MONDAY, 26 MARCH 1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kuriles, two missions, each by four B-25s,
attempt to bomb canneries on the Masugawa River and Hayakegawa River; enemy fighters
drive off the Masugawa mission and the other mission cannot find the target
due to weather. Four B-24s bomb the Kataoka Naval Base on Shimushu.
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 15 B-25s and 80+ fighter-bombers,
operating individually or in small flights, continue to disrupt mobility and
supply lines throughout S and E China, hitting numerous targets of opportunity
chiefly trucks, tanks, supply areas, horses, troops, artillery pieces; several
of the fighter-bombers also considerably damage Puchou Airfield.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 28 P-47s and 10 B-25s operating
over and behind the C Burma battlelines attack artillery positions, troop concentrations,
road communications, and supply areas; 522 air supply sorties are being completed
throughout the. day.
Seventh Air Force: During the night of 26/27 March, three B-24s from Guam on individual snooper strikes hit Chichi Jima. Nine B-24s from Guam pound Marcus. The enemy makes a final attack on Iwo Jima in an early morning attempt to infiltrate a bivouac area. The capture and occupation phase of the island ends at 0800 hours when Major General James E Chaney becomes Commander. VII Fighter Command: 21 P-51s from Iwo Jima bomb and strafe Susaki Airfield while 16 bomb and strafe weather and radar stations and the town of Kitamura. HQ 21st Fighter Group arrives at Motoyama No. 1 (South Field) from Hawaii; the 72d Fighter Squadron and 531st Fighter Squadron, 21st Fighter Group move from Mokuleia Field to South Field with P-51s.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers bomb Legaspi and targets in the area including a fuel dump at Camalig; fighter-bombers hit numerous targets in the N at Solvec Cove, Baguio, Mankayan, Sante Fe, and other areas; in the SW, A-20s and fighter-bombers support US ground forces, hitting Ternate, and towns in Tayabas and Batangas Provinces. B-24s and A-20s hit Cebu City and E coast targets on Cebu. B-24s hit Takao. The 6th Combat Cargo Squadron, 2d Combat Cargo Group, moves from Biak to Dulag with C-46s. The 70th Bombardment Squadron moves from Morotai to Puerto Princesa Airfield.
RAN: HMAS Terka (TR) sinks in Madang Harbor.
U.S. Navy:
In the early morning U.S. Navy (USN) Task Force 74 (TF-74) under the command of Admiral Berkey arrive from Leyte and bombarded the beaches with gunfire from three light cruisers and six destroyers
U.S. Army:
At 8:30am LVTs landed the U.S. Army
U.S. Army Americal Division, 132nd Infantry Regiment and 182d Infantry Regiment on the beach north of Talisay and began detonating land mines that disabled 15 LVTs and the advance halted with 5 KIA and 15 WIA from land mines. . Although the first wave included mine disposal teams, the mine field was too large and complex. Despite the chaos caused by the mine field on the beach, the Japanese had withdrawn from the area and were unable to exploit the confusion or inflict further damage and began to advance northward towards Cebu City.
