June 3, 1944
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SATURDAY, 3 JUNE 1944

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

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 15 B-25s pound the Imphal-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 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 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.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25s, A-20s and B-24s hit Timoeka Airfield and nearby villages, shipping off Manokwari, Seroei positions north of Mokmer Airfield, Sorido Airfield and Kamiri Airfield; P-38s and P-47s battle fighters over Biak and over the Babo area, lost is P-38J 43-28516 (MIA); 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; 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.