March 19, 1943
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

FRIDAY, 19 MARCH 1943

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) All missions are cancelled due to weather except local fighter patrols. HQ XI Bomber Command is activated on Adak Island.

BURMA AND INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 8 B-25's score 4 direct hits on the bridge at Myitnge, rendering it unserviceable. A single P-40 uses a 1,000 pound bomb against the bridge near Mogaung in a test to see if the fighter can carry such "blockbusters" and deliver them effectively. Despite negligible damage, suffered by the target, both the carrying and releasing of the bomb are considered successful.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) In French Indochina, 12 B-25's, with an escort of 6 P-40's, bomb the power plant and railroad yards at Lao Kay. The P-40's strafe the target area and a barracks s few miles down the Red River.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) B-17's and B-24's on armed reconnaissance bomb Kahili Airfield and Ballale Airfield.

USN: During the night of March 19, 1943–March 20, 1943 forty-two Navy and Marine aircraft took off from Henderson Filed to lay mines in the Kahili (Buin)-Tonolai area of southern Bougainville. This mission begins mine laying operations by aircraft in the South Pacific (SOPAC).

USMC: TBF Avengers from Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 143 (VMTB-143) led by Major John W. Sapp conducts the first aerial mine-laying mission in the Kahili (Buin)-Tonolai area off southern Bougainville.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) A-20's pound forces in the Mubo area while B-25's bomb a submarine and barges off Lae. B-24's hit Amboina. Single B-17s strike Arawe, Gasmata, Cape Gloucester, barges off Cape Gauffre and a cargo ship at Lorengau. A-20s damage Japanese submarine I-176 unloading at Lae but the submarine is able to return to Rabaul.

USN: USS Kingfish (SS-234) sinks Japanese army hospital ship Takachiko Maru in Formosa Strait, 26°00'N, 122°18'E. USS Sawfish (SS-276) damages Japanese guardboat Shinsei Maru, southeast of Japan, 32°54'N, 152°11'E. USS Wahoo (SS-238), operating in the Yellow Sea, sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Zogen Maru just east of Dairen at 38°29'N, 122°19'E and damages merchant cargo ship Kowa Maru, 38°27'N, 122°18'E.