SATURDAY, 24 JULY 1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) Sixty-two P-40's fly nine missions to Kiska, two of them with Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) pilots, bombing Kiska Airfield runway and score many hits. An AA battery takes a direct hit and explodes. AA guns are strafed on North Head and Little Kiska. Intense AA fire downs P-40 pilot Levi (KIA).
USAAF: Crashed is B-17F 42-30488 pilot 2nd Lt. James P. Ticksman (KIA).
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force) 8 B-24's from Midway attack Wake, bombing oil storage, barracks, and a gun emplacement. 20-30 Zekes attack the formation; 9 fighters are claimed destroyed; 1 B-24 is lost in a collision with a falling Japanese fighter.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-25's bomb Lautem, Fuiloro, Koepang, and Tenau on Timor Island, surrounding areas at Lae Airfield, and attack barges in the Wapelik and Cape Busching area of New Britain and villages on the Itni River on New Britain.
RAAF: Beaufighters from No. 31 Squadron strike Taberfane Seaplane Base. Lost is Beaufighter A19-118 pilot F/O Barrie W. Gillespie (MIA).
JAAF: Shot down is Ki-61 Tony near Bena Bena.
SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) 48 fighters join US Navy and Marine dive bombers in support of ground forces in the Bairoko area. Later in the day gun positions at Bibolo Hill near Munda are hit, along with other targets.
RNZAF: Lost on a patrol is Hudson NZ2021 pilot F/Lt William G. C. Allison (MIA).
U.S. Army: On New Georiga, XIV Corps prepares for assault on Munda on 25th. 161st Inf, attached to 37th Div, runs into tenacious opposition as it tries in vain to reach line of departure.
USN: Destroyers bombard Bairoko Harbor on New Georgia.
USS Tinosa (SS-283) torpedoes Japanese oiler No. 3 Tonan Maru, 06°56'N, 147°52'E; towed to Truk, the oiler is utilized as a floating oil tank. Tinosa, however, fires 15 torpedoes; 13 hit but only two explode! The incident highlights torpedo exploder problems that have plagued the submarine force since the beginning of the war.
Japanese army cargo ship Mie Maru is sunk by mine, Babo harbor, 02°31'S, 133°26'E.
