July 20, 1942
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology
MONDAY, 20 JULY 1942
ALASKA (11th AF): Brigadier General William O. Butler moves advance HQ
to Umnak. Three B-17s bomb Kiska including the barracks area with incendiaries
and demolition bombs. 4 P-38s try to intercept 4 fighters reported by US Navy
(USN) aircraft but no contact is made.
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) (10th AF): CHINA AIR TASK
FORCE (CATF): 3 B-25s bomb docks and warehouses at Chinkiang, China on the Yangtze
River; 4 escorting P-40s strafe junks on the river. This is the last CATF bombing
raid of Jul. Detachments of 11th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th
Bombardment Group (Heavy), operating from Kweilin, Hengyang and Nanning with
B-25s return to base at Kunming.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th AF): Un it moves in Australia: 33d Bombardment
Squadron (Medium), 22d Bombardment Group (Medium) from Antil Plains to Woodstock with B-26s; 80th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group from Petrie to Port
Moresby with P-39s and P-400s (first mission is 22 Jul). Lost is P-39D Airacobra 41-6783 (survived)
RAAF: Parked Hudson A16-179 is destroyed during a Japanese air raid against 3 Mile Drome (Kila Kila).
|