This Day In The War, In The Pacific

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1939
JAPAN: Britain returns nine of the 21 Germans removed from the SS Asama Maru on 21 January after the Japanese government agrees not to transport German military reservists attempting to return home.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 7 B-25s knock spans out of 2 bridges N of Taungtha and damage bridges S of Myingyan and between Panaing and Mahlaing; 7 B-25s and 4 P-51s bomb a radio station at Sinkan, score near misses on a bridge below Kawlin, and knock out 2 bridges in the Ye-u area. 40+ P-51s, A-36s and P-40s hit a supply area S of Seton, camp and stores near Mogaung (at Pagoda Peak), and railroad station at Myitkyina.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 23 B-24s pound the warehouse area at Yoyang, causing several fires and secondary explosions; 12 B-25s bomb Yoyang railroad yards; 16 P-40s provide support; 2 B-25s on a sweep of the NE China coast sink 3 sampans and damage a merchant ship at Siachwan Tao; 6 P-40s bomb and strafe ammunition dumps at Kunlong; 12 P-38s and P-51s sink a large motor launch NE of Anking, strafe barracks and 3 tugs in the Teian area, hit barracks NW of Nanchang and strafe railroad installations at Yangsin; 4 P-40s hit a barracks W of Nanchang; 2 B-25s sink a large river craft on the Yangtze River near Chiuhsienchen and damage 2 more nearby.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s bomb Maloelap, Mille and Wotje Atolls; B-25s hit Jaluit and Mille Atolls; P-40s attack Mille Atoll.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 23 B-25s, with USN fighter escort, pound the Rabaul area; later 12 P-38s hit targets in the same area. 16 AAF fighters, along with 16 USN fighters, hit targets of opportunity throughout S Bougainville and Shortland. Numerous other fighters, in forces of varying sizes, attack barges and scattered targets of opportunity throughout the N Solomons, Bismarck Archipelago, and waters in between.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): Allied amphibious forces land on Los Negros, temporarily taking Momote Airfield and then falling back to the beachhead on Jamandilai Point; weather prevents full air support but 7 B-24s and 8 B-25s manage to attack enemy positions and guns; Other B-24s and A-20s hit Erima, Wewak, Tadji, Awar, and Hollandia. Lost is B-24D 42-72899 and B-25D "BAR-FLY" 41-30593.

N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 507, FEBRUARY 29, 1944
Pacific and Far East.

1. U. S. submarines have reported the sinking of 14 enemy vessels in operations in these waters, as follows:

1 large tanker
1 medium cargo transport
1 small cargo vessel
11 medium cargo vessels

2. These actions have not been announced in any previous Navy Depart*ment communiqué.




CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 287, FEBRUARY 29, 1944
Aircraft of the Seventh Army Air Force and search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two on February 26 and 27 (West Longitude Date) bombed and machine*-gunned Japanese‑held positions in the Caroline and Marshall Islands.
Army Liberator bombers hit Ponape with 30 tons of bombs on February 27, causing fires and explosions. Navy search planes strafed dock areas and a small ship at Kusaie on February 26.
Nearly 50 tons of bombs were dropped on seven enemy‑held atolls in the Marshall Islands on February 27 by Army Liberator and Mitchell bombers, Army Warhawk fighters, Army Dauntless dive‑bombers and Navy search Venturas.
Several of our planes were damaged by antiaircraft fire, but all returned to their base.

 

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1941
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 52 Seversky P-35A’s delivered to Nichols airfield on Luzon. Flying strength of 3 squadrons in the 4th Composite Group: 42 P-35A’s and 22 P-26A’s.

HAWAII: Vice Admiral John H Newton, Jr, Commander, Cruisers, Scouting Force, Pacific Fleet, takes a cruiser division and destroyer squadron from Hawaii to Australia and New Zealand and return. The voyage is exceedingly secret, and it remains a most murky transaction.

1942
AUSTRALIA: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane "Glen" to reconnoiter Hobart, Tasmania.

BURMA: The Burma Army's 1st Division covers the concentration of the Chinese 5th Army in the Toungoo area; the Chinese 200th Division of the army, which is already disposed in this area, regains Nyaunglebin and Pyuntaza, on the Rangoon-Mandalay road.
General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief India, arrives in Burma and orders Rangoon held as long as possible, at least until reinforcements en route, the British 63d Brigade Group, arrive. The Indian 17th Division returns toward Waw, which is to be defended.
General Chennault's "Flying Tigers' move from Rangoon to Magwe in Burma.

CANADA: The Canadian Women's Army Corps is granted full Army status as "a Corps of the Active Militia of Canada."

EAST INDIES: The last heavy bomber mission is flown from Java; the air echelons of three B-17's and an A-24 Dauntless squadron begin a movement back to Australia. Nine of the remaining 13 USAAF P-40s join with six RAAF and four RNAF fighters to attack Japanese landing craft; three P-40s and two pilots are lost. Later, all of the remaining P-40s in Java are destroyed when Japanese fighters strafe Blimbing Airdrome. The air and ground echelons are ordered to return to Australia by any means possible.
Japanese planes bomb Surabaya, Java; destroyer USS Stewart, previously damaged on 19 and 20 February 1942, is damaged again, by a bomb.
The Japanese Western Invasion Force completes the landing of the 2nd Division at Bantam Bay, 40 miles west of Batavia while the 230th Infantry lands at Eretan Wetan, 120 miles to the east. The Eastern Invasion Force lands the 48th Division and the 56th Regimental Group at Kragan, about 80 miles west of Surabaya; the 48th begins advancing on Surabaya while the 56th begins moving across country to Tjilatjap, the seaport on the southwest coast of Java.
The Japanese, now in undisputed control of the air and sea, make rapid progress on the ground on Java. Allied planes based on Java are virtually wiped out, many of them on the ground. After a final effort to stall the enemy by air, surviving air personnel begin assembling in Batavia, the last remaining airfield in Java, for withdrawal to Australia.
Shortly after 2300 hours yesterday, the heavy cruiser USS Houston, with her No. 3 turret disabled and low on ammunition, and the light cruiser HMAS Perth were heading for the Sunda Strait when they rounded a headland in Banten Bay, Java, where the Japanese Western Invasion Force is landing troops. The two cruisers then engage the Japanese in the Battle of Sunda Strait. The cruisers are almost torpedoed as they approach the bay, but evade the nine torpedoes launched by destroyer HIJMS Fubuki. The two cruisers then sink one transport and force three others to beach. A destroyer squadron blocks Sunda Strait, their means of retreat, and large light cruisers HIJMS Mobami and Mikuma stand dangerously near. HMAS Perth sinks at 0025 hours from gunfire and torpedo hits; USS Houston faces the same fate at about 0045 hours.
Of HMAS Perth's complement of 680 men, 352 were killed and about 320 were captured by the Japanese and 105 of these died as POWs. The fate of these two ships was not known by the world for almost nine months, and the full story of her courageous fight was not fully told until after the war was over and her survivors were liberated from prison camps. An hour or two later the Dutch destroyer HNMS Evertsen, which was to have accompanied the HMAS Perth and USS Houston but had been delayed, ran into two enemy destroyers and, after a brief encounter, beached herself in a sinking condition on Sabuko Island off the coast of Sumatra.
The other survivors of the Battle of the Java Sea, the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter having refueled and carried out emergency repairs to her boiler rooms at Surabaja, leaves harbor on the evening of 28 February in company with the destroyer HMS Encounter and USS Pope; the ships have been ordered to Colombo, Ceylon, via the Sunda Strait.
The ships are spotted by Japanese aircraft and at about 1000 hours, they encounter the Japanese heavy cruisers HIJMS Myoko, Ashigara, Haguro and Nachi plus four escorting destroyers. HMS Encounter is sunk first and after 90 minutes, a torpedo from a Japanese destroyers sinks HMS Exeter. USS Pope escapes the cruisers but is located and bombed by floatplanes from seaplane carriers HIJMS Chitose and Mizuho. Damaged by one close-miss, USS Pope is then located by carrier-based aircraft from HIJMS Ryujo and attacked by 12 aircraft shortly before 1200 hours; scuttling is in progress when the cruisers HIJMS Myoko and Ashigara deliver the coup de grace with gunfire and USS Pope sinks about 250 miles north-northwest of Surabaja.
The Japanese Navy is also patrolling south of Java and sinks two other U.S., the destroyer USS Edsall and oiler USS Pecos. USS Edsall is en route from Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean to Tjilatjap, Java, after transferring 177 survivors of the seaplane tender USS Langley to USS Pecos. Edsall is sunk by gunfire of battleships HIJMS Hiei and Kirishima, heavy cruisers HIJMS Tone and Chikuma, and planes from carriers HIJMS Akagi and Soryu; the amount of main battery shells expended in the attempt to sink the U.S. ship amounts to 297 15-inch and 844 eight-inch.
Edsall's five enlisted survivors are subsequently executed at Kendari on Celebes Island. Oiler USS Pecos, with USS Langley survivors on board as well as evacuees from Java, is bombed and sunk by carrier-based bombers from HIJMS Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Soryu, 250 miles south-southeast of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese14th Army, during the period 6 January to date, has suffered a severe setback on Luzon and sustained almost 7,000 casualties (2,700 killed and over 4,000 wounded).
Of the 8 P-35As of the 34th Pursuit Sqdn transferred to Bataan on Christmas Day only two are left. These will be destroyed before the Allied surrender to the Japanese in April.

U.K. Concerned with the Japanese naval success, and the possibility of the Japanese establishing a base on Madagascar, Churchill today informs Roosevelt of the British intention to take Diego Suarez, Madagascar's main harbour.

U.S. The owners of the major league baseball clubs consider the question of whether players in the military can play for the clubs if they are on furlough or based near a game site? The owners decide against it.

1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, P-40s jettison their bombs when bad weather prevents a sweep over Kiska Island.

CBI: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 46 P-40s hit targets of opportunity in the Nsopzup area and throughout the Hukawng Valley.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, A-20s bomb and strafe forces at Guadagasal and along the trails throughout the Mubo, Komiatum and Salamaua areas. B-17s bomb the runway on Gasmata. In the Sunda Islands of the Netherland East Indies, B-24s carry out single-plane attacks on shipping off Soemba and Soembawa Islands, and in the Solomon Sea.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): XI Strategic Air Force (Provisional) is activated at Shemya . It includes all units of the XI Bomber Command and XI Fighter Command stationed at Near Island, and is only a tactical operating agency without administrative functions.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 8 P-40s score 3 hits on a bridge at Namkwin; 4 others hit the Myitkyina Airfield dispersal area; 56 A-36s and P-51s attack stores and personnel areas at Sawnghka. 93d Fighter Squadron, 81st Fighter Group, arrives at Karachi, India from Italy; they will be equipped with P-47Ds and enter combat on 14 Aug. Moves in India during March: 90th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, from Jorhat to Moran with P-40s; 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, AAF, India-Burma Sector (attached to Tenth Air Force), based at Gushkara, India, sends detachments to Chakulia and Kharagpur with P-51s (first mission is 28 Mar).

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 14 B-25s and 16 P-40s pound a military zone in the NE part of Nanchang, China.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): A-24s and P-40s from Makin hit Jaluit and Mille Atolls, Marshall while B-25s pound Maloelap Atoll, Marshall . During March, 531st Fighter Squadron, Seventh Air Force, moves from Makin to Bellows Field with A-24s.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): B-24s bomb Kahili; P-38s hit Ballale and Buka; P-39s bomb and strafe Monoitu Mission, Bougainville.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: B-24s and B-25s drop supplies to Allied pound forces on Los Negros. Aircraft, pound Hansa Bay, Awar Point, an airfield in the Wewak area, and enemy installations and positions at Madang, Alexishafen, and Saiba. Detachment of 26th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, ceases operating from Port Moresby and returns to Finschhafen with F-5s. Moves in New Guinea during Mar: HQ 309th Bombardment Wing from Lae to Saidor; 17th Reconnaissance Squadron (Bombardment), 71st Reconnaissance Group, from Dobodura to Finschhafen with B-25s; 65th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 43d Bombardment Group (Heavy), from Dobodura to Nadzab with B-24s.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: US troops defending Los Negros drive off Japanese attacks on the perimeter. 30 B-24s and B-25s hit Los Negros and Lorengau.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 B-25s and 5 P-51s pound the S side of Ishan while 17 other P-51s hit the E and W sections of the city; 9 P-51s attack targets of opportunity of Chinchengchiang while 4 others hit troops and road traffic between Chinchengchiang and Hwaiyang. During Mar 45, the detachment of the 11th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st BG (Medium), operating from Laowhangpin with B-25s returns to base at Yangkai; the 26th Fighter Squadron, 51st FG, based at Kunming with P-51s sends a detachment to operate from Liangshan during the month; the 74th Fighter Squadron, 23d FG, based at Luliang with P-51s sends a detachment to operate from Tushan until Aug 45; the 426th Night Fighter Squadron, Fourteenth AF (attached to 312th Fighter Wing), moves from Chengtu to Shwantliu with P-61s (a detachment is operating from Hsian); and the 449th Fighter Squadron, 51st FG, based at Chengkung with P-38s, sends a detachment to operate from Mentsz while the detachment at Yunnani returns to base.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): HQ 444th BG (Very Heavy) begins a movement from Dudhkundi, India to the Marianas.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 27 P-47s support ground forces in the Mogok area; 16 fly close support strikes near Lashio; 14 P-47s damage the approaches of the bypass bridge at Na-lang, but leave the bridge serviceable; about 100 fighter-bombers attack troops, supply areas, communications targets, a ferry landing, and general targets of opportunity along the battlefronts and immediately behind Japanese lines. Large-scale transport operations continue.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): HQ VII Fighter Command is removed from control of Seventh AF and transferred to AAFPOA and moves from Ft Kamehameha, Oahu, Hawaii to Iwo Jima during Mar 45. 7 B-24s from Guam bomb Susaki Airfield; 1 other hits Haha Jima; during the night of 1/2 Mar, 5 B-24s make separate harassment strikes on Susaki Airfield and the town of Okimura on Haha Jima.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In Formosa, B-24s bomb the Takao aluminum plant, Tainan Airfield and nearby satellite field and fighters hit buildings at Keishu and storage tanks, railroad yards, and targets of opportunity. Troops on Corregidor and W of Ft Stotsenburg are hit with napalm. In Borneo, B-24s bomb Tarakan, Labuan, and Manggar Airfields. B-25s hit Zettle Field. HQ Thirteenth AF moves from Morotai , Moluccas s to Leyte , Philippine s and HQ XIII Fighter Command moves from Leyte to Puerto Princesa. HQ 18th FG moves from Lingayen Airfield to San Jose; the 531st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 380th BG (Heavy), moves from Darwin, Australia to San Jose, Mindoro with B-24s. During Mar 45, HQ V Bomber Command and HQ V Fighter Command moves from Mindoro to Clark Field, Luzon.

JAPAN: The US 5th Fleet carriers raid Okinawa. The aircraft of Task Force 58 and Fifth Fleet surface ships bombard several islands in the Ryuku Islands especially Okinawa. At the end of the day, TF 58 retires to Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands.

U.S.A.: President Roosevelt, back from the Yalta Conference, proclaimed the meeting a success as he addressed a joint session of Congress.

N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 582, MARCH 1, 1945

1. The USS Extractor, a small salvage vessel, was sunk in the Central Pacific Area by a United States submarine. The sinking, which occurred in the early morning just prior to sunrise, was the result of incorrect identifica*tion by the submarine. The survivors were rescued by the attacking sub*marine, which made a thorough search of the area upon discovering the error made. There were six men reported missing.
2. The USS Serpens, a cargo ship manned by Coast Guard personnel, has been lost in the South Pacific Area as the result of enemy action.
3. The LCI (L) 600 has been lost in the Central Pacific Area as the re*sult of enemy action.
4. The next of kin of casualties of the above mentioned vessels have been informed.


CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 284, MARCH 1, 1945

U. S. Marines on Iwo Island advanced northward on March 1 (East Longitude Date) occupying the Western end of the Island's northern airstrip moving our lines in the Western and Central sectors forward and making smaller gains on the Eastern side of the Island. The enemy continues to offer stiff opposition.
The attack was made after intense shelling by Marine artillery and Naval guns. Carrier aircraft supported the ground troops during the day.
Seventeen prisoners of war were taken by Marines in the Third Division zone of action.
Occasional artillery fire fell on parts of the beaches but unloading pro*ceeded.
During early morning hours of March 1, a small group of enemy aircraft entered the Iwo area and dropped bombs which caused no damage. One bomber was shot down by ships' antiaircraft fire.
Harassing attacks were carried out by carrier aircraft on enemy Installa*tions on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on the night of February 28‑March 1.
During the week of February 18 to February 24, mopping up operations continued in the Marianas and Palaus. Thirty‑seven of the enemy were killed and 52 captured on Saipan. On Guam 35 were killed and 11 taken prisoner. Seven of the enemy were killed and two taken prisoner on Tinian. Two prisoners were taken on Peleliu.
Fighters and torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing started fires and destroyed a bridge in the Palaus on March 1.
Corsairs of the Fourth Aircraft Wing bombed and strafed buildings, small craft and airfields at Ponape in the Carolines on February 28.
Marine aircraft continued neutralizing raids on enemy‑held bases in the Marshalls on the same date.

 

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1940
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Naval members on the Joint Army-Navy Board recommended a strong increase in both Army and Navy air strength in the Philippines. Strong then directed his War Plans Division to conduct a study, which found that a proper defence of the islands would require a 12-fold increase in air power (from 37 aircraft to 441), a doubling of the US and Philippine Scout forces assigned, and $22 million in new construction, mainly for airfields.

1941
U.S.A.: Washington: The Senate approves a bill to increase the national debt limit from $49 billion to $65 billion. The national debt is already $46 billion and the next year's budget calls for $17.5 billion. The defence program, excluding the requirements of the lease-lend bill, amounts to $28.5 billion.
The US Senate approves Resolution 71. This establishes the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National defence Program. Known as the Truman Committee, it now has seven members, Tom Connally of Texas, Carl hatch of New Mexico, Monrad C. Wallgren of Washington and James Mead of New York are the Democrats. Joseph H. Ball of Minnesota and Owen Brewster of Maine are the Republicans.

1942
AUSTRALIA: The government declares war on Thailand.

BURMA: The Japanese continue to infiltrate westward between the Burmese 1st and Indian 17th Divisions and are swinging southwest on Rangoon, bypassing Pegu.

EAST INDIES: The Japanese gain further ground in Java, where the Dutch are continuing to resist; the Japanese claim the capture of Batavia, from which Dutch Government has been forced to move to Bandoeng. Actually, a hastily organized Australian- Dutch- American- British infantry unit commanded by Australian Brigadier Arthur Blackburn, General Officer Commanding Australian Imperial Force Java, stops the Japanese 16th Army's advance on Batavia, the island's capital.
Many ships are scuttled off Java to prevent them from failing into enemy hands but the Japanese Main Body, Southern Force overtakes fleeing Allied ships southwest of Java; heavy cruiser HIJMS Maya and destroyers HIJMS Arashi and Nowaki sink British destroyer HMS Stronghold; heavy cruisers HIJMS Atago and Takao attack what they initially identify as a "Marblehead-class" cruiser and sink her with gunfire; their quarry is actually destroyer USS Pillsbury, which is lost with all hands in the Indian Ocean about 270 miles SSE of Christmas Island.
In Surabaja, three ships are scuttled in drydock, the damaged Dutch destroyers HNMS Witte de With and Banckert and the American destroyer USS Stewart. Stewart had entered the floating drydock on 22 February, however, she was inadequately supported in the dock, and, as the dock rose, the ship fell off the keel blocks onto her side in 12 feet of water bending her propeller shafts and causing further hull damage. With the port under enemy air attack and in danger of falling to the enemy, the ship could not be repaired and demolition charges were set off within the ship, a Japanese bomb hit amidships further damaging her; and, before the port was evacuated on 2 March, the drydock containing her was scuttled. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 25 March 1942 and her name was soon assigned to a new destroyer escort, DE-238.
Later in the war, U.S. pilots began reporting an American warship operating far within enemy waters. The ship had a Japanese bunked funnel but the lines for her four-piper hull were unmistakable. After almost a year under water, Stewart had been raised by the Japanese in February 1943 and commissioned by them on 20 September 1943 as Patrol Boat No. 102. She was armed with two 3-inch guns and operated with the Japanese Southwest Area Fleet on escort duty until arriving at Kure, Japan, for repairs in November 1944. There her AA battery was augmented and she was given a light tripod foremast. She then sailed for the Southwest Pacific, but the American reconquest of the Philippines blocked her way.
On 28 April 1945, still under control of the Southwest Area Fleet, she was bombed and damaged by USAAF aircraft at Mokpo, Korea. She was transferred on 30 April to the control of the Kure Navy District; and, in August 1945, was found by American occupation forces laid up in Hiro Bay near Kure. In an emotional ceremony on 29 October 1945, the old ship was recommissioned as simply DD-224 in the USN at Kure. On the trip home, her engines gave out near Guam, and she arrived at San Francisco in early March 1946 at the end of a tow line. DD-224 was struck from the Navy list on 17 April1946, decommissioned on 23 May 1946, and sunk a day later off San Francisco, California, as a target for aircraft.
At Jogjakarta Airdrome, the last airbase on Java still occupied by the Allies, 260 officers and enlisted men are crammed aboard five B-17's and three LB-30 Liberators for the final flight to Broome, Western Australia.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): 5 B-17's and 3 LB-30's (the last airplane taking off just before midnight) evacuate the last 260 men from Jogjakarta, the last airfield on Java in Allied hands. Japanese ground forces are within 20 miles at this time. Bataan-based P-40's attack shipping in Subic Bay. The pilots claim considerable damage to the ships, but 4 of the few P-40's remaining on Bataan are lost. HQ V Bomber Command ceases operating on Java and ceases to function as an operational unit. HQ 19th Bombardment Group transfers from Singosari, Java to Melbourne, Australia. 2d and 19th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 22d BG (Medium), transfer from Brisbane to Ipswich, Australia with B-26's; first mission is in April.

LOMBOK STRAIT: Submarine USS Sailfish torpedoes and sinks Japanese aircraft transport HIJMS Kamogawa Maru about 10 miles off the northeast coast of Bali.

NEW GUINEA: The Japanese Navy begins heavy air strikes against Allied bases in preparation for invasion of the Huon Gulf area.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Four P-40s based on Bataan attack Japanese ships in Subic Bay, Luzon, with 500-pound bombs sinking an auxiliary submarine chaser. One P-40 is shot down and the other three are destroyed in crash landings.
The rations of the U. S.-Filipino army on Bataan are reduced again, this time to one-quarter of the normal daily food allowance. The trapped troops supplement their diet with horse and water buffalo meat and even lizards. Disease is taking a heavy toll on the 95,000 men on Bataan and Corregidor -- especially malaria, malnutrition and diarrhea. Many men are so weak they can hardly crawl to their foxholes and lift their rifles.
Elsewhere in the Philippines, Japanese warships bombard Cebu and Negros Islands in the central archipelago and Japanese troops land at Zamboanga on Mindanao Island.

U.S.: Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief United States Fleet, proposes that 353 square mile Efate Island in the central New Hebrides Islands be established as a place "from which a step-by-step advance could be made through the New Hebrides, Solomons, and Bismarcks."

1943
BURMA: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, more than 20 B-24s pound targets. Seven splinter part of the Ahlone docks and destroy a nearby warehouse, 6 hit the Mahlwagon roundhouse, and 9 attack the bridge at Pazundaung, tearing up its S approach. Six B-25s, with P-40 escort, hit a camp and storage area at Lamaing while 24 B-25s, also with fighter escort, pound Myitkyina.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) P-40s, P-38s and a single PB4Y fly photographic reconnaissance over Munda Airfield.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) The Battle of the Bismarck Sea begins. On 28 Feb, the Japanese had dispatched a force of 8 destroyers and 8 transports from Rabaul to reinforce their New Guinea forces; this convoy was spotted yesterday. Today, 28 B-17s of the 43d Bombardment Group attack in 2 waves, the first 8 B-17's sinking 1 transport and claim 3 Zekes shot down. Two destroyers pick up 850 troops from this transport and land them that night at Lae, New Guinea. At dusk, 11 more B-17's attack the convoy without result.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 9 B-24s fly a futile shipping search over the Kurile; turned back by a weather front, they either jettison or bring back their bombs.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 5 P-51s bomb artillery positions in the Maingkwan area; 20 P-40s hit a fuel dump at Myitkyina, artillery at Shingban, and trucks on a road near Walawbum; 8 A-36s and P-51s hit an encampment on Pagoda Peak near Mogaung. HQ 81st Fighter Group arrives at Karachi, India from Italy.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 4 B-25s sink a small steamer near Mon Cay and bomb railroad shops and coal treating plant at Campho. In China, 10 P-38s damage 2 bridges and strafe 2 barracks areas N of Nanchang; 2 P-40s bomb and strafe the airfield and barracks at Kengtung.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24's from Makin and Abemama, Gilbert bomb Ponape and Kusaie, Caroline. B-25s bomb Maloelap Atoll.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain in the Admiralty , P-40s join USN fighters in covering a USN dive bomber strike on shipping installations in the Keravia Bay area; 12 B-25s pound Rabaul while 11 others, with USN fighter support, bomb Rapopo; shortly afterwards, 20 escorted B-24's blast the town area of Rabaul; 14 P-38s follow immediately with a strike on the same target. P-39s hit Japanese-occupied Piano and Monoitu Missions on Bougainville. 67th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter Group, based in the Russells begins operating from Bougainville with P-39s; the squadron will convert to P-38s in Apr.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, 80+ B-24s and P-40s hit the Hansa Bay area, the airstrip at Nubia, and the Madang-Alexishafen area. 60+ B-25s and A-20s pound enemy forces on Los Negros as Allied ground forces occupy Momote Airfield; P-47s providing cover for the B-25s claim 7 enemy fighters shot down.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 3 B-24s on sweeps over the Gulf of Tonkin and the S China Sea claim 2 vessels sunk and 3 damaged.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 41: In the Malayan States, 50 of 64 B-29s dispatched bomb the shop and warehouse area at the naval base in Singapore; 5 others hit alternates on Bukum and at Arang Hill, and at Khao Huakhang, Thailand; they claim 0-1-4 Japanese aircraft; 2 B-29s are lost.

BURMA: Naik Fazal Din (b.1921), 10th Baluch Regt., stormed one bunker, then was fatally stabbed by a Japanese officer while charging another. He pushed on, rallying his men brilliantly before collapsing. (Victoria Cross)
Naik Gian Singh (b.1920), 15th Punjab Regt., alone knocked out foxholes and an anti-tank gun, the led his men in clearing a Japanese-held road. (Victoria Cross)

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20+ P-47s fly close support strikes in the Mogok area; 2 B-25s damage ferry slips at Li-lu while 10 others hit bridges at Tonglau, Na-lang, Mong Pawn, and Namsang; 90+ fighter-bombers attack gun positions, troops, supply areas, and highway targets of opportunity in the general battle areas and behind enemy lines. Transports complete 564 sorties to forward areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 7 Guam based B-24s make a daylight raid on the airfield on Chichi Jima and 5 more bomb the same airfield and the town of Okimura on Haha Jima during the night of 2/3 Mar. VII Fighter Command: The 78th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group, arrives on Iwo Jima from Hawaii with P-51s (first mission is 10 Mar).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Formosa, B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Matsuyama, Toyohara, Kagi, and Kato Airfields. In Borneo, other B-24s pound Sepinggang and Manggar Airfields and the waterfront area of Sandakan. The 394th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th BG (Heavy), moves from Morotai to Guiuan Airfield with B-24s. The detachment of the 432d Fighter Squadron, 475th FG, operating from San Jose, Mindoro with P-38s, returns to base at Clark Field.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The American flag is raised again over Corregidor, with General Douglas MacArthur and members of his staff present. In a speech when he left Corregidor in 1942, MacArthur praised the gallant but futile defence of Corregidor as an inspiration to carry on the struggle until the Allies should fight their way back and vowed to return one day.
On February 16, 1945, elements of the U.S. Sixth Army began the assault on Corregidor, and after furious fighting, MacArthur made good on his promise.

BONIN ISLANDS: Iwo Jima: The second strip on South Field airfield had been graded to 4,000 feet for fighter operations.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 285, MARCH 2, 1945

Attacking in the center of the enemy lines, the Third Marine Division drove a salient seven hundred yards deep into enemy positions and captured Hill 362 on Iwo Island on March 2 (East Longitude Date). Smaller advances were made in other sectors. The attack was launched after bombardment of enemy areas by Marine artillery, Naval guns and carrier aircraft, and it was met by intense small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire. The Fifth Division beat off a counterattack in its zone of action.
A total of 7,127 enemy dead had been counted by 1200 on March 2. Prisoners of war total 32.
Destruction of enemy caves and strong points on Iwo Island is continuing. Restoration of the southern Iwo airfield is proceeding.
During the night of March 1, carrier aircraft made bombing and rocket attacks on Omura town and on the airfield on Chichi Jima in the Bonins, causing an explosion and fire. Seventh Army Air Force Liberators operating under the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed targets on Chichi Jima and Haha Jima on March 1.
Navy Search Venturas of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed and strafed air*field installations on Wake Island on March 1.
Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing Corsair fighters continued neutralizing enemy held bases in the Marshalls.

 

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1942
AUSTRALIA: At 1000 hours local, 12 Japanese Navy fighters strike hard at Broome, Western Australia, where refugees from Java are concentrated. Every aircraft at Broome, two B-17's, two B-24's, two RAAF Hudsons and 12 amphibians, are destroyed.. Two of the dozen flying boats destroyed are two Short S-23 C-Class Empire Boats,
(1) British Overseas Airways Corp. (BOAC), msn S-845, registered G-AEUC and named "Corinna", and RAAF A18-12, msn 849, ex Qantas VH-ABC, named "Coogee". Casualties include 20 USAAF airmen and an estimated 45 Dutch women and children. The airfield at Wyndham, Western Australia, is also attacked.
Japanese fighters returning to their carrier from the raid on Broome shoot down KNILM Douglas DC-3-194B, msn 1937, registered PK-AFV. This is one of the last civilian aircraft to leave Java and is carrying a very valuable consignment of diamonds; there are no survivors.

BURMA: Fighting continues in the Waw-Pyinbon area, northeast of Pegu. The British 63d Brigade Group arrives at Rangoon. Chinese leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek meets General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief India, in Burma.

EAST INDIES: The Dutch continue a losing battle for Java against superior enemy forces.

INDIAN OCEAN: The gunboat USS Asheville is sunk by gunfire of Japanese destroyers HIJMS Arashi and Nowaki about 355 miles SSE of Tjilatjap, Java. Asheville's sole survivor will perish in a POW camp in 1945.

JAVA SEA: On the evening of 1 March, the submarine USS Perch, CO David A. Hunt, surfaced 30 miles NW of Surabaja, Java, and started in for an attack on the enemy convoy that was landing troops. Two Japanese destroyers attacked and drove her down with a string of depth charges which caused her to bottom at 135 feet. Several more depth charge attacks caused extensive damage, putting the starboard motors out of commission and causing extensive flooding throughout the boat. After repairs, the sub surfaced at 0200 hours on 2 March only to be again driven down by the enemy destroyers. The loss of oil, and air from damaged ballast tanks, convinced the enemy that the sub was breaking up and they went on to look for other kills, allowing USS Perch to surface. With the submarine's decks awash and only one engine in commission, the crew made all possible repairs. During the early morning of 3 March, a test dive was made with almost fatal results. Expert handling and good luck enabled her to surface from that dive; only to be attacked by two enemy cruisers and three destroyers. When the enemy shells commenced to straddle, the commanding officer ordered all hands on deck, and with all possible hull openings open, USS Perch was scuttled. The entire crew of 54 men and five officers were captured by a Japanese
destroyer; all but six men, who died of malnutrition in Japanese POW camps, survived the war.

PACIFIC: After having attacked Wake Island on 24 Feb., Task Force Sixteen built around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise is en route to attack Marcus Island. SBD Dauntlesses on antisubmarine patrol attack two Japanese submarines but the task force commander, Rear Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey, opts to continue the mission.
USN Submarine Operations:
USS SEAWOLF sinks an armed transport at 07-02 N, 125-33E in Davao harbor.
USS TAMBOR sinks a civilian cargo ship at 21-18 N, 108-39E, NW of Hainan Island.
USS FINBACK sinks a sampan at 25-25 N, 126-31 E.0200.
USS HADDOCK sinks a civilian cargo ship at 32-18N, 126-52 E.

U.S.: The War Production Board decrees that suits for men and boys no longer will have trouser cuffs and pleats, vests and patch pockets.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, 4 P-40s sweep Kiska Island dropping demolition and fragmentation bombs. Admiral Thomas C. Kincaid, Commanding Officer of the Alaska Defense Command, tables the Kiska Island invasion plan and substitutes an Attu Island invasion plan.

BURMA: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 13 B-24s bomb the Mahlwagon marshalling yard and the dock area at Rangoon. Nine others attack the Pazundaung railroad bridge but fail to knock it out. Six B-25s bomb the railroad sheds at Maymyo.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) The Battle of the Bismarck Sea continues as heavy bombers are joined by medium and light bombers and fighters (US and Australian) in pounding the Japanese convoy as it moves in the Huon Gulf. After 2 RAAF Beauforts fail to score hits with torpedoes, the main attack begins with strafing runs by 13 RAAF Beaufighters. Simultaneously, 13 B-17's of the 43d Bombardment Group sink a transport. Then they and their 28 escort P-38's are jumped by Zekes escorting the convoy; the B-17's claim 5 Zekes and the fighters (from the 9th and 39th Fighter Squadrons) claim 15; Lost is B-17F "Ka-Puhio-Wela" 41-24356 and P-38F 42-12623, P-38F 42-12633 and P-38G 42-12715. During this dogfight, 13 B-25's of the 38th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 12 B-25C gun-nosed aircraft of the 90th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) attack from 500 to 200 feet followed by 12 A-20's of the 89th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) and 6 B-25's of the 13th Bombardment Squadron (Dive); these attacks sink 2 destroyers and 3 transports. In the afternoon, 16 B-17's, 23 B-25's and 5 RAAF Bostons attack; 8 90th Bombardment Squadron sink a destroyer and 2 transport while the Boston's sink a destroyer. That night, Seventh Fleet motor torpedo (PT) boats sink the last transport. By the end of the day, all 8 transport have been sunk and Allied aircraft have destroyed 4 of the 8 destroyers and a large number of fighter aircraft covering the convoy. Dick Bong gets his 6th kill when he destroys and Oscar.

USN - Shot down over Bougainville is TBF Avenger 06109

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 9 B-24s take off from Shemya to search for enemy shipping, but return due to heavy icing and squalls; 6 P-40s fly a search mission between Shemya and halfway to Attu; and HQ XI Bomber Command moves from Adak to Shemya.

KURILES: SHirakami IJN, Japanese Minelayer, Sunk south of the Kuriles in a collision with army transport Nachiran Maru.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 22 B-25s, some supported by Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfires and Hurricanes, bomb the Ft White area; 10 B-25s and 4 P-51s pound airfields at Katha, Mawlu and Shwebo; 12 B-25s and 8 P-51s hit railroad targets and a warehouse at Kyaikthin and Kyunhla; 14 B-24s covered by 22 P-40s hit airfields at Lashio, Hsenwi and Loiwing; 70+ P-40s, A-36s, P-51s, and B-25s hit fuel storage, supply areas, roads, and other
targets over widespread areas of Burma, including Shingban, Myitkyina, Zigyun, Mogaung, Manywet, and Washawng; 6 P-38s attack the Okshitpin bridge but the target is not damaged.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): P-40s damage a coal grading building at Campha Port, French Indochina.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s out of Makin bomb Ponape . B-25s from Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert , hit Maloelap Atoll. This date marks the beginning of Operation FORAGER, the capture of the S Marianas (Saipan, Tinian, and Guam ) for bases for B-29 strikes against Japan. Seventh Air Force aircraft maintain neutralization strikes against airfields in the Caroline and continue hitting Wake and the bypassed Marshalls.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): P-40s and USN fighters cover a USN dive bomber strike on Rabaul and Simpson Harbor; 24 B-25s follow with an attack on Rabaul, which later in the day is bombed by 20 B-24s. 5 P-38s bomb radar installations at Cape Saint George, while 10 bomb Buka Airfield, Buka, Solomon . P-39s hit targets of opportunity on the E part of Shortland and the W part of Buka.

RNZAF - 18 Squadron F4Us spot a pair of Japanese tanks near Ruri Bay on Bougainville, and return to bomb them. Later, seven more aircraft bomb and strafe them, leaving one on fire and exploding.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 30+ B-24s hit the Hansa Bay and Alexishafen areas while 20 P-39s attack Madang and Bogadjim and 22 A-20s pound Erima. 14 A-20s and B-25s hit enemy positions on Los Negros.

PACIFIC SUB OPS:
0100: USS Gurnard sinks a civilian cargo ship at 05-53 N, 111-12 E.
2200: USS Pintado sinks the destroyer AKIKAZE at 16-48 N, 117-17 E, NW of Manila.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-24s over the Gulf of Tonkin and the S China Sea attack shipping targets of opportunity, claiming 1 vessel sunk and 3 damaged. In French Indochina, 3 B-25s hit Kep, damaging several locomotives and boxcars and hit a bridge and 12 P-51s hit targets of opportunity between Vinh and Nam Dinh (2 direct hits are scored on the bridge at Minh Koi) while 2 others blast a HQ building in Hanoi.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 24 P-38s and P-47s support forces of the Chinese 50th Division near Mansam; 16 support the British 36 Division in the Mogok area; 10 P-47s knock out the Na-lang bridge while 2 B-25s drop delay-action bombs in good pattern around the Loi-leng bridge; 10
B-25s join 80+ fighter-bombers in an attack on troops, supplies, tanks, trucks, gun positions, and transport elephants behind enemy lines, 29 of the fighter-bombers concentrate on the Kankang area. 643 air supply sorties are completed.

MALAYA - One B-29 was shot down, another three damaged while attacking Singapore.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 10 B-24s from Guam pound Susaki Airfield in an afternoon strike, and 4 more, flying individual strikes, hit the same target during the night of 3/4 Mar. The 467th and 468th Fighter Squadrons, 508th FG, move from Kahuku to Mokuleai, Hawaii with P-47s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In Formosa, B-24s pound the Tainan area and Kiirun while fighters hit numerous targets of opportunity and fighter-bombers bomb Koshun Airfield. B-25s bomb San Roque Airfield. B-24s and B-25s attack Zettle Field. Ternate on Samar and Echague and Caballo in Manila Bay are bombed by A-20s. B-25s, aborting a strike against Formosa, bomb the airstrip at Basco.

BOUGAINVILLE: Spotted from the air are two Japanese tanks: Type 89 Chi-Ro Tank #1 and Type 89 Chi-Ro Tank #2 and are attacked for the next three days from the air.

PHILIPINES: Manila: The last pockets of Japanese resistance are cleared, over 20,000 Japanese soldiers have died in the battle for the city.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 286, MARCH 3, 1945

Without enemy air opposition carrier aircraft of the U. S. Pacific Fleet struck military, Naval and air installations and shipping in the Nansei Shoto on March 1 (East Longitude Date). Islands which came under attack were: Amami, Minami, Kume Jima, Okinawa Jima, Tokuno Jima and Okinoyerabu Jima.
Our aircraft inflicted the following damage on the enemy:

Aircraft:
Four aircraft shot out of the air.
Thirty‑seven aircraft destroyed on the ground.
About 50 aircraft destroyed or damaged on the ground, some of which may have been previously in‑operational.

Shipping: Sunk:
One destroyer.
One motor‑torpedo boat.
Six small cargo ships.
Two medium cargo ships.
One ocean‑going tug.
Two luggers.

Probably Sunk:
One medium cargo ship.
Six small coastal cargo ships.
Six luggers.

Damaged:
Four destroyer escorts or patrol craft.
One medium transport.
Four medium cargo ships.
Nine small coastal cargo ships.
One small cargo ship.
Ten luggers.
In addition, several small craft sunk or damaged.

Ground Installations:

On the Islands of Okinoyerabu, Amami, Minami, Okinawa, Kume and Tokuno, our aircraft destroyed or damaged airfield installations, barracks, administration buildings, mills, lumber yards, warehouses and radio and radar installations.
Our losses in combat were five pilots, three aircrewmen and thirteen air*craft.
During the night following the attack, the force conducted a bombard*ment of Okina Daito Jima starting large fires in the target area.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 287, MARCH 3, 1945

Under heavy tire from small arms and mortars the Fifth Marine Division on the left flank and the Third Marine Division in the center pushed forward in a general advance of 200 to 400 yards on Iwo Island on March 3 (East Longitude Date). Progress of the Fourth Division on the right flank was slow due to extremely heavy enemy resistance in that sector. Attacks by the Infantry were supported by Marine artillery but close carrier aircraft support was limited by the small dimensions of the area now held by the enemy. A strong pocket of the enemy in the Fourth Division zone of action near Minami continued to hold back our lines in that sector.
Carrier aircraft made bombing and rocket attacks on installations in Omura Town on Chichi Jima and on harbor installations at Haha Jima in the Bonins. One ship was sunk at Haha Jima.
Ships are unloading on both eastern and western beaches of Iwo Island.
Land based aircraft have begun to use the Southern Iwo airfield for evacuation of the wounded.
Seventh Army Air Force Liberators operating under the Strategic Air Force bombed Omura Town and the airfield on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 2.
Two bridges were destroyed and fires were started on enemy held islands of the Palaus after attacks by Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on March 2.
Army Thunderbolts bombed airfield installations on Pagan in the Marianas on March 3.
Navy search Venturas of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed the Airfield on Wake island through moderate antiaircraft fire on March 2.
On the same date fighter planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing struck neutralizing blows at enemy held bases in the Marshalls.

 

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1942
CHINA: Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell establishes HQ, American Army Forces, China, Burma, and India, at Chungking, using his U.S. Task Force in China and American Military Mission to China (AMMISCA) personnel as a nucleus.

SWPA, (5th Air Force): 11th and 22d Bombardment Squadrons, 7th BG (Heavy), arrive at Melbourne, Australia from Jogjakarta, Java, NEI with B-17's and LB-30's. Air echelon of 14th Bombardment Squadron, 7th BG [attached to 19th Bombardment Group (Heavy)] begins operating from Melbourne, Australia with B-17's, B-24's and LB-30's; ground echelon is at Bugo, Mindanano, Philippines attached to 5th Interceptor Command (Provisional). Air echelon of 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy), transfers from Singosari, Java, NEI to Melbourne, Australia with B-17's, B-24's and LB-30's. Ground echelon remains in Luzon and Mindanano , Philippines attached to the 5th Interceptor Command (Provisional).

EAST INDIES: The Dutch continue fighting on Java and report that the destruction of principal installations has been completed. The Australian Blackforce begins withdrawing from Buitenzorg to Sukabumi, about 30 miles to the south.

HAWAII: Japanese Operation K: during the night of the 4th/5th, two Kawanishi H8K1, Navy Type 2 Flying-Boats of the Yokohama Kokutai (Naval Air Corps) based at Wotje Atoll in the Marshall Islands and refueled by submarines HIJMS I-15 and I-19 at French Frigate Shoals, fly 2,300 miles each way to drop four bombs near Punch Bowl crater on Oahu causing no damage. Overcast conditions prevent successful pursuit by U.S. aircraft.

INDIAN OCEAN: The Australian sloop HMAS Yarra, escorting a convoy of three ships from Tjilatjap, Java, Netherlands East Indies, to Fremantle, Western Australia, is attacked by the Japanese heavy cruisers HIJMS Atago, Maya and Takao and the destroyers HIJMS Anashi and Nowaki. The three other ships in the convoy are sunk first while HMAS Yarra, armed with three 4-inch guns, attempts to engage the Japanese force but they just stay out of range and pound the ship into a blazing wreck and she sinks shortly after 0800 hours. Only 13 of the 151 men aboard Yarra survive; they are rescued by a Dutch submarine on 10 March.

JAPAN: The Japanese Imperial General Staff decides to expand its conquest to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Fiji Islands and American Samoa. Taking the Fijis and Samoa would cut America's supply line to Australia.

PACIFIC: Carrier-based aircraft of TF-16 attack Marcus Island beginning at 0630 hours. USS Enterpris launches 32 SBD Dauntlesses and six F4F Wildcats against the island located 725 miles northwest of Wake Island. Despite intense antiaircraft fire, only one SBD is shot down; the two-man crew is captured by the Japanese.
Submarine USS Grampus torpedoes and sinks a Japanese tanker 145 miles south of Truk Island in the Caroline Islands.
Submarine USS Narwhal torpedoes and sinks a Japanese army cargo ship in the Ryukyu Islands.
Submarine USS S-39 torpedoes and sinks a Japanese oiler 170 miles northeast of Batavia, Java, NEI

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East (USAFFE), begins reorganizing his forces in the Philippines in preparation for his departure. The Composite Visayan-Mindanao Force is divided into two commands. Brigadier General William F. Sharp retains command of forces on Mindanao; the Visayan forces are placed under Brigadier General Bradford G. Chynoweth. MacArthur's plans envisage the formation of two more commands. Major General George F. Moore's harbor defense forces on Corregidor and other islands in Manila Bay will constitute one, the forces on Luzon the other.
General MacArthur informs Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Commandant of the Sixteenth Naval District, that he has been instructed to leave Corregidor. The plan is for him and his party to board the submarine USS Permit which is scheduled to leave Corregidor on 14 March.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, 4 P-40s fly over Kiska Island but drop no bombs due to weather.

BURMA: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 3 B-25s bomb the railroad facilities at Ywataung.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) B-24s hit the airfield on Ballale and bomb Kahili.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) Allied aircraft continue to bombard remnants of the Japanese convoy in the Huon Gulf, thus ending The Battle of the Bismarck Sea, a decisive victory. Fifth Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft sink 12 of 16 vessels in 3 days. This is the last enemy attempt to use large vessels to reinforce positions on the Huon Gulf. In New Guinea, A-20s hit Lae Airfield and vicinity, B-17s attack power launches off Lae. Several B-25s, a single B-17 and B-24s hit the harbor and airfield at Lae and barges off Finschhafen. In the Bismarck Archipelago, B-17s attack Ubili and power launches off Cape Gloucester.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 60+ A-36s, P-51s and P-40s, and a single B-25 bomb dumps, roads, bivouac area, and other targets in the Seton, Sawnghka, Pinbaw and Walawbum areas; numerous fighters carry out patrol and armed reconnaissance sorties in the Sumprabum area. 459th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, moves from Kurmitola to Chittagong with P-38s.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 5 B-25s and 23 P-40s (16 of them Chinese) pound the airfield at Kiungshan; the airfield is heavily damaged and several parked aircraft are destroyed; 17 Japanese aircraft are claimed shot down; 4 P-38s and 2 Chinese B-25s claim a freighter, a tanker, and a motor launch sunk in the Shihhweiyao and Wuhu areas; 6 waves of Japanese aircraft bomb the airfield at Suichwan, causing considerable damage. In French Indochina, 6 B-25s bomb the Thanh Hoa chromium mine and Campha Port; 2 P-40s strafe railroad yards and warehouses at Hongay and Campha Port; 5 P-40s are dispatched to bomb Cao Bang but because of bad weather attack Chinese-held Lungchow, China by mistake.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): P-40s from Makin bomb and strafe runways at Mille Atoll. B-25s from Tarawa Atoll bomb airfield installations and runways in Wotje Atoll.

RNZAF - In the morning, the remaining two Japanese tanks at Ruri Bay are attacked yesterday were discovered camoflaged by a Boomerang and attacked by three other 18 Squadron F4Us, but they arrived too late to destroy them.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain , P-40s join USN fighters and dive bombers in a strike on AA positions and targets of opportunity in the Rabaul area; 4 patrolling Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Venturas hit targets of opportunity along both coasts and at Vunalama and Mandres Plantations; 48 B-25s and 12 P-38s, along with 20+ USN fighters, hit the Rabaul town area in 3 closely spaced attacks. P-38s also attack targets of opportunity on Duke of York , Admiralty . 12 P-39s hit Monoitu and targets of opportunity along the SW coast of Bougainville. RNZAF Venturas join USN planes in attacks on Japanese embarkation ports around Choiseul Bay. Shortland targets of opportunity are hit by P-40s on patrol.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 20+ A-20s and B-25s support ground forces on Los Negros. More than 30 B-24s with fighter escort, pound airfields in the Wewak area; 20+ other B-24s bomb Hollandia; and A-20s bomb buildings and gun positions in the Saidor area. Moves in New Guinea: HQ 38th Bombardment Group (Medium) from Port Moresby to Nadzab; HQ 43d Bombardment Group from Dobodura to Nadzab. Lost is P-38G "Veni Vidi Vici" 42-12705 on a patrol mission.

LOS NEGROS - The Japanese on the island launch a series of suicide charges, and fail to route the Americans.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-24s on a sea sweep damage a destroyer escort in the S China Sea.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 42: In China during the night of 4/5 Mar, 11 of 12 B-29s, staging from Luliang, mine the confluence of the Hwangpoo and Yangtze Rivers and the Tai-hsing Narrows at Shanghai and 1 B-29s drops mines at Tungting Lake without loss.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 100 fighter-bombers attack troop concentrations, villages, roads, tanks, trucks, animal transport, and supplies along and immediately behind the battlelines running from the SW to NE across C Burma; Meiktila is largely occupied by forces of the Indian 17th Division.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 10 B-24s from Guam bomb Susaki Airfield; during the night of 4/5 Mar, 3 B-24s make separate harassment raids on the airfield. Lieutenant General Barney Mc Giles becomes Commanding General of AAFPOA and Deputy Commander of the Twentieth AF.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 39: A B-29 makes an emergency landing on Iwo Jima; this begins a series of over 2,400 such emergency landings on the island. 192 Marianas based B-29s are airborne against Musashino aircraft factory (Musashi) near Tokyo, Japan but heavy clouds prevent bombing the primary; 159 B-29s bomb the secondary target, the urban areas of Tokyo, and 18 others hit alternate targets; 1 B-29 is lost. This aborted try at Musashino marks the end of XXI Bomber Command's effort to knock out the Japanese aircraft industry by high-altitude, daylight precision bombing. (The indirect effect of causing Japanese industrialists to lose confidence in their supposed immunity from air attacks exceeds the effect of actual bomb damage to the aircraft industry).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao, B-24s bomb Sasa and Likanan Airfields and the town of Zamboanga. On Luzon, B-24s bomb targets of opportunity in the Cagayan Valley, gun positions, ammunition storage, and targets of opportunity at Antipolo and Wawa, supply dumps and the town area at Bamban, fortifications on Caballo in Manila Bay, and airfields at Aparri and Tuguegarao. The detachments of the 431st and 433d Fighter Squadrons, 475th FG, operating from San Jose, Mindoro with P-38s, return to base at Clark Field, Luzon.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 288, MARCH 4, 1945

Small local advances which left the lines substantially unchanged were made by the Marines on Iwo Island on March 4 (East Longitude Date). Enemy resistance stiffened in all sectors and small arms fire mounted in In*tensity as our troops attacked. The enemy organized a counter‑attack in the Fifth Division Sector but was repulsed with the loss of several hundred men. The Fourth Division fighting over extremely difficult terrain eliminated a strong center of resistance in the morning. Hand to hand fighting was in progress in the Fifth Division zone of action where the ground is rough and naturally suited to defensive operations. The southern Iwo airfield came under scattered artillery fire during the day as evacuation planes continued to land and take off.
By 1800 on March 3, a total of 12,864 enemy dead had been counted and 81 prisoners, of whom 45 are Koreans and 36 Japanese, had been captured.
The guns of fleet units covered the ground troops during the night of March 3, and supported the attack on the following day.
Carrier aircraft and Seventh Army Air Force Liberators operating under the strategic air force attacked Chichi Jima in the Bonins with bombs and rockets on March 3.
Corsair and Hellcat Fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing made bombing and rocket attacks on enemy held islands in the Palaus on March 3. One plane was shot down by antiaircraft fire.
Marine fighters bombed Yap in the Western Carolines on the same date.
Fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft wing and Mitchell bombers strafed and bombed airfields and other installations on Ponape in the Eastern Carolines on March 3.
Navy search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two continued neutralizing attacks on enemy held bases in the Marshalls on March 3.

 

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1942
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The Japanese convoy bound for Huon Gulf, New Guinea, sails from Rabaul, New Britain Island, during the night of the 5th/6th.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): Air echelon of 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy), arrives at Melbourne,Australia from Singosari, Java, NEI with B-17's, B-24's and LB-30's. Theground echelon is on Luzon and Mindanao , Philippines attached to the 5th Interceptor Command.

BURMA: British Lieutenant General Sir Harold Alexander arrives in Rangoon to become General Officer Commanding Burma Army. General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief India, has given Alexander orders to hold Rangoon at all costs. Alexander immediately orders the 1st Burma Division to counter-attack the Japanese from the north and the 17th Indian Division, which has be reinforced, to attack east of Pegu. Meanwhile, the Japanese capture Pegu, a railroad junction 50 miles north of Rangoon, and threaten to trap Alexander's forces.

EAST INDIES: The Dutch continue a losing battle for Java. At dusk, the Dutch troops in the vicinity of Batavia, the capital, surrender to the Japanese and, by 2130 hours that night, the city has been occupied. The Allies retreat toward Bandung in Java's central highland.
Carrier-based Japanese aircraft mount a damaging raid on the naval base at Tjilatjap, Java sinking 17 ships and completely destroying the harbor.

INDIA: Major General Lewis H. Brereton takes command of the USAAF 10th Air Force with HQ at New Delhi. The 10th Air Force has eight tactical aircraft, all B-17's.

JAPAN: Imperial General Headquarters issues Navy Directive No.62 ordering Commander-in- Chief, Combined Fleet, upon completion of the Java operation, to annihilate the remaining enemy force in Dutch New Guinea and to occupy strategic points of that territory. The objectives of the occupation are to survey the country for possible sites for air bases, anchorages and oilfields, as well to secure a good communication and supply line with British New Guinea.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Japanese transport Takao Maru, damaged and driven aground off Vigan, Luzon, on 10 December 1941, is destroyed by Filipino saboteurs.

U.K.: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound is replaced by Field Marshall Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, as Chairman of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee. This appointment improves relations between Prime Minster Winston Churchill and the Committee as Admiral Pound was noted for a strictly maritime point of view.
Winston Churchill proposes to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that a U.S. division be sent to New Zealand on the condition that the New Zealand Expeditionary Force remains in the Middle East.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, 1 B-24 flies negative weather reconnaissance over Kiska, Semichis, Attu, Agattu and Buldir Islands.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) Heavy bombers, operating individually, hit Gasmata. In New Guinea, A-20s pound Lae Airfield while heavy bombers, operating individually, hit Lae and Alexishafen. In the Netherlands East Indies, heavy bombers, operating individually, hit Saumlakki on Yamdena Island in the Mulaccas Islands.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The US submarine Grampus (SS-207), commanded by John R. Craig, is sunk by Japanese destroyers in Blackett Strait- Solomon Islands All hands are lost.
Amplyfing above:
USS GRAMPUS (SS 207)
March 5, 1943 - 71 Men Lost
After starting on the 9th and being ordered to return on the 10th, GRAMPUS (Lt. Cmdr. J. R. Craig) departed Brisbane on 11 February to make her sixth patrol in the Solomon area, having made two successful previous patrols under Craig. After leaving her exercise target on 12 February 1943, she never was heard from again.

She was directed, during the period from 14 February to 20 February, to patrol successively the area west of Shortland and south of latitude 6-30 ‘S, the entire Buka-Shortland-Rabaul Sea area, and to leave the southern part to TRITON, which subsequently was lost in this general area.

On 20 February, GRAMPUS was ordered to patrol north of 4-30 ‘S, until dawn on 21 February, and then to patrol east of Buka and Bouganville. On 2 March she was told to round Cape Henpan, proceed down the west coast of Bouganville, south of Treasury Island, north of Vella Lavella and into Vella Gulf on the afternoon of 5 March. She was to sink enemy ships trying to pass westward through Blackett Strait in attempting to escape our surface ships scheduled to bombard Vila and Stanmore airstrip on 6 March. GRAYBACK was teamed with GRAMPUS in the above operation, and each was informed of the other’s assignment.

The evening of 5 March, GRAYBACK and GRAMPUS were warned that two destroyers were proceeding from Faisi (off southeastern Bouganville) toward Wilson Strait (between Vella Lavella and Ganogga). These destroyers later went through Blackett Strait into Kula Gulf, where they sere sunk by our surface forces, but GRAYBACK did not report having seen or heard them. Shortly after the report concerning these destroyers was sent, GRAYBACK heard and saw a ship in the part of Vella Gulf assigned to GRAMPUS, and, assuming it was she, maneuvered to avoid. She was unable to track it or exchange recognition signals by radar, since her SJ radar was not functioning. When GRAMPUS made no radio transmission up to 67 March, she was ordered by ComTaskFor 72 on 7 March to do so. No transmission was received, and on 8 March she was ordered again to make one, again without results. She was reported lost on 22 March, 1943.

Since the war’s end, the following facts have been culled from enemy sources. On 17 February 1943, the enemy claims to have sighted one of our submarines southeast. During the afternoon of the 18th, a submarine torpedo attack was delivered on enemy ships and a freighter of 6,400 tons was damaged. An enemy counter-attack was made. All of these positions were in GRAMPUS’ area.

On the afternoon of 19 February, enemy seaplanes claim to have sighted and attacked a U. S. submarine somewhere southeast. The next day, two patrol boats found a large amount of oil on the surface in this position, and the enemy believed that the submarine had been sunk. However, another enemy report states that a submarine was sighted on 24 February in the southeast. Since no other U.S. submarine could have been in this position at this time, it may be assumed that GRAMPUS escaped serious injury on 19 February, or that AMBERJACK was the victim of the attack of 19 February.

Whether the shop GRAYBACK saw and heard in Vella Gulf on the night of 5-6 March 1943 was GRAMPUS is impossible to determine, since she was unable to identify it. However, if it was GRAMPUS and she did survive the enemy attack of 19 February, the only other possibility, so far is now known, is that GRAMPUS was sunk by the destroyers passing through Blackett Strait on the night of 5-6 March, 1943. From the information at hand, it appears that GRAMPUS could have been no more than 15 miles from GRAYBACK on that night, yet GRAYBACK reported hearing no depth charges. In view of this, it seems likely that GRAMPUS was caught on the surface by the destroyers and sunk by gunfire. Since the enemy ships were themselves destroyed subsequently, no mention of any attack by them is made in Japanese reports. A large oil slick was reported in Blackett Strait on 6 March.

In the five patrols made before her fatal one, this ship sank six ships, for a total of 45,000 tons, and damaged two more, for 3,000 tons.

On her first patrol, conducted in February and March 1942 in the Caroline Islands, GRAMPUS sand two 10,000-ton tankers and reconnoitered Wotje and Kwajalein atolls. Her second patrol was a passage from Pearl Harbor to Fremantle, Western Australia, and no sinkings were made. Going to the area west of Luzon and Mindoro, P.I., for her third patrol, GRAMPUS was again unsuccessful in her attempts to sink enemy ships. She conducted her fourth patrol in the Solomons. Here she landed coast watchers on Vella Lavella and Choiseul Islands, and was credited with one escort type vessel sunk and another damaged. GRAMPUS’ fifth patrol was made in the Solomons also. She sank a large transport, a medium transport, a freighter and damaged a destroyer.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): B-25s, A-36s, P-51s and P-40s fly more than 60 sorties against targets in Burma, including artillery positions, storage areas, ground troops, roads, and a bridge; the targets are in the Zigon,
Shingban, and Myitkyina areas.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 8 B-25s bomb and strafe Chiengmai Airfield, destroying 9 aircraft, the water tower and nearby railroad station; the barracks area is also damaged.

EASTERN AIR COMMAND (EAC): During the night, British Major General Orde C Wingate's Special Force of long-range penetration troops begin dropping by glider onto Japanese lines of communication in C Burma. US engineer troops drop first, followed by the British 77 and 111 Brigades. USAAF Colonel Philip G Cochran's Air Commando unit flies them in, dropping them on a strip designated Broadway, about 50 miles (80 km) NE of Indaw. Another projected drop site, Piccadilly, is unusable as the Japanese have blocked it with fallen trees. Of 67 gliders dispatched, 32 reach Broadway. 539 men, 3 mules and 65,972 pounds (29,925 kg) of supplies are safely put down, including such items as bulldozers and lighting apparatus.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): P-40s from Makin carry out fighter-bomber mission against runways and airfield installations at Mille Atoll; B-25s hit Maloelap and Mille Atolls; B-24s bomb Ponape and last resort targets at Kusaie and Mille Atoll.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain , 22 B-25s, with USN fighter escort, bomb Simpson Harbor; 4 RNZAF Venturas on patrol hit barges anchored off a supply dock at nearby Raulavat Plantation; 9 B-24s follow with a raid on the Rabaul town area; 13 B-24, with USN fighters covering, blast the revetment area and airstrip at Tobera; 11 P-38s hit Borpop Airfield, and P-40s and USN fighters hit barges at Kabanga Bay and off the Warangoi River; 16 P-39s attack AA positions at Monoitu bridge, and 3 P-38s hit Siar.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): About 30 B-24s bomb enemy positions on Los Negros. In NE Nea Guinea, elements of the US 32d Infantry Division land at Yaula; A-20s bomb and strafe the area; P-39's pound the areas around Madang and Erima; P-47 sweep the Wewak / Dagua area. Lost are P-47D "Fiery Ginger IV" 42-22668, B-24D "Ready, Willing & Able" 42-41135 and F5B Lightning 42-67360. Australian ground forces break out of the Ramu Valley and Japanese retreat toward Madang. 71st Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th BG (Medium), moves from Port Moresby to Nadzab, New Guinea with B-25s.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 30 B-25s knock out bridges at Phu Xuyen, Thinh Duc, Phu Ly, Ninh Binh, and Phu Lang Thuong and damage a bridge at Kep. In China, 2 B-25s, escorted by 8 P-47s, knock out a bridge at Changtuikuan while 4 bomb Chikhom. 40+ P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance hit road, rail, and river traffic, town areas, and other targets of opportunity in French Indochina, the C Yangtze River area, and elsewhere in S and E China.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 50+ P-47s support forces of the British 36 Division in the Mogok sector and forces of the Chinese 50th Division in the Mansam area; 46 P-47s and 12 B-25s hit troop concentrations in the battle areas and attack supply areas, road traffic, and general targets of opportunity behind enemy lines. 664 air supply sorties are flown to forward areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Susaki Airfield is pounded by 11 B-24s from Guam; during the night of 5/6 Mar, 5 more hit the airfield in individual snooper strikes. 22 B-24s from Angaur Airfield bomb Matina Airfield on Mindanao.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-25s hit San Roque Airfield. On Luzon , B-24s with fighter support hit troops in the Antipolo area while fighter-bombers dive-bomb San Pablo, hit Fort Drum in Manila Bay, attack troops W of Ft Stotsenburg, and support guerrilla forces NE of Lingayen Gulf. Targets on Formosa are hit by fighters on sweeps and B-24s on armed reconnaissance; the fighter sweeps are especially effective against railroad targets. B-25s hit Zettle Field. HQ 5th BG moves from Morotai to Guiuan Airfield; the 25th Liaison Squadron, FEAF (attached to Thirteenth AF), moves from Biak to Dulag with UC-78s and L-5s.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 289, MARCH 5, 1945

During the night of March 4‑5 (East Longitude Dates), the enemy made a number of attempts to infiltrate into our lines on Iwo Island and subjected the Marines to substantial small arms and artillery fire. All enemy efforts to move into our positions were broken up. No appreciable change was made in the lines of the opposing forces on March 5. Improved wind and weather conditions facilitated unloading of supplies on both Eastern and Western beaches.
Seventh Army Air Force Liberators operating under the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed the airfield on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 4.
Corsair and Hellcat fighters and Avenger torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing set an ammunition dump and a supply area afire and damaged a pier by bombing and rocket attacks in the Palaus on March 4. Two of our aircraft were lost.
Navy search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two strafed targets on Ponape in the Eastern Carolines on the same date.

 

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1941
China: Fierce fighting has broken out, in Ichang, China, on the western bank of the Yangtze river in western Hupeh, as Japanese troops today launched a new offensive aimed at driving the Chinese back into the mountains, west towards the Kuomintang capital of Chungking. The offensive - the first in the region since November - began at 0530 hours as Japanese artillery shelled Chinese positions to provide cover for three regiments which advanced and took the Chinese stronghold at Chang-kang-ling. At the same time, on another flank, between 600 and 700 Japanese infantry, with aerial and artillery support, took Fan-chia-hu.

1942
BURMA: The newly arrived British 63d Brigade, under command of the Indian 17th Division, makes a futile effort to clear the block on the Rangoon-Pegu road and relieve the Pegu garrison, which is isolated.
Lieutenant General Sir Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding Burma Army, orders Rangoon evacuated since the situation in lower Burma is deteriorating rapidly; a denial program is to be put into effect at 0001 hours tomorrow.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): HQ 8th Pursuit Group and 35th, 36th and 80th Pursuit Squadrons arrive at Brisbane, Australia from the US with P-39's; first mission in Apr.

CHINA: U.S. Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma, and India, confers for the first time with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in Chungking.

EAST INDIES: On Java, the Japanese advance has sealed the Australian, British, Dutch and U. S. defenders into two pockets, one in the central highlands, the other near Surabaya, the Dutch naval base.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, 1 B-24 flies uneventful reconnaissance over Kiska. Attu, Agattu, Buldir, and the Semichis Islands.

CBI: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 4 B-24's bomb shipping near Pagoda Point, scoring near misses. On the return flight, they strafe the lighthouse on Alguada Reef, a lightship off China Park, and a radio station at Diamond Island. Three B-24s intending to bomb Pazundaung bridge fail to reach the target; 1 manages to bomb the airfield at Pagoda Point. The others return to base without bombing. Six B-24s unsuccessfully attack the Myitnge bridge.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) B-24s bomb Kahili Airfield and the airfield on Ballale.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, A-20s hit the Guadagasal area. Single B-24s attack shipping off Manus Island in the Admiralties and off Talasea and hit the Airfield on Gasmata. HQ 49th Fighter Group and it's 9th Fighter Squadron with P-38Fs transfer from Port Moresby to Dobodura.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 4 B-25s knock the center span out of the Sittang bridge and blast 2 AA positions; 14 B-25s lay mines around Kham Yai , bomb nearby Prong , and hit the marshalling yard at
Pegu; 18 P-51s and P-40s attack Sawnghka bridge with poor results, start fires near Lalawng Ga, and bomb dumps near Walawbum. A flight of the 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, AAF India-Burma Sector (attached to Tenth Air Force), begins operating from Kisselbari, India with P-40s; the squadron is based at Guskhara.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): A-24s and P-40s from Makin bomb and strafe runways at Mille Atoll. B-25s from Tarawa Atoll pound the airfield at Wotje Atoll.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On Bougainville, P-39s hit Monoitu Mission and huts and bridge on the Miwo River. 24 B-25s with fighter escort, pound Tobera, while 24 B-24s and 12 P-38s hit Kavieng and Panapai Airfield.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25s continue to hit Japanese forces on Los Negros. B-24s bomb the airstrip and other targets in the Awar-Nubia area; P-39s and RAAF aircraft hit Japanese forces around Madang. P-39s and P-38s strafe and dive-bomb the Cape Hoskins-Talasea area as US Marines land about midway up the coast of the Willaumez Peninsula in preparation for a drive on Talasea. 405th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th BG (Medium), moves from Port Moresby to Nadzab, New Guinea with B-25s. Lost is C-47A "Our Lillian Ethel Form 1A" 42-24228.

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A mission to the Kuriles is cancelled due to inclement weather.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-25s bomb Chikhom; about 50 fighter-bombers hit storage, troops, railroad targets, and river and road traffic around Hankow, along the Pinghan railroad, Kaifeng, Suchow, Hsuchang, Changsha, Yoyang, Liuyang, and Hengyang, and on railroads from Liuliho to Chengtung and from Tungpu to Tatung.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 31 P-47s support British 36 Division forces in the Mogok area; 12 B-25s join 60+ fighter-bombers in striking troop concentrations, road traffic, supply and fuel dumps, and other targets in the vicinity of the battlefront and in areas close behind enemy lines. Transport operations continue on a large scale with 663 sorties completed to forward areas throughout the day.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 11 Guam based B-24s again pound Susaki Airfield; 5 more hit the airfield during the night of 6/7 Mar in separate strikes. HQ 15th Fighter Group arrives on Iwo Jima from Hawaii and the air echelon of the 548th Night Fighter Squadron moves from Saipan to Iwo Jima with P-61s (there are now 28 P-51s and 12 P-61s on the Iwo Jima).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao, B-24s pound San Roque and Zamboanga areas. On Luzon , other B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit the Antipolo area, bomb Balete Pass and Ft Drum and Caballo in Manila Bay and support guerrillas near San Fernando. B-25s and P-38s attack Hainan and considerably damage Samah Airfield. Fighters sweeping over Formosa hit the Koshun area. HQ 347th FG and the 67th, 68th and 339th Fighter Squadrons move from San Jose, Mindoro to Puerto Princesa, Palawan with P-38s (the 67th and 339th are operating from Morotai ); the 419th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, moves from Middelburg , New Guinea to Puerto Princesa, Palawan (the squadron is operating from Morotai with P-38s and P-61s).

PHILLIPINES: General Mac Arthur meets his wife Jean and son Arthur in Manila Harbor aboard the Columbia Express.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 290, MARCH 6, 1945

After the most intense artillery bombardment of enemy positions since the operation on Iwo Island began, elements of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Marine Divisions resumed the attack on the morning of March 6 (East Longi*tude Date). Fighting was heavy. throughout the day with the enemy offering very stiff resistance and subjecting our forces to a heavy volume of small arms and mortar fire. By 1730 on March 6, the Marines had made small local gains on the left flank and in the center of the lines. Carrier aircraft sup*ported the attack and Naval guns were in action throughout the day.
The Marines had counted 14,456 enemy dead at 1800 on March 5.
Army fighters are using the southern Iwo airfield and air evacuation of wounded by transport plane continues. Unloading conditions continue to be favorable.
Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed the airfield on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 5.
On the same date fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed and set afire an oil dump, a supply dump and a house in the Palaus. Marine Corsair and Avenger torpedo planes attacked targets in the Palaus and on Yap in the Western Carolines on March 6.
Marine fighters strafed targets on Rota in the Marianas on March 6.

 

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1941
AMERICAN SAMOA: The transport USS William P. Biddle (AP-15), escorted by light cruiser USS Concord (CL-10), arrives at Pago Pago on Tutuila Island, and disembarks the 7th Defense Battalion, the first unit of the Fleet Marine Force deployed to the Southern Hemisphere in World War II.

1942
AUSTRALIA: USN Patrol Wing 10, which was based in the Philippines in December 1941, completes withdrawal from the Netherlands East Indies, and establishes headquarters in Perth, Western Australia, for patrol operations along the west coast of Australia. Sixty percent of the wing personnel are either dead or captives of the Japanese. Three of the four wing squadrons, Patrol Squadron VP-21, VP-22 and VP-102 are officially disestablished, and the remaining personnel and aircraft assets, PBY-4 and -5 Catalinas, are combined to bring up to full strength the remaining squadron, VP-101.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): HQ 22d BG (Medium) transfers from Brisbane to Ipswich, Australia.

BURMA: The British Army evacuates Rangoon, moving along Prome road except for demolition forces, which are removed by sea. The loss of Rangoon seriously handicaps supply and reinforcement of the Burma Army, which must now depend on air for this. Withdrawal from Rangoon is halted at Taukkyan by an enemy roadblock. The bypassed Allied force in Pegu is ordered to withdraw.

EAST INDIES: The Japanese conquest of Java is virtually complete. Radio and cable communications with Bandoeng cease. Final reports indicate that the Japanese are still advancing on all fronts, that the defenders are completely exhausted, and that all Allied fighter planes have been destroyed. The Japanese also capture Tjilatjap, the naval base on the south coast, and Surabaja was being evacuated in the face of strong Japanese forces.

NEW CALEDONIA: Major General Alexander M. Patch, commander- designate of the New Caledonia Task Force (6814), arrives on New Caledonia Island.

NEW GUINEA: While returning from a reconnaissance mission over Gasmata and Rabaul in the Bismarck Archipelago, the crew of an RAAF Hudson of No. 32 Squadron, based at Seven Mile Airstrip, Port Moresby, sights a convoy of 11 ships heading for Salamaua.

U.S.: The practicability of using a radio sonobuoy in aerial anti-submarine warfare was demonstrated in an exercise conducted off New London, Connecticut, by nonrigid airship (or blimp) K-5 and submarine USS S-20 . The buoy could detect the sound of the submerged submarine's propellers at distances up to 3 miles, and radio reception aboard the blimp was satisfactory up to 5 miles
The Tuskegee flying school graduates its first cadets. This US school was segregated for Black students. They joined the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Names: Capt. Ben Davis Jr.; 2LT Mac Ross, Charles DeBow, LR Curtis, and George Roberts.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) The first flight of B-25s is brought up to Amchitka Island. This enables stepped-up raids on Kiska. Nine B-24s and 4 P-38s bomb and strafe the Chichagof Harbor area and Holtz Bay installations on Kiska. A fighter sweep, 6 B-24s, and 10 B-25s hit North Head and the Main Camp area on Kiska. HQ 343d Fighter Group transfers from Elmendorf Field to Adak.

CBI: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 12 B-25's attack Gokteik Viaduct, causing only minor damage. The 1st Troop Carrier Squadron, Tenth Air Force, transfers from Chabua, India to New Delhi, India.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) Single B-24s hit Airfield at Vila on Kolombangara Island and Kahili. Eight B-24s bomb Munda Airfield.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, A-20s attack the Guadagasal area and barges offshore; B-25s bomb Toeal. Single B-24s attack a ship NW of Madang and bomb Salamaua. Single B-24s bomb Gasmata and Cape Gloucester.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Aleutian , B-24s and B-25s fly a negative search mission for an enemy submarine.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20+ P-51s and A-36s on armed reconnaissance hit targets of opportunity from Walawbum to Shaduzup; 2 B-25s hit troop concentrations NW of Shaduzup and another attacks road bridge and barges near Shwebo and along the Irrawaddy River; offensive reconnaissance over several airfields in Burma results in no major action.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Abemama hit Kusaie and Jaluit Atoll. P-40s bomb and strafe the airfield at Mille Atoll. B-25s pound runways, AA positions, storage areas, and barracks on Taroa.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 24 B-25s, with USN fighter support, hit Tobera Airfield; 19 P-40s bomb and strafe Rabaul. 24 B-24s and 14 P-38s hit Panapai Airfield. Fighter aircraft pound tactical targets on Bougainville including Koromira Mission, a supply area on the Jaba River, and bivouac S of the Maririei River near Menoavi.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-24s and B-25s continue to hit targets on Los Negros and other of the Admiralty and bomb Boram Airfield. P-38s and RAAF aircraft attack targets in the Talasea area of New Britain. 823d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Port Moresby to Nadzab, New Guinea with B-25s.

USN: Hansa Bay, NG. Sunk is PT-337

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile s; 8 B-25s, dispatched to strike a reported convoy, abort due to weather; so do 8 B-24s after departing on a shipping sweep and a strike on Kataoka, Shimushu.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-25s and 9 P-40s blast railroad targets N of Kiaotow; single B-25s hit truck convoys in the Hsiang River Valley, the waterfront at Changsha, and a bridge and other targets of opportunity on the Pinghan railroad; 130+ fighter-bombers attack numerous targets throughout S and E China, concentrating on railroad, road, and river targets in the areas around Nanking, Yoyang, Sintsiang, and Changsha.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 30 P-47s support troops of the British 36 Division in the Mogok area; 18 others support elements of the Chinese 50th Division near Mansam; elements of the Chinese 38th Division occupy Lashio; 12 B-25s and 35 fighter-bombers attack road targets, troops,vehicles, and a variety of targets of opportunity immediately behind enemy lines. Transports fly 630 sorties supplying forward areas with men and equipment.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 11 Guam based B-24s hit Susaki Airfield and the town of Okimura on Haha Jima; 5 more hit Susaki Airfield during the night of 7/8 Mar in individual harassment strikes.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: On Luzon , B-24s hit the Balete Pass area while A-20s and fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations and gun positions near Antipolo and near San Fernando, NW of Ft Stotsenburg, and in the Bayombong-Solano area and targets of opportunity in the Lake Taal area, the towns of Santa Fe, Lallo and Vigan, and on Caballo in Manila Bay; numerous ground support missions are flown throughout Luzon.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 291, MARCH 7, 1945

Attacking in all sectors of the line the Marines on Iwo Island advanced against heavy enemy resistance on March 7 (East Longitude Date). In the Fifth Marine Division sector on the west flank our forces moved forward about 500 yards on the left with lesser gains in the center and right. The Third Division in the center advanced about 588 yards at one point after en*gaging the enemy in hand to hand fighting. Advances of 100 to 200 yards were reported in local areas of the Fourth Division sector on the east. The enemy continued to resist with intense small arms and machine gun fire throughout the day.
Carrier aircraft made bombing and rocket attacks on targets on Chichi Jima and Haha Jima in the Bonins on March 6 and 7.
Favorable weather conditions continue and unloading of supplies is pro*gressing satisfactorily.
A Navy Search Liberator of Fleet Air Wing One bombed and strafed two enemy cargo ships north of the Bonins on March 6.
Corsair and Hellcat fighters and Avenger torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing destroyed a bridge and set buildings afire with bomb and rocket attacks on the Palaus on March 6. On the same date Marine air*craft bombed installations on Yap in the Western Carolines.
Strafing and bombing attacks were made on Ponape in the Eastern Caro*lines on March 6 by planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing. Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered.

 

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1941
U.S.: The U.S. Senate passes the "Lend Lease" bill by a vote of 60 to 31. The House of Representatives had passed the bill by a vote of 260 to 165 on 8 February 1941 but there are differences in the two bills and it is sent to a joint committee to resolve the differences.
The National Television System Committee (NTSC), the organization responsible for setting TV and video standards in the U.S., formally recommends TV standards to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), calling for 525 lines and 30 frames per second.
In baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Hugh Mulcahy becomes the first major leaguer drafted and is inducted in the Army today. Mulcahy, an All Star in 1940 while leading the National League in losses for the second time, serves in the Army including a year in New Guinea and the Philippines. He returns in 1945 but he will pitch only 96 innings in 23 games before ending his career in 1947. More than 100 major leaguers will be drafted within the next two years, and two; Elmer Gedeon who played five games for the Washington Senators in 1939 and Harry O'Neill who played one game for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1939÷will be killed in action.

1942
ALASKA: Brigadier General William O. Butler assumes command of the USAAF 11th Air Force with HQ at Ft Richardson, Anchorage. The 11th AF is assigned to the Alaska Defense Command (Major General Simon B. Buckner, Jr.) and the Alaska Defense Command is in turn assigned to the Western Defense Command (Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt), which was designated a theater of operations early in the war.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS (10th Air Force): HQ 10th Air Force begins moving from Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio to India. Between this date and 13 Mar, the 8 B-17's in India transport 474 troops and 29 tons (26.3 metric tonnes) of supplies from India to Magwe, Burma and on the return flights evacuate 423 civilians.

JAVA - The last mission by the Allied air force in Java is flown by two Hurricanes. On the next day the island commander surrenders to the Japanese.

SWPA, 5th Air Force): Air echelons of 16th and 17th Bombardment Squadrons, 27th Bombardment Group, cease operating from Batchelor Field, Northern Territory and begin a movement to Brisbane with A-24s; ground echelon is on Bataan. 89th and 90th Bombardment Squadrons, 3d BG transfer from Brisbane to Charters Towers with A-20's; first mission is in Apr. Following units transfer from Brisbane to Ballarat, Australia: HQ 38th BG (Medium) and 15th Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium) with B-26's. Ground echelon of 69th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) also transfers; air echelon of 69th remains in US until May 42. 39th Pursuit Squadron, 35th Pursuit Group with P-39's.

USN - Inshore Patrol Squadron VS-2-D14, which had arrived at Bora Bora on 17 February, inaugurated air operations from the Society Islands.

BURMA: Elements of the Japanese 33rd Division enter Rangoon which was abandoned by the British yesterday.
The British 63d Brigade and elements of the 16th, with tank and artillery support, clear the Japanese block on the Rangoon-Prome road at Taukkyan. During the period 8-13 March, the entire USAAF bomber force in India, two LB-30 and two B-24's and a B-17 begin moving a British infantry battalion and supplies to the American AVG, base at Magwe. A total of 474 troops and 29 tons of supplies are transported and on the return flights, the crews evacuate 423 civilians.

EAST INDIES: At 0900 hours on Java, the Commander-in- Chief of the Allied forces, Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten, broadcasts a proclamation to the effect that organized resistance by the Royal Netherlands East Indian Army in Java would end. The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies and General Ter Poorten, together with the garrison commander of Bandoeng area, meet the Japanese Commander-in- Chief, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi at Kalidjati that afternoon and agree to the capitulation of all the troops in the Netherlands East Indies. As a result, the Japanese occupy Surabaja by 1800 hours. On learning of the surrender, Australian Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur S. Blackburn, the leader of "Blackforce, " moves his troops to a position around Tjikadjang covering the roads leading to the south coast.
That afternoon RAF Air Vice-Marshal Maltby and Major General Hervey Sitwell, General Officer Commanding British Troops Java, issues orders for all British units to comply and the Japanese wisely did not pursue the Allies into the rugged hills. Yet the Australians remain deployed and armed during the next three days with Blackburn contemplating the decision to fight on, with the rainy season approaching, and the health and medical facilities and survivability of his troops to consider plus untrained and inadequately equipped for jungle guerilla actions and mountain warfare, or surrender against all his soldiers desires to resist until defeated. He informed General Sitwell that he'd join the surrender and with that all weapons were thoroughly destroyed.
Over 100,000 Allied troops are taken prisoner on Java. More than 8,500 Dutch soldiers will die in captivity -- 25 percent -- and a further 10,500 Dutch civilian internees will perish, out of 80,000 interned. Many soldiers and civilians will die while hiding on remote islands, hoping for rescue, or building boats to flee to Australia.

NEW GUINEA: A Japanese convoy arrives in Huon Gulf during the night of the 7th/8th and under cover of a naval bombardment lands assault forces at Salamaua and Lae without opposition. The 2nd Maizuru Special Naval Landing Force and 400-men of a naval construction battalion land at Lae while a battalion group of the 144th Regiment lands at Salamaua. Members of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles stationed in the two towns carried out demolition work and then withdrew westward.
During the day, the crew of an RAAF Hudson of No. 32 Squadron, based at Seven Mile Airstrip, Port Moresby, attacks the transports and scores a direct hit on an 8,000 ton ship which is later seen to be burning and listing.

NEW ZEALAND: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, "Glen" to reconnoiter Wellington.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, issues a communique saying that his opponent, General HOMMA Masaharu, has committed suicide out of frustration. This story gets heavily embellished and just as heavily repeated. Homma reads the report with some amusement. He is less amused when inspecting officers from the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo arrive to find out why he hasn't taken the Philippines on time. They reprimand Homma for allowing his staff officers to live in plush hotels in Manila while their troops fight in the jungle. Some of Homma's staff are shipped off to Manchuria. However, the staff officers realize that Homma needs reinforcements, and ship in the 65th Brigade of 3,500 men and the 4th Infantry Division from Shanghai. Homma is not happy. The 4th's 11,000 men are the worst equipped division in the whole Japanese army. However, the siege guns from China are most welcome, and they hurl 240 mm shells at American islands in Manila Bay, including Fort Drum, the "concrete battleship."

U.S.: HQ of the USAAF 10th Air Force begins a movement from Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio to India.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) The 344th Fighter Squadron, 343d Fighter Group with P-40's transfers from Ft. Randall, Alaska to Ft. Glenn, Alaska.

CBI: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 12 B-25s strike at the Myitnge bridge and AA positions. Results are poor. Four B-24s bomb Bassein docks. P-40s hit military targets near Pebu and Wan-hat.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) Airfields at Munda and Vila on are again hit by light B-24 raids.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) Heavy bombers, operating individually, hit occupied areas in the SE coastal region of NW New Guinea and also strike at Saumlakki and Babo.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Aleutian , bombers fly negative search and patrol missions for an enemy submarine; B-24s fly cover for a convoy en route from Adak to Shemya.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 28 P-51s hit the airfields at Anisakan, Shwebo, and Onbauk, destroying 30+ Japanese aircraft; later 5 B-25s and 2 P-51s hit Shwebo, scoring hits along the runway and in the dispersal area and leaving several Japanese aircraft aflame; 3 B-25s hit 2 bridges at Lalawng Ga and Warazup, knocking out the latter; and 16 A-36s and P-51s hit targets of opportunity from Chanmoi to Shaduzup.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 26th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, based at Kunming, China with P-51s sends a detachment to operate from Nanning.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s, striking from Makin bomb Ponape and Kusaie. A-24s and P-40s, also from Makin , bomb and strafe runways and AA positions at Mille Atoll. Tarawa Atoll-based B-25s pound Wotje Atoll.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain , 23 B-24s and 23 B-25s pound Rabaul, blasting Chinatown and the wharf area; 46 P-40s and P-39s pound the dock area E of Rabaul; 9 P-38s, turning back from Rabaul bomb Buka Airfield on Buka. 390th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), based in the Renard Field with B-25s begins operating from Stirling

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25s carry out a number of low-level strikes as Allied ground forces capture Lombrun Plantation, virtually completing the capture of the island. 70+ B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s bomb Nubia and Awar airstrips; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 17 aircraft shot down in the Wewak area. Lost over Aitape is P-38J 42-103987. Fighters continue to strafe coastal targets in NE New Guinea and on New Britain. 822d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th BG (Medium), moves from Port Moresby to Nadzab, New Guinea with B-25s.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 34 B-24s, supported by 21 P-51s, pound Shihkiachwang; 3 B-24s claim a transport sunk in the S China Sea; 16 B-25s and 6 P-40s attack railroad tracks, boxcars, gun positions, sampans, and locomotives, knock out 2 bridges and damage another, and destroy and damage several locomotives at or near Hengshan, Yehhsien, Lohochai, and Chungmow; 140+ fighter-bombers fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas of S and E China, attacking numerous targets of opportunity, mainly river, road, and railroad targets, storage areas, gun positions, and troops, concentrating around Changsha, Changanyi, and a bridge at Puchi.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20 P-47s support the British 36 Division; 40 fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations and supply areas along the battlefront and behind the enemy lines; 39 others sweep roads S of the bomb line, attacking gun positions and other targets of opportunity. Transports fly 554 sorties to advanced bases and over frontline areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 14 B-24s from Guam bomb Susaki Airfield through heavy cloud layers; 5 more B-24s hit the airfield again in 5 individual harassment strikes during the night of 8/9 Mar.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: B-24s pound the Zamboanga area on Mindanao . On Luzon , B-24s hit road targets at Balete Pass while A-20s support guerrilla forces in the San Fernando area; fighter-bombers hit fuel dumps, gun positions, and other targets near Angat and Ipo dam and numerous targets of opportunity in the Antipolo area, personnel and storage areas near Baguio, and several targets in the Cagayan Valley (including the town of Caggay, the Dummun River area, and barges at Naguilian). The 6th Combat Cargo Squadron, 2d Combat Cargo Group, based on Biak with C-46s, begins operating from Guiuan Airfield; and the 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, based on Morotai with P-38s, P-61s and P-70s, sends a detachment to operate from Tacloban, Leyte.

USA: Phyliss M. Daley became the first Black nurse sworn in as a US Navy Ensign. She was a graduate of Lincoln School for Nurses, New York, and was the first of 4 Black Navy nurses to serve on active duty in WW 2.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 292, MARCH 8, 1945

Attacking resolutely in the face of heavy resistance the Marines on Iwo Island made small advances in all sectors of the lines on March 8 (East Longi*tude Date). Defending every prepared position desperately, the enemy used light and heavy machine guns and intense small arms fire to slow the move*ment of our forces. Operating over extremely difficult terrain our tanks knocked out a number of enemy pillboxes. The attack was supported by carrier aircraft and the guns of surface units of the fleet.
Carrier aircraft made rocket and strafing attacks on the Naval base and airfield at Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 8.
Seventh Army Air Force Liberators operating under the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed Chichi Jima and Haha Jima on March 7.
On the same date Corsairs and Hellcats of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus setting buildings afire.
Navy search Privateers of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed and strafed In*stallations on Wake Island on March 7.


CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 740, MARCH 8, 1945

VICE ADMIRAL SMITH ASSUMES COMMAND OF PACIFIC FLEET SERVICE FORCE​

​

Vice Admiral William Ward Smith, USN, has assumed command of the Service Force, United States Pacific Fleet, relieving Vice Admiral William L. Calhoun, USN, who saw this auxiliary fleet grow ten‑fold in the little more than four years he commanded it.
Vice Admiral Smith, recently promoted from the rank of Rear Admiral, was Director of Naval Transportation Service in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations prior to assuming his new command.
This is his second Pacific assignment in this war. He was Chief of Staff to Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, USN, until shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. He was then promoted to Rear Admiral and placed in command of a cruiser task group that participated in the battles of Coral Sea and Midway. For his outstanding service in these engagements he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
He later was assigned to a task force command and his ships were the first naval unit to bombard Kiska Island in the Aleutians August 7, 1942.
While Vice Admiral Smith was Director of Naval Transportation Service, the number of merchant‑type vessels commissioned by and allocated to the Navy increased from 150 to 500.

 

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1942
AUSTRALIA: A leading brigade of the 7th Division Australian Imperial Force arrives in Adelaide, South Australia, from the Middle East. Elements of the division had been sent to Java where they soon became prisoners of the Japanese.
Submarine USS Swordfish disembarks U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands Francis B. Sayre and his party at Fremantle, Western Australia.

BURMA: Burma Army forces at Taukkyan continue a withdrawal northward without serious difficulty.

CANADA: An advance construction team of U.S. Army engineers arrives at Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to begin work on the 1,522 mile Alcan Highway between Dawson Creek and Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska, U.S.A.

EAST INDIES: At 1430 hours on Java, in compliance with the demands of Lieutenant General IMAMURA Hitoshi, Commander of the Japanese 16th Army, Dutch Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten makes a second radio broadcast in which all British, Australian and American units are ordered to lay down their arms.

NEW CALEDONIA: American troops, Task Force 6814 consisting of the HQ of the 51st Infantry Brigade and the 132d and 182 Infantry under the command of Major General Alexander M. Patch, land at Noumea on New Caledonia Island. A brief diplomatic scuffle ensues after Patch takes a dissident group of local militiamen under his command but the matter is quickly resolved in favor of the French and a new governor is appointed for the island.

NEW GUINEA: Land-based aircraft attack a Japanese convoy in Huon Gulf with unobserved results. Japanese aircraft continue the neutralization of points in New Guinea.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, announces that General YAMASHITA Tomoyoki has replaced Lieutenant General HOMMA Masaharu as Commander of the Japanese 14th Army in the Philippines.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt again radios MacArthur to leave the Philippines and MacArthur agrees he will leave Corregidor by 15 March. The question is how. The original plan was for MacArthur and party to leave in the submarine USS Permit) on 14 March. However, the radio press in the U.S. began broadcasting demands that MacArthur be placed in command of all Allied Forces in Australia and the Japanese, realizing that he will flee, increase the size and frequency of naval patrols in Subic Bay and off Corregidor. A destroyer division is sighted in the southern Philippines heading north at high speed. Tokyo Rose is broadcasting that MacArthur will be captured within a month, and U.S. Navy officers give MacArthur a one-in-five chance. Therefore, It is decided not to wait for the submarine but to leave by motor torpedo (PT) boat as soon as preparations can be completed. The PT boats will take him to Mindanao Island and the party will then board three USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses at Del Monte Field for a flight to Australia.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Australian coastwatcher P. Good is executed by the Japanese on Buka Island, north of Bougainville. He had been betrayed by an Australian news broadcast reporting enemy shipping movements.

U.S. A major U.S. Army reorganization, implementing an Executive Order of 28 February, becomes effective today. General Headquarters is abolished and three autonomous commands, Army Ground Forces under Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, Army Air Forces under Lieutenant General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, and Services of Supply (later designated as Army Service Forces) under Major General Brehon B. Somervell, are given responsibility for Zone of Interior (ZI) functions under General George C. Marshall as Chief of Staff. The field forces remain under control of the War Department General Staff. The Air Corps and the US Army Air Force Combat Command, which previously had made up the Army Air Forces (AAF), are discontinued.

1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, 6 B-24s, 10 B-25s, 12 P-38s and 4 P-40s attack Kiska Island. The P-40s and 6 of the B-25s return to base due to bad weather; the other bombers bomb the Main Camp area, North Head and the submarine base.

CBI: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, P-40s hit the town area and bridge at Mogaung. Many fires are started and the bridge is severely damaged.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) 3 B-24s bomb the airfields at Munda, Kahili, and Ballale.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 6 B-24s bomb Tavoy Airfield and office area while 8 others hit the town of Mogaung; the town area, supply dumps and road bridge at Kamaing are pounded by 10 B-24s, 16 P-51s, and 10 P-40s; the bridge is knocked out; 10 B-25s score numerous hits on airstrips at Indaw and Katha; and P-51s, P-40s, and A-36s hit storage at Pyindaw, and support ground forces at Walawbum and Shaduzup.

BURMA: Indaw: Operation Thursday, one of the most spectacular operations of the war in Burma, was launched when Brigadier Wingate's Chindits struck again some 200 miles behind the Japanese front lines. At dusk on 5 March, 9,000 members of two brigades began flying into an area known as "Broadway" in gliders. A third brigade is marching into enemy territory, but stores, mules and equipment have been flown in. "Broadway" is 50 miles northeast of Indaw, and Wingate's task is to sever the arteries of supply to the enemy forces opposing General Stilwell's march towards Myitkyina from the north and the advance of the Chinese troops from Yunnan.
The expedition was nearly cancelled when aerial photographs showed logs laid by the Japanese obstructing the ground at "Piccadilly" - 20 miles south of "Broadway" - where gliders crashed on landing, killing 31 crewmen. But landings at "Broadway" went ahead, and in 12 hours engineers had prepared an airstrip. The next night 55 DC-3 Dakota transports landed. The operation is to be supplied by air, and casualties are to be flown out by No. 1 Air Commando of the USAAF.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 18 Chinese-American Composite Wing (CACW) B-25s and 24 Chinese P-40s pound a foundry and floating docks at Shihhweiyao, China. In French Indochina, 40+ P-40s carry out several sea sweeps off the coast and fly armed reconnaissance over the NE; the fighters damage vessels off Campha Port, strafe the airfield at Mon Cay, bomb the airfield at Weichow (causing heavy damage), hit barracks at Luc Nam, damage vessels at Hongay and bomb military installations at Cao Bang.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s based on Abemama attack Taroa. B-24s from Tarawa Atoll hit Ponape and Kusaie.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain , 24 B-25s bomb the dock area along the N shore of Simpson Harbor at Rabaul; 19 B-24s follow with a strike on Rabaul town and wharf area and also hit airfields in the vicinity; and 40+ P-39s and P-40s hit the dock area E of Simpson Harbor. At Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville , 2 squadrons of B-25s hit Japanese installations on the nearby hills. Detachment of 17th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 4th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), begins operating from Munda, New Georgia with F-5s; the squadron is based on Guadalcanal , Solomon .

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25s pound Lorengau and other targets on Manus. Numerous other Fifth Air Force aircraft carry out armed reconnaissance over wide reaches of the SWPA, attacking a variety of targets.

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 3 B-24s fly a negative shipping search.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 32 B-24s, escorted by 5 P-51s, bomb railroad yards at Sinsiang; 15 B-25s and 2 P-40s knock out 2 bridges at Hwaiyuanchen and E of Jungtse, and hit railroad targets and other targets of opportunity at Yehhsien, Chowkiakow, Hsuchang, and E of Junan; 50+ fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance attack railroad targets, river and road traffic, bridges, gun positions, and troops at several locations, particularly around Kweiyi, Hengyang, Nanking, and Sinyang.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 P-47s support elements of the Chinese 50th Division near Mansam; 80+ fighter-bombers operating over and behind enemy lines attack trucks, horses and carts, troops, and artillery pieces. 568 air supply sorties are flown to forward areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 13 Guam based B-24s fly a daylight strike on Susaki Airfield while 5 more on single bomber raids, hit the airfield during the night of 9/10 Mar. 24 Angaur Airfield based B-24s pound the town of Zamboanga on Mindanao.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb Zamboanga on Mindanao . B-25s, in cooperation with PT boats, attack targets on Basilan , Philippine s. B-24s hit the Ipo area, B-25s and fighter-bombers support ground forces E of Manila Bay, hit Japanese-occupied areas at Mabiga, Lipa Bay, and Ternate, and bomb and strafe targets of opportunity on Caballo in Manila Bay; B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit bridges at Bayombong, the town of Makati, Cabugao, and Cauayan, San Fernando and the Solvec Cove areas on the NW coast, the town of Cauayan, and Aparri Airfield. B-24s pound the dock area at Takao, Formosa.

JAPAN: US B-29s raid Tokyo with 1650 tons of incendiary bombs. This is the first of many fire bombing raids on various Japanese Cities.
This was the XXI Bomber Command's Mission Number 40 flown by the 73d, 313th and 314th Bombardment Wings (Very Heavy). During the night of 9/10 March, 325 B-29s are dispatched from the Mariana Islands to hit the Tokyo urban area; the bombers flew in a stream rather than in bomber formation. The bombers carry neither bomb bay fuel tanks nor guns and ammunition except for the tail turret guns. The bombers departed at sunset and attacked Japan between 0100 and 0300 hours on 10 March; 279 bombers hit the primary target with 1,665 tons of incendiary bombs from an altitute between 4,900 and 9,200 feet. Twenty B-29s hit secondary targets and targets of opportunity. Fourteen B-29s are lost, one to AA, five ditched, one made it back but was scrapped and seven were missing. This is the first of the night fire bomb raids on Japanese cities and results in 15.8 square miles of Tokyo being burned out and an estimated 83,000 Japanese killed.

N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 583, MARCH 9, 1945

1. The PT‑77 and PT‑79 were lost in the Philippine area, having been sunk by one of our own ships.
2. This incident was the result of an error in identification.
3. The next of kin of casualties have been notified.


N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 584, MARCH 9, 1945
Far East.

1. United States submarines have reported the sinking of 12 enemy ves*sels, including an escort carrier and a destroyer, as a result of operations in these waters. The ships sunk were:

1 escort aircraft carrier
1 destroyer
1 large cargo transport
1 large tanker
2 medium cargo transports
5 medium cargo vessels
1 small cargo transport

2. These actions have not been announced in any previous Navy Depart*ment communiqué.

 

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1941
THAILAND: Japan steps in to mediate the undeclared war between France and Thailand; France cedes territory to Thailand and gives Japan a monopoly of the Indochinese rice crop and the right to the airfield at Saigon.

1942
CHINA: Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India, is appointed Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, and spends most of the war arguing with Chinese Leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek.

MIDWAY ATOLL: A Kawanishi H6K4, "Mavis", is shot down southwest of Midway by a VMF-221 F2A Buffalo fighter pilot. The flying boat, based at Wotje Atoll in the Marshall Islands, had been refueled at sea by a Japanese submarine.

SWPA, 5th Air Force: HQ 3d Bombardment Group and 13th Bombardment Squadron transfer from Brisbane to Charters Towers with A-20's; first mission is 6 Apr. Arriving at Brisbane are the A-24 air echelons of the following 27th BG units: 16th and 17th Bombardment Squadrons from Batchelor Field, Australia, and 91st BS from Malang, Java. Ground echelon of all 3 squadrons is on Bataan.

NEW GUINEA The Japanese make a landing at Finschhafen on the Huon Peninsula. The Japanese needed to capture towns such as Finschhafen and Salamaua to protect their forward air base at Lae.
USN TF 11 (Vice Admiral Wilson Brown Jr.), which includes ships of TF 17 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher), on the heels of initial nuisance raids by RAAF Hudsons, attacks the Japanese invasion fleet (Rear Admiral Kajioka Sadamichi) off Lae and Salamaua. Sixty one SBD Dauntlesses of Bombing Squadron Two, Scouting Squadron Two, VB-5 and VS-5, and TBD Dauntlesses of Torpedo Squadron Two and VT 5, supported by F4F Wildcats of Fighting Squadrons Three and VF 42 from the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and Yorktown fly over the 15,000-foot Owen Stanley Mountains on the tip of New Guinea to hit Japanese shipping.
They sink armed a merchant cruiser, an auxiliary minelayer, and a transport; and damage light cruiser HIJMS Yubari; destroyers HIJMS Yunagi, Asanagi, Oite, Asakaze, and Yakaze; a minelayer; seaplane carrier; a transport; and a minesweeper. One VS-2 SBD is lost to antiaircraft fire.
Eight USAAF B-17E's and RAAF Hudsons conduct follow up strikes but inflict no appreciable additional damage.
Japanese Navy aircraft based at Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, attack targets around Huon Gulf and in the Port Moresby area.
In a message to British Prime Minister Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt hails the raid as"the best day's work we've had." The success of the U.S. carrier strike (the first time in which two carrier air groups attack a common objective) convinces Japanese war planners that continued operations in the New Guinea area will require carrier support, thus setting the stage for confrontation in the Coral Sea.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright, Commanding General I Corps, visits General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, on Corregidor and learns that he (Wainwright) will head Luzon Force and that his I Corps will be turned over to Brigadier General Albert M. Jones, Commanding General Philippine 51st Division. General MacArthur, after his withdrawal from the Philippines, plans to remain in control of Philippine operations from Australia through Colonel Lewis C. Beebe, who will be deputy chief of staff of USAFFE.
Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Commandant Sixteenth Naval District, gives Lieutenant John Bulkeley, Commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three (MTBRon 3) based on Bataan, his orders regarding the evacuation of General MacArthur and his party from Corregidor Island to Mindanao Island. Bulkeley, with PT-41, is to pick up his passengers, including General and Mrs. MacArthur and their son, and Major General Richard K. Sutherland, MacArthur's Chief of Staff, at North Dock at Corregidor at 1930 hours tomorrow. PT-34 and PT-35 are to remain at their base on Bataan so that the Japanese do not observe any unusual activity; these two boats will transport Admiral Rockwell and his Chief of Staff, Captain Ray, USN, who will be transported from Corregidor to Bataan by launch. The fourth PT boat, PT-32, will pick up passengers at Quarantine Dock at Mariveles at 1915 hours. The plan is for the four boats to rendezvous at the entrance to Manila Bay at 2000 hours tomorrow night.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Japanese troops land on Buka Island, the 190 square mile island just north of Bougainville Island. The two islands are separated by Buka Passage.

U.S.: The House of Representatives votes to increase the U. S. national debt from US$65 billion to US$125 billion. (Considering inflation, that is from US$792 billion to US$1.524 trillion in 2002 dollars.)

USN - A contract with the Office of Scientific Research and Development became effective whereby the Johns Hopkins University agreed to operate a laboratory which became known as the Applied Physics Laboratory. This was one of several important steps in the transition of the radio-proximity fuze from development to large scale production. Other steps taken within the next 6 weeks included the organizational transfer of Section T from the National Defense Research Committee directly to the Office of Scientific Research and Development and the relocation of most of the Section T staff from the Carnegie Institution of Washington to the Applied Physics Laboratory at Silver Spring, Md.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, a reconnaissance airplane is attacked by 5 enemy aircraft. The Kiska attack mission is flown by 10 B-25s, 6 B-24s, 12 P-38s (4 of them flying top cover), and 1 F-5A. Eight of the P-38s strafe ground installations; the B-25s bomb a radar site and pound North Head, silencing AA fire; the B-24s hit the Main Camp area. Four Amchitka-based P-40s bomb the submarine base.

BURMA AND INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, heavy bombers strike the Rangoon area at 2 points. Five B-24s hit the Pazundaung bridge; 4 others pound runways, buildings. and revetments at Mingaladon Airfield. After the attack, several fighters attack the flight. The heavy bombers claim 3 shot down. The China Air Task Force (CATF) is is absorbed by the Fourteenth Air Force (see below).

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In China, the Fourteenth Air Force is activated at Kunming assigned to U.S. Army Forces, China-Burma-India Theater. This new Air Force is responsible for all USAAF units in China; Major General Claire L. Chennault is named Commanding General. General Chennault is promoted and his command is designated the US 14th Air Force.
The establishment of the Fourteenth Air Force was opposed by both General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, and General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General, USAAF. Chennault disliked his subordination to the Tenth Air Force and there was friction between General Bissell, CG of the Tenth Air Force and Chennault.
The one thing going for Chennault was that he enjoyed the special confidence of Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese people. The Generalissimo had been disappointed by failure of the Americans to place a larger air force in China, and he was suspicious of British influence over the India-based Tenth Air Force. Chiang Kai-shek also wanted to resurrect the Chinese Air Force which had few if any aircraft.
So Chiang Kai-skek wrote a "Dear Franklin" letter to President Roosevelt and FDR talked to Marshall and the Generalissimo and Chennault got their own air force. The problem was that until the Burma Road was reopened, the Air Transport Command, and any other aircraft that could be obtained or detailed, had to fly all of the fuel, parts, etc. into China over "The Hump" which was one of the most dangerous routes in the world.
P-40s from Kunming fly armored reconnaissance into Burma, crossing the Salween River and covering areas SW of Lashio.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THE

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 23 B-24s pound the town areas of Mogaung and Kamaing during the afternoon, following an earlier B-25 raid on Kamaing; 40+ P-40s, P-51s, and P-38s hit gun positions S of Walawbum, troops and storage areas W of Mogaung at Pahok, trains near Myitnge and Anisakan, the airfield at Anisakan, and the town area of Laban.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 B-24s bomb Kowloon Docks; B-25s from Suichwan sink a motor launch and damage 2 cargo vessels and a barge in the Anking area; escorting P-38s shoot down several interceptors; P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance bomb or strafe barracks and shipping at Foochow, airfield and barracks at Nanchang, factory, barracks, and bridge near Sienning, and in French Indochina, freighters at Hongay and Campha Port, barracks at Ha Coi, and the area E of Lang Son.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): A-24s and P-40s from Makin and B-25s from Tarawa Atoll attack airfields, AA positions and radio installations at Mille and Wotje Atolls. B-25s, operating out of Engebi (secured by invading forces on 22 Feb) for the first time, bomb Kusaie.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): P-40s and P-39s attack the Vunapope supply area; 19 B-24s pound the Rabaul area, starting several large fires. 40 B-25s hit Japanese positions in the hills near Empress Augusta Bay; P-39s attack targets at Kepiai Plantation.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 11 B-25s bomb Lorengau and several targets of opportunity on Manus. B-24s and P-39s, operating singly or in pairs, attack numerous scattered targets of opportunity throughout the SWPA during armed reconnaissance flights.

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 5 B-24s radar-bomb targets at Kataoka on Shimushu, and Suribachi and Kakumabetsu on Paramushiru with unobserved results; 1 fighter is sighted but no attack is made; 2 other B-24s on this mission abort due to weather and mechanical trouble. B-25 missions to the Hayakegawa River and Paramushiru are also cancelled due to weather.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 32 B-24s blast the railroad yards at Tsanghsien and Tehsien; 10 B-24s and 4 P-40s attack Siangtan and nearby targets of opportunity; 60+ fighter-bombers hit river, road, and railroad targets, gun positions, warehouses, airstrips, and troops around Sinyang, Yiyang, Changsha, Kiyang, Yoyang, Hengyang, Hankow, and Wuchang.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 43: 24 of 29 B-29s bomb the marshalling yard at Kuala Lumpur; 1 of the B-29s drops over half of its bombs at Alor Star Airfield and another attacks a freighter in the channel leading to Port Swettenham. 3 others attack Khao Huakhang, Thailand.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): 13 P-47s support forces of the British 36 Division in the Mogok area; 46 P-47s and P-38s sweep the roads S of the bomb line; 49 others hit supply areas behind the enemy lines, attack a bivouac near Nam-yang, and bomb a truck park N of Mong Yai. 537 air supply sorties are flown to forward areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 10 B-24s from Guam hit Susaki Airfield which 9 B-24s again hit during the night of 10/11 Mar on separate snooper strikes. 23 B-24s from Angaur Airfield bomb Calarian Airfield on Mindanao.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 40: During the predawn hours, 279 B-29s, of 325 airborne, blast the Tokyo urban area with incendiaries, destroying 267,171 buildings, about one-fourth in the city, killing 83,793 and wounding 40,918 people and destroying 15.8 square miles; this death total is the highest of any single day's action during the war, exceeding the deaths caused by the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima; 20 other B-29s bomb alternates and targets of opportunity; 14 B-29s are lost; the participating B-29s are from the XXI Bomber Command's 73d, 313th, and 314th Bombardment Wings (Very Heavy) the raids are flown at levels ranging from 4,900 to 9,200 feet.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao, B-24s and B-25s over the Zamboanga Peninsula area bomb the town of Zamboanga, Calarian Airfield, Pangasahan, Port Holland, Kulibato Point, and Sibago. B-24s bomb the Ipo area and Aparri Airfield; B-25s and A-20s support guerrillas near San Fernando and bomb Cabugao; fighter-bombers hit Caballo in Manila Bay, bomb the town of Minanga, hit enemy concentrations at Burgos, near Ft Stotsenburg, in Batangag Province, and at other locations, and attack Teresa. B-24s bomb Kudat and Jesselton Airfields.

VIETNAM: Japan declares Vietnam to be independent. This increases the anti-colonial feeling that would leave the region war-torn for the next quarter century.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 293, MARCH 10, 1945

During the night of March 8‑9, the enemy attempted infiltration of Marine lines on Iwo Island on a large scale and subjected troops in the Fourth Divi*sion sector to heavy mortar and sniper fire. The Fourth Division destroyed 564 of the enemy while repulsing these attacks.
A general advance was made on the island on March 9, with forward elements of the Third Marine Division reaching the northeast beaches early in the afternoon. Gains up to several hundred yards were made against very stiff resistance. Army fighters based on Iwo Island joined carrier aircraft in providing close support for the troops and fleet units continued to shell the enemy. Heavy artillery preparation was directed onto enemy positions prior to attack by the Infantry.
On March 10, the Marines continued their attack and widened the area held on the northeast beaches of Iwo Island by noon. Resistance during the morning appeared to be diminishing although the enemy continued to hold prepared strong points tenaciously and snipers were active.
A small group of enemy aircraft approached Iwo Island in the early morn*ing hours of March 9, but retired without attacking.
Targets in the Palaus were bombed by fighter and torpedo aircraft of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on March 8‑9.
Mitchells of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing strafed and bombed small craft and buildings at Kusaie and Ponape in the Eastern Carolines on March 8.
Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed the airfield on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 8 and 9.
On March 9, Navy search Privateers of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed run*ways and other installations on Wake Island.


CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 294, MARCH 10, 1945

The Marines on Iwo Island continued to drive forward on the afternoon of March 10. By 1800 the Fourth Division had made substantial advances along most of its front and one of its patrols had reached the beach on the easternmost point of the island. Enemy resistance appeared to be decreasing at numerous points along the lines. Army and Navy aircraft continued to attack enemy positions and fleet surface units provided close gunfire support.
Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed and strafed docks, small craft, and defense positions on Ponape in the eastern Carolines on March 10.

 

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1941
France: France cedes Laos and part of Cambodia to Thailand. Japan is given full use of Saigon airport and a monopoly of the colony's entire rice production. It ceded two areas of Laos to Thailand, both (and the only parts of Laos) lying on the right bank of the Mekong river. The first is Saiburi Province (northwestern Laos), the second is part of Pakse Province (southern Laos).

U.S.: The House of Representatives had passed House Resolution 1776, which would eventually become known as the Lend-Lease Act, in February and the Senate passed their version of the bill on 8 March. The two bills had differences requiring a committee of House and Senate members to resolve them and the new bill was passed by both houses today. The bill was rushed to the White House and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law at 1550 hours. This new act changes the "cash and carry" provisions of the Neutrality Act of 1939 to permit transfer of munitions to Allies. The initial aid package worth roughly US$7 billion (US$85.4 billion in year 2002 dollars) but by the time the aid ended in 1946, the U.S. funneled US$50.6 billion (US$617 billion in year 2002 dollars) worth of Lend-Lease aid to 44 countries, the majority of which went to the U.K. and the U.S.S.R.

1942
BURMA: The Burma Army regroups in preparation for the defense of upper Burma. In the Irrawaddy Valley, the Indian 17th Division is disposed in the Tharrawaddy area. In the Sittang Valley, the Burma 1st Division, after successful diversionary attacks against Shwegyin and Madauk, east of Nyaunglebin, withdraws, except for the 13th Brigade, to positions north of Kanyutkwin. Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, is placed in command of the Chinese 5th and 6th Armies (actually the size of a Western division). The Chinese 6th Army is holding Shan States; the Chinese 5th Army, except for the 200th Division disposed in the Toungoo area, is to concentrate at Mandalay.

CANADA: Canadian and U.S. representatives meet in Ottawa to discuss the construction of buildings and facilities on the Northwest Staging Route, the air route that will be established between Edmonton, Alberta, and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to permit flying aircraft from the continental U.S. to the Territory of Alaska.. The meeting ends tomorrow.

EAST CHINA SEA: Submarine USS Pollack, operating in the East China Sea about 270 miles east of Shanghai, China, sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship and a passenger-cargo.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, his family, Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell and their staffs embark from Corregidor and Bataan in four PT boats, PT-32, PT-34, PT-35 and PT-41, of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three (MTBRon 3). The plan is that the boats will make for Tagauayan Island, in the Cuyo Group, and arrive by 0730 hours tomorrow morning.
Three USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses takeoff from Australia to fly to Del Monte Field on Mindanao to pick up the MacArthur party. One turns back due to mechanical problems, the second crashes at sea off Mindanao and the third lands at Del Monte however; it is in poor mechanical condition.
Major General Jonathan Wainwright assumes command of the 95,000 Americans and Filipinos on Bataan and Corregidor.

1943
CBI: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 7 B-25s bomb the Myitnge bridge, causing little damage.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) HQ 18th Fighter Group transfers from Wheeler Field, Territory of Hawaii to Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands and is reassigned from the Seventh to Thirteenth Air Force.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, A-20s bomb and strafe Vickers Ridge and the Guadagasal area. Single B-24s attack Finschhafen. In the Bismarck Archipelago, B-24s bomb the airfield at Rabaul on New Britain Island while single B-24s attack Cape Gloucester and Powell Point. Dick Bong gets his 7th and 8th kills when he shoots down 2 Oscars. Lost on a cargo drop is C-47B 41-38662.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 70+ fighter-bombers (P-40s, P-51s and A-36s) and 2 B-25s hit fuel and ammunition dumps, gun positions, roads and general targets of opportunity in or near Saungka, Pandaw, Walawbum, Labang Gahtawng, Shaduzup and Mogaung.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 10 P-40s damage 3 barges at Campha Port, hit buildings on Weichow , China and attack the town area at Ha Coi.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s, operating out of Kwajalein, for first time, carry out the Seventh's first raid from the Marshall against Wake. P-40s and B-25s, operating from bases in the Gilbert , pound Mille and Maloelap Atolls.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 40+ B-24s and B-25s, supported by 20+ P-38s, pound Rabaul town area; and 20 P-40s bomb Vunapope. On Bougainville , 43 P-40s bomb the Mosigetta area while 4 B-24s pound Monoitu Mission.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 12 B-25s pound Lorengau while 7 B-24s bomb enemy positions to the W of the town, as the preliminaries for invasion of Manus increase. 80+ B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s hit Boram Airfield while 40+ A-20s and P-39s attack targets in the Madang area; P-47s strafe the Hansa Bay area; other aircraft carry out armed reconnaissance and sweeps over wide reaches of NE New Guinea and the New Britain coastal areas. 64th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 43d Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Dobodura to Nadzab, New Guinea with B-24s. Lost are B-24D "Heaven Can Wait" 42-41216 and P-47D 42-22896.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 4 B-25s knock out 1 bridge and hit numerous boxcars at Kep and near Don Met. In China, 5 B-24s over the S China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin claim 1 freighter sunk and another damaged; 10 P-40s and P-51s blast locomotives on the Tsinpu railroad and demolish 3 villages E of Lohochai; the 1st Combat Cargo Group, 1st Combat Cargo Group, based at Hsinching with C-47s, sends a detachment to operate from Liangshan.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 14 B-25s pound stores, troops, vehicles, and ammunition dumps at Konghsa, Kwai-Kong, Man Kat, and Mong Yai; 4 P-38s knock out a bridge at Mong Tong; 8 P-47s hit troop concentration at Kyaukme; 30+ P-47s hit targets of opportunity during a road sweeps behind enemy lines. Transports fly 547 sorties to forward areas.

AAFPOA Seventh Air Force: 11 B-24s from Guam again hit Susaki Airfield, while 8 more during the night of 11/12 Mar, pound the airfield individually. VII Fighter Command: Iwo Jima based P-51s also bomb Susaki Airfield and strafe Okimura and Kitamura on Haha Jima.
(IJN) Only two P1Ys, instead of the original 24 bombers that departed Japan, reached Ulithi. The Gingas approached Ulithi at high altitude. They dropped tin foil chaff to deceive the American’s radars. then dove and flew in low over the water. The two Gingas flew into Ulithi's anchorage undetected. They wanted one of the large fast carriers. The pilot of the first Ginga radioed "Successful attack!” before crashing. No alert had been sounded. The islets and ships were all well lit, the ships' crews relaxed and movies were being shown. At 2007, a P1Y slammed into the starboard side of the USS RANDOLPH (CV-15), a 27,100-ton TICONDEROGA-class carrier, anchored off Sorlen Islet. The bomber hit aft just below the flight deck, but had so little fuel left in its tanks that it did not burst into flames. The explosion of its bomb destroyed planes in the vicinity of the flight and hangar decks. The RANDOLPH was badly damaged and 26 men were killed and another 105 wounded. The other Ginga mistook Sorlen Islet for another aircraft carrier and plowed into it. The RANDOLPH was repaired locally and returned to action in early April 1945. She served as flagship of Task Force 58 during the latter part of the Okinawa campaign.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 41: Attacking at altitudes ranging from 5,100 to 8,500 feet, 285 of 310 B-29s bomb the Nagoya, Japan urban area with incendiaries during the night of 11/12 Mar destroying 2.05 square miles; 6 others hit a secondary target; 1 B-29 is lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao, B-24s bomb the Zamboanga area, Mercedes village, and San Roque Airfield and B-25s hit Mercedes, support ground forces near Zamboanga, and in conjunction with PT boats, hit Isabela, Barlak, Taluksangay, and a HQ N of Zamboanga. On Luzon , B-24s hit the Aparri area and support ground forces at Wawa; A-20s and fighter-bombers fly ground support missions and attack supply dumps and numerous targets of opportunity throughout Luzon. On Formosa, fighter-bombers hit Takao and B-24s bomb Mako.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 295, MARCH 11, 1945

The Third and Fourth Marine Division drove through enemy lines to capture most of the east coast of Iwo Island on March 11 (East Longitude Date). The remainder of the enemy's garrison was compressed to a small area at the northern end of the island by the troops of the Fifth Marine Division. A small pocket of enemy resistance was by‑passed by the Fourth Marine Division and was still holding out at 1800 on March 11. At that time the Fifth Division was gaining slowly in the north against heavy re*sistance. The attack was supported by heavy artillery and Naval gunfire.
Army fighters bombed Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands scoring hits on airfield and harbor installations. Targets were strafed on Haha Jima.
Liberators of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed the airfield on Chichi Jima on March 10.
Large fires were started among enemy defenses in the Palaus by fighters and torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on March 10. Marine aircraft on the same date struck targets on Yap in the Western Carolines.

 

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1941
HAWAII: The Commander-in- Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, sends the following message to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R. Stark: "n view of [your letter of 15 February], the Commander-in- Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, recommends that until a light efficient net, that can be laid temporarily and quickly is developed, no anti-torpedo nets [for protection against torpedo plane attacks] be supplied this area."

U.S.S.R. There is a Thai-Soviet exchange of notes establishing diplomatic relations.

1942
ANDAMAN ISLANDS: The garrison (a British company and a Gurkha battalion) of this group of islands in the Bay of Bengal is withdrawn, since the loss of Rangoon, Burma, makes it unfeasible to maintain this seaplane base.

BURMA: The Burma Army establishes headquarters at Maymyo.

EAST INDIES: On Java, the senior American, Australian and British officers sign a formal surrender document with the Japanese at their headquarters in Bandoeng.

INDIA: Three transports arrive at Karachi after sailing from Australia. Aboard the three ships are the ground echelons of the USAAF's 7th BG (Heavy) and 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) arriving from Australia and the 16th and 25th Pursuit Squadrons, 51st Pursuit Group from the U.S. Cargo aboard the ships includes ten crated P-40s. The 51st Pursuit Group's P-40s had been aboard the seaplane tender USS Langley when she was sunk on 27
February.

JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister General TOJO Hideki urges Australia to submit to Japanese rule or face an invasion like the recently conquered Dutch East Indies.

NEW CALEDONIA: U.S. Army troops (Brigadier General Alexander M. Patch) land on New Caledonia Island to establish a base at Noumea. The Army unit is Task Force 6814 consisting of 17,500 men of the 51st Infantry Brigade headquarters and the 132d and 182d Infantry Regiments plus supporting units.
One of the soldiers landing that day was Bill McLaughlin. He writes, "We had been about 37 days from Brooklyn, New York, to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and then about a week or ten days in Bendigo, Victoria, 40 miles inland from Melbourne. Back on the ship for another ten days to New Caledonia. It was found that the harbor was too shallow to allow our ship to dock, and we had to go over the side into small boats to take us ashore. There, we were marched through the streets (sea legs and all), and another long haul out to our first bivouac area, and a horde of mosquitoes. Many years later, writing a native of Noumea, Henri Daly, I mentioned that the sullen faces we saw all thru our march in Noumea, showed most of them were pro Vichy French.
He wrote back, 'Oh, Bill, did you ever think how most of the adults felt seeing some 15,000 lusty American youth, coming into our small country?' I still think I was right..the next month we saw the countrymen moving on to Noumea, in protest with their rifles, and driving out the Vichys."

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Three-quarters of the Americans and Filipinos troops defending Bataan and Corregidor now have major health problems. An estimated 500 to 700 per day are coming down with malaria and dysentery is rampant from drinking tainted water. Meanwhile, the Japanese are bringing in fresh infantry and artillery units from China.
During the night of the 12th/13th, the four motor torpedo (PT) boats carrying General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, his family, Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Commandant Sixteenth Naval District, and their staffs from Luzon to Tagauayan Island in the Cuyo Group became separated. PT-32 could only use two of its three engines and the other boats had to stop from time to time to clean gasoline strainers. The first boat to arrive at Tagauayan was PT-34 at 0930 hours, two hours late; in the late afternoon, PT-41 and PT-42 arrive in the cove from other islands where they had hidden during the morning hours. PT-35 was missing. Because of the condition of PT-32, the passengers on this boat were divided between the other two boats and these two refueled using fuel drums carried as deck cargo. The crew of PT-32 was ordered to remain at Tagauayan to await the arrival of the submarine USS Permit and PT-35 and give directions to the captains of both vessels and then the PT-32 could get underway for Panay Island to obtain fuel. At 1800 hours, PT-34 and PT-41 get underway for Cagayan on Mindanao Island.

U.S.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order combining the duties of Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet and the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Admiral Ernest J King, Commander-in- Chief U.S. Fleet, is designated to replace Admiral Harold R Stark as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) effective 26 March.

1943
ALASKA: In the Aleutians, 12 Amchitka-based P-40s scout Kiska Island. The 54th Fighter Squadron, 343d Fighter Group with P-38's transfers from Adak Island to Amchitka Island.

CBI: (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 6 B-24s attack Pazundaung bridge, causing negligible damage. (Fourteenth Air Force) The 74th Fighter Squadron, 23d Fighter Group with P-40's transfers from Kunming, China to Yunnani, China.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) Airfields at Munda; Ballale; and Kahili are hit by light B-24 raids. P-38's destroy small a vessel off NE coast of Rendova Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, A-20s attack the Guadagasal Gap area and Salamaua Airfield. In the Celebes, B-24s and B-25s attack shipping at Amboina on Ambon and bomb Fuiloro on Timor. On New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, B-17s bomb Rabaul Airfield while individual B-24s hit a wreck off Talasea and bomb Cape Gloucester.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 50+ P-40s, A-36s, and P-51s, along with a single B-25, pound troops and supply areas at Shedwiyang and near Kamaing, bomb the town of Shaduzup, and hit storage areas near Manywet and Malakawng.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Tarawa Atoll bomb Mille, Wotje and Maloelap Atolls and Nauru , Gilbert . B-25s hit Jaluit Atoll.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 22 B-25s, with USN fighter cover, pound the Rabaul area, concentrating on the N rim of Simpson Harbor; 18 B-24s, with USN fighter cover, follow with a strike against Rabaul customs wharf area; the B-24 strike is followed by an attack on the town area of Rabaul by 64 P-40s, P-38s, and P-39s. Missing is P-39Q 44-2451.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 12 B-25s hit enemy positions and communication at Lorengau as landings on small offshore continue with a beachhead being established on Hauwei. 40+ B-24s B-25s, and A-20s hit the Wewak, New Guinea area. 403d Bombardment Squadron, 43d BG, moves from Dobodura to Nadzab with B-24s.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-25s knock out the Song Rang bridge in French Indochina; 6 P-51s hit road communications at Hwayuan, China and bomb a building at Ha Coi, French Indochina.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 42: 44 of 49 B-29s hit oil storage facilities on Bukum , Malayan States, and Samboe and Sebarok s, Sumatra; 1 other B-29 bombs Arang Hill, Malayan States; they claim 0-0-1 Japanese aircraft; results are poor.

BURMA: Byotha, Burma falls to the 20th Indian Division.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 13 B-25s and 35 P-47s hit troop concentrations, supplies, vehicles, and AA guns along the battlefront and behind enemy lines; 66 P-47s hit transportation targets and a bridge during several road sweeps in C Burma; 12 others damage a bypass bridge at Hay-ti. Transports complete 677 sorties delivering men and supplies to advanced bases and dropping supplies to frontline forces. The 164th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Shwebo to Ondaw, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 16 P-51s bomb and strafe Okimura on Haha Jima. 13 B-24s fly daylight strike against Susaki Airfield; during the night of 12/13 Mar, 8 B-24s hit Susaki Airfield and Okimura. 24 B-24s from Angaur Airfield hit a Saragani Bay storage area on Mindanao.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s hit Mercedes and Malabang on Mindanao. On Luzon , other B-24s bomb Japanese troops near Ipo, B-25s hit supply area at Bangued and troops at Pattao, A-20s and fighter-bombers fly ground forces support missions. fighter-bombers also bomb Calallo. On Formosa B-24s, with P-38 support bomb Takao and Tainan and P-51s also hit Tainan and bomb Jitsugetsu power plants. The 6th Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group, moves from Biak to Tacloban, Leyte with C-47s; the 33d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22d BG (Heavy), moves from Guiuan Airfield to Clark Field with B-24s; the 69th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), moves from Sansapor to Puerto Princesa with B-25s (the 69th is operating from Morotai).

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 296, MARCH 12, 1945

The Fifth Marine Division continued its advance on Iwo Island on March 12 (East Longitude Date) and further reduced the area held by the enemy on the northern end of the island. Remnants of the enemy garrison in this sector continued to offer stiff resistance. Mopping up operations were in progress in the Third and Fourth Divisions zones of action, but one enemy pocket continued to hold out at 1800 on March 12. Naval gunfire and Army fighters supported the troops in the fighting on the northern end of the island.
Army fighters bombed and strafed targets on Chichi Jima in the Bonins through intense antiaircraft fire on the same date.
Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed installations at Suri*bachi on Paramushiru and Kataoka on Shimushu in the Northern Kuriles on March 11. Columns of smoke rising to 15,000 feet were observed after the attacks.
Army Thunderbolts strafed and bombed installations on Maug Island in the Marianas on the same date.
Two buildings were destroyed and fires were started on Babelthuap in the Palaus by Corsair Fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on March 11.
Neutralizing attacks on enemy held bases in the Marshalls were continued by Marine aircraft on the same date.

 

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1942
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: A Japanese force from the 4th Fleet sails from Rabaul, New Britain Island, for Buka Island, Solomon Islands, which is eventually seized together with other positions in the northern Solomons.

INDIA: The first detachment of U.S. troops (USAAF personnel) to reach the China-Burma- India Theater arrive at Karachi, having been diverted from Java, Netherlands East Indies.

NEW GUINEA: The Japanese, having gained firm positions in the Lae-Salamaua area, replace infantry with naval forces.

NEW ZEALAND: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a "Glen" submarine launched patrol plane to reconnoiter Auckland.

PACIFIC: Submarine USS Gar torpedoes and sinks a Japanese victualling stores ship between 6 and 10 miles SW of Mikura Jima, south of Tokyo Bay.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The two motor torpedo (PT) boats carrying General Douglas MacArthur, his family, Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell and their staffs, PT-34 and PT-41, arrive at Cagayan on Mindanao Island in the early morning. Later in the day, a third boat, PT-35, arrives at Cagayan. The three boats had made the 560-mile voyage in heavy to moderate seas in two days.
The next leg of MacArthurâs journey to Australia is to be by B-17's but only one B-17 has reached Del Monte Field and it had wheezed in to a wobbly landing. MacArthur, furious, will allow no one to board the "dangerously decrepit" aircraft, and demands the "three best planes in the U.S. or Hawaii," manned by "completely adequate, experienced" airmen be flown to Del Monte.
Unfortunately, Major General George Brett, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces in Australia, has neither. The party must now await the arrival of three additional B-17s from Australia.
The submarine USS Permit arrives at Tagauayan Island and finds the fourth motor torpedo (PT) boat involved in the evacuation of the MacArthur party, PT-32, there. The PT boat is not seaworthy and the submarines takes the boat's crew aboard and PT-32 is destroyed by gunfire.

U.S.: HQ USAAF activates HQ XII Bomber Command at MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS (10th Air Force): 26th Pursuit Squadron, 51st Pursuit Group, arrives at Karachi, India from the US with P-40's; first mission is 15 Oct.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): 36th Pursuit Squadron, 8th Pursuit Group, transfers from Brisbane to Lowood, Australia with P-39's.

RAAF - During a Japanese strafing attack, a Ford Trimotor A45-2 is destroyed on the ground at 7-Mile Drome.

1943
ALASKA: In the Aleutians, a B-24 on reconnaissance returns early because of adverse weather. Twelve P-40s strike the Kiska Island beach, camp and runway. Hits are observed on these targets and among 14 parked airplanes. Eight P-38s with 8 P-40s flying top cover again take off for Kiska. Only 3 of the P-38s reach the target and strafe aircraft on the beach. Another sights a submarine SW of Rat Island.

BURMA AND INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 4 B-24s attack and slightly damage the Pazundaung bridge.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) Vila Airfield and Munda Airfield are again attacked by B-24s in light raids. Also bombed is Faisi Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17s bomb the airfield and shipping at Wewak. A B-l7 bombs the airfield on Gasmata and warehouses on Wide Bay, while a B-24 attack shipping off Netherlands New Guinea. HQ 54th Troop Carrier Wing is activated at Brisbane, Australia to control all Fifth Air Force troop carrier units.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 140+ P-40s, A-36s, and P-51s along with 2 B-25s pound numerous targets of opportunity in the Shaduzup area, knock out a span of a bridge in Shaduzup, hit the town of Loilaw, pound supply and ammunition dumps near Warazup and Seton, and bomb a building area N of Namti.
Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 20. 2:55 Flight Time. Hailakandi, Assam to Wuntho, Burma. The Chindits had established a road block at Wuntho and through radio directions and targeting the area with colored smoke, we were able bomb the Japanese position although no results were noted.
Note: Our missions were very short ones and we usually had an idea of the munitions required before taking off. When working with the Chindits on close support we usually carried fragmentation cluster bombs. There were two types; a 20 pound cluster of 6 per station we dropped from a minimum of 2000 feet (not sure if I have the altitude right) or a parachute type which came in clusters of 3. We could drop these flying from a very low altitude as the chutes delayed the bombs from detonating, giving the aircraft time to get clear. One of my missions included flying with another pilot, this hot shot put 57 fragments into the bottom of our plane when he dropped the load too low. Claimed it was from flak hits but we knew better.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 8 B-24s and 4 P-40s attack the airfield and seaplane anchorage at Kiungshan on Hainan ; and 16 P-40s bomb a bridge at Puchi, scoring direct hits on both approaches. HQ 312th Fighter Wing is activated at Kunming, China.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Engebi bomb Kusaie while B-24s from Tarawa Atoll hit Ponape. B-25s from Abemama and Tarawa Atoll pound Mille Atoll. 38th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Nanumea to Kwajalein Atoll; the squadron continues operating from Makin with B-24s until 22 Mar.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain , 2 B-24s, with USN fighter escort, and 22 B-25s bomb the Rabaul area, hitting the NW part of Rabaul and harbor and waterfront section; and 27 P-39s, P-40s, and P-38s pound the Vunapope supply area. 31st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th BG (Heavy), ceases operating from Munda, New Georgia with B-24s and returns to base on Guadalcanal.
Fierce fighting continues on Bougainville, Solomon Islands. Heavy US counterattacks begin to blunt the recent gains by the Japanese. Japanese forces ended their attack on American troops on Hill 700, Bougainville.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 160+ B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, P-47s, and P-40s thoroughly pound the Wewak, New Guinea area; US aircraft claim 8 interceptors shot down. Other aircraft, operating singly or in flights of 2 or 3, attack several targets in the NE New Guinea-New Britain area. 312th BG strikes Alexishafen and loose three planese due to weather: A-20G 42-54117, A-20G 42-54082 and A-20G 42-54085. In the Admiralties, Hauwei is cleared of enemy opposition and artillery is brought ashore. 340th Fighter Squadron, 348th Fighter Group, moves from Finschhafen to Saidor with P-47s.

1945
PERU: Peru declares war on Germany.
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 7 B-24s over the Gulf of Tonkin and the S China Sea claim a cargo vessel and a large junk destroyed. 13 P-40s, P-38s, and P-51s destroy a storehouse and damage a compound at Chinchengchiang, China and knock out a bridge and hit machinegun positions and other targets of opportunity at Lang Son, French Indochina.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 P-47s support forces of the Chinese 50th Division, hitting Japanese positions along the Namtu River in the Namhsan area; 26 P-38s hit road targets S of the bomb line in C Burma; 12 B-25s attack troop concentrations, supplies, and gun positions behind enemy lines; 4 P-47s hit a wooded area in the British 36 Division battle sector; other fighter-bombers make ineffective bridge strikes. Transports complete 500+ sorties to forward areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 6 B-24s from Guam hit Woleai while 10 others bomb Susaki Airfield; during the night of 13/14 Mar, 8 B-24s, flying individual strikes pound Susaki Airfield. 24 B-24s from Angaur Airfield bomb a storage area at Saragani Bay, Mindanao.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 42: In the third of the Twentieth AF's great fire raids, 274 of 301 B-29s begin bombing Osaka, shortly after 2400 hours local on the night of 13/14 Mar; because of 8/10 cloud cover, bombing is by radar; the heart of the city, an area of 8.1 square miles, is wiped out during 3 hours of bombing from altitudes of 5,000 to 9,600 ft; 134,744 houses are destroyed, 1,363 houses damaged and Japanese casualties are 3,988 dead, 678 missing and 8,463 dead; 5 other B-29s bomb other targets; the B-29s claim 1-0-0 Japanese aircraft; 2 B-29s are lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: On Mindanao , B-24s hit targets in the Saragani Bay area and effectively hit the town of Lagao and B-25s support ground operations in the Zamboanga area. B-25s, A-20s, and fighters support ground forces hitting forces and positions in the Cagayan Valley on Luzon . B-25s hit sampans off Hainan , China while P-51s sweep Samah Airfield on the island. B-24s hit installations in WC Formosa and at Mako. The 408th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22d BG (Heavy), moves from Guiuan Airfield to Clark Field with B-24s.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 297, MARCH 13, 1945

No appreciable change was made in the front lines in Iwo Island on March 13 (East Longitude Date). The enemy occupying the northern end of the island continued to resist our attacks with small arms, machine gun and mortar fire. While mopping‑ up operations continued in the Third and Fourth Division sectors, our forces made unopposed landings on Kama and Kangoku Rocks west of the island. An enemy pocket in the Fourth Division sector was reduced in size but part of it still held out at 1800 on March 13. During the day 115 caves were sealed up.
Army fighters bombed airfield and harbor installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 13.
Seventh Army Air Force Liberators operating under the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed air installations on the same island on March 11 and 12.
Fighters and torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing de*stroyed four buildings, set four other ablaze and destroyed or set afire three ammunition and fuel dumps on Babelthuap in the Palaus on March 13.
Marine Corsair fighters destroyed one aircraft on the water and damaged a pier at Yap on the same date.

 

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1940
CHINA: 27 out of 30 Chinese fighter planes are shot down by the Japanese over Chengtu, China.

1941
JAPAN: In Tokyo the territorial difficulties between Siam and Indochina have been settled. French Indochina handed over one of her largest rice-producing areas under a Japanese-mediated peace. It is stated that Siam acquired over 21,000 square miles of territory in Cambodia and Laos, areas she lost to Indochina in 1904 and 1907.

1942
AUSTRALIA: Japanese aircraft bomb Horn Island located 10 miles off the northern coast of Queensland. Horn Island, in the Torres Strait between Queensland and New Guinea, will become the main tactical base for Allied air operations in the Torres Strait. The island will be subject to nine Japanese air raids during WWII.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS (10th Air Force): HQ 51st Pursuit Group arrives at Karachi, India from the US. 9th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th BG (Heavy), arrives at Karachi, India from Australia with B-17's; first mission is 2 Apr.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): 13th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy), 43d BG (Heavy), transfers from Melbourne to Laverton, Australia with B-17's; the 13th will be redesignated 403d BS on 22 Apr; first mission is Oct 42. Air echelon of 14th BS (Heavy), 7th BG (Heavy), ceases operating from Melbourne, Australia with B-17's; men and equipment are transferred to other units; the ground echelon is at Bugo, Mindanano and fights as infantry; the unit is carried as an active unit but is not manned or equipped after the surrender of the Philippiness in May 42.
Detachment of the 22d BS (Heavy), 7th BG, ceases operating from Townsville and returns to base at Melbourne with B-17's. 40th Reconnaissance Squadron is formed at Townsville, Australia with LB-30's and assigned to 19th BG (Heavy); first mission is today; squadron is redesignated 435th BS (Heavy) on 22 Apr. Air echelon of 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy), 7th BG (Heavy), ceases operating from Townsville, Australia with B-17's and begins moving to Karachi, India; squadron is redesignated 436th BS on 22 Apr; first mission in CBI is 4 Jun.

U.S.: The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff decide to continue on the defensive in the Pacific with forces already there and to build up forces in United Kingdom for an offensive against Germany. German submarines have sunk so many tankers during the past two months that the War Production Board orders gasoline deliveries be cut 20 percent in 17 eastern states and the District of Columbia.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks the 48 state governors to set speed limits at 40 mph to conserve tires.

1943
ALASKA: HQ 28th Composite Group transfers from Elmendorf Field, Alaska to Adak Island.

BURMA AND INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 4 B-24s bomb the Moulmein docks. Eight B-25s hit the oft- bombed Gokteik Viaduct but the structure remains serviceable.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17s and B-24s bomb Wewak, Tring, and Madang. A single B-17s bomb Gasmata, and strafe a vessel off Talasea, AA positions at Cape Gloucester, and Finschhafen Airfield. A lone B-24 bombs Dili.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 90+ P-51s, A-36s, and P-40s, along with 3 B-25s, hit Japanese troops, bridges, dumps, and villages in the Mogaung Valley. Air Commando Combat Mission N0.28. 2:40 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Meza, Burma. Bombed Meza railroad bridges with excellent results. Two direct hits on the bridge and one on tracks just short of the bridge. The fighter dive bombed a truck pontoon bridge a few hundred yards away. Both bridges destroyed.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 20 Japanese bombers hit airfields at Hengyang and Suichwan; surprise prevents effective interception by AAF fighters.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Engebi bomb Kusaie . B-25s from Tarawa Atoll hit Wotje Atoll.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 22 P-40s and P-39s hit Vunapope; 23 B-24s, with USN fighter cover, bomb the N waterfront area of Simpson Harbor; and 22 B-25s, with USN fighter escort, bomb the E section of town of Rabaul. P-39s, P-38s, P-40s, and USN fighters hit barges and other targets of opportunity around the coast of Bougainville and along the NE coast of New Ireland .

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 80+ B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s, supported by Allied fighters, pound the Wewak area. Lost is P-47D 42-22920. Two force land but the pilots return to duty: P-47D piloted by Murr and P-47D piloted by Schatzman; 17 other B-24s bomb the airfield at Tadji; and 8 A-20s carry out a sweep over the Madang area while 12 bomb the airstrip at Alexishafen. HQ 8th Fighter Group and 35th and 36th Fighter Squadrons move from Cape Gloucester to Nadzab with P-40s and P-47s respectively.

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Of 12 B-25s taking off to cover a naval task force on its way to Matsuwa in the Kurile s, 6 abort due to weather and failure to locate the task force; the others fly coverage sorties throughout the day.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 3 B-24s claim 1 cargo vessel sunk in the S China Sea; 1 B-25 and 4 fighter-bombers damage 12 track sections near Tungyangchen; and 4 P-51s hit railroad targets of opportunity near Chihsien. 19 P-51s and P-38s blast the barracks area at Vinh Yen, French Indochina.

BURMA: The last rail line for the Japanese into Mandalay, Burma is cut by the 62nd Indian Brigade when they take Maymo.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20 P-47s fly close support for elements of the Chinese 50th Division in the Mansam area; 3 B-25s knock out a bridge at Laihka while 11 others bomb troop and a vehicle concentration nearby; 39 P-47s hit troop concentrations, supplies and vehicles at Laihka and Namlan while 29 others sweep roads S of the bomb line. 614 air supply sorties are flown to forward areas. The 165th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Asansol, India to Sinthe, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s and the 166th Liaison Squadron (Commando) moves from Sinthe to Asansol with the same aircraft.

Seventh Air Force: 11 B-24s from Guam bomb Susaki Airfield while 23 from Angaur Airfield hit a Saragani Bay supply area on Mindanao . During the night of 14/15 Mar, 5 more B-24s flying individually hit Susaki Airfield. VII Fighter Command: 16 Iwo Jima based P-51s strafe and dive-bomb Susaki Airfield, the town of Okimura on Haha Jima, and several gun positions on Chichi Jima. The ground echelon of the 549th Night Fighter Squadron, VII Fighter Command, arrives on Iwo Jima from Hawaii (air echelon is operating from Saipan with P-61s).
IWO JIMA - At 9:30 a.m. Americans consider the capture of Iwo Jima complete.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao, B-24s bomb the Konel area while B-25s and B-24s hit the village and AA positions near Zamboanga and dock area at Isabela. A-20s and numerous fighter-bombers (including some US Marine aircraft) hit installations and defensive positions throughout Luzon . A-20s over Palawan hit Pandanan . B-24s bomb the Mako, Formosa naval base. B-25s on an armed reconnaissance and shipping sweep along the China coast bomb the secondary targets when no ships are sighted. The 2d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22d BG (Heavy), moves from Guiuan Airfield to Clark Field with B-24s.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 298, MARCH 14, 1945

Advances of 200 to 400 yards were made by the Fifth Marine Division on the northern end of Iwo Island on March 14 (East Longitude Date). From prepared positions the enemy continued to resist the pressure of our attacks and at nightfall the battle was continuing in this sector and in a small pocket in the Fourth Marine Division zone of action.
Because of the complex system of caves in which enemy casualties have been trapped and sealed and because of the difficult conditions on Iwo Island an exact count of enemy losses is not possible. Counted burials plus very careful estimates as to numbers sealed in caves gives 20,000 as a very close approximation of enemy killed at end of March 14. That number is less than the detailed estimates made by commanders of front line troops.
Our forces in the front lines have found "booby traps" set on the bodies of our dead.
The United States Flag was formally raised over Iwo Island at 0930 on March 14 although some resistance continues.
Planes of Navy, Army and Marine Corps are now operating from the island.
Iwo‑based Army fighters made bombing and strafing attacks on airfield installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 14.
On March 13, Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed Chichi Jima airfield.
Army Liberators of the Eleventh Air Force bombed airfield facilities at Kurabu Saki on southern Paramushiru in the Kuriles on the same date. The enemy sent up meager antiaircraft fire.
Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing destroyed a bridge, damaged two piers and set fuel dumps and motor facilities afire in the Palaus on March 14.
Mopping up operations in the Marianas and Palaus continued. During March 4 through March 10, 48 of the enemy were killed on Saipan, Tinian and Guam and 13 prisoners were taken on Saipan, Guam and Peleliu.

 

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1941
CHINA: Japanese forces take Fengxin, in Kiangsi province, China, in a major new assault on Shanggao.

U.S: US President Roosevelt gives a speech promising that the US will supply Britain and the Allies "aid until victory" and that there will be and "end of compromise with tyranny." Roosevelt said here tonight that there is no longer the slightest doubt that the American people have demanded a policy of all-out, unqualified aid for Britain, Greece, China and the governments of the democracies in exile. Prussian autocracy was bad enough, the President told the White House correspondent' s dinner in a key address, but "Nazism is far worse." Mr Roosevelt spoke of the "vital bridge across the ocean, the bridge of ships" carrying good and arms to "those who are fighting the good fight."

1942
ALASKA: The XI Interceptor Command is activated at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage. Its operational components are the 11th and the 18th Pursuit Squadrons.

BURMA: Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India, is notified that British General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief India, is responsible for operations In Burma.

NEW CALEDONIA: The 67th Pursuit Squadron, the first USAAF tactical unit in the theater, arrives from the U.S. with 45 crated P-400 Airacobras.

NEW ZEALAND: Car and bicycle tire shortages become apparent.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the Manila Bay area the Japanese, having emplaced additional artillery along the southern shore of Manila Bay southwest of Ternate, renew intensive bombardment of fortified islands in the bay. The shelling is conducted daily and in great force through 21 March, despite U.S. counterbattery fire. Forts Frank and Drum are particularly hard hit.
At Del Monte Airfield on Mindanao, General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, and his party wait for B-17's to take them to Australia. Officers in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, are trying to scrape together the necessary aircraft. While MacArthur waits, his aide, Sid Huff, takes Jean MacArthur's mattress off motor torpedo (PT) boat PT-41 which leads to a wild story that the mattress is supposedly full of gold bars. In fact, it's full of feathers.

1943
AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, weather again curtails operations. The air-ground liaison B-24 observes and directs air operations at Attu throughout the day as visibility permits and directs a supply drop for ground forces by another B-24 in 2 air-ground support missions. Six B-24's bomb Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor and 6 P-38's strafe AA installations in the Holtz Bay area.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force) 7 B-24's from Midway bomb Wake; 4 others abort and 7 others fail to find the target. 22 fighters intercept the formation; the B-24's claim 4 shot down; 1 B-24 is lost.



CBI CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In China, 25-35 Japanese bombers and 30-40 fighters attack Kunming. Nearly all of the bombs fall in W and SW of the airfield, causing little damage. 28 P-40's intercept, claiming 13 fighters and 2 bombers shot down.


SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, B-25's pound the airfield at Lae; A-20's strafe the aircraft and building at Lae; and B-24's hit Nabire. In the Bismarck Archipelago, B-25's pound the airfield at Gasmata; B-24's bomb the airfield at Rabaul; and single heavy bombers hit Gasmata, Cape Gloucester, and barges SW of Ubili.


1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 31 B-24s and 20+ Royal Air Force (RAF) Wellingtons and Beaufighters pound supply dumps and targets of opportunity in the Rangoon area while 8 other B-24s hit barracks near Bangkok; numerous US and RAF medium and fighter-bombers attack villages, Japanese positions, ammunition dumps, tanks, and many other targets of opportunity in the Chin Hills, at Chindwin, in the Mogaung Valley, and in areas around Mandalay. Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 29. 2:35 Flight time Hailakandi, Eassam to Kawlin, Burma. Bombed supply dumps.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Kwajalein Atoll fly the first Seventh Air Force mission against Truk Atoll, Caroline, hitting Dublon and Eten before dawn; alternate targets of Oroluk Anchorage and Ponape Town are also hit. B-25s from Tarawa Atoll hit Maloelap Atoll. A-24s, P-39s, and P-40s used against Mille and Jaluit Atolls during Operations FLINTLOCK (operations against Kwajalein and Majuro) and CATCHPOLE ( have returned to Oahu for rest and re-equipment. 27th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Nanumea to Kwajalein Atoll with B-24s; they have been operating from Abemama since 26 Feb.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): Major General Hubert R Harmon, Commanding General Thirteenth Air Force, becomes Commander Air Solomons (COMAIRSOLS). 50+ B-25s, P-40s, P-39s and P-38s and USN fighters pound Vunapope supply areas; 24 B-25s, with USN fighter escort, bomb Lakunai Airfield; 22 unescorted B-24s, finding Tobera clouded over, bomb the airfield at Rapopo as a secondary target.

USMC - Marine Bombing Squadron 413 flies its first combat mission over Rabaul in the PBJ (B-25 Mitchell).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 200+ B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, P-38s, P-47s and P-40s pound Wewak township, blasting docks, warehouses, gun positions, and numerous other targets; fighters claim 11 enemy aircraft shot down. 36 B-25s bomb Tingo village and Lugos Mission area on Manus, where elements of the 1st Cavalry Division make an amphibious landing, take the mission and head E toward Lorengau.

ADMIRALTIES: US 7th & 8th Cavalry Divisions land on Manus Island in the Admiralities.
Amplifying the above:
This refers to the 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division land at Lorengau on Manus. The first landing on Manus was at Los Negros and occurred on 29 Feb 44. The 1st Cavalry Division was the last "square" division in the Army. It also had some commanders with humorous names -- from 19 Apr 41 until 19 Aug 44, it was headed up by Major General IP Swift and then, until Jul 45, by Major General Verne D Mudge. The commander on V-J Day had the much more acceptable moniker of Major General William G Chase. The trend continued in the early days of the Korean War, where the initial commander was Major General Hobart Gay. (Swift and Gay were outstanding officers: Gay had been the right-hand man to Patton through much of the European fighting.)

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 1 B-24 flies air coverage for a naval task force; 7 others weather-abort.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-24s claim 1 vessel sunk in the S China Sea. In China, 4 B-25s hit the area E of Pingsiang; 4 P-51s hit locomotives between Sinsiang and Shihkiachwang and 4 attack motor transport in the Paotou area.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 30 P-47s support elements of the Chinese 50th Division in the Namhsan area; 32 P-38s sweep roads S of the bomb line. Transports fly 625 sorties to forward areas.
MALAYA - B-29 bomber bombed Royal Selangor museum. Victim of the US bombers. (The B-29 was assigned to bomb KL marshalling yards and train station on 10 Mar 1945, the bombs strayed and hit the Royal Selangor Museum beside the Train station. The Japanese used it as propaganda in Penang Shimbun.)

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 8 Guam based B-24s bomb Susaki Airfield; 3 more, on snooper strikes, hit the airfield during the night of 15/16 Mar.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In support of US ground forces on Luzon, B-24s, A-20s, and P-38s hit a HQ area at Baguio; P-47s hit Minuli bridge and enemy concentrations in the Balete Pass and W of Ft Stotsenburg; and A-20s and P-47s hit gun positions and occupied areas around Batangas. On Mindanao, B-24s and B-25s hit personnel N of Saragani Bay and troops and gun positions in the Zamboanga area. B-24s bomb Lahug. P-47s dive-bomb Takao power installations on Formosa. HQ 22d BG and the 19th Bombardment Squadron move from Guiuan Airfield to Clark Field with B-24s; the 100th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), moves from Sansapor to Palawan with B-25s; the 403d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 43d BG (Heavy), moves from Tacloban to Clark Field with B-24s.

IWO JIMA: The fighting continues on Iwo Jima. The Japanese forces are mostly confined in a small area in the northwest of the island.

JAPAN: Matsuwa in the Kurile Islands is bombarded by the US.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 299, MARCH 15, 1945

The Fifth Marine Division on March 15 (East Longitude Date) continued to reduce further the area held by the enemy at the northern tip of Iwo Island. Our forces encountered intense small arms and mortar fire in that sector throughout the day. Mopping up operations were continued in the Third and Fourth Marine Division zones of action. Planes of the Seventh Army Fighter Command bombed airfields and other installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on the same date.
On March 14 Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force, operating under the Strategic Air Force, bombed Chichi Jima airfield.
Navy search Privateers of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed Wake Island through meager antiaircraft fire on March 14.
On the same date Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing continued neutralizing attacks on enemy‑held bases in the Marshalls.


CINCPOA PRESS RELEASE NO. 34, MARCH 15, 1945

Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Mar. 14.‑(Delayed)‑With the rattle of musketry to the north, where the remnants of the Japanese garrison force were being exterminated by Marines, faintly audible, the United States government today officially took possession of this desolate but strategic island on the road to Tokyo.
It did so in a proclamation issued by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas and military governor of the Volcano Islands. After the proclamation had been read, the American flag was officially raised over the island.
The ceremony, held in the shadow of Suribachi, extinct volcano at the southern tip of Iwo, and attended by high ranking officers of the Marine Corps, Navy and Army, was marked by simplicity.
Deep‑throated roars of nearby Marine field pieces drowned the voice of Marine Colonel D. A. Stafford, of Spokane, Wash., Fifth Amphibious Corps personnel officer, as he read the words suspending all powers of government of the Japanese Empire on the island.
The Stars and Stripes were run up on a staff atop a strongly reinforced Japanese bunker with an anti‑aircraft gun emplacement above it. The military notables formed in rank on one side of the staff. On the other, an honor guard composed of eight military policemen from each of the three divisions that participated in the seizure of the island, was drawn up.
Among the military and naval leaders who planned and executed the invasion were: Vice Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, USN, Commander, Amphibious Forces, Pacific; Rear Admiral Harry Hill, USN, of Oakland, Cal., deputy commander of the attack force; Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force of the Pacific; Major General Harry F. Schmidt, Fifth Amphibious Corps Commander; Major General Graves B. Erskine, of La Jolla, Cal., Third Marine Division commander, and his chief of staff, Colonel Robert E. Hogaboom, of Vicksburg, Miss.; Major General Clifton B. Cates, Fourth Marine Division Commander, and his chief of stag, Colonel M. J. Batchelder; and Major General Keller Rockey, Fifth Marine Division Commander, and his chief of staff, Colonel Ray A. Robinson. The Army was represented at the ceremony by Major General James E. Chaney.
While Marine Private First Class John E. Glynn (309599), 21, of 2319 Humanity Street, New Orleans, La., veteran of Guadalcanal, sounded "Colors", Old Glory was sent fluttering in the breeze to the top of the flagstaff by Marine Privates First Class Thomas J. Casale (411750), 20, of (no street address) Herkimer, N. Y., and Albert B. Bush (437298), 24, of 16712 Woodbury Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Marine Sergeant Anthony C. Yusi (285607), 25, of 68 Grove Street, Port Chester, N. Y., was in charge of the color detail.
The bugler and the color detail were chosen from the Fifth Amphibious Corps Military Police Company. Their commanding officer, First Lieutenant Nathan R. Smith, of Whitehaven, Pa., said the men had been selected for general efficiency and military bearing. Both Yusi and Bush took part in the seizure of Saipan and Tinian in the Marianas. Moreover, Yusi was serving aboard the USS Wasp when she was sunk by the Japs September 15, 1943.
The proclamation was the first issued by Fleet Admiral Nimitz as military governor of the Volcano Islands. It was addressed, in Japanese as well as English, to the people of the islands. It read:

"I, Chester William Nimitz, Fleet Admiral, United States Navy, Com*mander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, do hereby proclaim as follows:
"United States Forces under my command have occupied this and other of the Volcano Islands.
"All powers of government of the Japanese Empire in the islands so occupied are hereby suspended.
"All powers of government are vested in me as Military Governor and will be exercised by subordinate commanders under my direction.
"All persons will obey promptly all orders given under my authority. Offenses against the Forces of Occupation will be severely punished.
"Given under my hand at Iwo Jima this fourteenth day of March, 1945."

The ceremony took place as the battle for Iwo Jima entered its 24th day. The stubborn Japanese defenders had been driven northward to the end of the island.
The enemy was still defending his caves and bunkers to the death.
As the official flag was raised, the one that had flown over Suribachi since the fifth day of the battle was lowered. The Stars and Strips had been planted on the volcano by the Marines who wrested it from the Japs.
The place selected for the official flag is just off the beach in the south*western section of the island. Selection of the site was prompted by convenience and the height of the ground.
Several hundred dirty, bearded and weary Marines working and bivouacked in the vicinity gathered to witness the brief ceremony, which required less than 10 minutes. They, as well as the participants, came smartly to attention and saluted while the bugler was sounding colors.

1949
U.K: Clothes rationing ends in England, nearly 4 years after the end of WW II. Food rationing will continue until June 1954 in Britain. July 1948 Bread. December 1948 Jam. October 1952 Tea. February 1953 Sweets. April 1953 Cream. March 1953 Eggs. September 1953 Sugar. May 1954 Butter, cheese, margarine and cooking fats. June 1954 Meat and bacon.

 

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1939
JAPAN: Nagoya: The prototype Mitsubishi A6M Type 0 fighter is declared ready for tests.

1942
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): 3 B-17's of the 40th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy), 19th BG begin evacuating General Douglas MacArthur, his family, and his staff from Del Monte, Mindanao, Philippines to Australia. 39th Pursuit Squadron, 35th Pursuit Group, transfers from Ballarat to Mount Gambier, Australia with P-39's; first combat is 2 Jun. 64th Bombardment Squadron, 43d BG, arrives at Sydney, Australia from the US with B-17's; first mission is 13 Aug. 68th Pursuit Squadron, 58th Pursuit Group, arrives at Amberly Field, Australia from the US with P-39's.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Japanese siege guns bombard American forts in Manila Bay. One 240 mm shell detonates beneath a Fort Frank powder room, breaking up the concrete and hurling some 60 (filled) powder cans about. Miraculously, none of them explode or catch fire.
Submarine USS Permit delivers ammunition to Corregidor Island, and evacuates the second increment of naval radio and communications intelligence people.
On Mindanao Island, two B-17's arrive just before 2400 hours, the runway lit by two flares, one at each end. Lead pilot Lieutenant Frank P. Bostrom drinks eight cups of coffee to fortify himself for the return flight while mechanics repair his defective supercharger. Bostrom tells General Douglas MacArthur his party must abandon their luggage and Jean MacArthur boards carrying only a silk scarf and a coat with a fur collar.

U.K.: British Lord Privy Seal Sir Stafford Cripps leaves London to negotiate with Indian leaders who want independence. Cripps will offer freedom after the war. Hindu leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharal Nehru demand immediate independence for a unified India while Moslem League President Mohammed Ali Hinnah wants a separate Pakistan.

U.S.: The Maritime Commission places orders for another 234 "Liberty" ships -- slow-moving 10,500-ton merchant vessels.

1943
ALASKA: In the Aleutians, 6 B-25s, with 4 P-38s flying top cover, bomb North Head on Kiska Island, hitting the Main Camp and gun emplacements. Six B-24s with 4 P-38s for top cover then bomb Main Camp. Revetments and the hangar area are strafed by the P-38s one of which is lost to AA. Next, 5 B-24s and 16 P-38s bomb and strafe the Main Camp area and North Head. Four P-40s then unsuccessfully search for 3 enemy fighters which had earlier attacked a weather plane. Main Camp is hit two more times, by 3 B-25s and by 8 P-38s.

BURMA AND INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 8 B-25s bomb the Gokteik Viaduct and 8 others attack Myitnge. Neither target suffers effective damage. Eight fighter-bombers damage the bridge at Kadrangyang.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In French Indochina, 12 B-25's bomb the power plant and railroad yards at Luo Kay.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) Single B-17s hit Munda Airfield and Vila Airfield. P-38's strafe the airfield at Viru.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-25s and 4 P-38s, along with Royal Australian Air Force aircraft, bomb shipping at Dobo and Wokam. B-17s, on single-plane flights bomb Gasmata and Cape Gloucester. Lost on a mission to Wewak is B-17F "Hell From Heaven Men" 41-2447.

PACIFIC: Admiral Carpender commands the US 7th Fleet as it becomes
operational. It is formed to control naval operations around New
Guinea.

PACIFIC: US submarine Triton (SS-201), commanded by George K. Mackenzie, Jr., is sunk by a Japanese destroyer north of Admiralty Island. All hands are
lost.

Amplifying above:
The last word received from TRITON came on 11 March 1943 when she reported, “Two groups of smokes, 5 or more ships each, plus escorts…Am chasing.” She was ordered to stay south of the Equator, and was informed of the area (an adjacent one) assigned to TRIGGER.
On the morning of 13 March TRITON was told that three enemy destroyers had been sighted southeast on a northerly course. She was informed that they were probably on a submarine hunt or were a convoy cover and had missed contact.
TRITON, on 16 March, was ordered to change her area slightly to the east. TUNA and GREENLING were placed in adjacent areas (to the south and west, respectively) on 22 March, and all were to disregard areas when on the chase, and to avoid when encountering a submarine. TRITON was told to clear her area on 25 March 1943, and return to Brisbane. When she failed to make her report of position, new results, and estimated time of arrival when it was expected, she was ordered to do so. No report was received and she was reported as lost on 10 April 1943. Information available after the war shows that TRITON was, without a doubt, sunk by the enemy destroyers of which she was given information on 13 March. Enemy reports show that these ships made an attack on 15 March. Their position was slightly north and west of TRITON’s area, but she undoubtedly left her area to attack the destroyers or the convoy they were escorting. The report of the attack by the destroyers leaves little doubt as to whether a kill was made, since they saw “a great quantity of oil, pieces of wood, corks and manufactured goods bearing the mark ‘Made in U.S.A’.” In addition, TRIGGER, in whose area this attack occurred, reported that on 15 March she made two attacks on a convoy of five freighters with two escorts. At this time she was depth charged, but not seriously, and she heard distant depth charging for an hour after the escorts had stopped attacking her. Since she was only about ten miles from the reported Japanese attack cited above, it is presumed that she heard the attack which sank TRITON. Apparently by this time the destroyers had joined their convoy.
TRITON was a most active and valuable member of the Submarine Force prior to her loss. In total, she is credited with sinking 16 ships, totaling 64,600 tons, and damaging 4 ships, of 29,200 total tons. Her first patrol, conducted around Wake Island, resulted in no damage to the enemy, but her second, in the northern part of the East China Sea, was very productive. In ten days she sank two freighters and damaged a freighter-transport and another freighter. She went back to the East China Sea for her third patrol, and again was most successful. She sank a trawler, two freighters, a freighter-transport, two sampans, and a submarine. The latter was I- 64, torpedoed south of Kyushu on 17 May 1942. TRITON’s fourth patrol was made in the Aleutians. During it, she is credited with sinking two escort-type vessels.
On her fifth patrol, TRITON went into the Solomon area. She sank a tanker, and two freighters, in addition damaging a tanker of 10,200 tons and a freighter. She was credited with having sunk two medium freighters on her last patrol.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 3 B-24s take off from Shemya shortly before midnight 15/16 Mar to fly armed reconnaissance over Matsuwa, Kurile , but turn back prematurely. Some of the bombers jettison their bombloads over the target area.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 6 B-25s damage a bridge at Nattalin near Rangoon, Burma. Air Commando Combat Mission No. 30 2:45 Flight time Hailakandi, Assam to Kalu, Burma.

BURMA: Allied troops take Mawlu, cutting the vital rail link from Mandalay
to Myitkyina.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 7 P-40s on a Yangtze River sweep damage 2 launches near Yoyang and pound barracks and storage at Sienning.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Tarawa Atoll and Abemama pound Wotje and Mille Atolls and Ormed , Marshall.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 13 B-24s bomb Vunakanau Airfield, and 12 B-25s follow with a raid on Vunakanau radar installations; 9 B-25s, 12 P-39s, and 11 P-40s hit Vunapope supply areas; 10 P-38s attack Cape Tawui while 11 B-25s pound the N edge of Simpson Harbor; and 7 P-38s strafe barges W of Raluana Point. At Monoitu Mission on Bougainville , a raid by B-24s demolishes several buildings.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): On New Guinea, 70+ B-24s, B-25s and A-20s hit AA positions, buildings and salvage dumps at Wewak and nearby Brandi Plantation; 19 B-25s bomb personnel and storage areas at Nubia; and B-24s and Catalinas attack a Japanese convoy near Hollandia. 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, moves from Port Moresby to Nadzab, New Guinea with F-5s.

NEI: B-24s bomb docks and factory area at Soerabaja, Java.

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Because of a navigational error, 2 B-24s on a photo mission to Matsuwa reach 130 miles S of the island, the deepest penetration of the Japanese Home s to date; the B-24s turn N, photograph Matsuwa and bomb Shimushiru with unobserved results.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 32 B-24s, escorted by 10 P-51s, pound the N railroad yards at Shihkiachwang; 1 B-25 and 2 P-51s attack the railroad between Sinsiang and Shihkiachwang; the detachment of the 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st FG, operating from Laohokow with P-51s, returns to base at Chengkung (another detachment is operating from Poseh).

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 23 P-47s support forces of the Chinese 50th Division in the Hsipaw area; 4 P-38s, supporting the British 36 Division, bomb artillery positions NE of Mogok; 12 B-25s blast a fuel dump and troop concentration at Panghai; and 40 P-38s sweep roads S of the bomb line. Transport operations continue on a steady basis.

Seventh Air Force: 13 Guam based B-24s bomb Susaki Airfield; during the night of 16/17 Mar, Susaki Airfield is hit again, by 5 B-24s flying individual harassment strikes. Iwo Jima is declared secure although fierce resistance continues on some parts of the island. VII Fighter Command: 16 Iwo Jima based P-51s dive-bomb and strafe radio and radar installations, gun positions, and a storage area on Chichi Jima. In Mar 45 HQ VII Fighter Command will be established on Iwo Jima from where some of its units escort B-29 missions.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 43: 307 XXI Bomber Command B-29s, of 331 airborne, fire-raid Kobe in the heaviest attack to date, bombing from 5,000 to 9,500 feet during the predawn hours of 16/17 Mar; the attack lasts for 2 hours and 8 minutes; about 2.9 square miles, i.e., 20%, of the city's area is burned destroying about 500 industrial buildings and damaging 162; 65,951 homes are lost leaving 242,468 people homeless. Casualties are 2,669 dead or missing and 11,289 injured. The B-29 crews see 314 enemy aircraft which make a total of 93 individual attacks; the AAF claims 1-0-? Japanese aircraft; 3 B-29s are lost, none to the fighters.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Luzon, A-20s and B-24s continue pounding Japanese installations at Baguio; P-51s strike Patapat, hitting vehicles and supplies; fighters on patrol hit Caballo in Manila Bay; the Batangas area is again pounded by fighter-bombers and A-20s. B-24s hit Talisay and Carolina Airfields on Negros and bomb targets pinpointed by guerrillas on Cebu. B-25s bomb San Roque Airfield on Mindanao and attack Tarakan and Jesselton Airfields. On Formosa, B-24s also hit the town of Taihoku, airfields at Heito, and the Okayama naval airbase. HQ 43d BG and the 65th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) move from Tacloban, Leyte to Clark Field, Luzon with B-24s; the 419th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, moves from Middelburg to Puerto Princesa, Palawan with P-61s.

PHILLIPINES: US troops land on Basilan island.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 300, MARCH 16, 1945


The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat. The enemy was fully aware of the crushing attacks on his homeland which would be made possible by our capture of this island only 660 nautical miles distant, so he prepared what he thought was an impregnable defense. With certain knowledge of the cost of an objective which had to be taken, the Fleet Marine Force supported the ships of the Pacific Fleet and by Army and Navy aircraft fought the battle and won. By their victory the Third, Fourth and Fifth Marine Divi*sions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.
Organized resistance on Iwo Island ceased at 1800 on March 16 (East Longitude Date) when elements of the Third and Fifth Marine Divisions drove through the enemy lines breaking them up and reached Kitano Point at the northern end of the island.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 301, MARCH 16, 1945

The Marines on Iwo are continuing to mop up remnants of the enemy garrison. The central Iwo airfield was placed in operation on March 16 (East Longitude Date).
Army aircraft of the Seventh Fighter Command bombed and strafed targets on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on the same date.
On March 15, Army Liberators of the Seventh Air Force operating under the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed airfield installations on Chichi Jima.
Fighters and Torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing de*stroyed bridges and damaged piers and other installations in the Palaus on March 15. On the following day barges were destroyed and fires were started on and around Babelthuap and Arakabesan in the same group.
Radio, airfield and harbor installations on Yap in the Western Carolines were bombed by Marine Aircraft on March 15 and 16.
Neutralizing raids on enemy held bases in the Marshalls were carried out by planes of Fleet Air Wing Two and the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on March 15.

 

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1941
USA: The USN Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics approved a proposal for establishing a special National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) committee to promptly review the status of jet propulsion and recommend plans for its application to flight and assisted takeoff.

1942
AUSTRALIA: The USAAF 9th Pursuit Squadron arrives at Darwin, Northern Territory, with P-40Es to provide air defense for the port. Shortly after 0001 hours at Del Monte Field on Mindanao Island, Philippine Islands, the two B-17 Flying Fortresses that picked up General Douglas MacArthur and his party, take off for the 1,500 miles flight to Darwin, Northern Territory. The General sits in the radio operator's seat, his chief of staff, Major General Richard K. Sutherland, squeezed into the bomb bay. Lieutenant Bostrom's overloaded B-17 staggers into the air with one engine spluttering. It is MacArthur's son's first airplane flight, and he is excited until turbulence renders him airsick. When the plane reaches Darwin, the city is under Japanese attack, and the aircraft are diverted to the emergency strip, Batchelor Field, 50 miles away. They deplane at 0900 hours, barely able to stand. MacArthur spots an American officer and asks him about the buildup to reconquer the Philippines. The officer says, "So far as I know, sir, there are very few troops here." Startled, MacArthur turns to Sutherland, and says, "Surely he is wrong." MacArthur and his party breakfast on canned peaches and baked beans. The General demands a motorcade to the nearest train station in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 1,000 miles away because his wife is exhausted from air travel. But MacArthur's son, also exhausted is now on intravenous feeding. The doctors cannot guarantee "little Arthur will make it over a long desert drive without shelter or food." MacArthur and his party board two DC-3s borrowed from a local airline, and take off as a Japanese air raid is starting. They reach Alice Springs, which resembles an Old West town replete with saloon, wooden boardwalks, and flies, without further incident. MacArthur watches a double feature at the local movie theater, his first film since leaving Manila, and the party sleeps on cots on the hotel's verandah.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): General Douglas MacArthur arrives in Australia to assume command of United Nations forces in the SWPA. He actually assumed command on 18 Apr. 8th Bombardment Squadron, 3d BG, transfers from Brisbane to Charters Towers with A-20's; first mission is 1 Apr. 9th Pursuit Squadron, 49th Pursuit Group transfers from Williamstown to Darwin, Australia with P-40's; first mission is 18 Mar.

INDIA: Air Vice Marshal Donald F. Stevenson, commanding Allied air forces, moves HQ from Burma to Calcutta. India.

PACIFIC: Submarine USS Grayback sinks a Japanese collier 6 miles west of Port Lloyd, Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The submarine USS Permit, which was originally scheduled to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur and party from Corregidor, is damaged by depth charges off Tayabas Bay, Luzon, but remains on patrol.

US: The United States, in agreement with Allied governments, assumes responsibility for the strategic defense of entire Pacific Ocean.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, 8 P-38s patrol Kiska Island without making contacts.

BURMA AND INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 8 B-25s again attack the bridge at Myitnge, damaging the northern approach. Fourteen P-40s hit bridges at Kadrangyang and northeast of Myitkyina and the motor pool at Hpunkizup. The motor pool suffers considerable damage.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) B-17s continue harassing raids against Vila, Kahili and Ballale.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, B-25s bomb Langgoer.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 3 B-24s fly armed reconnaissance over Onnekotan , Kurile , before dawn releasing bombs through the overcast.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 24 B-24s and 12 P-38s attack supply dumps in the Kalewa area in the Chin Hills region; 30+ B-25s, P-51s and A-36s damage Shweli and Mogaung bridges and hit positions and supply dumps in the Kamaing area; 37 P-40s blast the Myitkyina Airfield; numerous other aircraft fly miscellaneous sorties over the Sumprabum area; and 2 B-25s cause fires among oil installations at Chauk. 24th Photographic Squadron (Heavy), Tenth Air Force, based at Guskhara with F-7s, sends a detachment to operate from Hsinching, China.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 5 B-25s bomb and strafe boatyards at Vinh and hit lumber stores and sawmills at nearby Ben Thuy.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s and B-25s from Tarawa Atoll bomb, respectively, Ponape and Jaluit Atoll Atoll. 392d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Abemama to Kwajalein Atoll with B-24s.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 31 fighter-bombers and 31 B-25s pound supply areas at Vunapope and at Ralum. On Bougainville, a few fighter-bombers hit a Japanese bivouac area on Matchin Bay. 20+ B-24s pound the airstrip at Namatanai, New Ireland.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): Almost 100 B-24s, B-25s and A-20s attack the Wewak area; P-38s hit the Hansa Bay area while other B-25s bomb the Madang-Alexishafen area. Soerabaja, Java naval base is bombed by B-24s.

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile s, 2 B-24s fly bombing and photo missions over Matsuwa , concentrating on the airfield, and on returning photograph Shasukotan, Harumukotan, and Onnekotan.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 1 B-25 and 12 P-51s damage 21 locomotives and a river launch in the Peking area, around Tsinan, and between Taiyuan and Tatung.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 44: In Burma, 70 of 77 B-29s hit a storage dump at Rangoon; 2 others bomb targets of opportunity, the Sagyi Airfield and warehouses at Bassein without loss.
BURMA: The Chinese Sixth Army captures Hsipaw.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 P-47s support the British 36 Division around Mogok; 12 B-25s bomb troops and supplies near Namlan; 33 P-47s hit road targets behind enemy lines, concentrating on the Hay-ti and Mong Yai sectors; 40+ other fighter-bombers attack troops, supplies, tanks, and trucks behind the battleline including the Ta-mun, Namsaw, Pansupe, Tal-ti, and Kankang areas. Transports continue to fly troops and supplies to frontline areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 11 Guam based B-24s hit Susaki Airfield; during the night of 17/18 Mar, 5 B-24s again hit the airfield. HQ 30th BG and the 27th, 30th and 819th Bombardment Squadrons move from Saipan to Wheeler Field with B-24s (the group will train and fly patrol missions until VJ-Day).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Formosa airfields are pounded by B-24s operating in force. On Luzon, nearly 500 sorties are flown in support of ground forces by B-25s, A-20s, and fighters. B-24s hit Panay beaches preparatory to allied landings on 18 Mar and bomb troops in the combat areas on Mindanao. Bacolod Airfield on Negros is also bombed. HQ 317th Troop Carrier Group moves from Leyte to Clark Field; the 31st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th BG (Heavy), moves from Morotai to Guiuan Airfield with B-24s.

JAPAN: Tokyo: Japanese children from the age of seven are to give up school to work in factories to help the war effort, the cabinet ordered today. The drastic new measures will take effect from 1 April for a year. Only primary schools for children up to six will remain open. All other schools, colleges and universities will close, and students and teachers will work in food and munitions factories, air defence, research work and anything else that helps the war effort.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 302, MARCH 17, 1945

The Marines on Iwo continued mopping up operations on March 17 (East Longitude Date). About noon a group of 150 of the enemy were observed attempting to organize in the northern part of the Island. They were dispersed by mortar fire. A few enemy troops attempted to "booby trap" installations in our rear areas.
Surface units of the Pacific Fleet bombarded Matsuwa Island in the Kuriles on March 16. Our gunfire caused a large explosion and several large fires. Shore based batteries of the enemy answered our fire but caused no damage to our ships.


CINCPOA PRESS RELEASE NO. 39, MARCH 17, 1945

For twenty‑six days on Iwo Island, the United States Marines fought under conditions which have had no parallel in the war against Japan. Our troops have now defeated the enemy despite every natural advantage of his defenses.
This accomplishment was made against concentrated fortifications which approached, as closely as it is possible to do so, impregnability against attack by mobile forces employing every useful weapon available in modern warfare.

370​

From the opening day, when at H‑hour the pre‑invasion bombardment successfully beat down the island defenses long enough for the troops to gain a foothold which they were never to lose, our forces met and solved problems which could have been insuperable for men less resolute in mind, heart and purpose.
Volcanic ash which immobilized even tracked vehicles and made them motionless targets; artillery long since registered on every possible landing place; interlocking and mutually supporting pillboxes and strong points; underground labyrinths extending a total of many miles and the result of many years of military planning and construction; defenses whose depth was limited only by the coastlines of the island; a garrison which was made up of units of the enemy forces especially trained to utilize the defensive ad*vantages of this island; a terrain that was characterized by a high volcanic cone, cliffs, deep gulleys, several commanding hills and a series of terraces rising from the beach to the prominences and plateaus which had to be taken these were the problems of Iwo Island.
That it was taken was the direct result of the fortitude of our officers and men who, by 14 March, had killed more than 21,000 of the enemy.
In achieving this victory, the forces involved lost 4,189 officers and men killed, according to reports from the front line units at 1700 on 16 March.
The wounded, a very considerable number of whom suffered slight wounds or combat fatigue and have already been returned to action in the Iwo opera*tion, numbered 15,308. Missing in action are 441 officers and men.
The majority of our seriously wounded have been evacuated from the island by hospital ship and by evacuation aircraft. Complete medical facili*ties are operating to provide the best possible care for those wounded on Iwo Island.

 

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1942
AUSTRALIA: On the day after General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia, the USAAF operational strength consists of about 213 combat aircraft, i.e., 12 B-17s, 27 A-24 dive bombers, several miscellaneous light and medium bombers, 33 P-39 and 52 P-400 Airacobras, 92 P-40s and miscellaneous transport and other noncombat aircraft. Approximately 100 additional aircraft are being repaired or assembled. Very few of the fighter pilots are experienced or well trained and most of the bomber crews are exhausted and have low morale.
In the morning, General Douglas MacArthur sends his staff officers by plane south from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, while he orders up a special train for himself and his family. Jean MacArthur will have no more flying. The MacArthurs board a three-car wooden train drawn by a steam locomotive, that scuttles down a narrow-gauge line. The train chugs off on a 70-hour journey down 1,028 miles of track to Adelaide, South Australia.

BURMA: Pilots of the 3d Fighter Squadron, AVG attack a Japanese airfield near Moulmein at 0755 hours destroying three bombers, two transports and 11 fighters on the ground.

CHINA: USN river gunboat Tutuila, decommissioned at Chungking, China, on 18 January, is leased to the Chinese government for the duration of the war.

NEW HEBRIDES: U.S. Army troops, two companies of the 182d Infantry and an engineer company, arrive on Efate Island to build an airfield.

U.K.: Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Queen Victoria's grandson, is named Chief of Combined Operations.

U.S.: The government creates the War Relocation Authority to "Take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war." As a result, 120,000 men, women, and children were rounded up on the West Coast. Three categories of internees were created: Nisei (native U.S. citizens of Japanese immigrant parents), Issei (Japanese immigrants), and Kibei (native U.S. citizens educated largely in Japan). The internees were transported to one of ten relocation centers in California, Utah, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming. One Japanese American, Gordon Hirabayashi, fought internment all the way to the Supreme Court. He argued that the Army, responsible for effecting the relocations, had violated his rights as a U.S. citizen. The court ruled against him, citing the nation's right to protect itself against sabotage and invasion as sufficient justification for curtailing his and other Japanese Americans' constitutional rights.

1943
ALASKA: In the Aleutians, taking off from Adak Island, 6 B-24's bomb the Main Camparea, 6 B-25's bomb North Head, and 12 P-38's fly top cover and strafing attacks. Twelve Amchitka-based P-38's then blast the Kiska runway and Main Camp area, starting fires. At Amchitka, the 54th Fighter Squadron is reinforced by several F-5A's.

BURMA AND INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 16 P-40's bomb and strafe the stronghold of Seniku, claiming a high enemy casualty rate. Seven others attack Nalong. Sixteen B-24's bomb the Pazundaung bridge, causing considerable damage to the structure. Eight B-25's damage the Myitnge bridge; 8 other B-25's hit AA positions in the Myitnge general area. A detachment of the 9th Photographic Squadron, Tenth Air Force begins operating from Dinjan, India.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) HQ 307th Bombardment Group and it's 370th and 424th Bombardment Squadrons with B-24's transfer from the Territory of Hawaii to Guadalcanal. Both squadrons has been operating from Espirtu Santo since 6 Feb.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-24's pound the town of Madang. In the Bismarck Archipelago, single B-17's strafe a launch at Talasea and barges northeast of Cape Gloucester, while a lone B-24 bombs Timoeka and Langgoer. Lost is P-39K 42-4312.

RAAF - Ditched off Salamaua is DB-7 Boston A28-3.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 22 B-25s attack villages and oil storage areas near Kalewa while 16 B-24s and 41 RAF Vengeance's pound the same general area hitting Japanese positions and causing many fires; 20+ P-51s and B-25s support ground forces near Chindwin; 14 others hit a truck park and supply area near Mandalay; and 20+ fighter-bombers (P-51s, P-40s and A-36s) bomb the Kamaing area while 10 more damage several riverboats near Katha.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 16 P-40s on a Yangtze River sweep sink 1 large sailboat and strafe a transport ship at Chiuchiang. In French Indochina, 2 P-40s damage a bridge N of Haiphong and attack targets of opportunity in the area, while 2 others sink 2 large junks at Thuong Mo; 12 P-40s on armed reconnaissance from Nanning, China sink a barge and damage other craft at Quang Yen, sink a transport vessel at Campha Port and damage a nearby bridge, attack a train and several buildings in the Lang Son area, and damage a railroad bridge between Lang Son and Phu Lang Thuong.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): 2 B-25s from Engebi bomb and strafe Ponape . 13 B-25s from Abemama bomb Jaluit Atoll while 5 from Tarawa Atoll hit the Atoll with bombs and cannon fire. 1 B-24 from Tarawa Atoll bombs Mille Atoll and photographs Mille and Majuro.

USN - Task Group 50.10 (Rear Admiral W. A. Lee), composed of the Lexington, two battleships, and a destroyer screen, bombed and bombard bypassed Mili.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain , 12 P-40s pound fuel stores on Keravia Bay; 13 P-38s follow with a strike on an ammunition dump at nearby Cape Tawui; 12 P-39s later hit the Keravia Bay area; and still later, 24 B-24s and 13 B-25s blast the town of Rabaul and foothills nearby. On Bougainville, 18 P-39s, along with several USN fighter-bombers, hit shipping at the mouths of the Jaba and Tavena Rivers.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force) 100+ B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s continue to pound the Wewak area, hitting AA positions and nearby Brandi Plantation; a Japanese supply convoy reaches Wewak but escapes bombardment. Lost overnight is B-24D "Big Ass Bird II" 42-72801. Lost is A-20G 43-9626.

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A weather sortie is flown.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 6 B-24s sweep the Gulf of Tonkin and S China Sea, claiming 1 freighter damaged. 2 P-51s over N French Indochina strafe trucks, troops, and horsecarts.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 P-47s support the Chinese ground forces near Hsipaw; 8 others support British 36 Division troops by dropping napalm NE of Mogok; 11 B-25s and 20 fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations and supplies immediately behind the battlefront and roads S of the bomb line are swept by 16 P-38s. Transports continue steady operations.

Seventh Air Force: 14 B-24s from Guam pound Susaki Airfield and 1 other hits Haha Jima; during the night of 18/19 Mar, 5 more B-24s individually strike Susaki Airfield. The 392d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 30th BG (Heavy), moves from Saipan to Kipapa, Hawaii with B-24s. VII Fighter Command: 16 P-51s from Iwo Jima dive-bomb radar and radio installations and barges on Chichi Jima.

USN Vice Admiral Mitscher's fast carrier squadron attacks the Japanese fleet in in the Kure-Kobe area. USS Wasp is badly damaged by a Kamikaze Attack.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 44: During the night of 18/19 Mar, 290 of 313 XXI Bomber Command B-29s continue the fire raids on Japanese cities, bombing Nagoya from 4,500 to 9,000 feet with incendiaries for the second time this month; an additional 3 square miles are destroyed; the Nagoya arsenal, Aichi engine plant and freight yards are damaged but the Mitsubishi plants escape with minor damage; this mission ends the March fire raids.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s, A-20s, and fighters support ground forces by hitting the Ipo area and various targets in Batangas Province. B-24s again bomb Bacolod, hit several targets on Cebu, and bomb Sepinggang and Jesselton Airfields. On Formosa, Tainan Airfield, seaplane base at Takao, and emergency field at Koshun are also hit. The 419th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, based at Puerto Princesa, Palawan with P-61s, sends a detachment to operate from Zamboanga, Mindanao.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 303, MARCH 18, 1945

On March 18 (East Longitude Date) a strong force of carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet attacked enemy aircraft bases and installations on the Island of Kyushu.
The Marines on Iwo mopped up isolated remnants of the former enemy garrison in the rugged terrain of the northern part of the island on March 18. Marine uniforms were again found on enemy soldiers, one of whom stopped one of our ambulances, shot and wounded the driver and escaped. Snipers continued to be active. Army fighters bombed and strafed barges and radio and radar facilities on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on the same date.
Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force bombed the airfield on Chichi Jima on March 16 and 17.
Without opposition, Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Shimushiru in the Kuriles on March 17. Fighters, dive bombers and torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed radio towers, airstrip and other targets on Yap in the Western Carolines on March 18.
On March 17 and 18, Marine Aircraft attacked buildings, bridges and other facilities on Babelthuap in the Palaus. One plane was lost in the attacks.


CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 743, MARCH 18, 1945

LIEUT. GEN. HOLLAND M. SMITH, USMC, RETURNS FROM IWO​

Reiterating that the battle for Iwo Jima was "the toughest and hardest fight in Marine Corps history," Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, USMC, Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, has returned to his Pearl Harbor headquarters with members of his staff.
The bloody conquest of Japan's Gibraltar of the Pacific further evidenced that the fighting will "get tougher" as we close in on the Nipponese empire, General Smith said.

 

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1941
U.S.: In an agreement signed by Adolf Berle, the assistant US secretary of state, and William Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Great Lakes will soon become the biggest shipbuilding area in the world - the ships to be built on the Canadian side, with power and finance from the US side. "The extent to which intensified submarine and air attacks on convoys necessitate an expansion in the program is still unknown," said President Roosevelt, but he estimated that the number of ships needed would be "several times" those now available.

1942
ALASKA: Military Intelligence warns that a Japanese seizure of the Aleutian Islands, or a raid on Alaska, could be expected at any time. It is believed that the attack would be to prevent the U.S. from invading Japan from the north, or to obstruct Soviet/American communications.

AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur and his party endure traveling in a tiny railroad coach with two hard wooden seats running lengthwise. The second car is a diner with a long wooden table, washtubs full of ice, and an Australian army stove. Two Australian sergeants and an army nurse do the housekeeping. To switch from diner to passenger car, the train has to stop, and passengers have to get out of one car and walk along the ground to the other. MacArthur and his families sit in the car, besieged by flies. MacArthur goes to sleep. At one point, the engineer stops the train, surrounded by sheep ranchers. The general thinks they want a speech from the war hero but actually they want a doctor to assist one of the ranchers; after the surgery, the train leaves.

BURMA: Lieutenant General William J. Slim, former General Officer Commanding 10th Indian Division in Syria, arrives in Burma to take command
of Imperial troops, now formed into the Burma I Corps. In the Sittang Valley, Japanese troops attack Toungoo, the original training base of the American Volunteer Group. General Slim aims to hold the Japanese on the Prome-Toungoo line, blocking two roads. Between the roads is 80 miles of jungle and hills, with no connecting roads. Two Chinese armies move to Toungoo to block that route. While Chinese divisions are the strength of British brigades, they are good troops with years of experience in fighting the Japanese.
However, their top leader, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, more concerned with fighting rival Communist leader Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung), is reluctant to commit his troops. And communications between Slim and the American commanding the Chinese troops, Lieutenant General Jospeh Stilwell, are slow and complicated. British forces are in poor shape, too, demoralized and in retreat. The 17th Division has been on the run, and 1st Burmese is untested. Slim's HQ's radio batteries have to be recharged by operating a pedal-driven generator. Slim has one trump card, though, the 7th Armoured Brigade, superior to the tankless Japanese.

FIJI ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1,"Glen" to reconnoiter Suva on Vitu Levu Island.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Philippine President Manuel Quezon and 13 members of his party are transported from Dumaguete, Negros Island, to Oroquito, Mindanao Island, after a 240-mile voyage in motor torpedo boat PT-41.

1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) All missions are cancelled due to weather except local fighter patrols. HQ XI Bomber Command is activated on Adak Island.

BURMA AND INDIA (Tenth Air Force)
In Burma, 8 B-25's score 4 direct hits on the bridge at Myitnge, rendering it unserviceable. A single P-40 uses a 1,000-lb bomb against the bridge near Mogaung in a test to see if the fighter can carry such "blockbusters" and deliver them effectively. Despite negligible damage, suffered by the target, both the carrying and releasing of the bomb are considered successful.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In French Indochina, 12 B-25's, with an escort of 6 P-40's, bomb the power plant and railroad yards at Lao Kay. The P-40's strafe the target area and a barracks s few miles down the Red River.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) B-17's and B-24's on armed reconnaissance bomb Kahili and Ballale Airfields.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, A-20's pound forces in the Mubo area while B-25's bomb a submarine and barges in Lae harbor. In the Moluccas, B-24's hit Amboina. Single B-17's strike Arawe, Gasmata, Cape Gloucester, barges off Cape Gauffre and a cargo boat at Lorengau.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20+ B-25s and P-38s hit Wuntho; 70+ fighter-bombers and 2 B-25s over the Mogaung Valley bomb supply dumps, enemy positions, and targets of opportunity throughout the area, concentrating attacks in and near Kamaing, Mogaung and Sumprabum; and 16 P-51s hit barracks and a supply area at Meiktila Airfield near Mandalay while B-25s hit Indaw. 82d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th Bombardment Group (Medium), arrives at Tezgaon, India from Italy with B-25s; first mission is 21 Apr.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 2 B-25s, 9 P-38s and 3 P-51s on a Yangtze River sweep damage several river vessels, hit a fort at Chihchow and bomb Nanchang Airfield.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s pound Wake from Kwajalein. B-25s from Abemama and Tarawa Atoll hit Maloelap, Jaluit, and Mille Atolls. 1 B-24 from Tarawa bombs Mille and photographs Mille and Majuro Atolls.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 30+ fighter-bombers over the Rabaul area pound an ammunition dump and other targets around Cape Tawui; and 24 B-25s blast the Vunapope area, concentrating on workers' quarters. 24 B-24s bomb Panapai Airstrip causing considerable damage to the runways.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, 100+ B-24s, B-25s, A-20s and P-47s pound the Wewak area, hitting especially hard the Cape Moem and Cape Boram areas; other B-25s and P-39s, along with RAAF aircraft, bomb the Hansa Bay, Nubia, Madang, and Alexishafen areas and hit targets along Bogadjim Road; and 130 B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and P-38s virtually destroy a supply convoy proceeding from Wewak toward Hollandia, sinking at least 5 vessels. P-40s attack a bivouac area and AA on Garove , Bismarck Archipelago.

1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 5 B-24s bomb and photograph the Kashiwabara naval base on Paramushiru . 8 B-25s bomb canneries along the Masugawa and Asahigawa Rivers.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 5 B-24s on a sweep over the S China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin claim a large freighter sunk. 4 P-38s strafe trucks from Son La to Hoa Binh, French Indochina.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 24 P-38s support the forces of the Chinese 50th Division near Hsipaw; 12 P-38s sweep roads S of the bomb line while 27 P-47s operating over and behind enemy lines hit troop concentrations and supplies at Namlan, Namio, and Nam-maw-long and a Japanese-held monastery at Nammaw-long. Transports fly 502 sorties to forward areas.

AAFPOA Seventh Air Force: 12 Guam based B-24s attack the Susaki Airfield and radio installations in the afternoon. During the night of 19/20 Mar, Susaki Airfield is hit again by 5 B-24s flying separate snooper strikes. VII Fighter Command: 16 P-51s from Iwo Jima bomb and strafe Susaki Airfield, a radio installation, and storage area on Chichi Jima.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s and fighter-bombers again hit installations on N Luzon. B-24s hit a variety of targets on Cebu including the town of Minglanilla. The 8th Combat Cargo Squadron, 2d Combat Cargo Group, moves from Biak to Dulag with C-46s; the 63d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 43d BG (Heavy), moves from Tacloban, Leyte to Clark Field, Luzon with B-24s.

N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 585, MARCH 19, 1945
Pacific Area.

1. U. S. submarines operating in Far Eastern waters have sunk 15 enemy vessels, including two escort vessels and three destroyers. The vessels sunk were:

3 destroyers
2 escort vessels 1 large tanker
1 large cargo transport
6 medium cargo vessels
1 medium transport
1 small cargo vessel

2. These actions have not been announced in any previous Navy Depart*ment communiqué.


CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 304, MARCH 19, 1945

Carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet continued their attacks on Japan on March 19 (East Longitude Date). They attacked Kobe Kure and other ob*jectives in and around the Inland Sea.
The Marines on Iwo Island continued to search out snipers and isolated remnants of the enemy garrison on March 19.
On the same date Army fighters from Iwo bombed and strafed the airfield and radio stations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins.
Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force bombed targets on Chichi Jima and Haha Jima on March 18. One enemy fighter was observed in the air at Chichi.
A single Navy search Ventura of Fleet Air Wing Four made rocket attacks on small craft and buildings in the Torishima group southeast of Paramushiru on March 18. On the same date Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Matsuwa in the Kuriles without opposition.
A Navy search Privateer of Fleet Air Wing One sank a lugger and four small craft in the anchorage at Truk in the Carolines on March 19.
Fighters, torpedo planes and dive-bombers of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing struck piers, runways, buildings, and radio installations on Yap in the Western Carolines on March 19.
On the same date Marine aircraft carried out attacks on enemy‑held islands in the Palaus.
Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing planes continued neutralizing attacks on enemy bases in the Marshalls.