This Day In The War, In The Pacific

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1936
USA: Joint Army-Navy Board reduces mission of the US Army in the Philippines to defense of the Bataan Peninsula and Subic Bay and established war with Japan as the most likely threat to US security.

1942
AUSTRALIA: B-17's attack the airfield and AA guns at Koepang, Timor.

USA: President Roosevelt presents the medal of honor to General James Doolittle for his bombing of Tokyo on April 18, 1942, Japan. Doolittle viewed the raid as a failure because of its lost of fifteen of the sixteen planes, and lack of serious damage.

1943
AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eleventh Air Force) 6 B-24's and 11 B-25's fly 3 air-ground support missions to Attu, bombing the Sarana Valley. 4 P-40's fly 2 reconnaissance missions to Kiska.
On Attu Island in the Aleutians, the Southern Landing Force tries to advance against Japanese opposition at Point Able on the eastern shore of Holtz Bay.

CBI CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) HQ 402d Bombardment Group (Medium) is activated at Kunming, China. No squadrons are assigned and headquarters is never fully manned.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-24's hit Gasmata Airfield. Single heavy bombers hit Gasmata twice during the day. Lost on a daylight reconnaisance mission is B-24D 41-24269. B-25's attack the Salamaua area and targets of opportunity off the NE coast of the Huon Peninsula. In Timor, B-24's hit Penfoei.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A B-24 flies armed reconnaissance over Shimushu and Ketoi Islands, Kurile Islands.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, A-36s, P-40s, P-51s and a few B-25s fly 140+ attack sorties against various targets in the Mogaung Valley, concentrating on gun positions in the Myitkyina area; 8 B-25s damage railroad tracks in the Myingatha-Saye area and 16 P-38s hit the airfield at Nawnghkio.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 31 fighters support ground forces in the Salween area at Chiangtso, Watien, and Mamien Pass; 4 P-40s knock out a bridge at Shweli, Burma, 13 P-40s bomb and strafe the Puchi area and 16 P-40s and P-38s damage a bridge at Tayeh and hit military installations and other buildings at Yangsin; 11 P-51s bomb a village near Anking, causing large explosions and fires; 2 B-24s on a sea sweep seriously damage 2 freighters S of Hong Kong; 16 CACW P-40s pound trucks, tanks and troops in the Ichang-Tangyang-Loyang area and attack river traffic at Itu on the Yangtze River.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s based on Engebi hit Ponape Island and B-25s from Makin hit Nanru.

MARCUS - Third Raid on Marcus - Planes from a three-carrier task force USS Essex, Wasp and San Jacinto, (Rear Admiral A. E. Montgomery) hit Marcus with a predawn fighter sweep and strafed and bombed the island for 2 consecutive days.
Rear Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery's Task Group 58.6, consisting of the aircraft carriers USS Essex, with Carrier Air Group Fifteen, and USS Wasp, with CVG-14, attack Marcus Island in the North Pacific. The new light aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto, with Light Carrier Air Group 51, is detached to the north to screen for the rest of the force. Two of the purposes of the raid are to test new target-briefing procedures and also determine the effect of high-velocity attack rockets (HVARs) on ground targets.

PTO: The Japanese establish a line of submarines in the South Pacific (Operation "NA") to intercept USN aircraft carriers however, the USN has deduced the purpose and location of these subs based on radio traffic analysis. On 18 May 1944, the destroyer escort USS England, Lt. Commander Walton B. Pendleton, got underway with two other destroyers and during the next eight days, she sinks five of the submarines, starting with HIJMS I-16, Lt. Commander Yoshitaka Takeuchi.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 40+ P-39s, P-38s and P-40s hit Makada Island, Bismarck Archipelago. 16 B-25s bomb gun positions and supply area at Talili Bay, New Britain Island. On Bougainville Island, 20 AAF fighters and a few USN aircraft bomb huts and bridges at Monoitu, Porton, Toborei, Moisuru and Tsimba.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-24s, A-20s and P-38s hit airfields and shipping in the Manokwari-Noemfoor Island area; other B-24s pound beach defenses at Bosnik on Biak Island and hit the area between Bosnik and Mokmer; 270+ A-20s, P-47s, P-38s and B-25s continue to blast Wewak, knocking out radar and radio stations and attack targets of opportunity from Wewak to the Hansa Bay area.

USA: The Undersecretary of the Navy, James V. Forrestal, becomes the Secretary of the Navy.

1945
PHILLIPINES: B-25s, A-20s, and fighter- bombers support ground forces throughout Luzon, concentrating in the Ipo Dam area. P-38s support ground action on Cebu.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s bomb Oelin Airfield and, along with P-38s, attack targets on Tarakan.

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 8 B-25s try to bomb Minami Cape radar installation and cannery on the Naka River on Shimushu; only one gets near the targets and bombs and strafes the area, while intense AA fire and enemy fighters drive off the rest and down 1 B-25; MIA is B-25J 43-36140 and a third reaches Petropavlovsk, USSR.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-25s blast the Kaifeng warehouse area, destroying at least 5 warehouses, while another hits nearby railroad tracks; another B-25 bombs the town of Shanhsien; about 90 fighter- bombers attack river, road, and rail shipping, troops, supplies and general targets of opportunity, continuing the disruption of troop movement and withdrawal in S and E China.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The detachments of the 127th and 155th Liaison Squadrons (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, operating from Akyab Airfield with UC-64s and L-5s, return to base at Kalaikunda, India.

AAFPOA (VII Fighter Command): 100 P-51s are dispatched to escort B-29s to Tachikawa, Japan but abort due to weather. HQ 413th Fighter Group and 1st, 21st and 34th Fighter Squadrons arrive on Ie Shima from the US with P-47s.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 178: 272 B-29s make an abortive raid on the Tachikawa Aircraft Company and bomb the city of Hamamatsu; 14 others hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-29s are lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In Formosa, B-24s pound Kiirun harbor, B-25s sweep the W coast, hitting several targets including Toyohara, Nisui, and along the Ts'eng-Wen River, hitting a railroad yard, storage facilities, and damaging an alcohol plant on the Ts'eng Wen and fighters sweep the Giran, Tainan, and Heito areas. The air echelon of the 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Group, based at Dulag with F-5s, begins operating from Clark Field.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 367, MAY 19, 1943

Troops of the Tenth Army maintained heavy pressure on the enemy along the whole southern front of Okinawa on May 18 (East Longitude Date), meet*ing strong resistance at all points on the front lines. The Sixth Marine Divi*sion withdrew from "Sugar Loaf Hill" in the western sector after nightfall on May 17 but occupied the summit for the fifth time after heavy fighting on the morning of May 18. The enemy has sacrificed large numbers of troops in the defense of this key position before Naha. The First Marine Division gained several hundred yards and was operating east of Wana Town to destroy enemy strong points in that area. The Seventy‑Seventh Infantry Division continued to assault strongly held enemy positions with local support from aircraft and from flame‑throwing tanks. This division gained some ground on its right flank near Ishimmi Town. In the hilly sector on the eastern end of the lines south and east of Conical Hill, the Ninety‑Sixth Infantry Division progressed slowly in hand to hand fighting. The enemy employed substantial artillery fire all along the line in attempts to contain the attacks of our forces. Our troops were supported throughout the day by ships' gunfire and aircraft bombing. A few enemy aircraft appeared over the Okinawa area during the evening of May 17. Two enemy planes were shot down.
Minor changes were made in the positions of our troops attacking the Shuri position on May 19. Enemy resistance throughout the hilly area around the fortress town remained extremely strong. The Sixth Marine Division re*pulsed a counterattack east of Takamotoji during the early morning. The First Marine Division and Seventy‑Seventh Infantry Division continued to attack abreast against heavily fortified ridges and hills around Wana Town. The Ninety‑Sixth Infantry Division continued to develop its positions around Conical Hill and to the west of that point in violent hand to hand fighting. On the evening of May, 18, a small group of enemy aircraft attacked our forces in the area of Okinawa. Fourteen were shot down by combat air patrols and by ships' gunfire.
Our attacking troops were supported by aircraft from carriers and from the Second Marine Aircraft Wing and by Naval gunfire.
The enemy on Okinawa at the end of May 17 had lost 48,103 killed in action. U. S. Military Government authorities on that date, had 139,858 civilians under their jurisdiction.

The following is a report of casualties to United States Forces in the Okinawa operation and associated operations against Japan since March 18:

Army troops to May 18, killed and missing 3,093, wounded 12,078.
Fleet Marine Forces to May 18, killed and missing 1,239, wounded 8,180.
U. S. Pacific Fleet to May 16, killed and missing 3,978, wounded 3,958.

Sweeping the northern Ryukyus on May 17‑18, aircraft from fast car*riers of the U. S. Pacific Fleet sank a number of luggers and small craft and damaged numerous others, destroyed five planes on the ground and probably destroyed eight more. Fuel dumps, buildings and installations at Yaku, Tokara, Tokuno, Kikai, Gaja and Amami were destroyed or damaged.
Search Liberators and Privateers of Fleet Air Wing Eighteen struck ship*ping and installations along the south coast of Honshu May 18, sinking a trawler, damaging six small cargo ships, a trawler, a sailing vessel, and numerous fishing craft. In low level attacks, planes of this wing wrecked a train. On the following day, the planes of the same wing sank a small cargo ship and damaged three others near the Honshu coast.
Search Privateers of Fleet Air Wing One heavily damaged a medium oiler south of Korea on May 19.
On May 18, Army Mustangs of the Seventh Fighter Command attacked military installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins. On the same date, Corsairs and Hellcats of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing struck targets in the Palaus, on Yap and in the Marshalls. Marine aircraft again bombed Installa*tions in the Palaus on May 19. One plane was shot down by enemy antiair*craft fire but pilot was rescued.

 

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1942
SW PACIFIC: Admiral John S McCain, USN, in seaplane tender USS TANGIER at Noumea, New Caledonia Island, assumes command as Commander Aircraft South Pacific Forces (COMAIRSOPAC). This new command is established to direct the operations of tender and shore-based aviation in the South Pacific Area.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (10th Air Force): 11th Bombardment Squadron, 7th BG (Heavy), arrives at Karachi, India from the US with B-17's; first mission is 3 Jun.

AUSTRALIA: B-17's attack the airfield and AA guns at Koepang, Timor.

Ground echelon of 69th Bombardment Squadron, 38th BG (Medium), transfers from Amberley Field, Australia to New Caledonia ; air echelon is at Hickam Field, Territory of Hawaii with B-26's.

1943
ALASKA: All air-ground support missions to Attu are cancelled due to weather. 20 P-40's bomb the Main Camp and submarine area at Kiska, and strafe barges in the harbor. The remaining Japanese on Attu are concentrated in the Chichagof Harbor area.

CBI BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force) The 490th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) based at Ondal, India begins operating from Chakulia, India with B-25's.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) During the night of 20/21 May, heavy bombers on snooper missions bomb he Kahili area and Ballale.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) The airfield and surrounding areas on Gasmata are hit by A-20's during the night of 20/21 May and by B-17's during the day. B-17's and B-24's bomb Vunakanau Airfield. B-25's sink several barges offshore between Madang and Cape Cretin. HQ 3d Bombardment Group (Dive) transfers from Port Moresby to Dobodura. The group and it's 4 squadrons will be redesignated Bombardment Group/Squadron on 25 May to reflect their true aircraft.

USN - Lost on a mine laying mission in the Bougainville area is TBF Avenger 06239.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 100+ A-36s, P-40s and P-51s pound gun positions, attack bridges, bomb troops and hit numerous targets of opportunity in areas around Myitkyina, Kamaing, Nanyaseik, and Nsopzup; 16 RAF Vengeances and 2 P-38s hit targets in the Arakan area, including a signal center SE of Buthidaung, gun positions SE of Maungdaw and a jetty at Akyab; about 40 B-24s and P-51s hit oil installations at Yenangyaung and Chauk, airfield at Pakokku, and town of Akyab. In India, HQ 1st Air Commando Group moves from Hailakandi to Asansol; the group consists of the following sections: bomber (B-25s), fighter (P-51s), light-plane (L-1 & L-5), transport (C-47), glider (CG-4) and light-cargo (UC-64); the bomber section is eliminated and after converting from P-51s to P-47s, the group begins a training program; a detachment of 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, operating from Dinjan since Sep 43 returns to base at Barrackpore with F-5s.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 19 B-24s attack a convoy S of Hong Kong claiming 2 motor launches sunk and damaging several larger vessels; 3 B-24s are lost at sea; 37 P-40s hit trucks, armored vehicles, river traffic
and troops in or near Shasi, Ichang, Tangyang, Chingmen, Loyang and Loning; on the Salween front 43 fighters and 8 B-25s support ground forces and damage a bridge N of Tengchung over the Shweli River.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Engebi bomb Ponape.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On Bougainville Island, 22 B-25s, 44 P-39s, P-40s, and P-38s and 30+ USN and US Marine Corps (USMC) aircraft pound AA positions, bivouacs and supply areas from the Muguai- Ebery's Lease area to the Maika area; 24 other P-39s hit barges in Matchin Bay, AA guns on Sohano, and bridges at Kieta. 3 B-24s bomb the Tobera runway.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-24s, A-20s and B-25s hit airstrips, revetments, supply area, AA positions and shipping at Manokwari, Noemfoor and Biak Islands, and Mawi Bay; A-20s, B-25s and fighter-bombers continue to pound airfields, coastal villages, bridges, supply dumps, trucks and various other targets at Wewak and from Wewak to the shore of Hansa Bay.

PTO: Aircraft from the carriers USS Essex and USS Wasp continue their attacks on Marcus Island in the North Pacific but bad weather halts operations. Meanwhile, aircraft from the light aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto, which has been positioned to the northwest of Marcus as a screen, sink a Japanese guardboat.

SOLOMONS, BOUGAINVILLE: Three light cruisers and eight destroyers (USN Task Group 53.1 ) bombard Japanese installations on Alu, Poporang and Morgusia Islands in the Shortland Islands off the south end of Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands.

1945
OKINAWA: Japanese kamikazes are active off Okinawa:
- The destroyer USS Thatcher is struck by a kamikaze which passed down her port side, climbed steeply, did a wingover and dived in the ship striking aft of the bridge. The ship had a 6x9 foot hole between the keel and the bilge. With 14 killed or missing and 53 wounded, the stricken ship limped into Kerama Retto.
- The destroyer escort USS John C. Butler is attacked by six kamikazes just before sunset; five are shot down and the sixth strikes the mast damaging the mast and the antennas.
- The high-speed transport USS Chase (APD-54, ex DE-158 ) shoots down a kamikaze but the aircraft splashes 10 yards from the ship and the explosion of the two bombs carried by the aircraft rip the ship's hull open, flooding the engine and fire rooms. With her steering gear jammed at hard left rudder, Chase drove off another suicide plane. Listing so badly as to be in danger of capsizing, Chase was kept afloat by her crew and towed into Kerama Retto for repairs.
- The high-speed transport USS Register (APD-92, ex DE-233) is attacked by four kamikazes at 1925 hours; two are shot down but one attacking from ahead, began a low, gliding run in an attempt to crash the bridge. Passing down the port side, the kamikaze was deflected overboard by the kingpost, which buckled and crashed over No. 3 40mm. gun mount, wounding 12 of the crew, including the gun captain, and causing considerable damage to the hull. The fourth plane though damaged, escaped.
- The tank landing ship USS LST-808 is also damaged by a kamikaze.

PHILLIPINES: B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers pound the Cagayan Valley targets on Luzon Island. On Mindanao Island, B-24s bomb Piso Point, and fighter- bombers support ground action in the Bukidnon area.

NEI: In Borneo, P-38s hit Sandakan, Keningau, and Tarakan while B-25s hit shipping at Balikpapan harbor and a nearby barracks area and sawmill.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 55 P-51s and P-40s pound truck concentrations, fuel dumps, gun positions, supply areas, troops, bridges, rail, road, and river traffic, and various targets of opportunity around Liping, Yangchi, Siangtan, Yoyang, Yungfengshih, Paoching, Taohwaping, Hengyang, Tungkow, and Changsha.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In India, the detachment of the 317th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, operating from Comilla with C-47s, returns to base at Kalaikunda.

AAFPOA Seventh Air Force: 10 Guam Island-based B-24s hit air operations buildings on Marcus Island in the N Pacific. The 396th and 820th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 41st Bombardment Group (Medium), begin a movement from Wheeler Field to Okinawa with B-25s. VII Fighter Command: 16 Saipan based P-47s strafe on Moen Airfield and Eten Airfield and seaplane base and barges off Dublon Island, all in Truk Atoll. In Japan, 9 P-47s from Ie Shima hit a hangar and 2 boats at Fukue-Shima and 32 others hit airfields, railroads, buildings, and radar facilities on Kyushu.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 179: During the night of 20/21 May, 30 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait, Maizuru harbor, and He-Saki anchorage; 1 B-29 is lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Despite bad weather B-25s over Formosa bomb various communications targets and an alcohol plant at Meiji. HQ 375th Troop Carrier Group moves from San Jose to Porac.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 368, MAY 20, 1945

The Tenth Army in Southern Okinawa gained ground slowly against the heaviest kind of resistance in the central and western sectors as it enveloped the enemy citadel of Shuri on May 20 (East Longitude Date). The First Marine Division established its forward elements at a point about 800 yards south of Dakeshi Town and the Seventy‑Seventh Infantry Division, after re*pulsing three enemy counterattacks, captured a strong point 900 yards north*east of Shuri. In the Sixth Marine Division zone on the west coast, local progress was made east of Takamotoji. Moving against intense fire the Ninety-Sixth Infantry Division reached an elevation about 1,600 yards east of Ishimmi Town. Throughout the day our troops in all sectors met strong re*sistance from caves, pillboxes and intense small arms fire. Ships' gunfire and aircraft continued to support the troops.
A few enemy planes were over the area of Okinawa early on May 20, but no activity was reported during daylight hours when adverse weather prevailed.
On the night of May 18‑19, Thunderbolts of the 318th Army Fighters Group struck targets among the Amami Islands. Thunderbolts of the same force strafed air installations in the Northern Ryukyus and joined a Navy search Privateer to sink a picket craft west of Kyushu on May 20.
Search Privateers of Fleet Air Wing One sank a medium freighter, prob*ably sank two small freighters and damaged a number of landing craft in the waters around Korea on May 20.
Thunderbolt fighters of the Seventh Army Air Force strafed sir installa*tions and barges at Truk on May 20. On the same date, Seventh Air Force Liberators bombed Marcus Island.

427

Mopping up operations continued on Iwo Island, the Islands of the Marianas and the Palau Islands during the week May 6 through 12. In this period, 141 of the enemy were killed and 167 were captured.
Search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing Four struck installations at Kokutan on Shimushu in the Northern Kuriles with bombs and rockets on May 18. On the same date, Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Kataoka naval base on the same island.

 

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1941
PHILIPPINES: Grunert recommends to Marshall that a conference be held at the Philippine Department Headquarters at Fort McKinley to develop plans for defense of the islands, this to be paid for from the $52 million in impounded "Sugar Excise Funds". This was either ignored or not approved.

PHILIPPINES: Marshall informs Stimson that MacArthur would command when the Philippine forces were mobilized.

1942
NG: (5th Air Force): B-26's bomb aircraft at Lae.

1943
ALASKA: US forces fighting on Attu in the Aleutians are heavily engaged in the areas of Clevesy Pass.
Amplifying the above:
The U.S. 32d Infantry Regiment takes Point Able, a high point on Prenoesgast Ridge. The USAAF's Eleventh Air Force dispatches ten B-24 Liberators, 12 B-25 Mitchells, and 24 P-38 Lightnings to Attu but only three missions, totalling six P-38s and a B-24, are able to bomb and strafe troops and installations. Four other missions, after vainly waiting for a break in the overcast over Attu, bomb the Kiska Island submarine base through the overcast.
The Japanese Navy issues Directive No. 246 ordering that "at the last possible moment, every effort will be made to evacuate the Attu Island Defense Force, or even part of it, by submarines." Eight submarines are detailed to make supply and evacuation runs.

JAPAN: Tokyo: The Japanese announce the death of Admiral Yamamoto, shot down last month over Bougainville; the US has remained silent until to avoid revealing that it intercepted a Japanese coded message giving details of his itinerary.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17's bomb airfields in the Rabaul area. A J1N1 Irving night fighter shoots down two: B-17E Number 41-9011 and B-17E "Honi Kuu Okole" 41-9244 B-24's hit the airfield at Gasmata, Nabire Airfield is hit by B-24's. In the Moluccas, B-25's blast AA positions, supply dumps, and town area, at Saumlakki. Lost on a reconnassance mission is F-4 "Dotin' Donna" 41-2177. The 90th Bombardment Squadron (Dive), 3d Bombardment Group (Dive) transfers with B-25's from Port Moresby to Dobodura. The squadron will be redesignated Bombardment Squadron on the 25th.

NEIAF - Three B-25s took off from Darwin for an attack on Saumlaki, Jamdena Island. Lost is B-25C N5-147.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 120+ P-40s, P-51s, A-36s and B-25s hit Mogaung, Myitkyina, the Talawgyi-Hokat area, and Kamaing; gun positions around Myitkyina and Mogaung are also hit; a single B-24 bombs NW part of Mandalay; 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, based at Kisselbari, India with P-40s, sends a detachment to Tingkawk Sakan.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 27th Troop Carrier Squadron, 443d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Sylhet, India to Yunnani, China; during the next nine months, detachments will operate from Chanyi, Chengtu and Kunming at various times.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): 53 B-24s from Kwajalein bomb various targets in Wotje Atoll; 41 B-25s, based on Makin, follow up with bombing, cannonading and strafing attack on the atoll. 8 B-24s stage through Eniwetok to strike Rota and rearm at Los Negros.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain Island, 3 B-24s, 30+ P-39s and P-40s, and 40+ USN dive bombers hit Vunakanau Airfield and nearby plantation; 8 P-38s, followed shortly by USN aircraft, bomb Lakunai Airfield. Lost is TBF 23987.

40+ P-39s, P-38s, and P-40s fly sweeps over Bougainville; bridges at Rigu Mission and Shishigatero are reported demolished.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-24s, A-20s and P-38s attack airfields, town areas, barges, personnel and supply areas, and fuel dumps at Manokwari, Urarom, along the Moemi River and on Noemfoor and Biak Islands; fighter-bombers. A-20s and B-25s continue almost constant pounding of supply dumps, camps, AA positions and a variety of targets along the coast from Wewak to Hansa Bay. Lost is B-25D "Tin Liz" 41-30074; and 13th Bombardment Squadron, 3d Bombardment Group, moves from Nadzab to Hollandia with A-20s. Thirteenth Air Task Force B-24s bomb Truk Atoll.
NEW GUINEA: The Airfield at Arare is reopened by US engineers.

HAWAII: In the Territory of Hawaii, the accidental explosion of mortar ammunition being loaded in the tank landing ship USS LST-353 at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, destroys this ship and five other LSTs; three tank landing craft (LCTs); 17 tracked landing vehicles (LVTs); and eight 155 mm guns. Two other LSTs are damaged.

1945
OKINAWA: Japan: The US III Corps pushes hard on Okinawa. The Japanese begin to pull back from the Shuri Line.

PHILLIPINES: On Luzon Island, B-25s blast numerous targets in the Cagayan Valley while A-20s and P-51s support ground forces in NW sectors; P-38s napalm-bomb the Ipo Dam and Marikina River sectors and hit positions throughout Negro Island.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s hit Brunei, Samarinda Airfields shipyards, and troop concentrations on Tarakan.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 8 B-25s bomb a bridge approach N of Hankow, 1 damages the railroad track between Changsha and Kweiyi, and 2 score near misses on a bridge at Kuanshuishih; 3 B-25s and 6 P-51s damage a bridge at Chihsien and hit railroad targets of opportunity in the Anyang area; 50+ fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance continue attacks against river, road, and rail traffic, positions, troops, bridges, and numerous other targets in S and E China.

AAFPOA (VII Fighter Command): P-47s fly heckler strikes against Kyushu Island, Japan during the night of 21/22 May.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: P-38s strafe railroad rolling stock in the Saigon, French Indochina area.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 369, MAY 21, 1945

On the night of May 20‑21 (East Longitude Dates) the Sixth Marine Division in western Okinawa repulsed a substantial counterattack by Japanese troops, some of whom were found to be wearing Marine uniforms and carry*ing U. S. weapons. An attempt by three groups of the enemy to destroy our tanks in the First Marine Division sector by use of suicide demolitions was repulsed.
During the darkness of early morning of May 21, infantrymen of the Seventy‑Seventh Army Division struck out in a surprise attack against the enemy lines north of Shuri and captured the town of Taira Machi under In*tense small arms fire. Fighting heavily all day, troops of the Twenty‑Fourth Army Corps and the Marine Third Amphibious Corps made advances on both flanks and in the center of the lines. The Ninety‑Sixth Infantry Division pressed southward making gains toward Yonabaru Town on the east coast and was under intense interlocking machine gun fire throughout the day. In the center of the lines, the Seventy‑Seventh Division was moving slowly south of Taira Mach! after repulsing a strong enemy effort to recapture the town in daylight. The First Marine Division was engaged in heavy fighting during the afternoon in the ridges in the Wana area. On the west coast, the Sixth Marine Division was attacking on a line south of Sugar Loaf Hill which is now reported secured after its peak had changed hands eleven times !n heavy fighting.
The troops were supported by heavy field artillery and Naval gunfire.
During the evening of May 20, about 35 enemy planes made low level attacks on our ships off the coast of Okinawa damaging five light units. Twenty‑six of the attacking aircraft were destroyed by our forces.
A search Privateer of Fleet Air Wing One bombed warehouse installa*tions on Yaku Island in the northern Ryukyus on May 20 starting large fires. From the inauguration of searches from Okinawa area bases until May 21, planes of this wing sank 86,880 tons of enemy shipping, damaged 81,500 tons, destroyed 21 enemy aircraft and damaged 15 aircraft.
Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed defense positions in the Palaus and on Yap on May 20. Planes of Fleet Air Wing Two and the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing struck enemy positions in the Marshalls on May 19‑20.
A Mitchell bomber of the Eleventh Army Air Force was lost to antiaircraft fire during an attack on Minami Cape on Shimushu in the northern Kuriles on May 20. Search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four swept targets !n the area of Paramushiru on the same date.

 

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1942
MEXICO: Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy and Japan.

U.S.: Last year, Ted Williams batted .406. Today, after the Red Sox return to Boston from a road trip, Williams enlists in the U.S. Navy Air Corps to train to become a fighter pilot.
He passes the complete physical examination (his eyesight is 20-15) and is sworn into the service, immediately becoming Seaman Williams, second class. Upon his call to active duty, he will automatically become Air Cadet Williams.
Behind him are the months of wonder and indecision that followed his deferment from the draft by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in February on the grounds that he is the sole support of his mother.The $32,000-a-year ballplayer will become a cadet at the salary of $106 a month. This won't happen for a while, though. Williams won't be called to active duty until after the baseball season ends.
He will win the Triple Crown, leading the American League with a .356average, 36 homers and 137 RBI. He will miss the next three seasons as well as most of the 1952 and 1953 seasons, serving as a fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, 7th Air Force): In Territory of Hawaii, 19th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, transfers from Bellows Field to Kualoa Field with P-40's; air echelon of 69th Bombardment Squadron, 38th BG (Medium), arrives at Hickam Field with B-26's; ground echelon is on New Caledonia ; and 73d Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, transfers from Wheeler Field to Bellow Field with P-40's.

NG: (5th Air Force): B-17's pound Lakunai Airfield while 22nd BG B-26's and 3rd BG B-25s of the hit the airfield at Lae and attack shipping in the harbor. Lost are B-25C 41-12981, B-25D 41-29692.

1943
ALASKA: On Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands, the Southern Landing Force is blocked in their attempts to take Sarana Nose, a high point at the junction of Sarana and Chichagof Valleys, but by nightfall, the Northern Landing Force has taken the position.
6 B-24's and 12 B-25's fly 3 air-ground support missions to Attu. Due to bad weather they are routed to Kiska. Weather there is also poor and only 1 B-25 bombs the Main Camp area. Next, 3 B-24's and 18 P-38's fly 3 air cover missions to Attu. The last of these missions is notified by a PBY that 16 Japanese bombers are W of Attu. 5 of the P-38's then intercept the bombers over Attu, which jettison their bombs and close formation. The P-38's score 5 kills and 7 probables. 2 P- 38's are lost. The 344th Fighter Squadron, 343d Fighter Group begins a movement from Fort Glenn, Umnak to Shemya. The air echelon is operating with P-40's from Amchitka Island.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force) In the Territory of Hawaii, a flight of P-40's on patrol from Kauai bomb a submarine from 1,500 feet (457 m), after which an oil slick and debris are seen.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) 5 B-24's bomb the airfields at Kahili and Ballale Island during the night of 23/24 May. 10 B-17's, attempting a follow-up strike, abort because of bad weather. While other aircraft are successfully laying mines in the N Solomons in the Buin area, 19 B-17's and B-24's, in a diversionary raid, bomb the Buin-Kahili-Tonolai shoreline area.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-24's and B-17's hit the harbor and airfield at Kavieng, the airfield at Gasmata, and the village of Ubili. The 13th Bombardment Squadron (Dive), 3d Bombardment Group (Dive) transfers with B-25's from Port Moresby to Dobodura.

PACIFIC: The large Japanese Naval Force consisting of the battleships HIJMS Musashi, HIJMS Kongo and HIJMS Haruna; the aircraft carrier HIJMS Hiyo; the heavy cruisers HIJMS Tone and HIJMS Chikuma; and five destroyers that departed Truk Atoll in the Caroline Islands on 16 May, arrives in Tokyo Harbor and joins the Attu relief force.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 2 Attu Island, Aleutian Island-based B-25s on a shipping strike near Paramushiru bomb and strafe a picket boat, which is left sinking.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 2 B-25s attack a large concentration of sampans in Honghai Bay; 2 others heavily damage a 150-ft (45.7 m) cargo vessel near Hong Kong; 22 P-51s pound the town of Anking and military area NE of Nanchang; 24 P-40s hit the Sienning area, bombing a factory W of town, damaging a bridge near town, and strafing numerous trucks in the vicinity; 23 P-40s hit road and river traffic in areas around Loyang, Loning, and Itu; and 5 P-40s bomb Yangsin.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): 8 B-25s based on Engebi bomb Ponape. Weather cancels other strikes.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 40+ P-39s, P-38s and P-40s hit targets of opportunity in the coastal area near Talili Bay on New Britain Island. 24 B-25s pound Mioko I, Bismarck Archipelago. On Bougainville Island, 40+ P-39s bomb the Bonis supply area and blast 4 small bridges near Kieta.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-24s and B-25s bomb Manokwari, shipping E of Cape Manggoear and storage areas and Sorido village on Biak Island; P-40s hit supply and fuel dumps, trucks and other targets of opportunity in the area of Wakde Island; B-24s, B-25s and fighter-bombers continue to bomb and strafe various targets in the Wewak- Hansa Bay area; and HQ 348th FG and 341st and 342d Fighter Squadrons move from Saidor Airfield to Wakde Airfield with P-47s.

PTO: A US submarine spots the IJN forces near Tawi Tawi.
Wake Island is bombarded by a strong US destroyer force.
The destroyer escort USS England sinks a second Japanese submarine in three days. HIJMS RO-106, Lt. Eyasu Uda, part of Operation "NA," is sunk 250 miles north of Kavieng, New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago.
Two USN destroyers bombard Wotje Atoll, consisting of 65 islets in the Marshall Islands.

1945
USA: USA: President Truman reports to Congress on Lend Lease as of March,
British - 12,775,000,000 tons
USSR - 8,409,000,000 tons
Reverse Lend Lease, mostly British, is 5,000,000,000 tons.

PHILLIPINES: B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack the Santa Fe, Fula, and Casambalangan areas in the N part of Luzon Island and support ground forces in the Ipo Dam and Marikina areas in the S.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers attack Jesselton, Kudat, Bintula, and Tarakan.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 15 B-25s and 7 fighter- bombers knock out a rail bridge at Hei-Shih Kuan, damage a bridge approach at Hwayuan, and hit a variety of targets S of Kuo-lueh-chen; 10 P-51s drop napalm on trucks, barracks, storage, trains, and town areas at Sinyang, and Shanyangchen; 45 other fighter-bombers and photo reconnaissance aircraft attack railroad targets, bridges, troops, and other targets at several S and E China points and survey enemy movements.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The flight of the 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, operating from Akyab Airfield with F-6s, returns to base at Nagaghuli.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 180: During the night of 22/23 May, 30 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and approaches; 1 B-29 is lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: On Formosa, B-24s bomb Toshien and Okayama while B-25s hit an oil plant west of Kagi and several targets of opportunity.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 370, MAY 22, 1945

At dusk on May 21 (East Longitude Date) about 12 to 15 enemy aircraft attacked U. S. ships in the Okinawa area. Eight of these planes were de*stroyed by our forces and the remainder retired from the area without caus*ing damage.
Heavy rains and resulting mud limited the movement of armored vehicles and restricted operations in the central and western sectors of the front in Southern Okinawa on May 22. On the eastern end of the lines the advances made in the previous week by the Ninety‑Sixth Infantry Division permitted the Seventh Infantry Division to launch a night attack which carried their forward elements into Yonabaru on the left flank and around the city into the high ground overlooking Rioj Town and Itarashiku Town to the south. Reports at this time indicate that the enemy has chosen not to defend Yona*baru which has been thoroughly reduced by our gunfire and bombing. Mean*while the Ninety Sixth Infantry Division continued to attack enemy defenses southwest of Conical Hill. During early morning darkness of May 22, the Marine Division in the west repulsed a Japanese counterattack killing about 80 of the enemy. The Sixth Marine Division continued to consolidate its posi*tion along the Asato River and the Seventy Seventh Infantry Division con*ducted mopping up operations.
Carrier based aircraft of the British Pacific Fleet bombed airfields, bar*racks, port installations, and buildings in the Sakishima group on May 20 and 21. One enemy plane was shot down.
Search Mariners of Fleet Air Wing One damaged two small cargo ships in the East China Sea on May 22. One the same date a search Privateer of this wing strafed a small cargo ship and left it burning south of Korea.
A small group of enemy bombers made a low level attack on installations on Iwo Island during the night of May 21, causing a few casualties. Two enemy planes were shot down.
Liberators and Privateers of Fleet Air Wing Eighteen shot down a glider, probably destroyed an enemy plane and sank two small cargo ships south of Honshu on May 21. On the following day aircraft of this wing destroyed three fishing craft and damaged a small cargo ship in the same area.
Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed enemy installations !n the Palaus and on Yap on May 21 and 22. On May 21 and during the night of May 21‑22, Mustangs of the Seventh Fighter Com*mand bombed and strafed a radio station on Chichi Jima !n the Bonins. Marine bombers continued neutralizing raids on the Marshalls on May 21. In mopping up operations on Iwo Island and the Island of the Marianas from May 13 through May 19, U. S. forces killed 94 of the enemy and captured 134.

 

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1942
AUSTRALIA: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-29 launches a Yokosuka "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Sydney, Australia.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, 7th Air Force): 31st Bombardment Squadron, 5th BG (Heavy), transfers from Hickam Field to Kipapa, Territory of Hawaii with B-17's and B-18's.

NG: Five B-25's of the 3rd BG strike the airfield and buildings at Lae. Lost are B-25C 41-12491 and B-25C 41-12462

1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, 6 B-24's and 12 B-25's fly 3 air-ground support missions to Attu. Due to bad weather they are routed to Kiska. Weather there is also poor and only 1 B-25 bombs the Main Camp area. Next, 3 B-24's and 18 P-38's fly 3 air cover missions to Attu. The last of these missions is notified by a PBY that 16 Japanese bombers are W of Attu. 5 of the P-38's then intercept the bombers over Attu, which jettison their bombs and close formation. The P-38's score 5 kills and 7 probables. 2 P- 38's are lost. The 344th Fighter Squadron, 343d Fighter Group begins a movement from Fort Glenn, Umnak to Shemya. The air echelon is operating with P-40's from Amchitka Island.
On Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands, the Americans begin a two-pronged attack on Fish Hook Ridge located southwest of Attu Village between Chichagof Harbor and the east arm of Holtz Bay. The 4th Infantry Regiment attacks the west face while the Southern Landing Force attacks the east face. The attacks are stopped cold by the Japanese.
A Navy construction battalion lands on Attu to begin construction of an airbase.

USA: The USS New Jersey BB-62 is commissioned. The sister ships of the Iowa class are: Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. She displaces 45,000 tons, with a length of 887 feet 7 inches, a draft of 38 feet and beam of 108 feet 1 inch. Powered by 4 Westinghouse turbines fired by 8 boilers, with 212,000 shaft horsepower, she has a top speed of 33+ knots.
She will carry a crew (WWII) of 120 officers and 3,000 enlisted men. Nine 16"/50 cal guns in 3 turrets are the main armament, with 20 5"/38 cal dual purpose guns in twin mounts for the secondary armament. AA weapons include 64 40mm AA guns in 16 guad mounts and 49 20mm AA guns. She carries 3 Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force) In the Territory of Hawaii, a flight of P-40's on patrol from Kauai bomb a submarine from 1,500 feet (457 m), after which an oil slick and debris are seen.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) 5 B-24's bomb the airfields at Kahili and Ballale Island during the night of 23/24 May. 10 B-17's, attempting a follow-up strike, abort because of bad weather. While other aircraft are successfully laying mines in the N Solomons in the Buin area, 19 B-17's and B-24's, in a diversionary raid, bomb the Buin-Kahili-Tonolai shoreline area.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-24's and B-17's hit the harbor and airfield at Kavieng, the airfield at Gasmata, and the village of Ubili. The 13th Bombardment Squadron (Dive), 3d Bombardment Group (Dive) transfers with B-25's from Port Moresby to Dobodura.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 P-38s bomb Tiddim road; 12 B-24s bomb the Indaw marshalling yard and Homalin; 16 P-38s attack Kangaung Airfield; and 23 P-40s and 4 A-36s bomb gun positions, troops and supply dumps in the Myitkyina area.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): Makin based B-25s strike Jaluit Atoll. B-24s returning from Los Negros where they landed after the raid on Rota on 21 May, bomb Ponape.

USN - Third Wake Raid--Carrier Task Group 58.6 (Rear Admiral A. E. Montgomery) shifted from Marcus to hit Wake with five composite bombing, strafing and rocket strikes.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 2 B-24s bomb Tobera, while 32 B-25s and 40+ P-39s, P-38s and P-40s attack gun positions near Rabaul, near Lakunai and in the vicinity of Tunnel Hill Road. On Bougainville Island, 51 P-39s and 8 P-40s attack huts, barges, bridges and
other targets of opportunity at several locations.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (Fifth Air Force): B-24s hit Manokwari while B-24s, A-20s and P-38s hit targets on Biak Island, including trucks at Borokoe, AA positions and control tower at Mokmer Airfield, the village of Sorido and offshore targets at Bransfari; P-40s hit troops on Wakde Island and on the Biri River; P-38s support ground forces in the Aitape area; A-20s, P-39s. B-24s and B-25s maintain bombing and strafing of the Wewak-Hansa Bay area.

PTO: Aircraft of Task Group 58.6, the USS Essex with Carrier Air Group Fifteen, USS Wasp with CVG-14, and USS San Jacinto with Light Carrier Air Group Fifty One, attack Wake Island.
The destroyer escort USS England sinks another Japanese submarine, RO-104, Lt. Hisashi Izubuchi, involved in Operation "NA;" this is the third submarine sunk by the DE in four days. The sub is sunk 250 miles NNW of Kavieng, New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago.

1945
OKINAWA: The 6th Marine Division south of Neha, Okinawa meets heavy resistance.

PHILLIPINES: On Luzon, A-20s and B-25s hit Cagayan Valley and Balete Pass targets, P-51s support ground forces in the Baguio area and P-38s hit the Ipo-Antipolo areas.

NEI: On Borneo, Tawau, Bintula, Samarinda, and Miri are hit by B-24s, Ft Brook and Weston by B-25s, and Tarakan is hit by fighter-bombers.

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 7 B-24s radar-bomb the Kataoka naval base area on Shimushu while another flies a radar-ferret mission in the same area.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 14 B-25s and 6 P-51s attack a bridge and gun positions N and S of Hwayuan, knock out a bridge and hit boxcars at Chungmow, damage a bridge N of Lohochai, damage a bridge and nearby gun positions at Kuanshuishih, and pound truck convoys around Paoching, Hengyang, and Changsha; 30+ fighter-bombers hit various targets of opportunity around Liping, Yoyang, Changsha, Hengyang, Luntangpu, Chingmen, Shasi, and Ichang.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The 5th and 6th Fighter Squadrons (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, move from Asansol to Kalaikunda, India with P-47s.

AAFPOA Seventh Air Force: The 27th and 392d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 30th BG (Heavy), move from Kahuku and Kipapa respectively to Wheeler Field with B-24s. VII Fighter Command: 32 P-47s from Saipan Island strafe Moen Island airfields and boats off Tol Island, buildings on Tarik Island, and the seaplane base, buildings, and small boats at Dublon Island, all in Truk Atoll.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 181: During the night of 23/24 May, 520 out of 562 B-29s sent against Tokyo bomb an urban-industrial area S of the Imperial Palace along the W side of the harbor; 5 others hit targets of opportunity; 17 B-29s are lost; this is the largest number of B-29s participating in a single mission during WWII.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 371, MAY 23, 1945

Two small groups of enemy aircraft attacked our forces on and around Okinawa during the evening of May 22 (East Longitude Date). One enemy plane was shot down and the remainder driven off without causing damage.
Continuing rains and heavy mud limited the movement of ground troops and armored vehicles !n southern Okinawa on May 23. In these adverse condi*tions the Seventh Infantry Division on our left flank expanded Its positions south of Yonabaru capturing a hill south of Taira Town and another eleva*tion west of Yonabaru after sharp fighting in which the Thirty Second and One Hundred Eighty Fourth Regiments led the attack. The Sixth Marine
Division on the right flank sent elements of the Fourth Regiment of Marines across the Asato River about 1,000 yards from its mouth during the day under cover of field artillery and heavy Naval gunfire. In the area west of Conical Hill the Ninety Sixth Infantry Division was meeting stiff resistance beating of one counterattack in which the Three Hundred Eighty Second Regiment killed about 160 of the enemy. The Seventy Seventh Infantry Divi*sion was engaged throughout the day in attacking a range of hills south of Ishimmi and before the city of Shuri. In the First Marine Division sector a counterattack by the enemy was repulsed.
Escort carrier aircraft of the U. S. Pacific Fleet bombed airfields and installations on Ishigaki and Miyako in the Sakishima group on May 22 and 23 setting one aircraft afire and strafing five others on the ground.
A search seaplane of Fleet Air Wing One heavily damaged a small cargo ship in the East China Sea on May 23.
Search Privateers and Liberators of Fleet Air Wing Eighteen sank three small craft south of Tokyo and strafed radar and camp installations on Shikoku on May 22. On the following day Venturas of this wing strafed bar*racks and shipping on and around Honshu and a search plane shot down one enemy fighter and sank a net tender and a small cargo ship oft the Honshu coast.
Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus on May 22 and Helldiver bombers of the same wing struck Yap on the same date. Planes of Fleet Air Wing Two strafed targets in the Marshalls on May 21 and 22. On May 23 Thunderbolts of the Seventh Army Air Force destroyed one aircraft on the ground and probably destroyed another in attacks on Truk.

 

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1941
USA: The U.S. Congress passes a bill authorizing the construction or acquisition of 550,000 tons of auxiliary vessels for use by the U.S. Navy.

1942
USN - Carriers Hornet and Enterprise move towards Pearl Harbor, where they will quickly be refitted and sent to Midway. The Japanese prepairing to attack Midway mistakenly believe these carriers are in the Solomons.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (5th Air Force): B-26's and B-25 of the 3rd BG attack Lae Airfield, but heavy AA and at least 15 intercepting Zekes prevent accurate bombing. Several of the B-26's are shot down or badly damaged and forced to crashland. Lost are B-25C 41-12448 and B-25C 41-124562. Lost on a rescue mission to Aiyary Airstrip are: and A-24 41-15820.

NZ: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-21 launches a "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Auckland, New Zealand.

1943
ALASKA: 2 of 3 air-ground support missions to Attu, together 6 B-24's, 11 B-25's, and 1 F-5A, bomb Attu. The third mission is cancelled, except for 2 B-25's which do not hear the cancelling order. 3 B-24's and 14 P-38's fly 3 more air cover missions over Attu but make no contacts.
On Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands, the Americans
launch another attack on Fishhook Ridge in the morning but the Japanese repel the attackers.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-24's pound Lakunai Airfield while B-25's hit the runway at Gasmata. In Timor, B-25's bomb Penfoei.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 2 bombers fly weather and photo reconnaissance over Shimushu Island and bomb the Matsuwa Island area.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20+ P-40s in the Myitkyina vicinity destroy 8 barracks buildings and knock out a railway bridge and a machinegun post; a single B-24 bombs Gwa in the Arakan area.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Makin pound Wotje and Jaluit Atolls, using Majuro as a shuttle base for rearming between the strikes. B-25s based at Engebi hit Ponape.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): In the Rabaul area of New Britain Island, 19 P-38s, P-40s and 22 B-25s attack Hospital Point gun positions; 2 other B-25s hit the town of Rabaul; fighter patrols hit various targets of opportunity in the Rabaul area and S New Ireland Island. In the Solomon Islands, 51 P-39s, P-40s, and P-38s, and a single B-24, attack various targets on Buka-Bougainville Islands including Buka Airfield, E Bougainville coastal bridges, and Lahan radar station.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): A-20s hit airfields at Namber and Kamiri; 200+ A-20s, P-38s, P-47s, P-39s and B-25s continue to blast targets of opportunity in the Wewak-Hansa Bay area throughout the day.

PTO: The destroyer escort USS England (DE-635) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-116 225 miles NNW of Kavieng, New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago. This is the fourth submarine involved in Operation "NA" sunk by USS England in five days.

1945
OKINAWA: Off Okinawa, kamikazes are active during the day:
- The destroyer escort USS William C. Cole comes under attack at 1830 hours when a Nakajima Ki-43, attempts a suicide run while Cole was northeast of Ie Shima and crashed within a few feet of the destroyer escort's starboard beam. The plane passed so close to the ship that one of its wingtips bent a "spoon" of a tube of a torpedo mount which had been trained to starboard.
- The high-speed transport USS Sims (APD-50, ex DE-154) is attacked by an aircraft that crashed close aboard to starboard spraying the ship with shrapnel which wounded eleven crewmen.
- A large support landing craft [LCS(L)] is also damaged.
On Okinawa during the night of 25/25 May, five Japanese transport aircraft carrying at least 69 Army commandoes, crash land on Yontan Airfield. The commandoes destroy nine aircraft (three F4Us, two PB4Y-2 Privateers and four transports) and damage another 29 (22 F4Us, three F6Fs, two B-24s and two transports), ignite 70,000 US gallons of aviation fuel, kill the Marine control tower duty officer, and wound another 18 Marines before the last Japanese is killed at 1255 hours on 25 May.

PHILLIPINES: On Luzon Island, B-24s pound Cagayan Valley targets including Aparri; B-25s, A-20s, and P-51s hit numerous targets throughout the Valley and in NW and S Luzon, including the Vira, Callang, Santa Cruz, Baguio, Balete Pass, Ipo, and Antipolo areas. Fighter-bombers also support ground forces on Negros Island.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and P-38s attack Ft Brook, Bintula, Tawau, Beaufort, Jesselton, along the Lawas River, and Malinau.

JAPAN: Aircraft from Task Force 58 attack airfields in southern Kyushu, Japan.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 5 B-25s knock out a railroad bridge N of Anyang; 30+ fighter-bombers attack railroad targets, truck convoys, bridges, and other targets of opportunity around Nanyang, Burma and Anyang, Sichuan, Kuo-lueh-chen, Kuantaokou, Luntangpu, Houpo, Laohokow, Sinsiang, Kiehsiu, Linfen, Taiyuan, Puchou, and Yutze, China.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): HQ 80th FG moves from Myitkyina, Burma to Dudhkundi, India. The 434th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th BG (Medium), ceases operating from Magwe, Burma with B-25s, and returns to base at Fenny, India.

AAFPOA Seventh Air Force: 26 Guam Island-based B-24s pound the airfield and surrounding area on Marcus Island. VII Fighter Command: 120 Iwo Jima based P-51s dispatched against Matsudo and Tokorozawa abort because of weather; P-47s fly heckler strikes against Kyushu Island, Japan during the night of 24/25 May.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 182: During the night of 24/25 May, 25 B-29s lay mines in Shimonoseki Strait and at Niigata, Nanao, and Fushiki.

N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 600, MAY 24, 1945
Philippine Area.

1. The YMS‑481 has been lost in the Philippines area as the result of enemy action.
2. The next of kin of casualties have been informed.

CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 372, MAY 24, 1945

Several small air raids were made by the enemy on our forces in the Okinawa Area on May 23 (East Longitude Date), causing minor damage to a light unit.
Heavy mud continued to hamper movement of the Tenth Army in Southern Okinawa on May 24. On our right flank in the west, the Sixth Marine Division constructed two bridges across the Asato River under fire of enemy artillery and sent Infantry elements to the bridgehead on the South Bank In force. Patrols afoot were engaged throughout the day, reducing strong points South of the River. On our Left flank in the East, the Seventh Infantry Divi*sion made important advances after sharp fighting. Action along the remainder of the front was limited largely to mopping up operations. Use of our armor was prevented by adverse conditions of the terrain at the front.
Numerous small groups of enemy aircraft attacked our forces afloat and ashore at le Shims during the evening of May 24, causing some damage to installations on the Island. By 2330, Local Time, fifteen enemy planes had been destroyed and the attack was continuing.
U. S. Military Government authorities on Okinawa are engaged in development of facilities for the caring of more than 139,000 civilians on the island. Of the civilians thus far taken under our jurisdiction, 82 per cent are children under seventeen years of age or women. The majority of adult males on the Island were drafted for labor service with the enemy prior to U. S. landings. During the month of April, 86 per cent of the civilians in areas under U. S. control subsisted wholly on native resources. Security patrolling of areas under the Island Commander is being carried out by troops of the Twenty‑Seventh Infantry Division.
Aircraft from Escort Carriers of the U. S. Pacific Fleet continued to neutralize enemy airfields in the Sakishima Group on May 24. Five planes were strafed on the ground at Miyako Island.
Search Coronados of Fleet Air Wing One shot down an enemy fighter off the coast of Southern Korea on May 24.
Fighters and bombers of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing struck instal*lations in the Palaus and on Yap on May 23 and 24.
Light Naval units of the U. S. Pacific Fleet bombarded Suribachi Port and installations on the East Coast of Paramushiru on May 20, causing fires and explosions. An attack by two enemy aircraft upon our forces during their retirement was beaten off without casualties to our ships.

 

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1941
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Japanese soldiers remove $10 million worth of American goods from two warehouses in Haiphong, French Indochina (Vietnam).

1942
CBI: Elements of the 38th Division of the Japanese Army reach India.

PACIFIC, MIDWAY OPERATIONS:
Two light carriers and two cruisers leave Hokkaido, Japan to begin diversionary raids on the Aleutian Islands as part of the Japanese Midway operation.

US submarines sail to patrol positions from hawaii to counter the Japanese Midway operation.

The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Kiska and Amchitka Islands in the Aleutian Islands.

The light cruiser USS St. Louis, part of a reinforcement group carrying Marine aircraft and personnel to Midway, disembarks Companies C and D of the Second Marine Raider Battalion and a 37mm gun battery of the Third Defense Battalion.

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS ALASKA (11th Air Force): 11th Fighter Squadron, 28th Composite Group, based at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Territory of Alaska with P-40's sends a detachment to Cold Bay.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (10th Air Force): 4 B-17's bomb Rangoon, Burma during the night of 24/25 May.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (5th Air Force): B-17's bomb Vunakanau Airfield. B-25s of the 3rd BG attack Lae.

1943
CBI BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force) HQ 341st BG (Medium) and it's 490th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) transfer to Kurmitola, India. Group HQ transfers from Chakulia, India while the 490th, which has been operating from Chakulia, India since 20 May, transfers with B-25's from Ondal, India.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) Single heavy bombers bomb coastal airfields and villages; in New Guinea they hit Madang, Kakakog, and Simbang; in the Bismarck Archipelago, they hit Cape Gloucester and attack barges off Gavuvu.

ALASKA: On Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands, the Americans again attack Fishhook Ridge and manage to take control of the base of the snow covered ridge as well as isolated slopes.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 1 Shemya based B-24 flies reconnaissance and bombing mission in the C Kurile Islands; another B-24 aborts due to equipment failure.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 28 P-38s sweep over the Mandalay area; 12 of them hit about 10 railroad cars near Shwebo, leaving them burning; B-24s hit targets in the Katha area, 6 of them bombing Indaw and 4 bombing the Naba rail junction area.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s flying out of Engebi bomb Ponape.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 3 B-24s bomb Rabaul, Lakunai, and Rapopo; 8 P-38s hit Vulcan Crater barge hideout; 12 B-25s, clouded out of Vunakanau, hit the Talili Bay supply area. On Bougainville Island, 15 B-25s, 32 P-39s and P-40s, and 25 USN dive bombers hit supply areas at Porton; 4 other P-40s hit trucks at Monoitu Mission; 16 P-39s attack several targets of opportunity, including the Cape Lahan radar station.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-24s attack shipping at Halmahera Island and in New Guinea, hit Mokmer and targets in the Wakde area; 90+ fighter-bombers, A-20s, B-25s, and B-24s pound numerous targets in the Wewak area. Units of the 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group moving in New Guinea: air echelon of 17th Reconnaissance Squadron (Bombardment), from Finschhafen to Wakde with B-25s; 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, based at Gusap begins operating from Tadji with P-40s.

1945
OKINAWA: Off Okinawa, kamikazes sink two U.S. Navy vessels and damage seven others.
- The high-speed transport USS Bates (APD-47, ex-DE-68 ) is sunk. The ship is attacked by three aircraft at 1115 hours; the first plane dropped a bomb, scoring a near miss which ruptured the starboard hull of the ship, and then crashed into the starboard side of the fantail.
The second plane, almost simultaneously, made a suicide hit on the pilothouse. Shortly thereafter the third plane made a bombing run scoring a near miss amidships, portside, rupturing the hull. Twenty-one of her crew were either dead or missing from the attacks. The crew abandoned ship and at 1923, the still burning Bates capsized and sank.
- The medium landing ship LSM-135 is also sunk.
- During the night, the destroyer USS Guest is attacked by a kamikaze which glanced off her mast and crashed alongside causing minor damage.
- At 0905 hours, the destroyer USS Stormes is struck by a kamikaze which crashes into the aft torpedo mount and its bomb explodes in the magazine under her number three 5-inch mount. By noon, repair parties had extinguished the fires and plugged the holes. Twenty-one members of the crew were killed and 15 injured.
- The destroyer escort USS O'Neill is hit by a kamikaze which kills two and wounds 17.
- The high-speed transport USS Barry (APD-29, ex-DD-248 ) is struck by a kamikaze below her bridge. Twenty-eight of the crew are wounded by shrapnel. The explosion of the plane's gasoline tanks and bomb ignited fuel oil escaping from ruptured tanks and the fire threatens the
forward magazine which could not be reached to flood. The abandon ship order is given at 1340 hours and all hands take to the boats. By 1500 hours the water had risen until the forward magazine was covered, minimizing the danger of explosion. A skeleton crew, together with parties from two other ships, reboard Barry and the last fires were extinguished at 0630
hours the next day and she is towed to the anchorage at Kerama Retto.
- The high-speed transport USS Roper (APD-20, ex-DD-147) is struck by a kamikaze and is damaged.
- The high-speed minesweeper USS Butler (DMS-29, ex-DD-636) is struck by bombs from a suicide plane which explode under Butler's keel, killing nine men and blowing out steam lines and flooding the forward fire room causing the loss of all steam and electric power. Power is regained and she proceeds to Kerama Retto tomorrow for temporary repairs.
- The minesweeper USS Spectacle is struck by a diving kamikaze at 0805 hours; the aircraft strikes the ship under her port 40mm gun tub, causing extensive damage and blowing many of her crew overboard. Her rudder is jammed so she drops anchor to avoid running over her men in the water. Spectacle's losses were: eleven killed outright, four who died of wounds, six wounded, and 14 missing in action. She is towed to Ie Shima for temporary repairs.
A Japanese plane torpedoes a U.S. freighter in Buckner Bay. Six merchant sailors and a stevedore are killed.

PHILLIPINES: On Luzon Island, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers fly numerous strikes and ground support missions. Fighter-bombers support ground force on Cebu.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s bomb Oelin, Ft Brook, and Tarakan while B-25s and P-38s hit Kudat and P-38s also support ground action on Tarakan.

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile Islands, 2 B-24s fly a radar ferret mission over Matsuwa Island and bomb the Tagan Cape area; another B-24 flies armed weather reconnaissance.

ZONE OF INTERIOR: The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) approve the directive for Operation OLYMPIC, the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, scheduled for 1 Nov 45.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 5 B-25s and 2 P-51s knock out a bridge N of Kioshan, damage another N of Changtuikuan, and pound railroad targets around Sinyang, Saiping, Sinantien, Hsuchang, and Chenghsien; 16 fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance hit various targets of opportunity in the Nanyang, Burma and Anyang, Hantan, Chenghsien, Kaifeng, Linfen, Shihkiachwang, Sinsiang, Miyanghsien, Tenghsien, Loning, Sichuan, and Hsuchang, China areas. The 322d Troop Carrier Squadron, Fourteenth AF, moves form Kunming to Loping, China with C-47s.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): Unit moves: 83d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th BG (Medium), ceases operating from Magwe, Burma with B-25s, and returns to base at Fenny, India; 427th Night Fighter Squadron, Tenth AF, moves from Myitkyina, Burma to Dinjan, India with P-61s (a detachment is operating from Kunming, China).

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): By concurrence of Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA), the VII Fighter Command, with its subordinate units, is assigned to operational and administrative control of HQ Twentieth AF. 100 Iwo Jima based P-51s fly 73 effective strike sorties against Matsudo and Tokorozawa Airfields, Japan claiming 8-0-1 Japanese aircraft in the air and 10-0-40 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost. Mission 183: During the night of 25/26 May, 464 B-29's pound the urban area of Tokyo immediately S of the Imperial Palace just N of that bombed on 23/24 May, including financial, commercial, and governmental districts as well as factories and homes; 6 others bomb targets of opportunity; they claim 19 Japanese fighters; 26 B-29s are lost on this mission, the highest single-day loss of B-29s in World War II.

Note - No CINCPOA communique's were published after May 24th 1945.

 

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1942
MIDWAY ISLANDS OPERATIONS: The Japanese 1st Carrier Fleet, under Admiral Nagumo, leaves the Inland Sea to begin their part in the Midway operation, known as MO.

US Naval TF 16, carriers Enterprise and Hornet, return to Pearl Harbor from the South Pacific.

The aircraft ferry USS Kitty Hawk (AKV-1) arrives at Midway Island with Marine reinforcements including a detachment of a 3-inch (76.2 mm) antiaircraft group of the 3d Defense Battalion, a light tank platoon and additional personnel for Marine Air Group Twenty Two (MAG-22).

ALASKA (11th Air Force): 11th Fighter Squadron, 28th Composite Group, based at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Territory of Hawaii sends a detachment to Umnak, Aleutian with P-40's.

US: The feasibility of jet-assisted takeoff is demonstrated in a successful flight test of a Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo at NAS Anacostia, D.C., using five British antiaircraft solid propellant rocket motors. The reduction in takeoff distance is 49 percent.

JAPAN - Citing Japanese victories in the Coral Sea and other battles, Radio Tokyo announces that "America and Britain... have now been exterminated.. the British and American fleets cannot appear on the oceans."

1943
CANADA: Canadians begin to ration meat.

ALASKA: On Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands, the American troops of the 4th and 32d Infantry Regiments are able to crawl above a snow covered trench on Fishhook Ridge and attack the Japanese in the trench from the high ground. This results in the capture of most of the ridge.
The USAAF's Eleventh Air Force dispatches eight B-24s and eleven B-25s to fly air-ground support and bomb enemy positions on Attu; two B-24s and 12 P-38s fly air cover sorties and also patrol and strafe Japanese positions on the Island. On Kiska Island, three F-5A Lightnings fly a photo recon mission while three attack missions are flown by nine B-25s and 16 P-40s; targets include gun emplacements on North Head and the eastern end of the runway.
The gunboat USS Charleston bombards the Japanese positions in the Chichagof Harbor area.
The Japanese begin Operation KE, the evacuation of personnel from Kiska Island. The submarine HIJMS I-7 lands two tons of weapons and ammunition and six tons of food and takes off 49 sailors, seven soldiers and four civilians.

PHILIPINES: In the Philippines, the submarine USS Trout lands a party of men and equipment on Basilan Island off the coast of Zamboanga, Mindanao Island, to set up an intelligence gathering facility. A second group of coastwatchers is landed near Zamboanga.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force) In the Gilbert Islands, 3 B-24's from Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands fly a reconnaissance-bombing mission over Abemama. Bombs are dropped on a barracks area.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) 9 B-24's and B-25's bomb Madang town area and Madang Airfield.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 2 B-24s off on an armed photo mission over Shimushu Island turn back due to mechanical troubles.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 23 P-40s sink several supply boats on the Yangtze River near Shihshow, strafe troops at Shasi, hit road traffic near Loyang and strafe pontoon bridges, supply dumps and troops at Shanhsien; 7 P-40s bomb the town of Hsing-tzu; and 2 B-25s damage a small tanker N of Swatow.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): 45 B-25s, flying out of Makin attack Emidj Island, Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands. 9 B-25s from Engebi fly a successful search mission for a downed B-25 crew in the vicinity of Ponape and Pakin Islands, Caroline Islands; after locating the survivors, later picked up by USN destroyer, the B-25s attack Pakin and Ponape Islands with cannon and machine gun fire.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain Island, 24 P-39s and P-40s hit the Rabaul area while 12 B-25s bomb supply areas at Talili Bay. 40+ P-39s and P-40s hit barges NW of Ballale, supply areas and other targets at Porton, and piers at Ratsua and Soraken, all on Bougainville Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, B-24s bomb Biak Island while B-25s hit Wakde Island and nearby coastal areas; other B-25s bomb a variety of targets on Aroe Island; 100+ A-20s, B-25s and fighter-bombers continue to blast the coastal region around Wewak; villages and gun positions on Hansa Bay are also hit; and the 340th Fighter Squadron, 348th Fighter Group, moves from Saidor to Wakde Island with P-47s.

PTO: The destroyers of Task Group 57.8 bombard Japanese installations on Mili Atoll in the southeastern Marshall Islands.
The destroyer escort USS England sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-108 110 miles NE of Manus Island, Admiralty Islands . This is the fifth submarine involved in Operation "NA" sunk by USS England in seven days.

1945
OKINAWA: Kamikazes are again active off Okinawa damaging two ships:
- High-speed minesweeper USS Forrest is attacked by three aircraft. AA fire downs two but the third crashes her starboard side at the waterline, killing five and wounding 13 of her crew. The ship remains afloat and heads for Kerama Retto for repairs.
- The submarine chaser PC-1603 is damaged.

PHILLIPINES: A-20s and fighter-bombers pound numerous Luzon Island targets, particularly in the Balete Pass area and B-24s bomb Tuguegarao and Echague. Fighter-bombers support ground forces on Cebu.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit Tarakan, Beaufort, Weston, Tenom, Trusan Haji, Sandakan, and Jesselton.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 B-25s and 6 P-51s damage 2 bridges N of Hankow; 4 B-25s hit railroad targets around Lohochai and between Kinkiang and Kioshan; 3 B-25s attack truck convoys in the Siangtan and Paoching areas and along the Paoching-Hengyang-Changsha highway; 80+ fighter-bombers over several areas in S and E China continue to harass Japanese movements, attacking troops and positions and hitting rail and road traffic; the Japanese complete their withdrawal from Yungning, severing the land connection with French Indochina; the Chinese retake Nanning.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 10 Guam Island-based B-24s bomb the airfield on Marcus Island in the N Pacific. 16 P-47s from Saipan Island strafe airfields on Moen Island, the seaplane base on Dublon Island, and several targets of opportunity, all in Truk Atoll.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 184: During the night of 26/27 May, 29 B-29s mine waters in Shimonoseki Strait and at Fushiki, Fukuoka, and Karatsu.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: B-25s and P-38s sweep the W part of Formosa causing extensive damage to a variety of communications and industrial targets.

 

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1942
MIDWAY OPERATIONS: The Japanese Invasion Fleet sails from the Marianas toward Midway. A second invasion force heads for the Aleutians from Ominato.

The USS Yorktown arrives at Pearl Harbor from the South Pacific.

In the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 is preparing to launch a Yokosuka E14Y1 "Glen," for a reconnaissance mission over Bogoslof Island, located in the Bering Sea about 60 miles (96.6 km) west of Unalaska Island, when a U.S. destroyer is sighted. The sub submerges causing irreparable damage to the aircraft.
Meanwhile, the submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a "Glen" to fly a reconnaissance mission over Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska.

SW PACIFIC: U.S. Marines and Navy Seabees occupy the Wallis Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean in position 13.18S, 176.10W.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (10th Air Force): 11th Bombardment Squadron, 7th BG (Heavy), transfers from Karachi to Lahabad, India with B-17's.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (5th Air Force): B-17's bomb Rabaul. 8th FG P-39s intercept Japanese fighters attacking Port Moresby. Lost is P-39F 41-7153 (MIA) and P-39F 41-7162 (pilot returned to duty).

USN - The transfer of Patrol Wing 4 from Seattle to the North Pacific began with the arrival of the Commander at Kodiak.

JAPAN - Japanese Midway invasion force depart Saipan & Guam

SW PACIFIC: TF 6814, on New Caledonia, is redesignated as the Americal Division. Comment on above: In today's report on "way back when" I noted, that on May 27, 1942 "TF 6814 became redesignated as the Americal Division." It was one of the few times in history that we were not known first as "the American Division", then since there was none such, "an American Division" which made us anonymous. We should all have joined the Marine Corps.

1943
ALASKA: On Attu Island in the Aleutians in the late afternoon, a U.S. Army assault force attacks up a 60 degree incline in the Fishhook Ridge sector and cuts off the Japanese escape route to Chichagof Valley. The final Japanese defensive line, Buffalo Ridge, is almost taken by the Americans. About half of the 2,300 Japanese on Attu have been killed to date.
Attu is covered by 1 B-25 flying ground support, bombing and strafing troops and dropping photos taken on the previous day to friendly forces, and by 1 B-24 and 6 P-38's flying air cover. 6 P-40's fly an attack and reconnaissance mission to Kiska, concentrating on Little Kiska and on the Main Camp area.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-24's and B-25's pound the Lae town area and airfield. Other B-25's hit enemy forces at Labu and Jacobsens Plantation. Finschhafen, Saidor, Kakakog, and Langgoer are hit by single-plane strikes.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 2 bombers fly weather and armed photo reconnaissance and bomb Ushishiru Island, Kurile Islands.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 15 B-24s bomb Pakokku and Nyaung-u, Burma.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 24 rocket-firing P-40s hit the barracks area W of Sinyang, military installations and trucks at Nanchang, and troops, trucks, barracks, and warehouse area in the Puchi vicinity.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): 24 B-24s from Kwajalein and 52 B-25s from Engebi pound Ponape.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain Island, about 200 AAF, USMC and USN aircraft (fighters, dive-bombers, and B-25s) are sent against gun positions on Hospital Point; 160+ aircraft bomb the targets with more than 90 tons (99.2 tonnes) of explosives, destroying or damaging several of the guns; other fighters hit targets of opportunity in the Rabaul area and a barge off SW New Ireland Island; and 4 B-24s bomb Tobera. AAF fighters attack beached barges in the Chabai area and in Buka Passage, Aku and Nova Plantation and a bridge over the Oamai River; detachment of 419th Night Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, operating from Bougainville since Jan with P-61s, returns to base on Guadalcanal Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): Babo and Biak are pounded by 170+ B-24s and B-25s; after the aerial and naval bombardment, Allied amphibious forces land on Biak in the Bosnik area, secure the beachhead, and gain control of a trail over ridges to the inland plateau to the N. Japanese aircraft attack the landing area. Lost is Ki-45 piloted by Takada. About 170 A-20s, P-38s, P-40s and B-25s blast the Wewak area. Lost is P-47D 42-22661.
The US 41st Division lands at Biak, New Guinea.
Amplifying the above:
In New Guinea, Operation HORLICKS commences. A naval bombardment by heavy and light cruisers and destroyers of the U.S. Navy's Task Groups 77.2 and 77.3. The U.S. 41st Infantry Division (minus) then lands on Biak Island in Geelvink Bay.
The first wave lands exactly as planned, but strong currents carry subsequent units well west of their designated landing beaches. Fortunately, only nominal Japanese resistance is encountered because the landings catch the Japanese flat-footed. After securing the beachhead, the soldiers gain control of a trail over ridges to the inland plateau to the north.

1945
OKINAWA: The slow meticulous US advance on Okinawa is met by fierce resistance from the Japanese.
Off Okinawa, Japanese suicide craft damage nine U.S. Navy vessels:
- The destroyer USS Braine is hit in quick succession by two suicide planes. The first hits forward seriously damaging the bridge and the second hits amidships blowing number two funnel overboard and demolishing the amidships superstructure. Braine retires to Kerama Retto for emergency repairs.
- The destroyer USS Anthony is slightly damaged by a kamikaze.
- The destroyer escort USS Gilligan is hit by a dud torpedo from a kaiten carried by submarine HIJMS I-357.
- High-speed minesweeper USS Southard is slightly damaged by a kamikaze which crashed 15-yards ahead of the ship.
- Minesweeper USS Gayety is damaged by a near-miss from a 500- pound bomb which explodes just astern. Five men were killed and two wounded by flying debris, and the fantail bursts into flames. The fire is extinguished and the ship heads to Kerama Retto for repair.
- High-speed transport USS Loy shoots down three
suicide planes during two attacks. The third aircraft exploded close aboard the starboard beam and sprayed the ship with fragments and 18 of her crew are wounded and there is some internal damage.
- High-speed transport USS Rednour is struck by a
kamikaze on the stern, starting fires and blowing a 10-foot hole in her main deck killing three and wounding 13 of her crew. After driving off yet another suicide plane, Rednour entered Kerama roadstead for temporary battle damage repairs.
- Surveying ship USS Dutton is struck by a Japanese plane which crashes the ship, carrying away part of the bridge, blowing one of her crew overboard, and holing her, fortunately above the water line. She heads for Kerama Retto for repairs.
- Large support landing craft LCS-52 is damaged by kamikaze that misses.

PHILLIPINES: Santa Fe on Luzon, Philippines Islands, is liberated by US forces. Heavy fighting continues on Mindanao, Philippine Islands.
B-24s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Cagayan Valley targets while other fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Balete Pass, Baguio, and Ipo Dam sectors.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack Tawau, Kudat, Langkon, and Sandakan, and hit targets on Tarakan.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 15 B-25s bomb a textile mill at Chenghsien, attack trains, railroad track and a bridge in the Lohochai area, and bomb railroad yards at Sinyang; 80+ fighter-bombers attack town areas, trucks, railroad targets, bridges, and general targets of opportunity at scattered S and E China locations.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The 319th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Asansol, India to Warazup, Burma with C-47s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 16 Saipan Island-based P-47s sweep Truk Atoll, strafing the airfield, aircraft, and radio tower and facilities on Moen Island, buildings at the Dublon Seaplane Base and on Udot Island, and small craft off Dublon and Fanamu Islands.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 185: During the night of 27/28 May, 9 B-29s drop mines in Shimonoseki Strait and in the Moji area; 1 B-29 is lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s pound the railroad yards and rolling stock at Muong Man and Phan Rang, French Indochina. On Formosa, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack targets at Koshun, Shinei, Tairin, Ensui, Kohyo, and Kobi and attack numerous targets of opportunity at many other locations

 

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1942
MIDWAY OPERATIONS: Those Imperial Japanese Naval forces that have not previously sailed, leave today for the Midway operation.

US TF 16, carriers Enterprise and Hornet under Admiral Spruance, sail from Pearl Harbor for Midway. Admiral Fletcher will leave later with the Yorktown and TF 17.
Amplifying the above:
The Enterprise Air Group in USS Enterprise consists of Bombing Squadron Six with SBD Dauntless, Fighting Squadron Six with F4F Wildcats, Scouting Squadron Six with SBDs, and Torpedo Squadron Six with TBD Devastators.
The Hornet Air Group in USS Hornet consists of VB-8 with SBDs, VF-8 with F4Fs, VS-8 with SBDs and VT-8 with TBDs.

ALASKA (11th Air Force): A B-17 flies the first armed reconnaissance from the secretly constructed airfield at Unmak , Aleutian over the Aleutian Chain, but finds no sign of the enemy. XI Fighter Command elements are not deployed at Unmak (P-40's and P-38's), Cold Bay (P-40's), Kodiak (P-39's), and Elmendorf Field [P-38's and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Kittyhawks].

USA - Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson warns Americans along the west coast to expect a Japanese attack as retaliation for the Dollittle raid on Tokyo.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (5th Air Force): B-26's attack the airfield at Lae, New Guinea.

NEW HEBRIDIES - U.S. forces arrive at Espiritu Santo

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force) In the Gilberts, 3 B-24's from Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands fly a reconnaissance-bombing mission over Abemama Island, dropping six 500- pound bombs.

CBI CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In China, 16 P-40's, operating in 2 forces, dive-bomb railroad yards at Yoyang damaging tracks, warehouses, and the roundhouse.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) P-38's and P-40's, along with naval aircraft, attempt a strike on the Kolombangara area and Munda but are hampered by bad weather. Some of the Navy TBF bombers manage to bomb the runway and revetment area at Munda.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17's and B-24's attack Wewak, Dagua, and Boram Airfields and bomb the Wewak-Dagua coast road.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 2 B-24s fly reconnaissance and drop bombs on Shimushu and Matsuwa Islands. 1 B-25 and P-38s fly a guardship coverage mission, 2 other B-25s fly a negative anti-shipping sweep.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 10 B-24s pound Kalemyo while 8 B-25s hit Tiddim road; 50+ fighter-bombers and a few B-25s hit various targets at or near Mogaung, Myitkyina, Hopin and Sahmaw; 76 fighter-bombers and 24 B-25s bomb marshalling yards at Namma and Katha, hit several targets in the Mohnyin-Hopin area, and bomb a railroad between Naba and Namma. 530th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 311th Fighter-Bomber Group, based at Dinjan, India with P-51s sends a detachment to operated from Kurmitola, India.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 14 P-40s in support of ground forces in the Salween area strafe oil storage at Hsiangta, bomb and strafe the Watien area, and destroy a bridge and damage another on the Shweli River N of Tengchung; and 2 B-25s sink a patrol boat and damage another near Saint John Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): 29 B-25s stage from Eniwetok bomb Jaluit Atoll, and land at Makin. B-24s from Eniwetok bomb Saipan and Guam Islands, Marianas Islands; those bombing Guam turn S to Los Negros Island to rearm while the others return to Eniwetok. B-25s flying from Engebi bomb Mille Atoll. B-24s escort USN photo planes over the Marianas Islands.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 3 B-24s, followed by 23 B-25s and 12 P-38s, blast Lakunai Airfield; 33 P-39s and P-40s join 40+ USN dive bombers in a strike on Tobera airstrip. 5 B-25s hit Namatanai supply and personnel area on New Ireland Island. On Bougainville Island, fighter-bombers hit the Tsundan supply area, huts and buildings at Gohi, Nova and Monoitu, suspected barge hideout near Tonolai, and AA guns on Ballale.

RNZAF Lost on a bombing mission to Vunakanau is TBF Avenger NZ2530

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, B-24s and B-25s in support of ground forces on Biak Island hit villages, supply areas, troop concentrations and gun positions on Biak, Noemfoor, and Japen Islands; A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers blast troop concentrations, AA positions and supply dumps in the Wewak area; A-20s supporting ground forces in heavy fighting in the Sarmi area, hit positions with minimum-level strikes. B-24s bomb Boela and 421st Night Fighter Squadron, V Fighter Command, based at Nadzab with P-70s, sends a detachment to operate from Wakde. Thirteenth Air Task Force B-24s bomb the airfield on Woleai.

BISK ISLAND, NEW GUINEA: the US forces extend their perimeter.
The advance of the 162d Infantry Regiment along the coastal track toward the airstrips is slowed by equatorial heat; thick, 12-foot scrub growth; rugged terrain; and small parties of Japanese entrenched in caves cut into the face of a 200-foot high cliff. Patrols advance to within 200 yards of the airfields when a Japanese counterattack drives them back. The infantry is now under attack from the west and the targets of well-aimed fire from the East Caves which dominate the coastal road. In danger of being cut off, the regiment withdraws late in the afternoon. USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24s and B-25 Mitchells in support of ground forces on Biak Island hit villages, supply areas, troop concentrations and gun positions on Biak, Noemfoor, and Japen Islands.

PTO: General MacArthur announces that the strategic campaign for New Guinea is complete. He cautions that some hard tactical fighting remains to clean up the remaining Japanese.

PHILIPINES: The submarine USS Narwhal lands 23-men and 25 tons of supplies on Samar Island, Philippine Islands.

1945
OKINAWA: Off Okinawa, the Japanese wage their last strong air effort and sink one ship and damage five others:
- The destroyer USS Drexler is attacked by two kamikazes at 0700 hours. One aircraft is shot down and the second tries to crash USS Lowry and failing, stumbled into Drexler, cutting off all power and starting large gasoline fires. At 0703 hours, another suicider crashed in flames into Drexler's superstructure resulting in a tremendous explosion and the destroyer rolled on her starboard side and sank stern first in less than a minute after the second hit. Because of the speed with which she sank, casualties were heavy: 168 dead and 52 wounded.
- While unloading cargo at 0730 hours, the attack transport USS Sandoval is attacked by a kamikaze which crashes into the portside of the wheelhouse. Five men are killed and 29 wounded; three of the latter died later. Flames lit the bridge, central fire control was lost and radar and interior communications were knocked out. The fire on the bridge was extinguished by 0830 and central fire control was regained after 0900 hours.
- The large support landing craft LCS(L)-119 is damaged by a kamikaze.
- The armed U.S. freighter SS Mary A. Livermore is hit by a kamikaze which kills four sailors and seven merchant sailors.
- The armed U.S. freighter SS Brown Victory is hit by a kamikaze off Ie Shima killing three sailors and one merchant sailor.
- The armed U.S. freighter SS Josiah Snelling is also hit by a kamikaze. Gunfire by the Armed Guard deflect the plane from hitting a vital part of the ship and nobody is killed.

PHILLIPINES: B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack Pateng, the Ipo Dam area, Tuguegarao and Ugae airstrips, Anuling, the Baguio area, guns and defenses in the Balete Pass area, and support ground forces at several points.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighters hit gun positions and other targets at Balikpapan and P-38s dive-bomb Keningau and Jesselton Airfields.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 19 B-25s, along with 8 fighter- bombers, hit railroad, road, and river traffic around Vinh, Quang Tri, Dap Cau, and Song Chu, French Indochina, knock out a bridge at Hwayuan and demolish a tunnel opening near Wuchang, China. In China, 16 P-51s cause heavy damage and casualties blasting a bridge and military installations near Wuchang; 27 P-51s hit bridges, troops, storage, trucks, trains, rivercraft, and other targets in the Yoyang area; 65 other fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity at several locations throughout S and E China; 15 photo reconnaissance aircraft continue to maintain good coverage of enemy movements; the detachment of the 25th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, operating from Poseh with P-51s, returns to base at Yunnani.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Fighters from Iwo Jima hit Kasumigaura and its airfield with 6 planes claimed destroyed and 40+ damaged and P-47s fly heckler strikes against Kyushu during the night of 28/29 May. Mines previously laid by B-29 Superfortresses sink a Japanese transport and damage a coast defense vessel, two freighters and a fishing boat in Japanese waters.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In French Indochina, B-24s again bomb the railroad yards E of Saigon at Phan Rang and Muong Man. In Formosa, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack industrial targets of opportunity at Shoka, Taichu, Ujitsu, Byoritsu, and other locations. Unit moves: HQ 374th Troop Carrier Group from Biak Island, New Guinea to Nielson Field, Luzon; 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command (attached to 85th Fighter Wing), based at Tacloban, Leyte Island with P-38s, P-61s and P-70s, sends a detachment to operate from Sanga Sanga (another detachment is operating from Zamboanga).

 

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1942

AUSTRALIA: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-21 launches a "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Sydney, Australia.

SOLOMONS: The USN's Patrol Squadron Seventy One based at Noumea, New Caledonia on the seaplane tenders USS Curtiss and USS Tanigier with PBY-5 Catalinas joins RAAF Catalinas in bombing Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands.

MADAGASCAR: Diego Suarez: About ten miles from the harbour entrance, the Captains of the Japanese submarines I-16, I-18 and I-20 were ordered to launch their Type "A" midget submarines. I-18's midget took no part in the attack because the launching machinery failed to work properly. The I-18 Mother submarine with its midget still on board was therefore forced to return to the armed flotilla support ships Hokoku Maru, 10,438 tons and the Airoko Maru, 10,437 tons, for maintenance. The other two midgets were successfully launched and started their mission.
I-16s midget submarine was crewed by Ensign Katsusuke Iwase as Captain and Petty Officer Takazo Takata as the navigator, both single men.
I-20's midget submarine was crewed by Lt. Saburo Akieda as Captain and Petty Officer Takemoto as the navigator. They were both married men
and each had a family. The story continues tomorrow.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (10th Air Force): 4 B-17's hit Myitkyina Airfield, Burma in a high-altitude strike. No activity is seen.

HAWAII: (POA, 7th Air Force): 19th Transport Squadron, 7th Air Force, transfers from Hickam Field to John Rodgers Airport, Territory of Hawaii with C-33's and C-53's.

NG: Tainan Kokutai Zeros are intercepted SE of Port Moresby in the vicinity of Hood Bay at 0950 hours. Eighteen Zeros encountered 17 Airacobras. The US claimed three at the time but were later credited with four. Lost was Zero piloted by P/O 2nd Class Hisao Komori, that crashed near Iwaia (Oro Province). Came down at 1000 Hrs. The pilot was trailed and fired three shots but was killed resisting arrest. Pilot was carrying a map showing operations of (medium?) planes from an island (Truk). Lost is P-39F 41-7116

1943
AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, no missions are flown. All of Attu Island is secure after 19 days of fighting. US ground forces land on Shemya.
The final Japanese counterattack on Attu in the Aleutians is carried out with fanatical determination.
Amplifying the above:
On Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese commander elects to stake all in a desperate counterattack against American lines tonight. His plan is to penetrate the enemy's lines and seize the artillery positions and then destroy the U.S. main base at Massacre Bay and force a general reembarkation of U.S. troops.
Before the attack, all casualties in the Japanese hospital commit suicide and then a little over 1,000 Japanese troops attack and push aside a surprised infantry company, and sweep headlong toward Massacre-Sarana Pass. There engineers and service troops, with ten minutes' warning, hastily organized defense lines and in desperate hand-to-hand combat broke the force of the attack.
A few enemy detachments won through the pass but were brought up just short of a battery of 105 mm howitzers. The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters abandons its plan to evacuate Attu.

US ground forces are landed on Shemya, the same day Attu was declared secured. [This was a shore-to-shore operation from Attu. Original plans for the invasion of Attu had called for occupation of Shemya first and construction of a fighter strip by Seabees in three weeks, but shipping
and other problems ruled this out.
Amplifying the above, these troops were from the 4th Infantry Regiment and they had to endure a six hour voyage over heavy seas to get to Shemya. As far as Attu being secured, since the Japanese banzai charge occurred during the night of 29/30 May, the island was not declared secured until 30 May.

CBI CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) 9 B-24's bomb Ichang. 4 P-40's hit targets of opportunity in Tengchung and Lungling areas.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17's bomb Madang and Alexishafen. Heavy and medium bombers, operating individually or in flights of 2 bombers, attack the town, airfields, shipping, docks, and other targets at various places, including Babo, Nabire, Saidor, Finschhafen, and Manam Island; Cape Gloucester; Damar Island, Soemba, and Soembawa in the Sunda Islands; and Dili and Penfoei.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): At dawn 2 B-25s photograph and bomb Shimushu and Matsuwa Islands (secondary). During the early afternoon 2 B-25s escorted by 4 P-38s strafe, bomb and sink a patrol boat in the Kurile Islands. Later 4 other B-25s unsuccessfully attack 2 vessels off Shimushu.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 27 B-25s and 40+ fighter-bombers pound troops and positions at Bhamo and Mohnyin, the railroad at Mogaung and warehouses at Sahmaw.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 7 B-24s pound areas along the Burma Road, 3 bomb the town of Wanling, Burma, and 2 attack a convoy of Hainan Island, China, claiming a 250-ft (76 m) freighter sunk. In China, 26 P-40s and P-38s attack troops at Lushan, pound barracks and demolish 7 trucks at Yuanchu, bomb and strafe the general area at Nanchang and destroy several buildings along the Hsiang River N of Changsha; and 19th Liaison Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force, attached to Y Force, moves from Ondal, India to Kunming with L-1s and L-5s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): Operations are restricted to photo missions over Wotje, Mille, and Jaluit Atolls.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): Major General James T Moore, USMC, takes over as Commander Air Solomons (COMAIRSOLS). On New Britain Island, almost 100 B-25s, P-38s, P-39s and a variety of USN aircraft pound the Rabaul area, with AAF aircraft concentrating on the Nordup supply area and the others concentrating on Hospital Point AA positions. On Bougainville Island, 24 P-39s and 16 P-40s blast occupied areas W of Tinputs Harbor and at Arigua Plantation.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, B-24s pound gun positions, defense areas and troops, as the first tank battle of the SWPA is fought W of Parai on Biak Island; other B-24s pound airfields on nearby mainland at Timoeka and Babo; A-20s, B-25s and P-47s, along with RAAF aircraft and a few B-24s from the Biak strike, saturate the Wewak area with continuous air strikes; in the Wakde-Sarmi battle zone, B-25s and P-40s hit forces in the Mount Saskin area; B-24s of the Thirteenth Air Task Force bomb Woleai and other nearby islands in the Caroline Islands.

BIAK ISLAND, NEW GUINEA: On Biak Island off New Guinea, the Japanese 222d Infantry Regiment attacks the American lines supported by six light tanks. American M4 Sherman tanks dispatched the Japanese tanks and troops of the 162d Infantry Regiment broke the Japanese attack. The Japanese regroup for another attack and the Americans finally realize that they must clear the high ground before they can drive to the airfields.

NEW IRELAND: USN destroyers shell Japanese installations on the north coast of New Ireland Island in the Bismarck Archipelago.

1945
JAPAN: Admiral Ozawa is named to replace Admiral Toyodo as Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet for the Imperial Japanese Navy.

OKINAWA: Off Okinawa, Japanese kamikazes are again active and strike two ships: - The destroyer USS Shubrick is attacked by two aircraft at 0010 hours; one crashes the ship. The bomb carried by the plane blew a 30- foot hole in the starboard side, and further damage was done when one of the ship's depth charges exploded. All wounded and unnecessary personnel were removed in anticipation that the ship would sink but the crew finally controlled the flooding, and Shubrick was towed to Kerama Retto. The ship lost 35 men killed and missing, and 25 wounded in the attack.
- The high-speed transport USS Tatum is attacked by four aircraft at dusk. One aircraft is shot down but when it strikes the water, its bomb skips off the water and strikes the underside of a gun sponson and pierces the ship's hull and two of her longitudinal bulkheads. The dud comes to rest with its nose protruding 8-inches into a passageway. The gunners on the ship shoot down the second and third aircraft before the fourth attacks. They also shoot down the fourth which crashes 30-feet off her port bow; the bomb the aircraft was carrying explodes underwater and rocks the ship but causes no damage. Tatum later takes aboard a bomb disposal officer and the bomb is removed and dumped overboard 2 miles offshore.

PHILLIPINES: On Luzon Island, B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s hit a variety of targets in the N while other fighter- bombers hit the C part of the island including the Cagayan Valley, Baguio, Balete, and Ipo areas.

NEI: In Borneo, B-24s hit airfields at Oelin, Tabanio, and Ft Brook.

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 4 B-25s weather abort a shipping sweep along the E coasts of Paramushiru and Shimushu.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, a single B-24 damages a railroad bridge over the Huto River and 4 B-25s and 4 P-51s knock out a bridge S of Kuanshuishih. In French Indochina, 2 B-25s attack locomotives
near Vinh and about 30 fighter-bombers attack communications and transportation targets around Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Quang Tri, Vinh and Yen, Chenghsien and Yoyang, China

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The 88th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, moves from Moran to Dudhkundi, India with P-47s.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 186: 454 B-29s, escorted by 101 P-51s from the VII Fighter Command for the first time on a fire-bomb raid, bomb Yokohama with incendiaries and destroy the main business district (a third of the city's area) along the waterfront; the burned out area of Yokohama now amounts to almost 9 square miles; about 150 Japanese fighters attack the formations; the B-29s claim 6 fighters and the P-51s claim 26-9-23: 7 B-29s and 3 P-51s are lost. HQ 509th Composite Group arrives at North Field from the US.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Formosa, 100+ B-24s bomb Kiirun and several other towns and B-25s, and fighter-bombers, hit the Tainan alcohol plant and targets of opportunity.

 

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1940
USA: Cordell Hull, the U.S. Secretary of State, responds to William C. Bullitt, the U.S. Ambassador to France, regarding Bullitt's 28 May request to send the U.S. fleet to the Mediterranean. Hull says, "The presence of the fleet in the Pacific at this time is a very practical contribution to the maintenance of peace in the Pacific."

1942
MIDWAY OPERATIONS: U.S. Navy Task Force 17, consisting of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), departs Pearl Harbor to join Task Force 16 northeast of Midway Island. The Yorktown Air Group consists of Bombing Squadron Three (VB-3) with Douglas SBD Dauntlesses, VB-5 with SBDs, Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3) with Grumman F4F Wildcats, and Torpedo Squadron Three (VT-3) with Douglas TBD Devastators.

The 7th Air Force in the Territory of Hawaii dispatches six B-17's to Midway Island to reinforce the fifteen that are already there.

A Japanese task force consisting of two light aircraft carriers and two troop transports departs northern Honshu Island for the Aleutian Islands.

ALASKA (11th Air Force): 77th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 28th Composite Group, based at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Territory of Alaska, begins operating from Umnak, Aleutian with B-26's.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (10th Air Force): Myitkyina, Burma is again hit by B-17's. Again no activity is observed and the attacks are discontinued. HQ 7th Bombardment Group transfers from Karachi to Dum-Dum, India.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, 7th Air Force): 7th Air Force begins flying B-17's from the Territory of Hawaii to Midway in the face of an expected attack on that . 394th Bombardment Squadron, 5th BG (Heavy), transfers from Hickam Field to Bellows Field, Territory of Hawaii with B-17's.

INDIAN OCEAN: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-10 launches a "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Diego Suarez, Madagascar. The Harbor of Diego Suarez: Nightfall on with the sky clear, bright and a full moon. Some reports suggest that the midget submarine from I-16 was unsuccessful in getting into the harbour. This statement is not supported by eyewitness reports from crewmembers on both the British Loyalty and HMS Ramillies. Both reported seeing the conning towers of two small submarines in the harbour around the time of the attack. The midget submarine from I-20 was definitely in the harbour and at 2025 hours started a torpedo attack.
It almost immediately scored a hit on HMS Ramillies, which blasted a 30ft by 30ft hole in her port bulge. It caused severe flooding to a number of decks as well as power and communication failures within the vessel. In spite of HMS Ramillies' severe damage there were no fatalities on board and injuries were limited to one broken arm and some bumps, bruising and concussion. The torpedo had passed very close to the stern of the tanker British Loyalty on its path to the Ramillies. Having witnessed the attack on the Ramillies, the Master of the British Loyalty ordered her crew to get all the boats out and heave up the anchor.
He then rang the Engine Room Telegraph signalling "standby". It was now nearly an hour since the first attack and the Loyalty was just beginning to move aft, away from her original forward anchor point. Signalman Harry Barnet was watching from the deck of HMS Ramillies and was horrified to see the track of a second torpedo, which appeared to be heading directly towards his ship. As he looked out he could see British Loyalty, just underway, going astern and directly into the torpedo's path.
It was now 2120 hours and the tanker was hit in the after part of the engine room and caught the full blast of the weapon that had been intended for the Battleship. The crew on the midget from I-20 had fired their second torpedo.
The stern of British Loyalty began to sink rapidly and her Master, R. Wastell, gave the order to "Abandon Ship". If this second torpedo had hit the already badly damaged Ramillies, this elderly battleship would have certainly sunk.
Nearly all the Ramillies' crew were engaged in stemming the flow of water through the damaged hull and pumping out the flooded decks.
They also had the delicate task of removing bombs, shells and bullets from the flooded ammunition stores. In the meantime the British Loyalty had sunk to the bottom of the harbour In around 67 feet of water with only part of her funnel visible above the surface. Her stern was now firmly embedded in the harbour mud. After the attack, the two-man crew of the midget submarine from I-20 attempted to leave the harbour, but in their haste and due to defective steering, grounded the midget on a reef. They abandoned their craft, swam ashore and started to walk across the barren countryside of Northern Madagascar in an attempt to reach the agreed rendezvous point with their mother submarine I-20 near the thickly wooded hills of Cape Amber. They also knew I-20 would wait for two days at the pick up point before finally departing.

1943
ALASKA: (Eleventh Air Force) The US Army retakes Attu. 8 P-40's fly 4 reconnaissance missions to Kiska. 3 air-ground support missions to Attu by 7 B-24's and 12 B-25's drop no bombs there and instead bomb Kiska installations. 2 B-24's and 12 P-38's fly air cover missions over Attu and patrol the area. 3 F-5A's fly photo reconnaissance and 8 P-40's attack and strafe tents and troops and blast the runway at Kiska.
On Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands, organized Japanese resistance ends. The Americans find 2,351 Japanese dead and an additional few hundred are presumed to have been buried in the hills by the Japanese. Only 28 Japanese surrender. Out of a force of 15,000 American soldiers, 549 are killed, 1,148 wounded and about 2,100 are taken out of action by disease and nonbattle injuries. Trench foot is the most common affliction. Most of the nonbattle cases are exposure, victims of the weather and inadequate clothing and boots. The men of the 7th Infantry Division were issued standard field jackets and leather boots which got wet and froze during the cold nights on the island. For the upcoming invasion of Kiska Island, the assault troops would be equipped with clothing and footwear better suited for the cold weather, i.e., parkas instead of field jackets and arctic shoes instead of leather boots. The landing force would consist of combat veterans of Attu or troops trained at Adak in the type of fighting encountered on Attu.
The Japanese submarine I-21 lands nine tons of weapons and ammunition and six tons of food and evacuates 44 sailors and 16 soldiers.

USN/HAWAII: The first new aircraft carrier to arrive in the Pacific in a year, USS
Essex (CV-9) with Carrier Air Group Nine (CVG-9) arrives at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force) The 19th Fighter Squadron, 318th FG transfers with P-40's from NAS Barbers Point, Territory of Hawaii to Kipapa Field, Territory of Hawaii.

CBI CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In China, 7 B-24's bomb artillery positions S of Ichang. 4 P-40's bomb and strafe Tengchung and targets of opportunity along the Burma Road and at Lamaing, Burma; 8 others on offensive sweep strafe several targets of opportunity in the Ichang area; 11 others hit riverboats at Shasi and trains NE of Yoyang.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17's bomb Wewak, Boram, and Madang. In the Celebes, B-24's hit the Kendari area.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 1 B-25 and 2 P-38s fly guardship cover.

ZONE OF INTERIOR (HQ USAAF): All Fighter-Bomber Groups/Squadrons are redesignated Fighter Groups/Squadrons.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-25s attack the railroad between Namma and Hopin; B-25s and fighter-bombers fly 100 sorties against railroad targets, hitting tracks, rolling stock, stations, and bridges in the vicinities of Mogaung, Myitkyina, Hopin and Loilaw; the Imphal-Tiddim road is bombed by 3 B-24s.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 48 fighters support ground forces in the Mamien Pass-Watien-Chiangtso area; 31 supply aircraft drop food and ammunition to friendly forces in the Mamien Pass area; 13 B-25s damage the Wan Pa-Hsa, Burma bridge and bomb Lungling, destroying 6 warehouses and starting several big fires; 8 P-51s hit railroad targets of opportunity on sweeps from Peking, Chengting, Pingting, Linfen and Puchou; 16 P-38s and P-51s dive-bomb installations at the W end of the Nanchang bridge, causing much damage; 5 B-25s and 12 P-40s strafe troops, supplies, and occupied strongpoints at Loyang and at several locations along the Yangtze and Yellow
Rivers; Japanese air strikes on Hengyang and Liangshan Airfields destroy 4 AAF aircraft, damage several others, and blow up a fuel dump.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Engebi bomb Ponape, which is also hit by B-24s returning from the shuttle base on Los Negros. 2 forces of B-24s from Kwajalein strike Truk Atoll and Wake.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 23 B-25s bomb personnel areas NE of Tobera; 40+ P-38s, P-40s and P-39s bomb a supply dump near Ratawul. On Bougainville island, 33 P-39s and 8 P-40s demolish bridges at Kirinani and over the Siaibai River; a log ramp over the Miwo River is damaged and a road between the Purlata River and Kiaraba is hit; the fighter-bombers also attack Buka runway, Chabai barge anchorage and Soraken supply area.

USMC - Lost over New Ireland is SBD 54217.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): On New Guinea, B-25s hit enemy positions as fighting on Biak Island slacks temporarily; other B-25s bomb the airfield and nearby AA guns and fuel at Timoeka; B-24s and A-20s hit Japen Island; in the Wakde Island-Sarmi battle area, B-25s bomb and strafe the shoreline from the NW of Sawar to Sarmi Point; the Wewak area is again blasted by 70+ A-20s, B-24s and B-25s, along with RAAF aircraft. Thirteenth Air Task Force B-24s hit Truk Atoll and Woleai and Puluwat, Caroline Islands.

1945

OKINAWA: US forces advance to Shuri on Okinawa.

PHILLIPINES: A-20s hit Cagayan Valley targets. USMC - PBJ bomb enemy installations at the Kibawe Trail near Davao.

NEI: B-24s and fighters hit several targets in Borneo, concentrating on Tawau personnel and supply area and the airstrip at Ranau

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 7 B-25s pound railroad yards at Sinsiang and knock out a bridge at Sincheng; 28 fighter-bombers attack bridges, enemy positions, trucks, railroad targets, barracks, and general targets of opportunity around Anyang, Liuchow, Chingmen, Chungmow, Linfen, Huluehchen, Kweilin, Hsinganhsien, Leiyang, and Yenkoupu.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The 90th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, moves from Moran to Dudhkundi, India with P-47s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 10 Guam Island-based B-24s hit the airfield on Marcus Island in the N Pacific.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): 14 P-47s strafe barges at Truk Atoll; 28 P-47s from Ie Shima hit shipping and a lighthouse at Amami-O-Shima, Japan and Okino Erabu, Ryukus Islands. The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron and 393d Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), 509th Composite Group, arrive at North Field from the US with C-47s, C-54s and B-29s respectively.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Formosa, 100+ B-24s pound Takao while fighters sweep the coastal areas and B-25s concentrate on the Shinei area..

 

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1940
USA: President Roosevelt introduces his "Billion Dollar Defense Program" in the US Congress.

CHINA: Launching a bombing campaign against south-east China, Japan says that it will bomb Chungking until the Nationalist spirit breaks.

1942
US: US Battleships Colorado and Maryland sail to San Franscisco to reinforce the Pacific Fleet.

AUSTRALIA: The Japanese submarines HIJMS I-22, HIJMS I-24 and HIJMS I-2, each launch a Type A midget submarine which penetrates the harbor defenses of Sydney, Australia. The three midget submarines, which are all lost, fire torpedoes that miss the heavy cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29), sink the accommodation ship HMAS Kuttabul and damage the Dutch submarine HNMS K 9.

INDIAN OCEAN: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-10 again launches a "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Diego Suarez, Madagascar for the second day.

MIDWAY OPERATIONS: B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF's 7th Air Force on detached service at Midway Island begin search operations. U.S. Navy PBY Catalinas concentrate their searches to the northeast from which the Japanese invasion fleet is expected to approach from.

ALASKA (11th Air Force): 54th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group (attached to XI Fighter Command) arrives at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Territory of Alaska with P-40's.

NG: (5th Air Force): B-17's attack Lae and Salamaua.

1943
ALASKA: In the Aleutians, 5 F-5A's fly separate photo missions. 6 B-24's, 10 B-25's, 37 P-40's and 8 P-38's fly attack missions to Kiska. Their targets include Gertrude Cove, AA installations, trenches, the North Head runway, and a vessel.
The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-24 is getting ready to sail in an attempt to rescue personnel from Attu Island. The sub approaches the entrance to Chichagof Harbor three times in early June and then sails for Kiska Island.

CBI CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In China, 9 B-24's, escorted by US and Chinese P-40's, bomb Ichang Airfield. The heavy bombers and fighters shoot down 5 fighters of an intercepting group of about 20. 1 Chinese P-40 is lost. 6 P-4O's on armed reconnaissance over the Siaokan area blast a train and strafe a troop concentration.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) In the Solomons, 3 B-24's on armed reconnaissance over S Bougainville bomb the Numa Numa area and Tinputs. A small coastal vessel at Tinputs is set afire.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, B-24's pound Lae Airfield and the town area.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): During the morning 2 B-25s and 4 P-38s fly guardship cover. A bomber flies a weather mission while another reconnoiters and hits Buroton Bay, Kurile Islands.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 B-25s hit the Tiddim road; 130+ B-25s, A-36s, P-51s, and P-40s hit troops, defensive positions, artillery emplacements, boats, railroad facilities, and villages in the Myitkyina- Mogaung area, buildings at Tahona, river boats at Lonkin and Kamaing, docks at Bhamo, railroad cars at Namti, and positions NW of Mohnyin; 21 other B-25s and fighter-bombers pound the Bhamo town area and airfield; and 10 B-24s bomb Ye-u, demolishing several buildings.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 51 P-51s and P-40s pound shipping along the Yangtze River, claiming direct hits on 5 small ships; 16 P-51s and P-40s bomb Kweiyi and Yoyang and installations on the river to the S; 10 P-38s bomb the bridge and warehouse area at Nanchang; 12 P-40s bomb Pingkiang; 4 B-25s bombHankow airfield, Pailochi, and motor convoy at Yoyang; 6 other B-25s knock out the bridge at Kengluang; 13 B-24s pound the town of Lungling, causing big fires, while 14 B-24s, supported by P-40s blast the warehouse area at Lashio, Burma; 4 P-40s destroy several aircraft during strafing runs on Linfen and Hohsien Airfields.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain Island, 12 P-38s bomb Vulcan Crater barge hideout; 22 P-39s and 12 P-40s blast supply dumps near Ratawul; 33 B-25s pound Rabaul truck concentrations, wharf area, and NE section of town. 5 B-25s bomb targets of opportunity along the NW coast of New Ireland. On Bougainville, P-39s bomb several targets, including Soraken, Arigua, and several barges and vehicles.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25s and A-20s hit the Babo area, bomb the airfield near the Ransiki River, cover the beachhead on Biak Island and attack fishing boats on the shore of Japen Island; P-47s and B-25s pound villages, barges, and gun positions in the Wakde-Sarmi battle area; B-24s, P-39s and RAAF aircraft continue to hit the Wewak and Hansa Bay areas. Lost over Rabaul is TBF Avenger NZ2521

PTO: The destroyer escort USS England sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-105 200 miles NNW of Kavieng on New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago. USS England is assisted by the destroyers USS McCord and USS Hazelwood and destroyer escorts USS George, USS Raby and USS Spangler. This is the sixth submarine involved in Operation "NA" sunk by USS England.

1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 5 B-25s and 4 P-47s hit railroad tracks and cars in the Chenghsien and Kaifeng areas, knock out a bridge at Sinyang, damage a bridge at Lohochai, and strafe AA positions at both bridges; 30+ fighter-bombers damage 4 bridges, hit several railroad targets and rivercraft, attack trucks and troops, and strafe numerous targets of opportunity around Shihkiachwang, Changsha, Yoyang, Yenkoupu, Taohwaping, Changanyi, Chiuchiang, Liuchow, Tsinkong, and Pioching.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): USAAF units, including the Tenth AF and US components of the Eastern Air Command (EAC), are withdrawn from the Southeast Asia Command (SEAC) and returned to the operational control of the AAF; EAC is inactivated, along with the Strategic AF and Combat Cargo Task Force. The detachment of the 156th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, operating from Magwe, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s, returns to base at Kalaikunda, India.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 8 P-47s from Ie Shima strafe buildings, barracks, and seaplane ramps at Amami-O-Shima, Japan.

 

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1942
PACIFIC: USS Saratoga sails from San Diego after repair of the torpedo damage that occurred January 11, 1942.

MIDWAY OPERATIONS: In the U.S., fear of an attack on the west coast causes suspension of the movement of USAAF aircraft and crews from the U.S. to the U.K.
- 25 US subs are in posiition off Midway Island.
- At 1300 hours local, the Japanese Kiska Invasion Force departs Kashiwabara on Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands enroute to Kiska Island in the Aleutians. The U.S. Navy's Task Group 8.6 built around the light cruiser USS Nashville enters the Gulf of Alaska intending to position themselves about 400 miles S of Kodiak Island to "exploit opportunities. " Unfortunately, they will be too far away for the upcoming action.

ALASKA: In Alaska, the USAAF's 11th Air Force has a B-17E Flying Fortress, six B-26 Marauders and 17 P-40s at Cold Bay on the tip of the Alaskan Peninsula and 12 P-40s, six B-26 and a B-17E at Otter Point on Umnak Island.

During June 1942, 11th Fighter Squadron, 28th Composite Group, moves from Elmendorf Field, Anchorage to Ft Glenn, Umnak with P-40s. During Jun, 406th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 41st Bombardment Group (Medium), sends detachments to operate in Alaska with B-18s.

INDIAN OCEAN: For the third straight day, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-10launches a "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Diego Suarez, Madagascar.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS (10th Air Force): 5 heavy bombers attack the Rangoon, Burma dock and harbor area, claiming 1 tanker sunk and another left listing. 436th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Karachi to Lahabad, India with B-17Es; first mission is 4 Jun.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): B-17s attack Lae and Salamaua and Rabaul.

1943
ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, 2 P-40's, 1 B-24, and 1 F-5A fly weather reconnaissance and photo runs and 8 B-25's, 18 P-38's, and 20 P-40's, fly 7 attack missions to Kiska Island. Targets include parked aircraft and installations, runway, gun positions, radar, and tents on South Head, North Head, Gertrude Cove and Main Camp. The 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 28th Composite Group, based on Amchitka Island begins operating from Adak Island with B-24's. During Jun 43, the 73d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 28th Composite Group transfers from Umnak Island to Amchitka Island with B-25's.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) 20 P-40's dive-bomb warehouses and railroad yards at Changanyi, China.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) During Jun 43, the 67th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter Group which has been operating from Guadalcanal with P-39's since Jan 43, returns to it's base on New Caledonia.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-25's hit Bogadjim and vicinity. B-24's bomb Lae Airfield and nearby area. Lost is B-17E "Texas #6" 41-9207 on a recon mission.

USN: Lost in a mid-air collision is F4U 02499.

PACIFIC: Submarine USS Runner, CO Joseph H. Bourland, Is later determined to be missing during June between Midway and Japan-possibly lost to mines. All hands are lost.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 2 B-24s from Shemya photograph and bomb installations at Buroton Bay, Kurile Islands, including a suspected seaplane base and the harbor area. Of 2 B-25s and 4 P-38s taking off for a guardship cover mission, 3 aircraft abort with engine trouble; 2 other B-25s fly a negative antishipping sweep.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 7 B-25s pound bridges at Songon and Bongyaung and hit the Imphal, India-Tiddim road; 20+ others fly ammunition into the Imphal area. 19 P-40s hit targets in the Myitkyina area.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 25 fighter-bombers hit the Chenghsien railroad yards; 18 fighter-bombers bomb docks, a gunboat, and barracks in the Chiuchiang area and strafe about 300 troops at Sanyenchiao; 76th Fighter Squadron, 23d Fighter Group, moves from Suichwan to Lingling with P-51s; 91st Fighter Squadron, 81st Fighter Group, moves from Karachi, India to Fungwanshan with P-47s; and during Jun, the 449th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, moves from Suichwan to Kweilin with P-38s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Eniwetok hit Ponape.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): HQ XIII Bomber Command moves from Guadalcanal to Los Negros. In the Bismarck Archipelago, 9 B-25s bomb Matupi Island and 3 hit the SE part of Rabaul and 12 others pound personnel and the supply area NE of Tobera; 30+ P-38s and P-40s hit Talili Bay supply areas; and 5 medium bombers hit a barge hideout and buildings on Duke of York Island. In the Solomon Islands, 30+ P-39s attack Tonolai, Arigua and Arawa on Bougainville Island and barges at Sohano.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-24s bomb Amboina on Ambon and Kai Island in the Moluccas Islands and Boeroe Island in the Sunda Islands. B-25s and A-20s attack targets of opportunity in the Kaukenau area, at Ransiki and on Noemfoor and Biak Islands; A-20s, B-25s and P-39s hit villages, bivouac, and other targets of opportunity in the coastal area from Wakde Island to Hollandia; the bombing of the Wewak-Hansa Bay coast continues.

RAAF: During a training flight, two Boomerangs collid over Mildura: Boomerang A46-144 and Boomerang A46- 14.

PTO: The submarine USS Narwhal lands 16-men and 25 tons of supplies on the southwest coast of Mindanao Island in the Philippine Islands. The sub takes out two men to help plan future missions.
The submarine USS Herring, CO David Zabriskie, Jr., is lost. Possibly sunk by a Japanese shore battery -Kurile Is. All hands are lost.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 428, Shimushu Island in the Kuriles was bombed by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four before dawn on May 30 (West Longitude Date). Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered. Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two, Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing, and Navy Hellcat fighters bombed and strafed enemy positions in the Marshalls on May 29. Runways, piers, and antiaircraft batteries were hit. Meager antiaircraft fire was encountered.
CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 429, Guam Island was bombed by Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force during daylight on May 28 (West Longitude Date). Approximately ten enemy fighters attempted to intercept our formation. One fighter was prob-ably shot down. Antiaircraft fire ranged from moderate to intense.
Truk Atoll was attacked by Seventh Army Air Force B24's at night on May 30. The airstrips were hit, and a fire started which was visible one hundred fifty miles. One enemy plane was in the air over the target. Anti- aircraft fire was meager.
Wake Island was bombed on May 30 by Seventh Army Air Force B-24's, which obtained hits on Peacock and Wilkes Islands and Heel Point. Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered.
Ponape Island was raided by Seventh Army Air Force B-25's during daylight on May 30. Gun positions, runways, and defense installations were hit. Antiaircraft fire was meager and no interception was attempted.
Enemy positions in the Marshall Islands were bombed and severely strafed on May 30 by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two, Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing and Navy Hellcat fighters. Blockhouses, barracks and coastal guns were hit. Antiaircraft fire was meager.

1945

 

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1942
PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, 7th Air Force): 6 of 16 B-17s that have been on detached service at Midway return to Oahu, Territory of Hawaii.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): B-17s bomb the dock and military camp area at Rabaul. 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, moves from Woodstock, Australia to Port Moresby, New Guinea with P-39s; first mission is today.

AUSTRALIA - Australian Prime Minister John Curtin bouyed by the arrival of American forces challenges the Japanese, saying "I defy the enemy to land large forces in Australia".

MIDWAY OPERATION: US Carrier TF meet NE of Midway Island. Amplifying the above, Task Force 17 (TF-17) under Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and TF-16 under Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, rendezvous about 350-miles (648 km) northeast of Midway Island.
The joint force, under tactical command of Admiral Fletcher, is composed of three aircraft carriers, seven heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, 16 destroyers and two oilers. Supporting are 25 submarines deployed around Midway.
Six of the 16 B-17E Flying Fortresses that have been on detached service at Midway Island return to Oahu, Territory of Hawaii.

Two PBY-5A Catalinas of the USN's Patrol Squadron Forty One (VP-41) based at Naval Air Station Dutch Harbor, Alaska, locate the Japanese aircraft carriers HIJMS Ryujo and HIJMS Junyo approximately 210 miles from Dutch Harbor. Both PBYs are shot down after reporting the position of the ships; all crewmen perish except one who is taken prisoner.

Japanese Admiral Kakuta's light carriers prepare to raid Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands as part of the deception for the Midway Operation. These raids will occur June 3 and 4.

MADAGASGAR: After reports from locals that two Japanese had been seen in the Amponkarana Bay area, they were eventually found by a British patrol of 15 soldiers. These are the crew of the Japanese midget submarine crew that had attacked the HMS Ramillies on May 30. They would not surrender, as honour dictated, and fought with pistols and a sword. They killed one British soldier and wounded four others before they themselves were killed. The crew's documents were recovered and these included details of their mission in the harbour. The wreckage of their midget submarine was located some time later by a British air reconnaissance aircraft.
The crew of the miniature submarine from I-16 also failed to return from their mission and a search party on the beach outside the harbour found the body of another Japanese in Naval uniform the day after the attack. Their miniature submarine and the second crew member were never found and the Japanese Navy will post both miniature submarines as missing tomorrow.

USA: Chinese Foreign Minister Soong and US Secretary of State Hull sign Lend-Lease Agreement.

The air echelons of the four squadrons of the USAAF's 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy), equipped with B-17Es and preparing to deploy to the U.K, are ordered to bases on the U.S. west coast as a defensive measure against Japanese attack.

1943
ALASKA: In the Aleutians, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 lands 17 tons of weapons and ammunition and 11 tons of food on Kiska Island. The sub then evacuates 55 sailors, ten soldiers and 14 civilians.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In China, 5 B-25's, escorted by 10 P-4O's, bomb Pailochi Airfield. 18 P-4O's strafe troop barges and launches at Itu and 6 long columns of troops E of Changyang.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) In the Solomon Islands, 2 B-24's on armed reconnaissance attack gun positions, cargo boats, and shipping at Numa Numa and Tinputs.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17's and B-24's bomb airfields at Wewak, Boram, Dagua, and But. Isolated shipping strikes result in little damage to vessels and barges.

NEIAF - Lost on an attack against Japanese shipping is B-25C N5-150.

USN - Lost on a search mission is SBD 10697.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile Islands, 2 B-24s, finding Shimushiru Island overcast, bomb and photograph Matsuwa Island (the secondary) during dawn.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): B-25s continue to fly ammunition into the Imphal, India area. 12 B-24s airborne against Yenangyaung, Burma fail to hit the primary but unload against alternates in the area. The final seige of Myitkyina, Burma begins.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 80+ P-40s and P-51s pound troopsand vehicles at Tungcheng and Chungyang and strafe a concentration of about 75 sampans on Tungting Lake.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): In the Gilbert Islands, B-25s based on Makin strike Nauru Island.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain Island, 24 B-24s pound the Nordup area and 48 P-38s, P-39s, and P-40s attack the Vunakanau area. 30+ P-39s attack the airfield at Buka, Buka Island and supplies in the Kara-Kahili area.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25s bomb the Kaukenau-Timoeka area while B-24s bomb positions N of Mokmer Airfield; B-24s and B-25s hit bivouacs NE of Sawar airfield and near the Wiske River and bomb roads along W bank of the Orai River; B-24s, P-39s, and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) airplanes hit the Wewak area; C-47s of the 65th and 66th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 433d Troop Carrier Group, cease operating from Tsili Tsili and return to base at Nadzab. Thirteenth Air Task Force B-24s bomb Dublon Island, Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands.

1945

 

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1942
MIDWAY OPERATIONS: The Japanese Invasion Group is spotted by land based aircraft from Midway. An unsuccessful raid by USAAF B-17s is mounted.
Amplifying the above:
Preliminary action begins in the Battle of Midway. Nine B-17 Flying Fortresses, flying out of Midway Island, attack five large transports 570 miles off Midway, claiming 5 hits and several near misses; actually, they hit nothing. Seven other B-17s leave Oahu, Territory of Hawaii and fly to Midway.

Alaska - Japanese occupy Kiska and Attu in the Aleutians.
- Despite dense fog and rough seas, the Japanese light aircraft carriers HIJMS Junyo and HIJMS Ryujo, supported by the heavy cruisers HIJMS Takao and HIJMS Maya, three destroyers and an oiler, begin launching aircraft at 0325 hours local against Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, Aleutian Islands.
This is part of the "AL" Operation. Only half of the aircraft reach the objective; the other half either crash into the sea or return to their ships. At 0545 hours, 15 aircraft appear and begin strafing targets at naval installations at Dutch Harbor and the Army's Fort Mears; at 0555 hours, the first of four waves of bombers in groups of three or four, Nakajima B5N, Navy "Kate," Bombers, Allied Code Name release 16 bombs on Fort Mears killing 25 and wounding many others. P-40s from Cold Bay trying to intercept them arrive 10 minutes after the last attack wave departs. Other P-40s at Otter Point Field on Umnak Island are notified too late due to communication failure.
The Japanese cruisers had catapulted four Nakajima E8N2 Navy Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplanes, Allied Code Name "Dave," to reconnoiter the area west of Dutch Harbor and two of them flew over Umnak and one was shot down and the other was damaged and retreated still unaware of the new airdrome. By 0745 hours local, the Japanese carriers had recovered their aircraft. Meanwhile, nine P-40s and six B-26's fly a patrol but cannot find the fleet, 180 miles south of Dutch Harbor.
However, a PBY-5A Catalina of the USN's Patrol Squadron VP-42 flies through a snow squall and locates the Japanese ships. The aircraft is attacked by Japanese fighters but the Americans linger in the area until the composition and position of the force can be determined. The PBY finally heads for home but runs out of fuel and makes an open sea landing where the crew is rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Nemaha.
Another PBY-5A of VP-41 searching for the Japanese are shot down and three are captured and taken aboard the cruiser HIJMS Takao. The Japanese torture the three in an attempt to learn the location of the unknown USAAF base but the sailors reveal nothing. The three are taken to Japan and survive their internment. One "Zeke," is damaged by AA fire and the pilot makes an emergency landing on Akutan Island. However, he was fooled by the flat surface; it is actually a bog and the aircraft flips over killing the pilot. The recovery of this aircraft in July 1942 reveals many of its secrets.
Six B-17Es equipped with SCR-521 radar arrive at Kodiak and are immediately dispatched on search missions to locate the Japanese ships.

Additional losses in the Aleutians: 26 Army and 1 Navy were killed, and four quonset huts, one barracks building, and one radio tower were destroyed. All but one of the carrier-based air returned safely but two of four Pete float planes were shot down late in the day when they were ambushed by P-40's from Cold Bay.
Anti-aircraft fire from the few US Navy weapons was heavy but ineffective due to the siting of the weapons. The US Army's 206th CA (AA) was ashore and well-sited but the commander refused to allow it to open fire from concerns about revealing its location. Accurate fire was returned from the SS PRESIDENT FILLMORE, moored in the harbor, which had G/260th CA (AA) (often but inaccurately listed as G/503rd CA (AA) on board with its guns on deck through the foresight of then 1st Lt Perry Faust. The Port Captain later credited this unit for its performance and noted that he had thought the ship had exploded, so heavy was the fire being returned from the ship.
The Port Engineer had only recently completed the pier at Dutch Harbor, a example of really solid engineering due to the extreme depth of the harbor. He ran along the dock during the attack and continued to order all moored vessels to set sail lest the Japanese damage "his" pier. He was ignored by the ship's captains.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS (10th Air Force): A flight of 6 B-25s of the 11th Bombardment Squadron, 7th BG, earmarked for China, take off from Dinjan, India for China. They bomb Lashio, Burma en route to Kunming, but afterward 9 crash into an overcast-hidden mountain at 10,000 feet and another is abandoned when it runs out of fuel near Chan-i, China. The remaining 2 B-25's reach Kunming, China, 1 with its radio operator killed by a fighter.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): B-17s hit the wharf, warehouse area, and military camp at Rabaul.

1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) Weathered out from Kiska Island in the Aleutian Islands are 3 weather missions flown by 2 B-24's and 2 P-40's, as well as 2 attack missions by 2 B-24's and 6 fighters.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) During the night of 3/4 Jun, B-17's bomb Kahili Airfield and the Moliko River area. B-24's attack small vessels at Tinputs and Teop sinking 1 and firing the other.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-24's bomb a supply dump area at Dobo, New Guinea. Other targets attacked in the Netherland East Indies suffer little damage.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 2 B-25s and 2 P-38s fly guardship cover; 2 other B-25s fly a negative shipping search.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 15 B-25s pound the Imphal, India- Tiddim road while a few P-40s hit the Mogaung area; the B-25 ammunition lift to the Imphal area continues.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, P-40s support ground forces at Watien and Tatangtzu, destroy 2 barges and damage others in the Gulf of Tonkin, and strafe 40 barges carrying horses and troops in the Tungting Lake area N of Nanhsien; B-25s, P-40s, and P-51s pound the Pingkiang area.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s staging through Eniwetok strike Truk Atoll in a pre-dawn raid; B-25s from Engebi bomb Nauru. HQ 15th Fighter Group moves from Wheeler Field to Bellows Field.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): All scheduled strikes on the Rabaul area of New Britain Island are cancelled due to weather conditions. 20+ P-39s, turned back from the Rabaul area, hit the Tsundawan-Porton road, vehicles in the Komai area, and AA position at Kara.

NEW GUINEA: US forces advance against heavy Japanese resistance on Biak.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 431:
A single search plane of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed and strafed shipping and shore installations at Truk Atoll at night on June 1 (West Longitude Date). Four one-thousand-pound bombs were dropped over a medium cargo vessel, two of them scoring direct hits and two straddling the vessel, which was believed sunk. The search plane then strafed a number of small cargo vessels, the seaplane base at Dublon and the airstrips at Eten Island. Two of the small vessels were set on fire, fires were started at Dublon Island and Eten Island, and an ammunition dump exploded. In retiring the search plane was pursued by a single enemy plane which did not make an attack. Over the target antiaircraft fire was moderate.
Two Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Shimushiru Island in the Kuriles before dawn on June 1. No opposition was encountered. Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Paramushiru and Shimushu Island before dawn on June 1. Fires were started. Antiaircraft fire was light and inaccurate.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25s, A-20s and B-24s hit Timoeka Airfield and nearby villages, shipping off Manokwari, Seroei Village on Japen Island, positions N of Mokmer, Sorido and Kamiri Airfields; P-38s and P-47s battle fighters over Biak Island and over the Babo area, lost is P-38J 43-28516; P-47s and P-40s hit Sawar Airfield, supplies and fuel dumps in the Sarmi and Orai River areas, and hideouts and occupied areas along the coast; B-24s and fighter-bombers maintain consistent pounding of numerous targets in the Wewak-Hansa Bay coastal region; HQ 49th Fighter Group moves from Hollandia to Biak Island; and the ground echelon of the 82d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, begins a movement from Saidor to Biak; the air echelon operates from Saidor with P-39s. B-24s of the Thirteenth Air Task Force bomb Eten and Dublon Islands, Truk Atoll.

1945

 

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1942
MIDWAY OPERATIONS: The 1st wave of Japanese Naval aircraft (108 ) flying from Admiral Nagumo's carriers are launched at Midway Island. USAAF and Marine aircraft based on Midway attack the Japanese carriers. After the limited success of the first wave, a second wave attack, on Midway, is ordered.
Meanwhile the US carrier forces off Midway have spotted the Japanese carriers. They get their attack underway. The Japanese scouts then find the US carriers. Nagumo orders a change in armament for the strike. His first wave also returns. The appearance of the US carriers is not something that Nagumo had expected.
While the Japanese carriers are re-arming their strike, the US attack force finds them. This strike has been somewhat unorganized. The range has forced a separation of the torpedo planes from the dive bombers. The TBDs arrive 1st with their torpedo's at low level. Their attack is ineffective with most planes of the force lost.
The dive bombers now arrive overhead and attack. The Japanese fighters have been caught at low level and are ineffective against the dive bombers. Between 10:25 and 10:28 this morning hits are made on carriers Kaga, Akagi, and Soryu.
These 3 carriers are fatally hit and sink soon thereafter. The US attack has caught them with planes in various stages of refueling and rearming. The fumes and armaments contribute to the rapid demise of these ships. Also a factor is the level of Japanese damage control.
The Hiryu launchs a strike which hits the USS Yorktown. Despite effective damage control, I-168 launches fatal torpedos. The Enterprise and Hornet launch another strike, with 4 direct hits, which fatally wound Hiryu.This battle ends and the balance of power changes hands in the Pacific.

This victory had born a high cost, particularly among the young Navy, Marine, and Army aviators that had carried the battle to the enemy. During the days fighting the three American carriers had lost seventy-eight
aircraft in action, with with nine others out of action and a further twenty trapped aboard the abandoned YORKTOWN. Additionally, the Midway based squadrons had lost thirty-six planes, with fifteen others out of action. Overall, the days had cost the bean counters 158 aircraft. But the real cost was in men, not machines. Although twenty-four downed aviators had been rescued during the day, ten were confimed dead, twenty-two were wounded, and a staggering 183 were missing although, fortunately, twenty-six of these were to be rescued in the next fewdays.

Amplifying the above:
A Japanese destroyer picks up a TBD Devastator pilot of Torpedo Squadron Three and a second destroyer picks up the two-man crew of a Scouting Squadron Six SBD Dauntless. After interrogation, all three are murdered.

On no other day in the entire Pacific war would as many aircraft be lost in a single day's battle, and the staggering number of aviator casualties suffered on 4 June would not be exceeded either. In fact, even on their worst days, the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces would be hard pressed to top the total number of actual fatalities (167) suffered on 4 June.

The Grumman TBF Avenger enters combat during the Battle of Midway. Six unescorted TBF-1s of the shore-based element of Torpedo Squadron Eight, which is operating from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, attack the Japanese fleet. Five Avengers are shot down and the sixth makes it back to Midway but it is damaged beyond repair. None of the TBFs scored a torpedo hit on the enemy force.

In the Aleutian Islands, it is rainy with a low-overcast limiting visibility and the two Japanese light aircraft carriers, HIJMS Junyo and HIJMS Ryujo, wait for it to clear. Finally, planes are dispatched to bomb Dutch Harbor in weather so poor that only the best pilots on the two ships were permitted to fly. Eleven "Val's" ten "Zero's" and eight "Kate's" attack Dutch Harbor in several waves beginning at 1800 hours local; the fighters make a strafing attack followed by the eleven "Vals" that hit four fuel tanks igniting 22,000 barrels of fuel, demolish part of the naval hospital and damage a beached barracks ship. At 1821 hours, three "Kates" attack but do not do any damage; this was followed by five more "Kates" at 1825 hours which hit an AA emplacement killing four U.S. sailors. U.S. Army and Navy casualties during the two days are 43 killed and approximately 50 wounded.
After the attack, the eight "Vals" and "Zekes" from the carrier HIJMS Junyo, unaware of the USAAF's new fighter base at Otter Point on Umnak Island, rally at the west end of Umnak and are met by eight P-40s which shoot down two "Vals" and two "Zekes." One other plane from HIJMS Junyo fails to return but all of the aircraft from HIJMS Ryujo return to the ship.
A PBY-5A Catalina of the USN's Patrol Squadron Forty Two locates the Japanese force by radar and circles it for an hour radioing its position. A torpedo attack is made by three B-26's but none of the ships are hit.

Additional information on the Japanese attack in the Aleutian Islands:
Four oil tanks with 22,000 gallons of fuel oil and a separate diesel fuel tank were hit and set afire. One warehouse building and one hangar containing a PBY-5A were damaged, along with the Catalina, and the NORTHWESTERN, a coastal merchant ship, was seriously damaged and hadto be beached. Army, 7 Navy, 1 Marine, and 1 US civilian were killed. No aircraft were lost to the Japanese, though one US B-26 was lost attacking the Japanese carriers.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS (10th Air Force): 2 heavy bombers bomb Rangoon, Burma, but are attacked by 10 fighters; 1 heavy bomber is shot down and the other badly damaged. This raid ends 2 months of harassing strikes against Rangoon; soon all heavy bombers are grounded by the monsoons. 11th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), is established at Kunming, China with B-25s.

1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutian Islands, 6 B-24's following a Navy PV make a radar-bombing run over North Head. 14 P-40's and P-38's bomb North Head, Main Camp and Little Kiska Island. 4 P-38's and 1 B-24 flying air cover over Attu make no enemy contact. The 404th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 28th Composite Group based on Adak begins operating from Amchitka with B-24's.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17's and B-24's bomb airfields at Boram, Wewak and Dagua, New Guinea. B-25's hit Koepang and Lautem, Timor.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 2 B-24s fly an uneventful reconnaissance over Shimushiru Island; fuel shortage and equipment failure prevent flying to Matsuwa Island (the secondary). Later, a B-25 and 2 P-38s fly a guardship cover mission.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20+ P-40s hit the Myitkyina area while 19 others hit various points in N Burma, including Haka, Kamaing, Kamasaing, Tagwin, and Bilumyo. B-25s continue the ammunition lift to Imphal, India.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, P-40s bomb artillery positions and targets of opportunity in the Watien area of the Salween battle front. Others bomb railroad targets of opportunity in NE French Indochina.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): During the night B-24s, staging through Eniwetok hit Truk Atoll; B-25s from Engebi follow with a daylight raid on Ponape.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): Bad weather again prevents strikes against the Rabaul area of New Britain Island. On Bougainville Island, P-39s flying a total of 55 sorties, blast a truck park near Komai, strafe huts at Doure, and attack a pier at Tunuru; 9 P-38s weathered out of the Rabaul strike the Tonolai supply area; and a lone B-25 bombs Kahili.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): A-20s bomb the town and harbor at Manokwari and shipping to the E in Geelvink Bay; B-24s bomb Namber and Borokoe Airfields while fighters battle enemy airplanes in the general area; B-24s bomb the area near the Orai River mouth while A-20s hit Wewak and fighter-bombers pound the Hansa Bay coast; a detachment of the 68th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d Troop Carrier Group, ceases operating from Tadji with C-47s and returns to base at Nadzab.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 432:
Shimushu and Paramushiru Islands in the Kuriles were bombed by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four before dawn on June 2 (West Longitude Date). Two large fires were started on Shimushu. Antiaircraft fire was moderate. Matsuwa Island was bombed by Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force before dawn on June 2. No opposition was encountered. All of our planes returned.
Truk Atoll was bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators before dawn on June 3. Forty-one tons of bombs were dropped on storage areas and on runways. Several fires and explosions were observed. Antiaircraft fire was meager. Two enemy fighters attempted to attack our force but did no damage.
Nauru Island was bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchell bombers and search Venturas of Fleet Air Wing Two on June 2. Antiaircraft batteries were hit and fires Started. Antiaircraft fire was moderate.
Ponape Island was bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells on June 1. An airfield, hangars, and adjacent buildings were hit. No antiairraft fire was encountered.
Remaining enemy objectives in the Marshalls were attacked by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two, Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing, and Navy Hellcat fighters on May 31 and on June 1 and 2. In these raids antiaircraft batteries, coastal defense guns, runways and barracks were strafed and bombed. Antiaircraft fire was generally meager.

1945

 

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1942
MIDWAY OPERATIONS: Off Midway Island, the Japanese 1st Mobile Fleet is retiring westward while being pursued by carrier aircraft of Task Force 16 and Midway-based USAAF and USMC aircraft. B-17's make two attacks on three ships but do not hit the ships.
The aircraft carriers HIJMS Akagi and HIJMS Hiryu, which were damaged yesterday and left drifting, are scuttled by Japanese destroyers.
While turning to avoid the submarine USS Tambor, the heavy cruisers HIJMS Mogami and HIJMS Mikuma collide and are damaged. Later in the day, six SBD-2 Dauntlesses and six SB2U-3 Vindicators of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Forty One attack HIJMS Mikuma but do not score any hits.
A salvage party of 29 officers and 141 enlisted men return to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in an attempt to save her. Five destroyers form an antisubmarine screen while the salvage party boards the listing carrier.

At Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii: Admiral Chester Nimitz, USN announces the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Naval fleet at the Battle of Midway.

In the Aleutian Islands, Japanese Naval Headquarters issues an order at 0920 hours local instructing the 2nd Mobile Fleet, the two light aircraft carriers that attacked Dutch Harbor, Alaska, yesterday, to join the 1st Mobile Fleet off Midway and the two carriers begin steaming south. This order is cancelled at 2355 hours.
The Japanese also order 1,200 troops of the Adak-Attu Occupation Force to steam towards Attu Island.
The USAAF's 11th Air Force dispatches ten B-17's, 18 B-26's and two LB-30's to search for the two aircraft carriers. One radar-equipped B-17E locates the "targets" on radar and bombs; the "targets" were actually the Pribilof Islands.

The Battle of Midway continues with the Japanese fleet retiring westward. In the morning 8 B-17s hit a force 130 miles from Midway, claiming hits on 2 large warships. During the afternoon 6 B-17's claim hits on a heavy cruiser 300 miles from Midway. The last strike by Seventh Air Force aircraft in the Battle of Midway is by 5 B-17's which bomb a heavy cruiser 425 miles from Midway. 1 B-17 is shot down and another lost due to fuel shortage. The battle ends with Midway's installations heavily damaged by bombs but still in US hands and with landing strips still intact. During the fighting (3-5 Jun) Seventh Air Force aircraft carried out 16 B-17 attacks (55 sorties) and 1 torpedo attack by 4 B-26's, claiming 22 hits on ships and 10 fighters shot down. 2 B-17's and 2 B-26's were lost. One of the decisive battles of naval history, Midway will cost Japan the initiative and will be a turning point in the Pacific war.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): B-17s hit wharves, a warehouse, and coal jetty at Rabaul.

1943
ALASKA: IJMS I-175 lands a ton of weapons and ammunition and 15 tons of food and then evacuates 56 sailors and four Japanese civilians.

PHILIPINES: The submarine USS Nautilus lands 90 tons of supplies on Mindanao Island, Philippine Islands and an officer tasked with establishing a communications network.

ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, 7 B-24's, 6 B-25's, and 6 P-40's fly weather reconnaissance and radar-bombing missions over Kiska Island, being handicapped by poor weather and mechanical trouble.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In China, P-40's strafe troop columns near Peiyang and hit a barge and boat NW of Yoyang.

USN: In the early morning, a formation of B-17s bombed Japanese installations at Kahili, Buin area. At about noon of the same day a formation of SBD's and TBF's , escorted by P-40's, F4U's and P-38's fighters, attacked a Japanese destroyer, a corvette and a cargo vessel in the Bougainville area. Several large bomb hits were scored on the destroyer which undoubtedly sank. The corvette and the cargo vessel were set on fire.
In the above action the U. S. attacking planes were engaged by a large force of Japanese Zero fighters. U. S. pilots shown down 15 Zeros and damaged 3 others. Four U. S. planes are missing. Lost are: PBY 08078, SBD-3 06520, SBD-3 06524, SBD 06683 and F4U 02499 VMF-112 (lost over Russells).

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) The 394th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th BG which has been operating from Guadalcanal Island with B-24's since 25 Apr 43 returns to it's base on Fiji.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) HQ 345th Bombardment Group (Medium) and it's 498th, 499th, 500th and 501st Bombardment Squadrons arrive with B-25's at Port Moresby from the US. The group will fly it's first mission on 21 Jun. Lost on a reconnaissance mission to New Britain is F5A Lightning 42-13073 (pilot later rescued).

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-25s bomb Bhamo and 4 hit the bridge at Ledan Chaung, while others continue ammunition haul into Imphal, India; 50 fighter-bombers pound the Myitkyina area and 20+ others hit Loilaw, Tagwin, Namti, and Mogaung. In India, HQ 3d Combat Cargo Group and 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Combat Cargo Squadrons are activated at Sylhet with C-47s. With this activation, the following squadrons, which have been operating from bases in India since Apr 44, will shortly return to their bases in Italy and Sicily: 4th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62d Troop Carrier Group, to Gaudo Airfield, Italy and 16th, 17th, 18th and 35th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 64th Troop Carrier Group, to Comiso, Sicily.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 P-40s support ground forces at Watien and Lameng on the Salween front; 18 B-24s and 12 P-40s bomb Lashio; 7 B-24s blast the barracks and warehouse area at Namhkam; 8 P-40s hit 15 tanks at Taying; 29 P-40s attack numerous oil barges near Yuankiang, leaving 16 of them burning.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Twentieth Air Force): The Twentieth Air Force flies its first B-29 combat mission. Of 98 B-29s airborne from India, 77 bomb the primary target-the railroad shops at Bangkok, Siam; 5 B-29s are lost to non-battle causes.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Makin hit Nauru Island; B-24s from Eniwetok escort photo aircraft over Guam Island, Marianas Islands, bomb the island, and proceed to Los Negros for rearming. B-25s from Engebi strike Ponape.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 23 B-25s bomb a truck park at Rabaul; 22 P-39s strike Ratawul; 11 P-38s hit barges and buildings in the Vulcan Crater area. On Bougainville Island, 30+ P-39s hit vehicles in the Komai-Tobago vicinity, a wooded supply area N of Buka airfield, and Cape Tanabom and Kangu Hill areas.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): P-39s and RAAF aircraft attack the Wewak area; B-24s bomb the area N of Sorido airfield; during the night of 5/6 Jun an all-night series of harassing raids by Japanese airplanes destroy six planes and damage 80 on Wakde Island; 7th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, moves from Hollandia to Biak Island with P-38s; and 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Gusap to Tadji with P-39s.

RNZAF: Lost on a strike against Rabaul is TBF Avenger NZ2518.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 433:
Several enemy patrol-type vessels were sighted west of Truk Atoll on June 2 (West Longitude Date) and attacked by a single search plane. One was probably sunk and all were heavily strafed. On June 3 another search plane sighted the disposition and made an attack which resulted in the sink-ing of one of the auxiliaries and severe damage to another.
Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Ketoi Island in the Kuriles before dawn on June 4. No opposition was encountered. A single search plane of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Paramushiru Island before dawn on June 4. All of our planes

1945

 

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1942
ALASKA (11th Air Force): Various bomber search-attack missions are flown in an attempt to contact the fleet reported near Seguam . No contact is made due to weather. 8 P-38's enroute from Cold Bay to Umnak mistakenly attack a Soviet freighter. The Japanese begin to land on Kiska.
In the Aleutian Islands, 500 men of the elite Maizura 3rd Special Landing Force and 700 labor troops invade Kiska Island at 1027 hours local.
The is the first invasion of U.S. territory by a foreign power since the British invaded during the War of 1812. A 10-man USN weather detachment are the only Americans on the island; all ten flee into the hills. The Japanese rename the island Narukami.

MIDWAY OPERATIONS: Off Midway Island, SBD Dauntlesses from the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and USS Hornet bomb the heavy cruisers HIJMS Mikuma and HIJMS Magami which were damaged in a collision yesterday; the Mikuma sinks later in the day. SBDs also attack two destroyers but do not score any hits. Rear Admiral Raymond A Spruance orders that the TBD Devastator torpedo bomber not be allowed to participate in these attacks; Torpedo Squadron Six in USS Enterprise is the only squadron with operational TBDs.
During the morning, the tug USS Vireo arrives from Pearl Harbor and takes the damaged aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in tow. To assist the repair parties in Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann comes alongside to starboard, aft, and furnishes pumps and electric power. By mid-afternoon, the process of reducing topside weight on Yorktown was proceeding well; one 5-inch gun had been dropped over the side, and a second was ready to be cast loose; planes had been pushed over the side; the submersible pumps (powered by electricity provided by USS Hammann) had pumped out considerable quantities of water from the engineering spaces and the list had been reduced about two degrees.
However, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-158 had slipped past the destroyer screen and fired four torpedoes at Yorktown from the starboard beam. One torpedo hit the destroyer USS Hammann directly amidships and broke her back; the destroyer jackknifed and sank in four minutes. Two torpedoes struck Yorktown just below the turn of the bilge at the after end of the island structure. The fourth torpedo passed just astern of the carrier. Approximately a minute after Hammann's stern disappeared beneath the waves, an explosion rumbled up from the depths, possibly caused by the destroyer's depth charges going off. The blast killed many of Hammann's and a few of Yorktown's men who had been thrown into the water. The concussion battered the already-damaged carrier's hull and caused tremendous shocks that carried away Yorktown's auxiliary generator, sent numerous fixtures from the hangar deck overhead crashing to the deck below; sheared rivets in the starboard leg of the foremast; and threw men in every direction, causing broken bones and several minor injuries.
The remaining destroyers immediately began searching for the submarine, which escaped, and commenced rescuing survivors from the water. The tug USS Vireo cut the towline and also began picking up survivors; over 80-men on the Hammann were killed. Remarkably, USS Yorktown remains afloat.
The losses suffered by the Japanese at Midway causes the cancellation of the "FS" Operation, the invasion of Fiji and Samoa and also forces the Japanese to concentrate on building aircraft carriers.

1943
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In China, 5 P-40's strafe trucks, barracks, and personnel at Tangyang; at least 15 trucks are burned and considerable damage is done to the barracks area. 11 P-40's hit the approaches to a bridge at Puchi; 2 locomotives in the area are destroyed. 10 other P-40's attack Shasi Airfield and hit river shipping; in the general area. 7 B-25's bomb the airfield at Pailochi.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) In the Solomon Islands, P-38's, P-40's, and Navy and Marine fighters and dive bombers attack shipping off Buin scoring damaging hits on a destroyer and 2 smaller vessels; 15 Japanese airplanes are claimed shot down. Other P-38's and P-40's strafe the Luti Bay area of Choiseul. HQ 42d Bombardment Group (Medium) transfers from Fiji to Guadalcanal.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) On Timor, B-24's hit the town of Koepang and the airfield at Penfoei.

ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-24 reports that it is approaching Kiska to land supplies and evacuate personnel. The sub is never heard from again.

USA: Less than two weeks after the home front riots in Los Angeles, California - Detroit, Michigan exploded in violence fed by rumors and resentment of blacks working in defense plants. At the end of this forgotten chapter of American history, 25 blacks and nine whites lay dead. Detroit citizens of all races called the awful event "bloody week." While war raged abroad, war of a different kind raged at home.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 24 B-25s attack the Waingmaw, Wuntho-Hopin area, and Imphal, India-Tiddim road; others maintain ammunition lift into Imphal; 24 A-36s, 11 P-51s, and 45 P-40s pound Myitkyina; about 40 A-36s and P-40s hit the Mogaung, Mohnyin, Lachigahtawng, Pakhren-Sakan and Kadu areas. In India, HQ 443d Troop Carrier Group moves from Sylhet to Sookerating; and 11th and 12th Combat Cargo Squadron, 3d Combat Cargo Group, move from Sylhet to Dinjan and Fenny respectively with C-47s.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 50 P-40s attack shipping, horses, and troops in the Fulinpu Kweiyi vicinity, 10 P-51s and 6 B-25s pound Tayang Chiang, and 5 B-25s bomb Pailochi Airfield; 9 P-40s hit road and rail targets of opportunity in the Yellow River area; 2 others sink a junk and damage others at Kwangchow Wan.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s returning to Eniwetok from Los Negros (where they rearmed after bombing Guam Island the previous day) hit Ponape Island.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): P-38s bomb a supply dump near Nordup, New Britain Island. On Bougainville Island, P-39s and US Navy (USN) aircraft hit vehicles near Hari; other P-39s pound a pier and buildings in SE Kahili.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, B-24s and B-25s bomb shipping near Efman and Waigeo Islands; A-20s hit the airfield at Babo, and A-20s and B-25s hit Namber Airfield and tanks near Mokmer; and P-39s, A-20s and RAAF aircraft continue to pound the Wewak-Hansa Bay area, hitting supply dumps and hideouts. Thirteenth Air Task Force B-24s hit islands in Truk Atoll.

NEW GUINEA: The 186th Infantry prepares an attack on Mokmar Air Field on Biak.

USA: The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff issue a report entitled "Operations Against Japan, Subsequent to Formosa" which includes three phases of operations in 1945:
Phase I: Attack the Bonin and Ryukyu Islands and the east Coast of China between 1 April and 30 June 1945.
Phase II: Consolidate and exploit Phase I gains between 30 June and 30 September 1945.
Phase III: Invasion of the Japanese home islands beginning with Kyushu on 1 November 1945 and then Honshu on 31 December 1945.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 434:
Truk Atoll was bombed during the night of June 3-4 (West Longitude Date) by Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force. The airfields at Moen and Param Islands were hit. Four enemy fighters were airborne but did not attack our force. Antiaircraft fire was meager and inaccurate.
Ponape Island was attacked on the night of June 3 by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators and on June 4 by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells. Installations on Langar Island and antiaircraft batteries were hit. Lauru Island was bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells during daylight on June 3, and by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two on June 5. Gun positions were the principal targets. Antiaircraft fire was intense.
Enemy positions in the Marshalls were bombed and strafed on June 3-4 search Venturas of Fleet Air Wing Two, Corsair fighters

1945

 

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1942
MIDWAY: Throughout the night of 6/7 June, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown remained stubbornly afloat northeast of Midway Island. By 0530 hours, however, the men in the ships nearby noted that the carrier's list was rapidly increasing to port. As if tired, the valiant flattop turned over at 0701 hours on her port side and sank in 3,000 fathoms (18,000 feet) of water in position 30.36N, 176.34W.
During the night of 6/7 June, the USAAF's 7th Air Force dispatches a flight of four LB-30 Liberators from Midway Island for a predawn attack on Wake Island. The aircraft are unable to find the target and one LB-30 crashes into the sea killing all of the crew including Major General Clarence L Tinker, Commanding General, 7th Air Force. On 11 November 1943, the Oklahoma City Air Depot at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was renamed Tinker Field (now AFB) in memory of General Tinker.

ALASKA: In the Aleutians, the 1,143 man Japanese Army's North Sea Detachment, consisting of the 301st Independent Infantry Battalion, the 301st Independent Engineer Company and a service unit, invade Attu Island at 0300 hours local. There are 44 American civilians on the island, 42 Aleut Indians and two Caucasians, Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Charles Jones dies during the invasion, either a suicide or killed by Japanese troops as he attempts to escape. The Aleuts and Mrs. Etta Jones are interned in Japan, the Aleuts at Otaru City on Hokkaido and Mrs. Jones with Australian nurses in Yokohama. Only 24 of the Aleuts and Mrs. Jones survive interment. The Japanese rename the island Atsuta.
Nine of the ten USN sailors manning a weather station on Kiska are captured by the Japanese who had discovered the emergency supply caches the sailors had hidden. The tenth man, who was wearing light clothing, evades the Japanese for 48-days surviving on plants and earthworms until forced to surrender after fainting from lack of food.

1943
SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) P-38's and P-40's, along with Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P-40's and Navy and Marine fighters, intercept a large force of fighter-escorted dive bombers on a mission against Allied shipping off Guadalcanal. Fighters from the newly-opened Banika Island bases initiate the interception. A running fight develops and extends down to Guadalcanal. More than 20 Japanese aircraft are downed; 9 Allied fighters are lost but all the pilots are recovered. Some of the Zeros were performing glide bombing attacks.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-17's and B-24's attack Wewak, Lae, Madang, and Kesup hitting town areas and airfields, and strafe sampans on the Sepik River.

ALASKA: The USAAF's Alexi Point Airfield and Naval Air Facility Attu are established on Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, just seven days after the island was declared secured.

USA: The Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet established a project for airborne test, by Commander Fleet Air, West Coast, of high velocity, "forward shooting" rockets. These rockets, which had nearly double the velocity of those tested earlier at Dahlgren, had been developed by a rocket section, led by Dr. C. C. Lauritsen, at the California Institute of Technology under National Defense Research Committee auspices and with Navy support. This test project, which was established in part on the basis of reports of effectiveness in service of a similar British rocket, completed its first airborne firing from a TBF of a British rocket on 14 July and of the CalTech round on 20 August. The results of these tests were so favorable that operational squadrons in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets were equipped with forward firing rockets before the end of the year.

1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 11 B-24s bomb Wuntho and Kalemyo; 9 B-25s hit the Wuntho-Shwebo railroad and bridge at Thityabin; other B-25s continue flying ammunition to Imphal, India; and a few P-51s hit Lachigahtawng.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 10 B-25s bomb Lashio and targets of opportunity along the Salween front; 3 B-25s and 15 fighter-bombers bomb tank concentrations at Taying, destroy several locomotives at Linfen, and pound railroad yards at Chenghsien; and P-40s and B-25s strafe sampans at Fort Bayard and sink a schooner off Nampang Island. 2 rocket-firing P-40s damage a processing building at the carbide mines at Na Duonp, French Indochina.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Makin bomb Ponape Island.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): All scheduled strikes in the Rabaul area of New Britain Island are weathered out. P-39s and P-38s hit several targets of opportunity on Bougainville Island, including occupied areas at Monoitu.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25s bomb Biak Island, hitting pun positions near Bosnik, the airstrip at Sorido, and Borokoe road; A-20s hit shipping in the Manokwari area; B-25s blast supply areas near the Orai River; fighter-bombers and A-20s continue pounding the Wewak-Hansa Bay coast. Thirteenth Air Task Force B-24s hit various targets in Truk Atoll (weather permits only 10 of the 48-airplane force to reach the target area). Lost is P-40N piloted by Todd.

NEW GUINEA: Mikmer Air Field on Biak Island is captured.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 435:
Guam Island was bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators and Liberator search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two during daylight on June 5 (West Longitude Date). Antiaircraft fire ranged from moderate to intense. Our force was not attacked by enemy aircraft. All of our planes returned.
Nauru Island was bombed on June 5 by Mitchell bombers of the Seventh Army Air Force and Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two. The barracks area, phosphate plant, and gun positions were principal targets.
Ponape Island was attacked by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells on June 5. Antiaircraft fire was meager.
On June 4 Mille Atoll in the Marshalls was attacked by Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing. Runways were principal targets. Light caliber antiaircraft fire was intense.
A search plane of Fleet Air Wing Two sighted a group of small enemy cargo ships proceeding northwest of Truk on June 5, and attacked and damaged one of the vessels. Another search plane shot down an enemy torpedo bomber west of Truk on June 5

1945