even punishment from the Japanese who forced her into the broadcasting role.
In the 1970s a public campaign brought to light the testimony of the POWs who worked with her and supported her story. The testimony of the witnesses against her is questioned and she is eventually pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977. After her imprisonment she returned to Chicago where her family owned a store.

UNITED STATES: H. Corwin Hinshaw and William H. Feldman of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, report the first successful use of streptomycin in treating tuberculosis in humans.

 

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1939
NEW ZEALAND: A decision is made to mobilize a Special Force of three battalions from each of the three military districts as a contribution to the Commonwealth war effort. This force will be recruited from volunteers and from the New Zealand Territorial Force. They are 1st (Rifle) Battalion from the Northern Military District, 2nd (Rifle) Battalion from Central Military District and 3rd (Rifle) Battalion from Southern Military District. By 3 October 1939, the force became know as the New Zealand Division and the force of three battalions became 18th, 19th and 20th Infantry Battalions of the 4th New Zealand Infantry Brigade.

1941
JAPAN: Prime Minister Prince Konoye bends under military pressure. An Imperial Conference decides that war preparations should be complete by the middle of October and further, that if agreement is not reached by then with the U.S. the decision to go to war should be taken. Further conciliatory proposals to the U.S. are not taken seriously.
In Japan, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Grew meets with Prince Konoye who states that Japan subscribes to the four principles of President Roosevelt and presents proposals for a basis of discussion. Grew goes on to say that, "The Prime Minister hopes that as a result of the commitments which the Japanese Government is prepared to assume . . . a rational basis has been established for a meeting between the President and himself."

UNITED STATES: In Washington, Japanese Ambassador NOMURA Kichisaburo hands Secretary of State Cordell Hull a draft proposal outlining what the U.S. and Japan will do to establish peace in the Pacific. Two of the items that the Japanese purpose to undertake are
(1) that Japan will not make any military advancement from French IndoChina against any of its adjoining areas, and likewise will not, without any justifiable reason, resort to military action against any regions lying south of Japan and
(2) that Japan will endeavor to bring about the rehabilitation of general and normal relationship between Japan and China, upon the realization of which Japan is ready to withdraw its armed forces from China as soon as possible in accordance with the agreements between Japan and

1942
AUSTRALIA: U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander Southwest Pacific Area, sends a message to General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff U.S. Army, stating that the Australians have proven themselves unable to match the enemy in jungle fighting. Aggressive leadership is lacking.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Australian 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions withdraw 15 miles to Efogi Spur beyond Gap Mountain, where defensive positions are already established. Despite this retreat, the Japanese are suffering, savaged by Australian fire-discipline and Bren guns and by tropical diseases. Allied troops enjoy a medical superiority in sulfa drugs that the Japanese do not have.
- In Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, the Australians skirmish with Japanese troops who have not been evacuated last night. Three Australian ships, the destroyer HMAS Arunta (I 30), the transport ship SS Anshun and the hospital ship HMAHS Manunda enter the bay during the day. The destroyer departs at 1500 hours local. During the evening, the Japanese light cruiser HIJMS Tenryu and destroyer HIJMS Arashi arrive to pick up any stragglers who may be waiting to be evacuated. Just after 2200 hours local, the Japanese ships spot and open fire on SS Anshun from a range of 2.2 miles and sink her. The Japanese ships then turn their lights on the hospital ship but do not open fire. At 0200 hours, 7 September, the Japanese ships leave the harbor.
In the air, 5th Air Force P-400 Airacobras, A-20s, and B-17s strafe and bomb positions, troops, and shipping at Myola, Mubo, Kokoda, Myola Lake, Eora Creek, and Milne Bay.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Eleven USN SBD Dauntlesses attack Japanese installations on Gizo Island. Meanwhile, 12 SBDs of the VS-3 in USS Saratoga arrive at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal for duty with the Cactus Air Force.

TONGA ISLANDS: The U. S. Navy suffers a serious setback when the fast, new battleship USS South Dakota strikes an uncharted corral pinnacle in Lahai Passage, Tongatabu Island, and suffers extensive damage to her hull. (The Tonga Islands is an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand, in position 20.00S, 175.00W.) USS South Dakota is one of only three modern battleships in the Pacific Fleet and its temporary loss is keenly felt. She will return to Pearl Harbor for repairs on 12 September and will not return to the fleet until 12 October

ALASKA (11th Air Force): A B-24 flying patrol and armed reconnaissance over Tanaga , Aleutian , sinks a mine layer and strafes a tender as well as nearby tents and buildings.

1943
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 fighter-bombers attack wharves, vessels, and destroy a small factory building in the Yoyang-Shihhweiyao area; 5 others hit trucks, trains, gun emplacements, and railway facilities in areas around Sintsiang and Puchi.
Lieutenant General Joseph Stillwell, Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-Shek, proposes that Chines divisions under Chiang Kai-shek, both Nationalist and Communist, be employed in China.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Arundel Island, a battalion of the 172d Infantry Regiment secures Grant Island and the western half of Bomboe Peninsula.
USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and P-39s hit enemy positions at Kakasa on Choiseul Island; B-24s bomb gun positions at Vila on Kolombangara Island; and P-39s join U.S. USMC and USN aircraft in a strike on suspected radar site on Morgusaia Island. During the day, seven IJN Zekes are shot down by F4U and TBF crews, a USN F6F Hellcat and a P-39 pilot.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, heavy bombers pound Lae Airfield and surrounding area, and medium bombers bomb and strafe enemy defenses in Lahang and vicinity, as Allied ground forces push toward Lae; US fighters claim 8 enemy aircraft downed over Lae. B-25's fly a sweep against barges along the coast of New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago

EAST INDIES: Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb targets on Timor Island in the Sunda Islands.

NEW GUINEA: Two brigades of the Australian 9th Division meet strong Japanese resistance at the Bunga River in their advance on Lae, Northeast New Guinea. The 24th Brigade lands to support them. As soon as the Japanese at Lae became aware of the 9th Division Australian Imperial Force landing on 4 September, they had dispatched a reinforced company force as a "forlorn hope" to delay it. The balance of the Japanese forces east of Lae tried to form a stable defensive line on the Busu River.
The Japanese "forlorn hope" did very well:
In a vicious slugging fight in the Singaua Plantation they imposed eight hours delay on the Australians - about as much as a company could hope to achieve against the advance guard of a division. By the time they returned to the Busu River the Japanese have lost about two thirds of their strength.
Also on this day, Lieutenant-General Nakano Hidemitsu recognized the trap that has been sprung: He ordered the 51st Japanese Division to abandon Salamaua and fall back on Lae, to defend it against 9th Division AIF to the east and 7th Division AIF to the west.
In Northeast New Guinea, Fifth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack Malahang Airfield, located 2 miles east of Lae and the surrounding area, and B-25s and B-26s bomb and strafe enemy defenses in Malahang and vicinity, as Allied ground forces push toward Lae; C-47s transport The 871st Airborne Engineer Battalion to Nadzab to improve the airstrip and fly Australian reinforcements into Nadzab during the afternoon. U.S. fighters claim eight Japanese aircraft downed over Lae.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Halibut hits Japanese heavy cruiser HIJMS Nachi with one dud torpedo about 84 nautical miles ESE of Aomori, Honshu, Japan, in position 40.07N, 142.20E.
In the southwest Pacific, Australian Beauforts sink a small Japanese cargo vessel about 56 nautical miles ESE of Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismark Archipelago, in position 04.39S, 152.59'E.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 6 B-25s hit Indaw while 3 bomb Katha; 24 B-24s fly about 34,000 US gallons of fuel to Kunming, China; and large-scale daily troop carrier and cargo operations to a variety of CBI terminals continue.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 20 B-25s pound Yiyang, Lingkuantien railroad yards, trucks N of Lingling, troops and occupied areas around Kiyang and Paishui, and Hengyang Airfield; 45 P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance attack troops, shipping, and communications targets in the Yiyang area, bomb warehouses at Hukow, destroy a fuel barge at Pengtse, hit railroad yards, trucks, troops, and sampans at Kweiyang and Lingkuantien, and attack general targets of opportunity at Yangtien.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan-based B-24s strike Iwo Jima while P-47s make strafing and rocket runs on AA positions on Pagan. B-24s on armed reconnaissance bomb Marcus-Eniwetok Atoll based B-24s bomb Truk.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, Fifth Air Force B-25s hit Galela on Halmahera Island and the south coast of Morotai Island. Fighter-bombers attack Kaoe (Kaoe I, Kaoe II) Aerodrome and bomb a Djailolo (Djailolo No. 1, No. 2) Aerodrome.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): HQ 498th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) arrives at Isley Field from the US.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palau Islands, carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 (13 aircraft carriers) begin a three-day preinvasion bombardment of the Palau Islands; a fighter sweep discloses no aerial opposition and reveals much damage caused by prior USAAF and USN strikes.
Aboard the light aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL-22), assigned to Task Group 38.2, is Night Light Carrier Air Group Forty One [CVLG(N)-41] trained for night operations. CVLG(N)-41 is composed of Night Fighting Squadron Forty One [VF(N)-41) with nine F6F-5Ns and Night Torpedo Squadron Forty One (VTN-41) with 13 TBM-1Ds. The Independence is the first fully equipped night carrier operating with a fast carrier task force.
Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb Truk Atoll. Meanwhile, aircraft of Task Group 38.4 (three aircraft carriers) attack Yap Atoll.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Mindanao Island, Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Santa Ana port and B-25s bomb Buayan Aerodrome in the first medium bomber raid in the Philippine Islands since early 1942; several B-24s, turning back from the Santa Ana strike, bomb Rainis in the Talaud Islands.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao, B-24s pound Santa Ana port and B-25s bomb Buayan Airfield in the first medium bomber raid in the Philippines since early 1942; several B-24s, turning back from the Santa Ana strike, bomb Rainis in the Talaud; B-25s hit Galela Airfield and the S coast of Morotai, fighter-bombers hit Kaoe Airfield and bomb a Djailolo Airfield runway. Lost is P-47 piloted by McDougal. A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit airfields at Manokwari, Moemi, Ransiki, and Waren, and stores and personnel area at Nabire; P-40s attack S Soepiori and Napido; P-39s strafe barges and huts at Suain; the 69th, 310th and 311th Fighter Squadrons, 58th Fighter Group, move from Saidor to Noemfoor with P-47s; and the 71st Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Nadzab to Biak with B-25s.
CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 545, SEPTEMBER 6, 1944
1. The airfield at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands was bombed by Liberators of the 7th AAF on 4 September (West Longitude Date). Two enemy fighters were in the air but made no attempt at interception. Antiaircraft fire was moderate. A single Liberator bombed Iwo Jima during the night of 3 4 September.
2. Pagan Island was attacked by our aircraft on 2, 3 and 4 September. Gun positions were strafed and subjected to rocket fire. Antiaircraft fire was meager. The airstrip at Rota Island was bombed on 3 September.
3. Marcus Island was attacked by 7th AAF Liberators on 3 and 4 September. On 3 September a building apparently used for ammunition storage was hit and destroyed. Antiaircraft fire was intense.
4. A Liberator search plane of Group 1, Fleet Air Wing Two, intercepted and shot down an enemy transport plane near Iwo Jima on 4 September. A medium bomber escorting the transport managed to escape.
5. Yap Island was the target of attacks on 2, 3 and 4 September by a single 7th AAF Liberator. Airfield installations and bivouac areas were bombed. Antiaircraft fire was moderate.
6. Further neutralization raids against enemy positions in the Marshalls were conducted on 4 September by 7th AAF Liberators and Corsair fighters and Dauntless dive bombers of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing.

1945
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The Japanese surrender to Lieutenant General Sir Vernon Sturdee, General Officer Commanding First Australian Army, aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Glory (62) off New Britain Island. Upon inspection, it is found that the Japanese forces at Rabaul are greater than Allied intelligence forecast. Instead of 55,000 soldiers and sailors, there are over 89,000 personnel and another 12,400 on New Ireland Island. The town of Rabaul is in ruins and overgrown with jungle and there are 31 sunken ships in the harbor. Japanese defenses are numerous with the hills honeycombed with a system of tunnels more than 150 miles in length.

CANADA: In Montreal, Quebec, Fred Rose is arrested for communicating official secrets to the U.S.S.R.; he will be sentenced to six years in the penitentiary for espionage. Rose is a Communist union organizer, politician, who is elected as a Member of Parliament for Montreal-Cartier in a 1943 by election.
The Royal Canadian Air Force "Tiger Force" is ordered to cease flying. "Tiger Force" consists of eight bomber squadrons equipped with Canadian-built Avro Lancaster Mk Xs that are intended to be shipped to Okinawa and join USAAF units in bombing Japan prior to the invasion.

JAPAN: The USN's Force 11 (Vice Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) sails from Tokyo Bay for the U.S. west coast.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: The Japanese surrender Maleolap Atoll in ceremony on board the USN destroyer escort USS Wingfield (DE-194).

UNITED STATES: President Harry S. Truman lays out an economic recovery plan to Congress that would address post-war housing and employment needs.

 

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1942
USA - First flight of the Consolidated XB-32 prototype, the B-32 was the alternate design in case there was a problem with the Boeing B-29 production.

ALASKA: 3 B-24s patrol and bomb Kiska Harbor and camp area and also patrol Tanaga ; they are attacked by 3 sea fighters of which at least 1 is downed.

USN - Air Transport Squadron 2, based at Alameda, established a detachment at Pearl Harbor and began a survey flight to the South Pacific as a preliminary to establishing routes between San Francisco and Brisbane, Australia.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): In New Guinea, A-20s and P-400s strafe and bomb positions at Myola Lake and Efogi in the Owen Stanley Range; P-40s and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Hudsons, Beauforts, and Beaufighters attack a cruiser and destroyer 17 miles ENE of Cape Karitahua; organized Japanese resistance in the Milne Bay sector ends, with the last Japanese bombardment of Milne Bay.
Milne Bay was a Japanese debacle and an Australian triumph. The victory had a tonic effect on Allied forces far beyond New Guinea. For the first time in the Pacific war a Japanese amphibious invading force had been turned back after it had established a beachhead. In the broad canvas of the Pacific war it was not a major victory. But it was significant. It was an example too of Australians working together as a team.
The AIF and the Militia fought side by side with the support of RAAF pilots whose dedicated efforts the soldiers greatly admired. Australian Militia, who were the first to engage the enemy at Milne Bay had proved themselves in a vital test, as had the 39th Battalion on the Kokoda track.

GUADALCANAL: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion, Col. Merrit "Red Edson", lands at Tiavu Point on Guadalcanal. This unit was transported by APDs from Tulagi arrived on Guadalcanal two days ago. They are following up information about the landing of Japanese reinforcements that have landed here the past several nights. The bulk of the Japanese troops have left, heading through the jungle towards the south of the Marine perimeter. They will attack there, in about 1 week. The Raiders, numbering about 600, find and destroy supply dumps and rearguard units. The supplies and guard units are destroyed. The Marines will return after 2 days. They carry with the the dress uniform of General Kawaguchi.
He brought this to wear at the surrender ceremony, when he planned to accept the surrender from General Vandegrift.

PACIFIC: USN submarine USS Growler sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship 20 miles NW of Keelung, Formosa.

U.S.: The Navy and the Maritime Commission celebrate Labor Day by launching 174 ships at 60 shipyards.

1943
CBI (Tenth Air Force): B-25's attack Gokteik Viaduct, Burma, causing minor damage.

SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon, 2 B-25's bomb barge depot and supply area E of Ringa Cove on New Georgia.

ELLICE ISLANDS: Engineers finish work on the 5,000 foot runway on Nonomea Island. Later, ten Imperial Japanese Navy "Betty" bombers from Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, drop 20 bombs on the airfield.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Fifth Air Force B-24s and B-26 Marauders bomb the Lae area and B-25s bomb and strafe nearby targets on the road to Markham; P-38s successfully turn back a Japanese bombing attack on Morobe; and C-47s begin flying 544 Australians of the 2/33rd Battalion to Nadzab.
A Fifth Air Force B-24 crashes on take-off at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, hitting five trucks carrying men of the Australian 2/33rd Battalion;15 are killed instantly, 44 die of their injuries and 92 are injured but survive.

A-20's hit Gasmata area. The 70th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d Troop Carrier Group, arrives at Townsville from the US with C-47's.

1944
JAPAN: Japanese premier Lieutenant General Koiso Kuniaki warns his countrymen that an American invasion of the home islands is a distinct possibility.
Six Eleventh Air Force B-25s on a shipping sweep in the Kurile Islands, attack a small fishing fleet between Paramushiru and Onnekotan Islands.

MARCUS ISLAND: Seventh Air Force B-24s on snooper and armed reconnaissance missions hit Marcus Island. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles WNW of Wake Island and is used as a refueling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.

BURMA: On the Salween front, a mop up of the Sung Shan position is completed. The battle for this Burma Road strongpoint has cost the Chinese 7,673 dead and virtually destroyed all of the estimated 2,000 Japanese on and around the position.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Carrier-based aircraft from Task Groups 38.1, 38.2, and 38.3 continue full scale air strikes on Japanese installations throughout the principal Palau Islands; they will repeat the evolutions (albeit with diminishing force in view of the paucity of targets) the next day. Cruiser Division 14 (three light cruisers, screened by four destroyers, drawn from Task Groups 38.2 and 38.3) bombards Japanese installations on Peleliu, Angaur, and Ngesebus, supplementing the carrier air strikes begun the previous day by TF 58.
During the night of 7/8 September, USAAF Seventh Air Force “snooper” B-24 Liberators attacked airfields and Japanese defenses in the Palau Islands.
Heavy cruiser USS New Orleans and light cruiser USS Biloxi and four destroyers (from TG 38.4) bombard Yap Atoll; they will repeat the bombardment the following day. Planes from TG 38.4, meanwhile, on this day and the next will carry out operations against Yap and Ulithi Atolls.

CHINA: Twenty two USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24s fly fuel to Kunming, China and many other troop carrier and cargo sorties are flown to numerous CBI terminals.
Twenty four Fourteenth Air Force B-25s attack town areas, river shipping and trucks in and around Kiyang, Lingling, and Yoyang; 11 B-25s bomb Tien Ho and White Cloud Airfields at Canton and two bomb the Siangtan ferry; five B-24s hit four freighters southwest of Hong Kong; and nearly 100 P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance over vast areas of southeastern China attack numerous targets of opportunity including troops, railroad targets, river shipping, warehouses, and bridges. In French Indochina, 4 P-38s hit targets of opportunity in the Hanoi-lower Red River area.

EAST INDIES: Fifty three USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the Menado area on Celebes Island and B-25s hit Wasile Bay villages in the Molucca Islands. On Halmahera Island, USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24s strike Galela Airfield in force while Fifth Air Force P-38s dive-bomb Djailolo Airfield. A-20s bomb Boela Airfield, Ceram Island and B-25s sink a lugger in Bara Bay. RAAF Beaufighters sink a Japanese motor sailboat off the southern coast of Ceram, Netherlands East Indies.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 22 B-24s fly fuel to Kunming, China and many other troop carrier and cargo sorties are flown to numerous CBI terminals.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): In the Mariana s, Saipan based P-47s make strafing and rocket attacks on Pagan and Aguijan. B-24s on snooper and armed reconnaissance missions hit Iwo Jima and Marcus.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Ground echelons of the 873d, 874th and 875th Bombardment Squadrons (Very Heavy), 498th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), arrive at Isley Field from the US (first mission is 28 Oct).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s pound Menado area on Celebes and B-25s hit Wasile Bay villages on Halmahera; other B-24s strike Galela Airfield in force while P-38s dive-bomb Djailolo Airfield and on Halmahera . A-20s bomb Boela Airfield and B-25s sink a lugger in Bara Bay. In New Guinea, A-20s hit Mongosah Airfield while fighter-bombers hit Manokwari Airstrip and villages and strafe and bomb Wewak Airfield and surrounding areas; and the 25th Liaison Squadron, 91st Photographic Wing (Reconnaissance), moves from Nadzab to Biak with L-5s.
NEW GUINEA: In the Schouten Islands of Dutch New Guinea, U.S. Army forces supported by naval vessels land on Soepiori Island..

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Paddle sinks Japanese transport Shinyo Maru, which unbeknown to her attacker carries 750 American prisoners of war on board, off the coast of Mindanao, Philippine Islands. Only 83 of the POWs made it to an island where they are rescued by Filipino guerillas. One man died on the beach. The guerillas contacted U.S. authorities in Australia and the submarine USS Narwhal picks up the survivors on 29 October.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 547, SEPTEMBER 7, 1944
1. The Palau Islands were swept in force by fighter planes of a Carrier Task Group on 5 September (West Longitude Date). There were no enemy planes in the air. Several aircraft on the ground were set afire by strafing. Defense installations, including antiaircraft emplacements and warehouses, were heavily strafed. An ammunition or fuel dump on Babelthuap Island was destroyed. Seventeen small craft near the islands were left burning as a result of strafing.
2. Venturas of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Paramushiru and Onekotan in the Kuriles on 5 September. Landing barges and patrol craft were strafed.
3. On 6 September the airfield at Iwo Jima was bombed by Liberators of the 7th AAF, encountering moderate to intense antiaircraft fire. 7th AAF Liberators bombed Marcus Island on 6 September. Moderate antiaircraft fire damaged one bomber.
4. Nauru Island was attacked by 7th AAF Mitchells on 5 September. Airfields and gun positions were hit. Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered.
5. Antiaircraft positions on Pagan Island were subjected to rocket fire and strafing on 6 September.

1945
FRENCH INDOCHINA: In Laos, Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa, Lao nationalist and political leader, is informed by the interior minister that the King has issued a proclamation continuing the French protectorate over the Kingdom of Louangphrabang. Prince Phetsarath also favors this.

RYUKYU ISLANDS: On Okinawa, a Japanese delegation signs the surrender document at Tenth Army Headquarters.

 

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1939
UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims a "limited national emergency" and orders enlisted strength of all armed forces increased--naval enlisted men from 110,813 to 145,000; Marine Corps from 18,325 to 25,000--and authorizes recall to active duty of officers, men, and nurses on retired lists of the Navy and Marine Corps.

1941
FRENCH INDOCHINA: In Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh forms the Communist-dominated independence movement known as the League for the Independence of Vietnam (Viet Minh).

1942
ALASKA (11th Air Force): In the Aleutian , 1 B-24 and 1 B-26 fly photo reconnaissance over Attu, and Kiska ; the detachment of the 42d Fighter Squadron, 54th FG, operating from Kodiak with P-39s begins a movement to Adak (the squadron is based at Harding Field, Louisiana).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): In New Guinea, P-400s bomb and strafe the Efogi area where Australian forces are hard pressed by the Japanese. B-17s and RAAF Hudsons attack cruisers and a destroyer N of the D'Entrecasteaux .

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Japanese 18th Army attacks Australian positions on Mission Ridge at Efogi starting before dawn and continuing through the morning. The Japanese surround two battalions which lose six Bren guns in the attack and use up 1,200 hand grenades and thousands of rounds of ammunition before managing to extricate their men. The Australians decide to make their last stand at Menari, using the fresh 25 Infantry Brigade, in new jungle greens, on the Imita. Ridge. 25 Brigade is told, "There won't be any withdrawal from the Imit. position. You'll die there if necessary. You understand?" The Japanese are now within 40 miles of their objective, Port Moresby.
At Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, the Australian 2/9th Battalion completes its withdrawal to Gilli Gilli destroying Japanese equipment and supplies.
In the air, USAAF 5th Air Force P-400 Airacobras bomb and strafe the Efogi area where Australian forces are hard pressed by the Japanese.

PACIFIC OCEAN: B-17s and Royal Australian Air Force Hudsons attack Japanese cruisers and a destroyer north of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands which lay off the southeast coast of New Guinea.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, a provisional battalion composed of the depleted Marine 1st Raider Battalion and the 1st Parachute Battalion moves east from Lunga Point by sea to destroy a Japanese force at Tasimboko, near Taivu Point. Debarking east of Tasimboko, the battalion moves west, clashing with outposts of strong Japanese force that landed recently near Taivu Point. The Japanese holding force is driven from their positions.
USMC F4Fs and USAAF P-400s provide support for Marine ground units during the attack described above. A number of aircraft are written off during the day and by day’s end, the Cactus Air Force has eight serviceable USMC F4Fs and USAAF P-400 Airacobras.

1943
ELLICE ISLANDS: Japanese “Betty” bombers of the 755th Kokutai bomb Nanomea Island.
7th AF: B-24's, operating from Canton in the Phoenix , fire on a flying boat scoring hits hut causing no visible damage.

BURMA: 10th AF In Burma, 6 B-24's mine the Rangoon River during the night of 7/9 Sep; and B-25's hit Gokteik Viaduct for the second consecutive day, scoring 5 hits at the base of the structure, which remains usable.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Japanese 51st Division begins to withdraw from Salamaua to Lae under pressure from both Australian and U.S. forces. Elements of the Australian 9th Division, moving west on Lae, reach the flooded Busu River where the Japanese hold the west bank.
Fifth Air Force B-17s, B-24s, B-25s and B-26s attack the Lae area, and A-20s hit Salamaua. Other heavy and medium bombers carry out light raids on targets in western part of New Guinea and in islands of Netherlands East Indies.
Off New Guinea, four U.S. Navy (USN) destroyers bombard Lae.
The Japanese at Salamaua are ordered to prepare to fall back to Lae in face of the approaching Australian 5 Division. Elements of the Australian 9 Division, moving W on Lae, reach the flooded Busu River where the Japanese hold the W bank.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-25's bomb Katha; 23 B-24s haul fuel to Kunming, China; large-scale troop carrier operations to many CBI terminals continue.

BURMA: On the Salween front, the Japanese, having assembled strong reinforcements, begin attacks on Chinese positions north of Lung-ling.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 18 B-24s attack 5 railroad bridges at Giap Nat, Dui Giang, Hue, Trach, Duc Tho, and Quang Tri, knocking out the Quang Tri bridge. 3 B-24s claim a destroyer sunk S of Hong Kong. In China, 5 B-25s destroy a bridge near Kiyang, bomb Hengyang and Lingling, and damage a bridge near Hengyang; 100+ P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance hit a large variety of targets of opportunity including troops, river shipping, bridges, airstrips, supplies, trucks, and railroad targets over the vast SE China areas at Lingling, Kiyang, Tunganhsien,Hengyang, Lingkuantien, and Leiyang; HQ 23d Fighter Group moves from Kweilin to Liuchow. Japanese ground forces overrun the USAAF Fourteenth Air Force airbase at Lingling. A second force is advancing on airbases from the south.
During the night of 8/9 September Japanese bombers attack headquarters, storage areas, and parked aircraft at Hsinching Airfield at Chengtu damaging a B-29 Superfortress, a C-46 Commando, and wounding two soldiers.

CHINA: U.S. Major General Patrick J. Hurley assumes his post as U.S. Ambassador to China.
Lieutenant General Joseph Stillwell, Commander in Chief U.S. China-Burma- India (CBI) Theater of Operations, agrees to a War Department proposal that the CBI Theater be split and that he be relieved of responsibility for lend-lease matters in order to concentrate on support of Pacific operations from China. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek proposes to Stillwell that Chinese troops from Myitkyina, Burma, be employed in the battle for Lung-ling, Burma.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Twentieth Air Force): In China, 90 Chengtu-based B-29s bomb the Showa Steel Works at Anshan, 3 others bomb other targets in Anshan, 5 hit Sinsiang railroad yards, and 3 others hit various targets of opportunity; Major General Curtis Emerson LeMay, Commanding General XX Bomber Command, accompanies the mission. During the night of 8/9 Sep Japanese bombers attack HQ, storage areas, and parked aircraft at Hsinching (near Chengtu) damaging a B-29, a C-46, and wounding 2 soldiers.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima and Pagan and hit shipping at Chichi Jima. B-25s from the Gilberts hit Ponape and B-24s from Kwajalein bomb Wotje.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: USN carrier based aircraft of Task Groups 38.1 and 38.4, plus surface ships, bombard targets in the Palau Islands.
USN - Ditched near Yap is F6F 58140.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s pound Langoan Airfield, Celebes . On Halmahera, B-25s hit Galela Airfield and Tobelo while B-24s bomb Lolobata and P-47s attack Kaoe Airfield and AA positions, Djailolo Airfield and barges at Point Lelo; P-38s hit Boela while B-25s hit small shipping at Ceram. In New Guinea, B-24s bomb airfields at Langgoer Airfield, Faan, Letfoean, and Toeal; fighter-bombers and A-20s hit airstrips and targets of opportunity at Efman, Samate, Babo, Urarom, Manokwari, Moemi, and Ranski; P-39s strafe the Wewak coastal area; and the 673d and 674th Bombardment Squadrons, 417th Bombardment Group , move from Saidor to Noemfoor with A-20s.
EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Langoan Airfield on the northeast tip of Celebes Island. On Halmahera Island, B-25 Mitchells hit Galela and Tobelo while B-24s bomb Lolobata and P-47 Thunderbolts attack Kaoe Airfield and antiaircraft positions, Djailolo Airfield and barges at Point Lelo. On Ceram Island, P-38 Lightnings hit Boela Aerodrome while B-25s hit small shipping.
UNITED STATES: The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) issue a directive to General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, South West Pacific Area. and Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander Pacific Ocean Areas, for the invasion of the Philippine Islands.
CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 551, SEPTEMBER 8, 1944
1. Carrier aircraft bombed and strafed Yap and Ulithi in the western Caroline Islands on 5 6 and 7 September (West Longitude Dates). Our aircraft dropped 110 tons of bombs and fired numerous rockets, destroying the radio cable station, antiaircraft positions, buildings and storage dumps. No airborne enemy aircraft were encountered and antiaircraft fire was meager. Our per¬sonnel casualties were three pilots and one aircrewman. There was no damage to any of our ships.
2. Pagan and Aguijan in the Marianas were attacked by our aircraft on 6 September. Both islands were strafed. Rockets were launched against gun emplacements and other installations at Pagan, where moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered.
3. Liberators of the 7th AAF bombed Marcus Island on 6 September experiencing moderate antiaircraft fire. Explosions were observed and several fires were started.
4. On the same day further neutralization raids were carried out against enemy bases in the Marshalls. Corsair and Dauntless planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed radio facilities and gun positions at Mille. No antiaircraft fire was encountered. Corsairs also bombed Wotje. Numerous fires were started. There was no antiaircraft fire.

1945
BORNEO: In Dutch Borneo, Japanese naval officers are transported to the Australian frigate HMAS Burdekin (K 376) and sign the surrender document in front of four Australian brigadiers.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Ho Chi Minh restores universal suffrage.

JAPAN: TOJO Hideki, Japanese prime minister during most of World War II, attempts suicide rather than face a war crimes tribunal. The attempt fails and he is later convicted and hanged.

KOREA: U.S. Army forces land at Inchon to occupy the southern half of the country. The peninsula north of the 38th parallel is already in Soviet hands

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Off Bougainville Island, the Japanese forces surrender to Australian, New Zealand and U.S. officers.

UNITED STATES: A bus equipped with a two-way radio is put into service for the first time in Washington, DC.
INDONESIA: First British troops parachute into Kemayoran Airport at Jakarta.

 

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1939
UNITED STATES: In a fireside chat, President Franklin D. Roosevelt says that he hopes fervently that America would stay out of the war he said, "I have seen war and I hate war".

1940
UNITED STATES: A Naval Appropriations bill becomes law in the US. This US$5.5 billion authorization will provide 210 new ships including seven battleships and 12 aircraft carriers.

1941
IRAN: The government accepts the British-Soviet armistice terms
UNITED STATES: The USN's Bureau of Aeronautics requests that the National Defense Research Committee and the Naval Research Laboratory to develop an interceptor radar suitable for installation in a single-engined, single-seat fighter, e.g., the F4U Corsair.

1942
ALASKA (11th Air Force): 1 B-26 patrols Tanaga and Adak .

WESTERN DEFENSE COMMAND (4th Air Force): A Japanese airplane, launched from a submarine off the coast, drops an incendiary bomb on a mountain slope near Brookings, Oregon, causing a small forest fire; this comprises the total bombing of the continental US by enemy aircraft during World War II.

CBI (10th Air Force): HQ 7th BG moves from Dum-Dum to Karachi, India.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): P-40s strafe the Galaiwa Bay area on Goodenough. In New Guinea, A-20s, in support of encircled Australian ground forces, strafe and bomb troops in the Efogi Spur area; and the 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, V Bomber Command, moves from Townsville, Australia to Port Moresby 14 Mile Drome with F-4s.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Australians continue their delaying withdrawal southward and reach Menari about noon.
The Australian 25th Brigade lands at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. This unit will be rushed northward to reinforce the troops fighting on the Kokoda Track.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Japanese Lieutenant General HYAKUTAKE Seikichi, commander of the 17th Army, lands at Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal. Elements of the 2nd Division are also landed. Hyakutake’s presence on the island indicates some importance now attached to the battle for this island and Henderson Field. His previous HQ was at Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, and he controlled operations in New Guinea.
The IJN sends 26 "Betty" bombers and an unknown number of "Zeke" fighters to attack Guadalcanal at noon. USMC F4F Wildcats intercept and shoot down seven "Bettys" and three "Zekes;" the Marines lose four F4Fs. On Guadalcanal, Fighter-1, the grass-surfaced auxiliary fighter airfield, is declared operational.

1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): At Umnak, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) No 14 (Fighter) Squadron prepares to depart for British Columbia, Canada.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): B-24's again mine the Rangoon River in Burma during the night of 8/9 Sep.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 8 B-25's and 11 P-40's hit the White Cloud Airfield at Canton; 4 P-38's bomb the docks at Whampoa; 8 P-40's and P-38's hit shipping on the Yangtze River shipping near Chiuchiang, Kichun, Wusueh, Ocheng, and Changanyi, and strafe targets of opportunity in the general area. .

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USN Admiral William F. Halsey, Commander of the South Pacific Ara and the Third Fleet, proposes that the Treasury Islands and Choiseul Bay be secured as bases from which the southern Bougainville Island-Shortland Islands area can be neutralized. The suggestion is not accepted by General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of the South West Pacific Area.
Twelve Thirteenth Air Force B-25s and over 50 USN SBDs dive bombers attack Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island and barges at Disappointment Cove on New Georgia Island. Eighteen B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island; two nearby coastal guns are also hit.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Major General Edward Milford, General Officer Commanding Australian 5th Division, order the American and Australian troops in the Salamaua area to advance tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Japanese XVIII Army is ordered to withdraw their troops in Salamaua to Lae. The Australian troops in the Lae-Nadzab area cross the Busu River and holds a bridgehead against counterattacks.
Four USN high-speed transports bombard Lae.
In the air, 5th AF B-25s attack the coastal area from Alexishafen to Finschhafen.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN submarine Grayling is sunk, possibly rammed by a Japanese transport in the South China Sea west of Luzon, Philippine Islands.

EAST INDIES: Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Selaroe Aerodrome on Selaroe Island, Netherlands East Indies, located about 259 nautical miles N of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

1944
JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, six Eleventh Air Force B-25s hunt shipping off Paramushiru Island; four return to Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, with bombs, finding no targets; one lands on one engine in Petropavlovsk, USSR; and one hits the mast of a vessel and ditches in the water. A USN PBY-5A Catalina of VP-61 based on Attu Island attempts to land and pick up the B-25 crew but it is driven off by antiaircraft fire and the six Americans become POWs. Three B-24s make an uneventful raid during the night of 9/10 September on Kashiwabara, Paramushiru Island; later two photographic planes escorting two bombers over the Kurile Islands on a mapping project are attacked by fighters which inflict no damage.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-25s bomb a Japanese HQ and other buildings at Manwing; 17 B-24s run fuel to Kunming, China; numerous other transport sorties are flown to several points in the CBI.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 24 B-25s hit river traffic and troop compounds in areas around Kiyang, Lingling, and Lingkwantien, bomb the towns of Lingling and Samshui, and knock out the W end of a bridge at Lingling; about 50 P-40s and P 51s hit numerous targets of opportunity throughout inland SE China including rivercraft and troop areas around Lingling, Lupao, Tsingyun, Kiyang, Leiyang, and Yungfengshih, and a railroad bridge at Tunganhsien; 5 B-24s over the S China Sea claim 4 freighters sunk or heavily damaged; and the 322d Troop Carrier Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force, is activated at Kunming with C-47s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): A B-24 on a snooper mission from Saipan bombs Iwo Jima during the night of 9/10. B-25s based in the Gilbert s bomb Nauru .

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb Mapanget Airfield, Celebes . 100+ fighter-bombers and A-20s pound airfields in the Moluccas s, i.e., Liang on Ambon , Haroekoe on Haroekoe , Boela on Ceram , and Namlea on Buru . B-24s hit Galela Airfield. Fighter-bombers hit Moemi, Manokwari, and Ransiki while B-25s hit Babo; and HQ 417th BG moves from Saidor to Noemfoor.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Five Fourteenth Air Force B-24s over the South China Sea claim four freighters sunk or heavily damaged.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Carrier-based aircraft from the USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 attack Japanese airfields, shipping and installations on Mindanao, in support of the upcoming invasion of the Palau Islands. Aircraft sink three transports and a cargo ship while light cruisers USS Birmingham and Santa Fe and four destroyers detached from Task Group 38.3, covered by planes from the light aircraft carrier USS Langley, demolish a coastal convoy consisting of predominantly small ships and craft proceeding down the west coast of Mindanao.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Mapanget Airfield outside Menado on Celebes Island while Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the Kaoe Bay Seaplane Base on Halmahera Island. More than 100 A-20s and fighter-bombers attack Boela and Haroekoe and Boela Aerodromes on Ceram and Laha Aerodrome on Ambon.


CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 552, SEPTEMBER 9, 1944
1. Cruisers and destroyers of the Pacific Fleet shelled the Palau Islands on 6 September (west longitude date). The naval bombardment destroyed and damaged numerous buildings and defense installations. Many large fires were started on Angaur, the southernmost island in the group, and carrier based planes scored direct hits on supply facilities. There was meager antiaircraft fire. Bomb hits were made on communication facilities at Peleliu Island.
Numerous large fires were started at Koror, and a radio station and fuel dump were hit on Arakabesan Island. There was no damage to our surface ships.
2. Liberators of the 7th AAF bombed airfields and installations at Iwo
Jima in the Volcano Islands on 6 and 7 September. Several fires were started. Antiaircraft fire was moderate. Of four enemy fighters airborne on 7 September, one was probably destroyed.
3. On 7 September, Liberators of the 7th AAF attacked Chichi Jima in the
Bonin Islands, damaging an enemy cargo ship in the harbor. On the same day Pagan Island in the Marianas was attacked with rocket and machine gun fire. 4. Army Liberators bombed Moen airfields in the Truk atoll on 6 September. Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered.
5. Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing continued their attacks on remaining positions in the Marshalls on 7 September. A single Navy search plane bombed Nauru Island on the same day.

1945
CHINA: Twenty-minute surrender ceremonies are held in the auditorium of the Central Military Academy in Nanking at 0900 hours local. General Ho Ying-chen, Commander-in- Chief of the Chinese Army, and Lieutenant General YASUTSUGU Okamura, Commander of the Japanese Forces in Central China, represent their respective governments.

EAST INDIES: The commander of Japanese Second Army, Lieutenant General TESHIMA Fusataro, surrenders to Australian Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces Southwest West Pacific Area and Commander in Chief Australian Military Force, on Morotai Island, Netherlands East Indies.

JAPAN: Japanese officials in northern Japan surrender to the Allies at Ominato Naval Base on Honshu. Japanese officers sign two additional surrender documents.

KOREA: In South Korea, surrender ceremonies are held in the Government Building in Seoul. The U.S. delegates are Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, Commander of the Seventh Fleet, and Lieutenant General John R. Hodge, Commanding General XXIV Corps,.

UNITED STATES: A "computer bug" is first identified and named by USN Lieutenant Grace Murray Hopper. Although the term "bug" has been used to describe technical glitches since the late 1800s, the bug that plagued Hopper this day is an actual moth that had managed to get into the circuitry of the Mark II computer at Harvard University. The bug, which Hopper and her assistants removed with tweezers, is preserved at the Naval Museum in Dahlgren, Virginia.

 

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1942
ALASKA (11th Air Force): Weather, photo reconnaissance, and patrol missions are flown during the morning over Nazan Bay, Tanaga, Adak and Amchitka ; poor weather is encountered at Kiska, Attu, and AgAttu ; a detachment of the 42d Fighter Squadron, 54th FG arrives at Adak with P-39s (the squadron is based at Harding Field, Louisiana).

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, some Australian troops move north on the track.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A second airstrip, Fighter One, becomes operational on Guadalcanal. Fighter One is a grassy field that will be used by USMC and USN F4F Wildcats and USAAF P-400 Airacobras.
In the air, the IJN dispatches 27 "Betty" bombers and 15 "Zero" fighters to bomb Guadalcanal. They are met by five USMC F4Fs which shoot down five "Bettys" with the loss of a Wildcat. The Americans now have only 12 serviceable fighters on Guadalcanal.

UNITED STATES: The Baruch Commission, tasked with investigating the availability of rubber, warns of military and civilian collapse due to a shortage of rubber in the U.S. As a result, the government mandates gasoline rationing in the U.S. to limit the amount of driving thus saving rubber required for tires.

1943
ALASKA: 9 B-24's fly from Adak to Attu in preparation for a mission to Paramushiru in the Kurile tomorrow.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA
(Tenth Air Force): B-25's again bomb Gokteik Viaduct in Burma. The approaches are battered but the viaduct remains usable. The detachment of ground personnel of the 491st Bombardment Squadron , 341st BG (Medium), at Gaya, India returns to it's base at Chakulia, India.
(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 10 B-25's and 7 P-40's hit a cotton warehouse N of Wuchang and docks at Hankow; 9 of 20 intercepting Zekes are claimed destroyed; 9 P-38's bomb docks at Whampoa.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): B-25's attack barges along the New Britain coast. In New Guinea, the Australian 7 Division, having been flown to Nadzab in C-47's, begins a push E toward Lae. In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 7th Division relieves the U.S. 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment at Nadzab and begins a drive eastward toward Lae. The Japanese at Lae are thus threatened from both the east and west. The Australians begin a general advance into Salamaua and by evening, Japanese defenses south of the Francisco River have collapsed.

UNITED STATES: The USAAF First and Fourth Air Forces are relieved from their assignments to the US Army's Eastern and Western Defense Commands respectively and are reassigned to HQ, USAAF. Hereafter they serve primarily as training organizations for fighter units.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 6 B-25s fly shipping sweep off Suribachi, Kurile.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, troop carrier and cargo hauls continue on a large scale to numerous points in the CBI; 24 B-24s haul fuel to Kunming, China.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 45 B-25s bomb the towns of Kutkai, Ssutang, Samshui, Tunganhsien, Lingling, and Tunghsiangchiao, and hit a fuel dump near Lingling; about 140 P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance over E Burma, SW China, and inland SE China attack a huge number of targets of opportunity including troops, aircraft, river shipping, trucks, runways, bridges, and supply areas; and a flight of the 21st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force, based at Kunming, begins operating from Liuchow with F-5s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Saipan hit the island, and strike shipping near Iwo Jima. Eniwetok Atoll based B-24s bomb Truk.

PAULAU ISLANDS: In the Palau Islands, carrier-based aircraft of the USN Task Group 38.4 (TG 38.4) begin preinvasion air strikes against Japanese airfields and defenses on Peleliu and Angaur. During the night, radar-equipped B-24s of the US Thirteenth Air Force also attack targets on the two islands.

BORNEO: In Dutch Borneo, a Thirteenth Air Force B-24 strafes the Balikpapan refineries and oil storage. In British Sarawak, small refineries and a large oil storage facility (ten 50,000 barrel tanks) at Lutong in British Sarawak are also hit.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Celebes B-24s pound airfields at Langoan and Mapanget and hit Tomohon and the waterfront area of Menado. On Halmahera, Lolobata Airfield and Hate Tabako Airfield are bombed and areas along Wasile Bay strafed. B-25s, A-20s, and P-38s hit airfields and oil storage at Namlea on Buru, and Amahai and Boela on Ceram while B-24s hit Laha Airfield, Celebes. A-20s and fighters hit airfields at Samate, Sagan, Nabire, Urarom, Manokwari, Moemi, and Ransiki.
The 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, moves from Nadzab to Biak with F-5s; and the 672d Bombardment Squadron, 417th Bombardment Group , moves from Saidor to Noemfoor with A-20s.

EAST INDIES: On Celebes Island, Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Langoan and Mapanget Airfields and attack Tomohon and the waterfront area of Menado. On Halmahera Island, Lolobata Aerodrome is bombed and areas along Wasile Bay strafed. USAAF Far East Air Force B-25s, A-20s, and Fifth Air Force P-38s hit airfields and oil storage at Namlea, Amahai and Boela on Ceram Island while B-24s hit Laha Airfield, Celebes Island. All of the targets are in the Netherlands East Indies.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 continue their attacks against Japanese installations on Mindanao

1945

UNITED STATES: General Jonathan M. Wainwright is awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman. The citation reads, "Distinguished himself by intrepid and determined leadership against greatly superior enemy forces. At the repeated risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in his position, he frequented the firing line of his troops where his presence provided the example and incentive that helped make the gallant efforts of these men possible. The final stand on beleaguered Corregidor, for which he is in an important measure personally responsible, commanded the admiration of the Nation's allies. It reflected the high morale of American arms in the face of overwhelming odds. His courage and resolution were a vitally needed inspiration to the then sorely pressed freedom-loving peoples of the world."

The first of the 45,000 ton large aircraft carriers, USS Midway (CVB-41), is placed in commission at Newport News, Virginia.

 

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1939
UNITED KINGDOM: Plans for an India federation are postponed indefinitely.

1941
JAPAN: A United Press dispatch from Tokyo gives the following information: "Emperor Hirohito today took direct command of Japanese Army Headquarters and moved to assure close Army collaboration with Premier KONOYE Fumimaro’s Government, which appeared to be trying to keep Japan out of war even if that meant drifting away from her Axis ties."

UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues the "Shoot on Sight" order to naval forces in the Atlantic in regard to German U-boats. This action is partly in response to the USS Greer "incident" of 4 September. It is, in fact, more or less what is going on at the present.
In Washington, D.C., Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R.Stark, Admiral Thomas C. Hart Commander of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet in Manila, that Washington has declined to endorse Allied mobilization plans proposed by the British for joint operations in the event of war. Hart is ordered to defer plans to move the Asiatic Fleet to Dutch or British ports when hostilities began. Hart is ordered to ensure his fleet operations are "coordinated" with British and Dutch operations.
In the U.S., ground breaking ceremonies for the Pentagon building take place.

1942
ALASKA (11th Air Force): A weather, photo, and patrol aircraft draws AA fire over Chichagof Harbor, Attu and also covers Tanaga, Amchitka, and Semichi. HQ 343d FG is actived at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage.
- The completion of the runway at Davis Army Airfield on Adak Island permits a stepped up air offensive against Japanese-held Kiska Island located 219 nautical miles W of Adak.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Joint Chiefs of Staff): combat control groups are authorized for New Caledonia and Fiji; these units, under immediate control of the Commanding General of US Army Forces in the South Pacific (COMGENSOPAC), are to take over local operational direction of fighter aircraft and all other units in the combat team. Lost after an escort mission against Guadalcanal is A6M2 piloted by Murakami.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): A-20s and B-26s hit Efogi and Menari in the Owen Stanley Range and Buna Airfield; B-17s, along with RAAF Hudsons, attack 2 destroyers 20 miles E of Normanby; a B-17 scores a direct hit on the stern of the destroyer Yayoi, which later sinks.

AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief Southwest West Pacific Area, submits a plan to Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces Southwest Pacific Area and Commander in Chief Australian Military Force, for accelerating operations in New Guinea. While Australians, upon receiving reinforcements, are to attack to drive the Japanese back on the Kokoda Track, a regimental combat team of the U.S. 34th Infantry Division is to execute a wide flanking movement to the east to get behind the Japanese at Wairopi and thus hasten their expulsion from New Guinea.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions surrounded four days previously fights its way out of the Japanese encirclement and fall back to Nauro. But the Australians are
forced to pull back from Nauro again and take up positions on a ridge north of Ioribaiwa. The Japanese 18th Army is only 32 miles from Port Moresby and number about 5,000 fighting men.
- In the air, USAAF 5th Air Force A-20s and B-26s hit Efogi and Menari in the Owen Stanley Range and Buna Airfield in Northeast New Guinea; B-17s, along with Royal
Australian Air Force Hudsons, attack the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) destroyers HIJMS Isokaze and Yayoi 20 miles E of Normanby Island; a B-17s scores a direct hit on the stern of the destroyer HIJMS Yayoi, which later sinks. These destroyers are on their way to Goodenough Island to rescue Japanese troops.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Saury sinks a Japanese aircraft transport about 127 nautical miles NW of Makassar, Celebes Islands, Netherlands East Indies, in position 03.15S, 118.27E.
Somewhere under the surface of the western Pacific, the submarine USS Seadragon, while en route from Australia to French Indochina, is quietly waiting while Seaman Darrell Dean Rector, age 19, undergoes an emergency operation. Pharmacist's Mate First Class Wheeler B. Lipes and others with no surgical training are removing his appendix. Their actions save his life. Franz Hoskins, who will be come a Doctor after the war, administers the ether. George Weller of the Chicago Tribune will win a Pulitzer Prize for his report on this, in the category of Battlefront Writing. In the late 1950's it will be adapted for television.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, Colonel Oka, in command of Japanese forces west of the Lunga perimeter, issues his attack plan for the attack on the west side of the Perimeter. This morning he reaches the naval ground forces under Captain Monzen near the mouth of the Matanikau River. He also has the 3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment which landed last night. Accompanying them is Colonel Matsumoto, advance man for Japanese Army HQ.
Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, Colonel Merritt Edson, Commander of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, and Colonel Gerald Thomas, Chief of Staff of the 1st Marine Division, know the Japanese will attack soon. Edson picks a ridge one mile south of Henderson Field and his 1st Marine Raider Battalion digs in.
Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, Commander of Amphibious Force, South Pacific Force, arrives on Guadalcanal. He has discussed Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley's pessimistic view of the situation.
(Ghormley is Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force.) Turner also wants to bring the 7th Marine Regiment to Guadalcanal. He proposes sprinkling them in small groups around the island but Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division opposes this plan.
Admiral Turner visits with war correspondents and is quoted: "...Marines will be on the island for a long time and things will get worse before they get better."
Lieutenant General Kawaguchi Kiyotake, Commanding Officer of the 35th Brigade, has issued his attack plan on 7 September which calls for his forces to split into three groups. One would attack the east side of the Perimeter, the other two would surprise the Marines by attacking from the south. This main attack would cross a ridge, known to the Japanese as "The Centipede." This ridge will become known to history as "Edson's" or "Bloody" Ridge. The forces are almost in place for battle tomorrow night.
Twelve USMC F4Fs intercept 26 IJN Japanese Navy "Betty" bombers and eight "Zeke" fighters at about 1200 hours. The Marines shoot down six Betty's and a Zeke's but lost an F4F.
After being damaged by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine on 31 August, the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga goes to Tongatabu Island in the Tonga Islands, for temporary repairs. To aid the Cactus Air Force on Guadalcanal, 24 F4F-4s of the USN's VF-5, which is part of the Saratoga Air Group, land at Henderson Field in the afternoon to augment the defenses.

1943
ALASKA: 12 B-25's and 8 B-24's attack Paramushiru in the Kurile for the third and last time this year. 6 B-24's bomb the Kashiwabara staging area; shipping is bombed and strafed in Kashiwabara harbor and Paramushiru Straits; 1 freighter and 1 large transport are sunk while 1 transport and 2 cargo ships are damaged; 2 other cargo vessels sustain possible hits; targets hit on land include 2 buildings and an AA battery on Shimushu. Of 40 fighters giving battle, 13 are shot down and 3 more are probables. 2 B-24's force-land in the USSR, one with mechanical defect, the other after being hit; 1 B-24 is downed by AA fire; losses are 7 B-25's and 2 B-24's in this most disastrous day for the Eleventh Air Force. It will be another 5 months before it is able to strike at the Kurils again. The 77th Bombardment Squadron, 28th Composite Group, transfers from Adak to Amchitka with B-25's.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 10 B-25's and 11 P-40's attack the Hankow docks and Wuchang cotton mills; and 3 P-38's bomb ammunition and fuel depots at Tayeh and strafe warehouses and barracks at Yangsin.

SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): Eighteen Thirteenth Air Force B-25s attack the area west of Vila airfield on Kolombangara Island and west of Disappointment Cove on New Georgia Island. The airfield is hit again in the evening by three B-24s. Twenty five B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb Kahili airfield on Bougainville Island; B-24s and fighters claim seven Japanese aircraft shot down. P-40s and P-39s support SBDs in striking gun positions at Hamberi on New Georgia Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A regiment of the U.S. 25th Infantry Division lands on the western end of Bomboe Peninsula on Arundel Island and starts moving east. Artillery and, for the first time in the South Pacific, 4.2 inch mortars support the attack.

EAST INDIES: In the Southwest Pacific, US Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Makassar on Celebes Island and in New Guinea, Australian forces cross the Francisco River to Salamaua airfield as Japanese forces draw toward Lae.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian attack against the Japanese at Salamaua takes the airfield without opposition. At 1500 hours local, the Australians enter the town itself as the Japanese pull out.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines sink two Japanese ships:
(1) USS Harder sinks a transport south of Mikura Island, located off Honshu, Japan;
(2) USS Narwhal sinks a transport (hit earlier by dud torpedoes) five miles northwest of Nauru Island.

1944

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile Islands, four US Eleventh Air Force B-25s on a shipping search sink a small craft off Shimushu Island; two other B-25s fly a search mission for a B-25 (which force-landed in USSR on 9 September but is still reported as missing).

SINGAPORE: British submarine HMS/M Porpoise (N 14) sails from Freemantle, Western Australia, with a 23-man commando party participating in Operation RIMAU, an attack on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbor. This raid emulated Operation JAYWICK in September 1943 when Australian commandoes attacked shipping in Singapore. However, unlike the previous attack this attack fails. The submarine successfully drops the commandos at their start point, but then things go wrong; the commandos are discovered, and in engagements with the Japanese, 13 men are killed or die of wounds. The remaining ten are captured. On 7th July 1945, the ten men are executed by the Japanese.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 12 P-47s hit roads, towns, and general targets of opportunity in the Bhamo, Burma and Tengchung and Lungling, China areas; 23 B-24s fly fuel to Kunming, China; numerous other transport flights throughout the CBI continue. Detachments of the 2d and 4th Combat Cargo Squadrons, 1st Combat Cargo Group, based at Sylhet, India, begin operating from Yunnani, China with C-47s.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 18 B-24s blast a storage area at Manling; 30 B-25s bomb Tunganhsien and Kiaotow and hit targets of opportunity in the Lingling area; 12 P-40s blast trucks along Burma Road and around Lungling; 59 P-40s and P-51s hit river shipping, railroad targets, troop concentrations, supply dumps, and other targets of opportunity in the Canton-Tungting Lake area.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima and hit shipping off Chici Jima. P-47s pound Pagan with strafing attacks and rockets.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s hit Galela Airfield and Miti on Halmahera. B-25s bomb Kairatoe Airfield and village on Celebes and Boela Airfield while P-38s hit airfields at Namlea on Buru and Amahai and oil tanks at Boela Ceram . A-20s and B-25s hit Kaoe Airfield on Halmahera and scattered targets of opportunity; the 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Tadji to Biak with P-40s.

CANADA: The Octagon Conference at Quebec City, Quebec begins. British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with their staffs, meet to discuss overall strategy of the war. The plans for continued attacks in Italy and Northern Europe are not changed. British attacks in Burma are approved. British Fleet participation in the Pacific is approved for the final campaigns against the Japanese. This conference will last through 6 September.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palau Islands, carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Group 38.4 continue preinvasion attacks on airfields and Japanese installations ; they also sink a Japanese cargo ship 2 miles off the coast. During the night, Thirteenth Air Force radar-equipped B-24s attack the airfields and defensive positions.

MARIANA ISLANDS: The USN destroyer USS Ellet bombards supply dumps on Aguijan Island.

NEW GUINEA: On the Vogelkop Peninsula in Dutch New Guinea, Fifth Air Force A-20s strike Nabire, Otawir, Sagan and Utarom Airfields while fighter-bombers hit airfields and antiaircraft guns at Manokwari and Ransiki.

CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 114, SEPTEMBER 11, 1944
Carrier based aircraft of the Pacific Fleet struck at enemy airfields and other military objectives at Mindanao Island in the Philippines on September 8 (West Longitude Date). The airfields at Del Monte, Valencia, Cagayan, Buayan, and Davao were bombed and strafed. In these attacks two enemy aircraft were encountered near our carriers, five were encountered over Cagayan, and one over Davao. All were shot down. Approximately 60 enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground. Barracks, warehouses, and hangars were hit at the several airdromes attacked. Enemy waterfront installations at Matins, Cagayan, and Surigao were also bombed.
A convoy was discovered off Hinatuan Bay consisting of 32 loaded coastal cargo ships and 20 sampans. This convoy was brought under attack by Pacific Fleet cruisers, destroyers, and carrier aircraft, and all of the enemy ships were destroyed. In addition, enemy shipping found in Sarangani Bay and Davao Gulf, and near Cagayan and Surigao was attacked, resulting in the sinking or probable sinking of 16 small cargo ships, one medium cargo ship, one patrol craft, and many sampans, and setting fire to two small cargo ships, and at least 17 sampans. Our aircraft losses in the operations were very light. There was no damage to our surface ships.
More than 80 tons of bombs were dropped and numerous rockets fired by carrier aircraft in attacking the Palau Islands on September 9. Antiaircraft emplacements and other defense installations were attacked on Angaur, Peleliu, and Koror Islands. Numerous fires were started at Koror. A de¬stroyer and a cargo ship, believed to have been heavily damaged in previous raids, were attacked again. We lost seven fight personnel in these attacks.
Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Paramushiru Island in the Kuriles on September 9, and Liberator search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four attacked the island again before dawn on September 10. In the first attack several enemy fighters unsuccessfully attempted to intercept our force, and one fighter was damaged. A convoy discovered underway near Paramushiru was bombed by Eleventh Army Air Force Mitchells on September 9.
Runways and air facilities at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands were hit with 37 tons of bombs by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators on September 9. Antiaircraft was moderate to intense. Seven to ten enemy fighters intercepted. Of this group five or six were destroyed, one probably destroyed and one damaged. Three Liberators were damaged. On September 8 a single Liberator bombed the airfield at Iwo Jima while a Navy search plane bombed and strafed a small tanker west of Iwo Jima, leaving it aflame and probably sinking.
A single plane bombed Pagan on September 8 while fighter planes attacked Rota on September 9. There was no interception at either place.
Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells bombed the airfield and defense instal¬lations at Ponape on September 8. Antiaircraft ranged from intense to meager. Seventh Army Air Force Liberators hit the airstrip and antiaircraft gun positions on Nauru the following day.
Further neutralization raids were carried out against enemy held positions in the Marshalls on September 8 and 9. Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force and Corsair fighters and Dauntless dive bombers of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing hit gun positions, ammunition dumps and bivouac areas on Wotje, Mille and Jaluit.

1945
INDONESIA: First official broadcast of RRI (Radio Republik Indonesia).

VIETNAM: During the following days a small advance party of support personnel and infantry escort from Gracey's force arrived in Saigon to check on conditions and report back; on the 11th a brigade was flown in from Hmawbi Field, Burma via Bangkok. When these advance Allied units landed in Saigon they found themselves in a bizarre position of being welcomed and guarded by fully armed Japanese and Viet Minh soldiers. The reason these soldiers were armed was because six months earlier (March 9) they disarmed and interned the French, for the Japanese feared an American landing in Indochina after the fall of Manila and did not trust the French.

 

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1939
NEW ZEALAND: Enlistment for 2 New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2 NZEF) begins.

1940
JAPAN: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew warns Secretary of State Hull that Japan might interpret the drastic U.S. embargo on oil as "sanctions" and retaliate.

1941
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Nine B–17s completed a weeklong flight from Hickam Field, Territory of Hawaii, to Clark Field by way of Midway Isalnds; Wake Island; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: An 11th Air Force weather and patrol reconnaissance aircraft finds overcast at Japanese-held Kiska Island but takes photos over Tanaga and Kanaga Islands, and Japanese-held Attu Island. The runway at Adak Island is completed.

AUSTRALIA: The Australian corvette HMAS Kalgoorlie (J 192) departs Darwin, Northern Territory, for Portugese Timor with 14 soldiers and 15 tons of supplies for the "Sparrow Force." The Sparrow Force
consists of the 2/2 Independent Company Australian Imperial Force, and survivors from the 2/40th Battalion, 22nd Brigade, 8th Division Australian Imperial Force, who did not surrender to the Japanese, plus local East Timorese guerillas.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, orders are issued to the Australian troops that Ioribaiwa is to be held until relief arrives. The Japanese attack late in the day but the Australians hold
their ground. Meanwhile, the 2/25th Battalion of the 25th Brigade starts up the track from Port Moresby.
- USAAF 5th Air Force P-400 Airacobras, B-26s, A-20s, and B-17s bomb the Buna Airfield and strafe barges at Buna town, Northeast New Guinea.
- D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS, USAAF 5th Air Force P-40s strafe Gadaibai on Goodenough Island which is off the eastern extremity of Papua New Guinea.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The U.S. 7th Marine Regiment and elements of the 5th Marine Defense Battalion arrive at Espiritu Santo Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A 5th Air Force B-17s strafes a vessel in the Bismarck Sea south of Kavieng, New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) sends 42 "Betty" bombers and an unknown number of "Zeke" fighters to attack Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. The Japanese are intercepted by 11 USMC and 21 USN F4F Wildcats; the Americans shoot down 14 Bettys and a Zeke at the cost of one F4F.
- At 2130 hours, bombardment of the Marine perimeter begins, by the IJN light cruiser HIJMS Sendai, and destroyers HIJMS Shikinami, Fubuki and Suzukaze which are offshore. Three Marine SBDs pilots are killed. After the bombardment, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) attack against the ridge, later known as Bloody or Edson's Ridge, begins.
Colonel Merritt Edson, Commander of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, has a combined 840 man between his Raider Battalion and the attached Marine Parachute Battalion. Lieutenant General Kawaguchi Kiyotake, Commander of the 35th Brigade, has three battalions with 2,506 men but the jungle has slowed the arrival of two battalions and his attack is very disjointed. The Japanese also get bogged down between the ridge and the Lunga River. Finally about one hour before daybreak the Japanese commanders begin to gain control of their units. They regroup to attack the next night.

1943
ALASKA: HQ XI Fighter Command transfers from Elmendorf Field, Anchorage to Adak.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA:
(Tenth Air Force): The 90th Fighter Squadron, 80th FG, transfers from Karachi to Jorhat, India with P-40's. The squadron will fly it's first combat mission on 16 Sep.
(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 8 P-38's bomb shipping in the Hong Kong area, 4 hit Yangtze River traffic at Chiuchiang, and 4 P-40's strafe barracks and destroy a locomotive W of Shihhweiyao.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, B-17's and B-24's pound Lae as the Japanese begin a withdrawal in the face of the Australian 9 and 7 Divisions moving in from E and W; the Australian 5 Division occupies Salamaua and surrounding area; the first Allied airplane lands at Salamaua Airfield; and B-25's strafe between Saidor and Langemak Bay. B-25's hit barges near Cape Gloucester on New Britain , and A-20's bomb a radio station on Gasmata.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 9th and 7th Divisions push toward Lae from the east and west. Australian artillery continues pounding Lae and Malahang Airfield located 2 miles east of Lae.
The advance guard of the IJA 178th Battalion leaves their base at Saipa Village to prepare for an attack on Nadzab, Northeast New Guinea. The main body of the battalion will follow on 17 September.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile Islands, six Eleventh Air Force bombers based in the Aleutian Islands fly a negative shipping sweep over Shimushu Island; three more attack Suribachi Airfield and offshore shipping targets; and one B-24 flies negative reconnaissance.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 4 B-25s pound buildings in the Katha area; 25 B-24s haul fuel to Kunming, China; 8 P-47s sweep a river from Bhamo to Katha, 3 strafe official buildings at Bhamo, and 16 hit targets of opportunity on the Burma Road from Lungling, China to Wanling to Namhkam and blast gun positions N of Loiwing Airfield.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 10 B-25s and 6 P-40s pound Lungling; 14 B-25s hit the town area and destroy 2 bridges and damage another at Sungpai; 22 others bomb Kaochishih, Tunghsiangchiao, and the area E of Kiyang; 27 P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance over Hunan and other areas of inland SE China attack road and river traffic and general targets of opportunity around Lingling, Hengyang, Kiyang, Yangtien, and Patpo; and 15 P-40s hit coastal and river shipping in S China and in Indochina on the S China Sea, in Chikhom Bay, and along the Red River; the flight of the 21st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force, operating from Kweilin with F-5s since Jul 43, returns to base at Kunming; and the 74th Fighter Squadron, 23d Fighter Group, moves from Kweilin and Liuchow to Luliang with P-40s and P-51s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): P-47s from Saipan hit AA positions on Pagan with a rocket and bombing attack. A lone B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs the building area on Marcus . B-25s from the Gilbert s bomb Nauru.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s pound 3 airfields in the Menado area on Celebes. B-24s and B-25s bomb Kaoe and Galela Airfields on Halmahera , and radar facilities on Morotai. B-24s hit Lautem on Timor . P-38s dive-bomb Namlea runways on Buru while P-47s hit Boela. In New Guinea, A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit airfields, AA guns, and other targets at Babo, Mongosah, Manokwari, Sagan, Moemi, and Samate; and the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, move from Noemfoor to Owi with P-47s.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: The USN Western Fire Support Group of Task Force 32 arrives off the Palau Islands and begins a naval bombardment in preparation for landings. This group is covered by Task Group 38.4 plus escort aircraft carriers. Carrier-based aircraft begin the final preinvasion attacks on Peleliu Island. The escort aircraft carriers involved are:
Task Group 30.7, the Antisubmarine Warfare Group
USS Hoggatt Bay with Composite Squadron Fourteen
Task Group 30.8, the At Sea Logistics Service Group:
USS Barnes, an aircraft transport
USS Nassau, an aircraft transport
USS Nehenta Bay with VC-11
USS Rudyerd Bay with VC-77
USS Sargent Bay with VC-79
USS Sitkoh Bay, an aircraft transport
USS Steamer Bay, an aircraft transport
Task Group 32.7.1, the Covering Force
USS Kadashan Bay with VC-20
USS Marcus Island with VC-21
USS Ommaney Bay with VC-75
USS Savo Island with VC-27

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Pampinito sinks a merchant passenger/cargo ship (ex-U.S. passenger liner SS President Harrison) and a tanker about 169 nautical miles E of Hainan Island, China. Unknown to the Americans, the passenger/cargo ship is carrying 1,317 Australian and British POWs. Returning to the scene three days later, Pampinito will find and rescue 73 POWs. Other US submarines are dispatched to the area and pick up another 79 survivors. Many POWs are picked up by the Japanese and continued to Japan.
USN submarine USS Growler sinks the destroyer HIJMS Shikinami 208 nautical miles S of Hong Kong and an escort vessel 217 nautical miles E of Hainan Island.
In the South China Sea and the Red River of French Indochina, 14 USAAF P-40s attack coastal and river traffic.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 attack Japanese installations on Cebu. The aircraft also attack shipping and sink 20 vessels.
Ensign Thomas C. Tillar, USNR, a pilot from USS Hornet, in TG 38.1, is rescued by Filipinos after his F6F ditches off Apit Island, off the southwestern coast of Leyte. Before Tillar is recovered by an SOC Seagull from heavy cruiser USS Wichita, he learns from his rescuers that the size of the Japanese garrison on Leyte is negligible. That fact, when combined with the lack of aerial opposition encountered and the few airfields that exist on Leyte and Samar, prompts Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander of the Third Fleet, to recommend that the planned attack on Yap Island in the Caroline Islands be abandoned and that the date of the landings on Leyte be advanced from 20 December to 20 October 1944.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 554, SEPTEMBER 12, 1944
1. Carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet attacked enemy defenses in the Palau Islands on 10 and 11 September (West Longitude Date). On 11 September the islands were shelled by battleships and cruisers. One hundred and twenty tons of bombs were dropped by aircraft on buildings, gun positions, and coastal defenses at Babelthuap, Peleliu, and Angaur Islands. On 10 September a small cargo ship near the islands was sunk by bombing and strafing, and another was damaged. More than 150 rockets were fired at defensive positions during the two days, and numerous ground installations were strafed.
2. A single plane bombed the airfield at Iwo Jima on the night of 10 September.
3. Pagan Island was a target for our aircraft on 10 September. Rockets were launched at buildings and gun emplacements. Antiaircraft fire ranged from meager to intense.
4. Seventy two tons of bombs were dropped on Truk by Liberators of the 7th AAF on 10 September. Five or six enemy aircraft attempted interception. One enemy aircraft was destroyed and one was damaged. Antiaircraft fire varied from meager to intense. Minor damage was inflicted on three Liberators.
5. On the same day enemy held positions in the Marshalls were subjected to further neutralization raids. Corsairs of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed bivouac areas on Jaluit and Maloelap atolls. Corsairs and Dauntless dive bombers attacked Mille, encountering moderate antiaircraft fire.

1945
MALAYA: In Singapore, IJA General ITAGAKI Seishiro, Commander in Chief 7th Area Army and Governor of Johor State, Malaya, surrenders all Japanese forces in Southeast Asia and the Netherlands East Indies to British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command. Approximately 585,000 Japanese troops surrendered in this agreement.

 

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1940
CHINA: Pre-production Mitsubishi A6M2, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter Model 11s (later assigned the Allied Code Name of "Zeke"), assigned to the 12th Rengo Kokutai (12th Combined Naval Air Corps), are flown in combat for the first time over Chungking. The Japanese pilots destroy 99 Chinese aircraft for the loss of two A6M2s to ground fire.

1941
IRAN: The government orders the departure of Axis diplomats.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) 11th Air Force dispatches an LB-30 Liberator and two P-38s to fly a photo reconnaissance, antisubmarine coverage and strafing mission over Japanese-held Kiska Island lakes and harbor; a tender in the harbor is slightly damaged, one Japanese float fighter is downed; a P-38 is hit by antiaircraft fire and fighters damage the LB-30.
- 14 B-24s of the 21st and 404th Bombardment Squadrons move up to Adak .

CHINA: U.S. Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stillwell, Commander-in- Chief U.S. China-Burma- India (CBI) Theater of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, present a proposed plan of operations to Chiang Kai-Shek for the USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force, calling for the defense of ferry routes from India to China as its primary mission.

ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS: USAAF 5th Air Force P-40s strafe P-40s strafe buildings on Goodenough Island which is off the eastern extremity of Papua New Guinea.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Japanese fire mortars and artillery at the Australian defenders at Ioribaiwa but the night is uneventful.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): B-26s pound the airfield at Lae. B-17s unsuccessfully attack a cruiser SE of Rabaul. P-40s strafe buildings on Goodenough.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Solomons Sea, USAAF 5th Air Force B-17s unsuccessfully attack a Japanese cruiser southeast of Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force, orders the 7th Marine Regiment, now on Espiritu Santo Island in the New Hebrides Islands, to reinforce the Guadalcanal garrison. Staff officers of the Imperial Japanese Army's 17th Army at Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, scout Guadalcanal aboard an "Irving" reconnaissance aircraft.
Despite interception by 28 F4F Wildcat fighters from Henderson Field, they report the airstrip held by the Japanese. Colonel OKA Akinosuke, commander of the 124th Infantry Regiment, again radios Lieutenant General Kawaguchi Kiyotake, Commanding Officer 35th Brigade, to ask for a delay in his attack against the west flank of the Lunga Perimeter. The answer is No!
Colonel Merritt Edson, Commander of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, regroups his units on the Bloody Ridge after the fighting last night. He pulls back 200 yards to stronger positions that will be unfamiliar to the Japanese. His line consists of small combat groups of approximately platoon strength at 100 yard (91 meter) intervals. He cannot man a continuous line. Colonel Merrill B. Twining, Assistant Operations Officer of the 1st Marine Division, visits the line and recommends immediate replacement of these troops. The division Reserve, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment moves up, but are not into place by nightfall.
At 1830 hours the Japanese attack again. By 2130 hours Marine 75 mm artillery is dropping 200 yards (183 meters) in from of the line. By 2200 hours, the 105 mm guns are also involved. Division Command Post (near Henderson Field) is under sniper fire. Major Kenneth Bailey, a company commander in the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, brings forward a resupply of grenades and ammunition at 0300 hours. Reserves are fed into the line around 0400 hours. The Japanese 7th Company, 4th Regiment, breaks though a gap in the U.S. lines and reaches the Fighter 2 (Kukum Strip) about 0530 hours and are stopped by Headquarters Company and Company D. Daylight brings the attacks to a near stop. General Kawaguchi finds that the 1 Battalion did not find the front line, but its commanding and executive officers are dead; Colonel Oka has not attacked despite orders; the attack against the eastern perimeter did not take place either. Colonel Matsumoto, from the 17th Army, radios back to Rabaul on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, on 14 September that the major attack will occur tonight due to the heavy jungle. The Battle of Edson's (Bloody) Ridge has already happened.
During the day, aerial reinforcements arrive:
(1) pilots from USS Hornet ferry 18 F4F Wildcats to the island;
(2) in the afternoon, 12 SBDs of the USN's VS-3 and six TBFs of VT-8, both assigned to the USS Saratoga, are flown to Henderson Field while the Saratoga returns to Hawaii fro repairs. Four of the 18 new F4Fs are lost in air battles during the day. There have been a total of 60 new planes join the Cactus Air Force during the last three days.

1943
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER (Fifth Air Force): B-24's escorted by P-38's, bomb airfields and ammunition dumps in the Wewak area; and B-25's hit Lae. Lost are P-40N "Mr. Five by Five / Pumkins" 42-104977, P-38H 42-66837.

USN - Strikes Rabaul. Lost is F4U Corsair 17435.

CHINA: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek is elected President of the Republic of China by the Central Executive Committee. He succeeds President Lin Sen, who died on 7 August and will serve a three-year term. The committee permits President Chiang to keep his post as Commander-in- Chief of the Chinese army.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, units of the Australian 15th Brigade, 7th Division, capture Salamaua. Pressure at Lae continues as the Japanese perimeter contracts. The contracting forces are rear-guards only. The main Japanese force has already abandoned Lae and is trying to escape over the Saruwaged Range. On 8 September, Lieutenant General Nakano Hidemitsu, commander of the 51st Division, have issued orders for the withdrawal. On or about 10 September, the main body of about 7,000 left in four groups carrying half rations for a 14-day journey.
They have intended to withdraw along a preprepared withdrawal route across the Huon Peninsula to Sio; food dumps are spaced along the route. However, at the Busu River the Japanese found that Australian commandos are already in possession of the bridge across the swollen Busu River. These commandos are the flank guard of the advancing Australian 9th Division. The Japanese lose three days while they built a new bridge across the Busu further up. Then they have to follow a different route without any food. Many died of starvation or disease in the ensuing weeks.
In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Force B-24 Liberators escorted by P-38 Lightnings, bomb airfields and ammunition dumps in the Wewak area, while B-25 Mitchells hit Lae.

1944
JAPAN: During the night of 13/14 September, three USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators strike Kurabu Cape shipping and airfield on Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 8 P-47s hit targets at Mawhun and some of the fighter-bombers afterwards strafe targets of opportunity on the Irrawaddy River from Katha to Shwegu; 8 others sweep the river between Bhamo and Katha; 12 more hit targets along a road in the Kutkai area; large-scale transport operations in the CBI continue.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): B-24s claim 3 cargo vessels sunk off the Pescadores's near Formosa.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: A USN task force under Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf, comprised of five old battleships, [USS Maryland, USS Mississippi, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee and USS West Virginia], nine cruisers, and destroyers begins two days of bombardment of Peleliu and Angaur Islands in the Palau Islands. Additional support is from four Third Fleet escort aircraft carriers. Minesweeping begins to clear approaches for the landing craft.
While sweeping mines 750 yards off the southeast coast of Angaur Island, a violent underwater explosion, starboard side amidships, shakes the high speed minesweeper USS Perry. All steam to her main engines is lost and the forward fireroom is demolished and flooded. Steam and oil sprayed in all directions and the ship takes on a 30 degree list to port. The list increases and, at 1420 hours, the commanding officer ordered "abandon ship". With the aid of the destroyer USS Preble final attempts to save the vessel are made, but, at 1515 hours, all remaining personnel are ordered off. At 1605 hours, USS Perry capsizes. She brakes in two at the point of damage and, at 1607 hours, sinks in 40 fathoms (240 feet) of water.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan based P-47s hit buildings on Pagan with rockets and machine gun fire. B-24s on armed reconnaissance, snooper, and training missions bomb Iwo Jima, Marcus, and Pagan

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s and B-25s hit 4 airfields and bomb villages on Morotai . In New Guinea, B-25s hit Langgoer Airfield while A-20s and fighter-bombers hit 2 airfields on Efman; A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit Babo AA positions and airfields at Manokwari and Ransiki; HQ Thirteenth AF moves from Los Negros to Hollandia.

USN - Lost on a mission against Peleliu is TBM Avenger 16956.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20s and fighter-bombers hit two airfields on Efman Island; A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit Babo antiaircraft positions and airfields at Manokwari and Ransiki (Moemi North) Airfields.

PHILLIPPINES: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 make unopposed attacks against Japanese faculties in the central Philippines. Because of the lack of a reaction from the Japanese, Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander of the Third Fleet, recommends that the invasion of the Palau Islands be scrapped and the invasion of the Philippines be moved forward.

CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 115, SEPTEMBER 13, 1944
Carrier based aircraft of the Pacific Fleet shot down more than fifty enemy aircraft and destroyed more than 150 on the ground in a day long attack against Cebu, Negros, and Panay Islands in the Philippines on September 11 (West Longitude Date). Preliminary reports are fragmentary, but it is indicated that air operations are continuing against strong enemy opposition. Several cargo ships and numerous smaller craft were sunk in the initial attacks.
Paramushiru in the Kurile Islands was bombed and strafed by search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four on September 10. Waterfront installations along the Southeast Coast were the principal targets and several fires were started. Each of two medium cargo ships discovered near Paramushiru suffered a direct bomb hit and both were strafed. Strafing attacks were also delivered to a number of small craft offshore. On the same day a Navy search plane bombed Shimushu Island, and another search plane shot down an enemy fighter East of Onekotan Island.
On September 11, Eleventh Army Air Force Mitchells bombed and strafed a number of vessels in the harbor at Shimushu, sinking one medium cargo vessel and four small cargo vessels. Two other small cargo vessels were damaged. Seven enemy fighters intercepted our planes and inflicted minor damage on one Mitchell but all returned safely. On the same day, Venturas of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed and strafed Paramushiru, Araido and Onekotan, setting fires to docks and warehouses.
Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force dropped 26 tons of bombs on airfields at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands on September 10. Large fires were started. One of four intercepting enemy fighters was destroyed. Antiaircraft fire damaged two Liberators. On September 11, a lone Navy Catalina bombed an ammunition dump at Nauru Island, and Corsairs of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing hit the storage and magazine areas at Jaluit.
Pagan Island in the Marianas was attacked on September 11, by Seventh Army Air Force Thunderbolts using bombs and rockets. Gun positions and buildings were hit.

1945
IRAN: In response to the Iranian government's demand for the withdrawal of American, British, and Soviet occupation forces, the Allied governments assured the Iranians that Allied forces would complete their evacuation by 2 March 1946.

NAURU ISLAND: The Australian frigate HMAS Diamantina (K 377) arrives off the island at 0700 hours local. A Japanese envoy is ordered to have the 3,200 Japanese troops and 500 Koreans ready for embarkation by 1500 hours. At 1445 hours, the commander of the Japanese garrison and five staff officers board the frigate and surrender.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Japanese Lieutenant General ADACHI Hatazo, commander of the 18th Army, signs the surrender document at Wom Airstrip just west of Wewak.

VIETNAM: Douglas Gracey on arrival immediately realized the seriousness of the situation. Anarchy, rioting and murder were widespread, Saigon's administrative services had collapsed and a loosely-controlled Communist-led revolutionary group had seized power. In addition, being that the Japanese were still fully armed, the Allies feared the they were capable of undermining the Allied position. Furthermore, he could barely communicate with his higher headquarters in Burma, for his America signal detachment was abruptly withdrawn by the U.S. government due to political reasons.

 

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1939
CANADA: Canada, the last of the great Dominions to declare war, will become the arsenal of the Allies, providing food, industries, convoy escorts and air training facilities, according to the prime minister, Mr. Mackenzie King. He said: "Canada's liberties came down from those men in England and France who never hesitated to lay down their lives when their freedom was threatened."
Mr. King will not bring in conscription, though, particularly not during an election campaign. Like most Canadians he abhors the idea of Canadians being fed into the Western Front as happened in W.W.I, and prefers the more profitable role of supplier of raw materials rather than men.

1940
U.S.A.: The Congress passes the Selective Service Act authorizing the first peacetime draft (conscription) in U.S. history.
New United States naval policy called for a two-ocean navy.

1941
U.S.A.: Army General Headquarters (GHQ) maneuvers commence in Louisiana. The Army's neglect of aviation support for its ground troops during the interwar period compels it to ask the Navy to provide planes to take part. Five Navy squadrons [Bombing Squadron Two (VB-2), Fighting Squadrons Forty One and Seventy Two (VF-41 and -72) and Scouting Squadrons Five and Forty Two (VS-5 and -42)] and four Marine Corps squadrons [Marine Fighting Squadron One Hundred Eleven (VMF-111), Marine Observation Squadron One Hundred Fifty One (VMO-151), and Marine Scout Bombing Squadrons One Hundred Thirty One and One Hundred Thirty Two (VMSB-131 and -132)] take part in the large-scale war games.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: In the first combined heavy mission over Japanese-held Kiska Island, the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) 11th Air Force dispatches 13 B-24s, a B-17, 14 P-38s, and 14 P-39s to fly low-altitude and photographic reconnaissance runs; the P-39s strafe and damage two submarines in the harbor; the other aircraft bomb and strafe many installations including antiaircraft guns and the submarine base; a single aircraft also strafes Segula Island located about 26 nautical miles ENE of Kiska Island.
Japanese losses are five float planes shot down and a flying boat destroyed on the water; an ammunition ship is sunk and another vessel slightly damaged; while a large cargo vessel and several small barges and vessels sustain hits; two P-38s are lost, colliding head-on while after a fighter.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Japanese edge to within 32 miles of Port Moresby but run into advance elements of the Australian 25th Brigade of the Australian 7th Division at Imita Ridge on the Kokoda Trail. It is the last advance the Japanese will make on the island and the high water mark of their conquests. Henceforth, all their moves will be retreats.
In Papua New Guinea, a single USAAF 5th Air Force A-20 bombs ground forces and installations at Myola located about 42 mile NE of Port Moresby.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: At 0515 hours, Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, Commander, Amphibious Force South Pacific (Task Force 62), sails in a six-transport convoy from Espiritu Santo Island with the 7th Marine Regiment bound for Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands. The convoy is escorted Task Force 18 built around the battleship USS North Carolina, aircraft carriers USS Hornet and Wasp and ten other ships.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) troops attempting to retake Henderson Field on Guadalcanal are driven back, with the loss of 600 men, for the second day in a row. USAAF P-400 Airacobras attack the Japanese troops retreating south of the Lunga Perimeter.
At about 1300 hours, 28 IJN "Betty" bombers escorted by an unknown number of "Zeke" fighters bomb Henderson Field; USMC F4F pilots shoot down two "Bettys" and two "Zekes".

UNITED STATES: The 18-minute color documentary film "The Battle of Midway" is released. Directed, produced and filmed by John Ford, narration is provided by Donald Crisp, Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell with James Roosevelt, the President's son, appearing as an Army major. Ford is on Midway Island with a crew of Navy photographers during the epic battle in June 1942.

1943
CBI (Tenth Air Force): HQ 311th BG (Dive) and it's 382d Bombardment Squadron (Dive) arrive at Nawadih, India from the US with A-36's. The group will fly it's first combat mission on 16 Oct.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 15 B-24's are dispatched to Haiphong, French Indochina. The first flight aborts due to bad weather but the second flight reaches the target area and bombs docks and shipping. 4 P 38's severely damage 2 vessels at Chiuchiang, China. The 25th Fighter Squadron, 51st FG, transfers from Dinjan, India to Yunnani, China with P-40's. The squadron's detachment at Jorhat, India also transfers.

SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): The 8th Brigade Group of the New Zealand 3rd Division arrive on Guadalcanal from New Caledonia Island, having rehearsed en route (in the New Hebrides Islands) for the invasion of the Treasury Islands.
Allied airfields and other facilities on Guadalcanal, and at Barakoma Airfield on Vella Lavella Island and Munda Airfield on New Georgia Island, are attacked by Japanese aircraft throughout the day.
Thirteenth Air Force B-24s, with fighter escorts, bomb Kahili Airfield, located near Buin, on southern Bougainville Island, three times during the day. Thirty plus B-24s unload on dispersal and revetment areas and on runways, causing considerable damage; eight Japanese interceptors are claimed shot down.
Three B-25s bomb Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island and two B-24s and six USN PV-1 Venturas attack the Vila area. P-39s join USN fighters and dive bombers in attack on Ballale Island Airfield. During the night, Japanese Navy aircraft mount 79 separate attacks on Guadalcanal, New Georgia and Vella Lavella Islands.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): B-25's attack Lae and barges in Hansa Bay; B-24's bomb Kendari on Celebes . The detachment of the 6th Nighter Fighter Squadron, 15th FG, which has been operating from New Guinea since 18 Apr with P-70's, begins a movement back to it's base at Kipapa, Territory of Hawaii.

BURMA: Japanese troops withdraw from the Manipur River line.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, one of the Japanese documents captured by Australian troops yesterday indicates that the Japanese have begun to evacuate Lae on 8 September, leaving only a strong rearguard.
The evacuation saved 7,000 Japanese troops of the 41st and 51st Divisions. The Australian 25th Brigade continues east towards Lae.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): During the night of 13/14 Sep 3 B-24s strike Kurabu Cape shipping and airfield on Paramushiru .

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 4 B-25s drop fragmentation-boobytrap bombs on Bhamo; large scale C-47 operations continue to various points in the CBI.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 B-25s bomb Tunganhsien; 91 P-40s and P-51s attack inland shipping, troop compounds, supplies, and numerous buildings around the Lungling area, throughout the vast expanse of inland SE China, mainly in Hunan, and other areas S of Tungting Lake; HQ 23d FG moves from Liuchow to Luliang; the air echelon of the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force (attached to 23d Fighter Group), moves from Kweilin to Liuchow with P-51s (ground echelon is at Chengkung; and the 373d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 308th BG (Heavy), moves from Yangkai to Luliang with B-24s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Saipan bomb Iwo Jima. P-47s make strafing and rocket attacks on warehouses and shelters on Pagan. B-24s on armed reconnaissance bomb Marcus ; others from Eniwetok Atoll bomb Truk while Gilbert s-based B-25s hit Ponape.

SOUTH CHINA SEA: The USN submarine USS Pargo lays mines near Natuna Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: USN Task Group 38.2 (TG 38.2, Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) attacks Japanese shipping and installations on and around Panay and Negros Islands, supported by TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman). TG 38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain), en route to support the Morotai landings, carries out strikes on Japanese installations on Mindanao; during the course of these operations, SB2Cs Helldivers of Bombing Squadron Two sink a fast transport in Davao Gulf. Meanwhile, destroyers USS Farenholt, USS McCalla, and USS Grayson, detached from TG 38.1, bombard suspected Japanese radar installation on Cape San Augustin, at the mouth of Davao Gulf.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: 5620 Dutch, English, Australian and American POWs and Javanese slave labourers are loaded aboard the Japanese cargo ship "Junyo Maru" at Batavia on Java. The ship will be sunk by an RN submarine four days later.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Celebes , B-25s pound Mapanget airstrip and the Menado area. B-24s hit 4 airfields on Halmahera . In New Guinea, A-20s and B-25s bomb Babo Airfield while fighter-bombers make scattered small raids on AA positions, airfields, and targets of opportunity on the Vogelkop Peninsula; the 69th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), moves from Hollandia to Sansapor; and the 100th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), Thirteenth Air Force [attached to 42d BG (Medium)], ceases operating from Hollandia with B-25s and returns to base at Sansapor.

CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 116, SEPTEMBER 14, 1944
Carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet swept over the Central Philippines and inflicted crippling damage on enemy air forces shipping and ground installations during a three day strike, September 11 to 13 (West Longitude Date). More complete information shows that the following damage was done to the enemy on Panay, Cebu, Negros and Leyte Islands.
Aircraft destroyed: 156 shot down in combat and 277 destroyed on the ground. This is a revision of planes previously announced lost by the enemy in the Central Philippines. As of sundown on September 13, 501 enemy air¬craft had been destroyed in the Philippines by our carrier aircraft.
Ships sunk: Two large cargo vessels, one medium transport, two destroyer escorts, 35 small ships.
Ships damaged: Five cargo vessels, one medium oiler, 36 small ships, two motor torpedo boats, many sampans. These ship losses are in addition to those previously reported.
Damage to ground installations: Several airfields were bombed and strafed by our planes. Oil storage facilities, ammunition dumps, warehouses, barracks and buildings were set afire.
Enemy air opposition the first day was considerable and was reinforced during the first night so that its strength on the second day was also formidable. Enemy planes rose to intercept our aircraft, but no attempts were made to attack our surface ships. On the third day, enemy air power was nonexistent and antiaircraft fire was meager. Our losses in planes and flight personnel were relatively light.
Carrier aircraft hit enemy positions at Angaur, Peleliu and Ngesebus Islands in the Palau Group on September 12 with 90 tons of bombs and 165 rockets. Damage was inflicted on coastal gun positions, warehouses and a lighthouse at Angaur.
On September 12, Navy search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two, attacked and damaged a large sampan and two large troop laden landing craft near Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands.
Pagan Island was bombed twice on September 12, one attack being made by a Thunderbolt of the Seventh Army Air Force, the other by a Liberator. Buildings and gun positions were hit. There was no antiaircraft fire.
A single Liberator of the Seventh Army Air Force bombed buildings on Marcus Island on September 11. The plane which returned was damaged by antiaircraft fire. Other Seventh Army Air Force Liberators bombed Marcus Island on September 12.
Mitchell bombers of the Seventh Army Air Force flew through meager antiaircraft fire to bomb Nauru on September 12.
The Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing sent Corsair and Dauntless dive bombers over Wotje on September 11 and again on September 12 to bomb gun positions and communications facilities. Dauntless dive bombers struck at Mille on September 11, hitting bivouac areas. Meager antiaircraft fire was encountered at both targets.

1945
[none so far]

 

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1932
MANCHUKUO: The Japanese and Manchukuo governments sign a protocol which establishes a Japanese protectorate over the kingdom.

1937
SWITZERLAND: Wellington Koo, Chinese Delegate, warned the League of Nations Council of injury to foreign interests in the Far East and the possibility of a world conflict if Japanese aggression in China goes unchecked.

1939
AUSTRALIA: The Australian Government announces the mobilization of the Militia and the establishment of the 2nd Australia Imperial Force for service abroad.

UNITED STATES: The isolationist campaign against American involvement in the war is reaching a crescendo. In three days alone, a total of more than a million pieces of mail reaches members of the U.S. Congress urging Senators and Representative to vote against selling arms to the allies. Several members of Congress have taken to the airwaves to broadcast the isolationist viewpoint, including Republican Senators Gerald Nye of North Dakota and Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, but the most vociferous advocate is Charles Lindbergh. The Lindberghs moved to Europe after the infamous kidnaping of their son, and became close to the "Cliveden set" in Britain, who advocated appeasement to Germany, and Joseph Kennedy, the US Ambassador to Great Britain. Lindbergh praised Nazi Germany's "sense of decency", called Hitler "undoubtedly a great man" and accepted a Nazi decoration.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Union, Mongolia and Japan sign an agreement calling for all combat actions along the Khalkin-Gol River to cease by 16 September. The two sides agree to exchange prisoners of war and a commission is created to define the borders of Mongolia and Manchuria in the area of Khalkin-Gol River. This enables it to pull forces away from Mongolia and look west. Both sides have been under pressure from Germany since the signing of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact. Peace talks are initiated by Japan's new cabinet, appointed two weeks ago.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The 11th Air Force dispatches a B-17s and a B-24 to fly armed reconnaissance over Japanese held Kiska Island, and bomb buildings in the Constantine Harbor area of Amchitka Island; American fighters strafe Kiska Island Camp area and shoot down four intercepting Japanese aircraft.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: In the air, 5th Air Force B-17s bomb the harbor and airfields at Rabaul on New Britain Island.

EAST INDIES: The Australian corvette HMAS Kalgoorlie arrives in Betano Bay, Portugese Timor with 14 soldiers and 15 tons of supplies for the “Sparrow Force.” The “Sparrow Force” consists of the 2/2 Independent Company Australian Imperial Force, and survivors from the 2/40th Battalion, 22nd Brigade, 8th Division Australian Imperial Force, who did not surrender to the Japanese, plus local East Timorese guerillas.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, a Japanese patrol penetrates between two Australian units at 1400 hours local. Meanwhile, Company E and attachments of the U.S. Army's 126th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, is airlifted from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, to Port Moresby by USAAF transport aircraft. These is the first U.S. infantry unit in New Guinea.
In the air over Papua New Guinea, USAAF 5th Air Force B-25s and B-26s attack Buna and Sanananda and hit Japanese camps at Efogi and Myola on the Kokoda Track.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) (10th Air Force): HQ 341st BGroup (Medium) and the 490th and 491st Bombardment Squadrons are activated at Karachi, India with B-25s; also assigned are the 11th and 22d Bombardment Squadrons at Kunming, China and Karachi respectively with B-25s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force):B-17s bomb the harbor and airfield at Rabaul. B-17E "Frank Buck" 41-2659, force lands, but it is later repaired and returns to service. The 19th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 22d Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Woodstock to Iron Range, Australia with B-26s.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN’s Task Force 18, which is escorting the six-ship convoy transporting the 7th Marine Regiment to Guadalcanal, is located about 300 nautical miles SE of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal when it is sighted by the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19. The submarine fires a spread of four torpedoes at the Wasp task group. Two of the torpedoes strike the aircraft carrier USS Wasp at 1445 hours GMT; the two other torpedoes miss the aircraft carrier hit the battleship USS North Carolina at 1452 hours GMT and the destroyer USS O’Brien at 1454 hours (GMT). The aircraft carrier USS Wasp is the most severely damaged. Fires break out almost simultaneously in the hangar and below decks and the heat of the intense gasoline fires detonates the ready ammunition at the forward antiaircraft guns on the starboard side, and fragments shower the forward part of the ship. The number two 1.1-inch mount is blown overboard. Water mains in the forward part of the ship prove useless, since they had been broken by the force of the explosions. There is no water available to fight the conflagration forward and the fires continue to set off ammunition, bombs, and gasoline. As the ship lists to starboard between 10 and 15 degrees, oil and gasoline, released from the tanks by the torpedo hit, catch fire on the water. A serious gasoline fire breaks out in the forward portion of the hanger, within 24 minutes of the initial attack, three additional major gasoline vapor explosions occur. Unable to control the fires, the "abandon ship" order is given at 1520 hours.
The abandoned ship drifts and the fires travel aft; four more violent explosions occur as night begins to fall. The destroyer USS Lansdowne drew the duty of destruction, and she fires five torpedoes into the dying ship's fire-gutted hull. Three hit, but Wasp remains afloat.
By now, the orange flames had enveloped the stern. The carrier literally floats in a burning pool of gasoline and oil. She sank at 2100 by the bow leaving five aircraft carriers in commission. The battleship USS North Carolina takes a torpedo portside, 20 feet below her waterline, and six of her crewmen are killed but skillful damage control by her crew prevent disaster; a 5.6 degree list is righted in as many minutes, and she maintains her station in a formation at 26
knots.
The destroyer USS O'Brien is struck on the port bow but the explosion did little local damage, but set up severe structural stresses through the ship but she is able to proceed under her own power.

1943
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 5 B-24's attack a cement plant at Haiphong, French Indochina; 50+ Japanese fighters attack the B-24's, shooting down 4 of them; the 1 returning B-24 claims 10 fighters downed. 6 B-25's and 14 P-40's attack a cotton mill in the Wuchang, China area.

AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief South West Pacific Area, orders the New Guinea Force (all Allied ground forces in New Guinea) to capture Kaiapit and Dumpu in Northeast New Guinea with assistance from RAAF and USAAF aircraft.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, troops of the Australian 7th and 9th Divisions continue their assault on Lae. By dusk, the 7th Division, advancing from the west, is 5 miles from Lae and the 9th Division is a little over one mile east of Lae Aerodrome, the airfield Amelia Earhart took off from in 1937 en route to Howland Island.

SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): B-25's bomb Vila Airfield, Kahili and Kara Airfield. B-24's, with fighter escort, later pound the Kahili runway area; others hit Parapatu Point on New Georgia. During the night, B-25's hit Kahili Airfield twice and heavy bombers bomb Buka Airfield and Ballale Airfield. Ballale Airfield is also hit by USN dive bombers, supported by AAF, USN and USMC fighters; a bivouac area, revetments, supply dumps and gun positions are hit; the runway appears badly damaged by the strikes.

HQ 403d Troop Carrier Group arrives on Espiritu Santo , New Hebrides , from the US. A detachment of the 6th Night Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group, that has been operating from Guadalcanal with P-70's since 28 Feb 43, departs for it's base at Kipapa, Territory of Hawaii. The 372d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 307th BG (Heavy), that has been operating from Guadalcanal with B-24's since 5 Aug, returns to it's base on Espiritu Santo , New Hebrides for R&R.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): B-24's, with P-38 escort, bomb airfields in the Wewak area, destroying 10 enemy aircraft on the ground; 14 more are claimed destroyed in air combat. B-17's bomb the Lae area lost is B-17F "Listen Here Tojo" 41-24552 and B-25's sink about 15 barges between Alexishafen and Finschhafen, blast an ammunition and supply dump near Bogadjim, and attack AA positions at Bostrem Bay.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A USN PBY-5 Catalina of Patrol Squadron VP-23, based in the Florida Islands, spots Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-101 about 123 nautical miles ESE of San Cristobal Island, Solomon Islands. The destroyer USS Saufley assists in sinking the submarine; all 50 submariners are lost.

GILBERT ISLANDS: Aircraft of USN Task Force 15 attack Tarawa, Makin, and Abemama to decrease Japanese pressure on the Ellice Islands and provide operational training. During the attack on Tarawa, TBF Avengerss, SBD's, and F6F Hellcats from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, and small aircraft carriers USS Princeton and Belleau Wood sink Japanese motor torpedo boats Gyoraitei and Gyoraitei No. 3.

UNITED STATES: T.V. Soong, the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., presents a plan to President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the reorganization of the China theater in such a way as to eliminate American Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander of the U.S. China-Burma- India (CBI) Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-Shek and Commander of the Northern Area Combat Command in Burma. Stilwell had asked Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek to join the Communists against the Japanese, and Chiang complains that Stilwell does not understand the realities of China.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 8 P-47s bomb Kutkai, 16 sweep the river from Bhamo to Katha and bomb Naba, Katha, and Mohnyin; several other P-47s sweep the Burma Road from Lungling, China to Muse to Bhamo and strafe a boat on the river at Myothit; 12 P-51s hit Mawhun while 8 B-25s hit fuel storage and targets of opportunity in the the Chefang, China area; 13 B-24s fly fuel to Liuchow, China; a detachment of the 1st Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, based at Sylhet, India begins operaing from Yunnani, China with C-47s; and the 89th Fighter Squadron, 80th FG, moves from Nagaghuli to Myitkyina with P-47s.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 19 B-24s bomb a military storage area at Hengyang; 20 B-25s hit Chuanhsien and 5 pound a ferry crossing and bus station at Lingling; 90+ P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance attack river shipping, numerous buildings, troops, and general targets of opportunity from NE of Ichang to Liuchow Peninsula concentrating on the Kiyang and Changsha areas; and HQ 68th Composite Wing moves from Kweilin to Liuchow.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): P-47s from Saipan hit AA positions on Pagan with machinegun and rocket fire. A lone B-24 on a snooper mission bombs Iwo Jima; all other B-24 missions abort. US Army lands on Morotai.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palaus Islands, the U.S.1st Marine Division lands on Peleliu Island at about 0830 hours local after a preparatory bombardment by naval vessels and aircraft. The Japanese garrison is a regiment from the 14th Division under Colonel NAKAGAWA. U.S. naval forces under Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf, commander, Cruiser Division Four (CruDiv 4), that have been bombarding the island, remain in support. The resistance on the beaches is moderate but fierce fighting begins as the Marines move inland. At the end of the day the beachhead perimeter measures 2,800 yard from north to south but is only 400 to 700 yards deep, except for a salient in the center. As a diversion for the Peleliu landings, a feint landing is made on Babelthuap Island.

EAST INDIES: USN Task Force 77 (TF 77), consisting of U.S. and Australian ships, lands the U.S. Army's 41st Infantry Division (Reinforced) on the southwest coast of Morotai Island, Moluccas Islands, Netherlands East Indies, at 0830 hours local in Operation TRADE WIND; there is no opposition. TF 77 is supported by two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and ten destroyers and aircraft from six escort carriers, screened by eight destroyer escorts. Japanese resistance is negligible and Pitoe Aerodrome is quickly captured. Airfield facilities built on Morotai will be used in operations to support missions against Japanese positions in the Philippines. Forces push inland about 2,000 yards to D-Day objectives.
The USN submarine USS Stingray lands men and stores on Majoe Island, in the Molucca Sea.
In the air over the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces A-20s, B-24s and P-47s bomb Kaoe, Lolobata and Hate Tabako on Halmahera Island. B-24s sink two small Makassar-bound Japanese cargo vessels off Mongole Island. RAAF Beaufighters and USAAF A-20s bomb Japanese shipping off southeast coast of Ceram, sinking two fishing vessels.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s, A-20s, and P-47s bomb Kaoe, Lolobata, and Hate Tabako. P-39s bomb Manokwari Airfield and town area; and the 675th Bombardment Squadron, 417th BG, moves from Saidor to Noemfoor with A-20s.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the China Sea, the USN submarines USS Pampanito and USS Sealion rescue 73 British and 54 Australian POWs who were aboard the Japanese freighter Rakuyo Maru sunk by the USS Sealion on 12 September. The freighter is carrying 1,300 POWs when she is torpedoed.

UNITED STATES: The Joint Chiefs of Staff decide to invade central rather than the southern Philippines and advance the target date for the invasion of Leyte from 20 December to 20 October. Projected operations against Yap Island in the Caroline Islands, Talaud Island in the Netherlands East Indies and Mindanao Island in the Philippines are canceled.
Two USN commissioned escort aircraft carriers are renamed so that their present names can be used on for Midway Class large aircraft carriers. The two are: USS Coral Sea (CVE-57) which is renamed USS Anzio and USS Midway (CVE-63) which is renamed USS St. Lo.

CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 117, SEPTEMBER 15, 1944
United States Army and Marine assault troops established beachheads in the Palau Islands on September 14 (West Longitude Date) with the support of carrier aircraft and surface combat ships of the Third Fleet under the command of Admiral Halsey. Enemy defenses are being heavily bombed and shelled at close range.
Amphibious operations against the Palau Islands are being directed by Vice Admiral T. S. Wilkinson, U. S. Navy, Commander Third Amphibious Force.
Expeditionary troops are commanded by Major General Julian C. Smith. USMC.
The landings are continuing against stiff ground opposition.

CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 118, SEPTEMBER 15, 1944
United States Marines are developing a beachhead in the southern portion of Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, and are closing in upon the principal airport in the island group. The beachhead extends for approximately one and one half miles along the southwestern shore of Peleliu. Several enemy counterattacks, employing tanks, were thrown back during September 14 (West Longitude Date) by our ground forces assisted by strong air support and Naval gunfire. Our casualties during the first day of the assault were light, although the landing beaches have been under sporadic mortar and artillery fire.
The landings on Peleliu Island were supported by carrier based aircraft which bombed, strafed, and launched rockets against enemy installations immediately behind the landing beaches on September 14. Gun emplacements and other defense installations on the northern end of the island were also heavily bombed. We lost one plane and four flight personnel in these attacks.
The fast carrier task force covering and supporting the landings by far ranging operations throughout the Western Pacific are commanded by Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, U. S. Navy.
The amphibious assault troops engaged are under the command of Major General Roy S. Geiger, USMC, Commander, Third Amphibious Corps.
The initial landings were made by the First Marine Division, commanded by Major General William H. Rupertus, USMC The ships in direct support are commanded by Rear Admiral George H. Fort, U. S. Navy.
Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Shimushu Island on September 12, setting buildings afire. Antiaircraft fire was ineffective. Seven enemy fighters rose to intercept our force but did not press home the attack. During the night of September 13 14 Eleventh Army Air Force Liberators bombed installations at Paramushiru. All returned undamaged to their base.
Three Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force bombed Iwo Jima on September 13, dropping 52 tons of bombs on the airfield and adjacent installations. Large explosions visible for many miles were observed. Enemy aircraft made no attempt at interception. All planes returned safely.
Pagan Island installations were bombed by Thunderbolts of the Seventh Army Air Force on September 13. Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered. On the same day fighter planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing hit gun positions on Rota, encountering meager antiaircraft fire.
Corsairs and Dauntless dive bombers of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing made further neutralization raids on the Marshall Island Atolls of Mille, Jaluit, and Wotje on September 12 and 13.
Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force flew through moderate antiaircraft fire to bomb Marcus Island on September 13.

1945
BORNEO: In Jesselton, British North Borneo, Japanese Colonel IEMURA, commander of the 25th Mixed Regiment, surrenders to Brigadier Selwyn Porter, commander of the 24th Australian Brigade.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: In Laos, Prince Phetsarath issues a proclamation unifying the Kingdom of Louangphrabang with the four southern provinces of Laos, declaring Vientiane the capital and announcing a forthcoming meeting of a Congress of Peoples Representatives to decide the country’s social, economic and political direction