FRIDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER 1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-25's bomb Katha; twenty-three B-24s haul
fuel to Kunming; large-scale troop carrier operations to many CBI terminals
continue.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, Eighteen B-24s attack five railroad
bridges at Giap Nat, Dui Giang, Hue, Trach, Duc Tho, and Quang Tri, knocking
out the Quang Tri bridge. Three B-24s claim a destroyer sunk south of Hong Kong. In
China, Five B-25s destroy a bridge near Kiyang, bomb Hengyang and Lingling, and
damage a bridge near Hengyang; 100+ P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance
hit a large variety of targets of opportunity including troops, river shipping,
bridges, airstrips, supplies, trucks, and railroad targets over the vast SE
China areas at Lingling, Kiyang, Tunganhsien,Hengyang, Lingkuantien, and Leiyang;
HQ 23d Fighter Group moves from Kweilin to Liuchow.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Twentieth Air Force): Ninety Chengtu based B-29s
bomb the Showa Steel Works at Anshan, 3 others bomb other targets in Anshan,
5 hit Sinsiang railroad yards, and 3 others hit various targets of opportunity;
Major General Curtis Emerson LeMay, Commanding General XX Bomber Command, accompanies
the mission. During the night of 8/9 September Japanese bombers attack HQ, storage
areas, and parked aircraft at Hsinching damaging a B-29, a C-46,
and wounding two soldiers.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Saipan bomb Iwo Jima and Pagan and hit shipping at Chichi Jima. B-25s hit Ponape and B-24s from Kwajalein bomb Wotje.
USN: Ditched off Yap is F6F 58140 (pilot rescued). Over Palau, VT-18 Avengers bomb Japanese positions on Babelthuap Island. After bombing an ammunition dump, TBM Avenger 16923 (pilot POW/executed, crew MIA) was damaged by the explosion and crashed.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s pound Langoan
Airfield. On Halmahera, B-25s hit Galela Airfield and Tobelo while B-24s
bomb Lolobata and P-47s attack Kaoe Airfield and AA positions, Djailolo Airfield and barges at Point Lelo; P-38s hit Boela while B-25s hit small
shipping at Ceram. In New Guinea, B-24s bomb Langgoer Airfield, Faan Airfield, Letfoean Airfield,
and Toeal; fighter-bombers and A-20s hit airstrips and targets of opportunity
at Efman, Samate, Babo, Urarom, Manokwari, Moemi, and Ransiki; P-39s strafe the Wewak coastal area;
and the 673d and 674th Bombardment Squadrons, 417th Bombardment Group move from Saidor to Kornasoren with A-20s.
USMC: F4U Corsair piloted by Charles A. Lindbergh armed with a single 2,000 pound bomband released the bomb over Wotje Island to test the modifications and prove the Corsair could drop larger loads.
USN: The Third Fleet began a probing operation in the Western Carolines and the Philippines with strikes against Yap and the Palau Islands (7 and 8 September),
