THURSDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 1943
India: Airfield construction personnel begin arriving for development of India airfields to support offensive operations.
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): Twenty B-24's out of Nanumea bomb Maloelap
Atoll scoring hits on the landing ground and a cargo vessel.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 5 B-25's and 16 P-40's bomb Hanshow
and strafe 15-20 small boats N of the city; Two other B-25's attack the Amoy and Amoy Harbor; two direct hits are scored on a docked freighter. B-25s damage Japanese lighthouse tender Heicho Maru off Amoy.
SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): Twenty-five B-24's bomb Chabai and Buka; 20 B-25's of the 42nd BG hit Kahili Airfield. Lost is B-25 "Careless" (rescued). Six others B-25s bomb and strafe
a possible radio station at Mutupina Point; fighter patrols strafe Gazelle Harbor and Queen Carola Harbor, sinking a barge and damaging a schooner. The 371st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy),
307th Bombardment Group (Heavy), based on Espiritu Santo with
B-24's, begins operating from Guadalcanal.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): Colonel Neel E. Kearby becomes Commanding Officer of V Fighter Command. In New Guinea, 30+ B-25's,
B-26's, and A-20's bomb village of Kalasa; 15 A-20's and B-25's, with P-38's
escorting, hit stores and supplies in the Finschhafen area. 20+ B-24's, supported by P-38's, bomb Gasmata. 18 B-25's hit shipping at Halmahera. The 25th Liaison
Squadron, V Bomber Command, transfers from Sydney to Brisbane with L-5's. They will fly their first combat mission in
Feb 44.
U.S. Army: On Makin, RCT 165, less 3d Bn, leaves for Hawaii. 3d Bn and miscellaneous units are left behind to conduct minor mopping up operations and to support construction forces. Command is turned over to Col Clesen H. Tenney, Garrison Force commander. 27th Div casualties for Makin total 218, of whom 58 are killed and 8 die of wounds. Enemy casualties, aside from those subsequently inflicted during the mop-up, are estimated at 550, including 105 prisoners. Japanese submarine sinks escort carrier USS Liscome Bay off Makin; 644 persons aboard are lost.
USMC: 2 Marine RCT's (8th and 2d) leave for Hawaii. Embarking from Betio, 2d Bn of 6th Marines, guided by scouts of 2d Tank Bn, begins uneventful search for enemy on islands up the long eastern side of Tarawa Atoll.
Two regimental combat teams, the 2d and 8th Marines of the 2d Marine Division, departed Bairiki for the 2d Division's new base camp at Kamuela, Hawaii, The 2d Defense Battalion arrived at Tarawa Atoll from Samoa.
Major General Julian C. Smith, 2d Marine Division commander, directs Brigadier General Leo D. Hermle to seize and occupy Apamama Atoll with a landing force built around the 3d Battalion, 6th Marines. The 2d Battalion, 6th Marines started its long march up the atoll from Buota to mop up all remaining Japanese.
The 1st and 4th Platoons of the 3d Battalion, 10th Marines, scouted north to Ida Island, about halfway up the long side of the Atoll
3d Mar Div makes substantial progress, gaining commanding ground in Piva forks area. A Marine SBD Dauntless successfully forced lands at Torokina Airfield under construction but not yet completed.
USN: USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) is sunk by Japanese submarine I-175 roughly 20 miles southwest of Makin Island (Butaritari) at Lat 02°34'N, Long 172°30'E. I- 175 does not escape unscathed, however, for she undergoes six hours of counterattacks from escorts that drop 34 depth charges counted, six explode close enough to damage I-175 so that she cannot dive deep.
In successive separate attacks, USAAF B-24s and Navy PBYs damage Japanese light cruiser Yubari at Lat 04°20'S, Long 150°00'E, and 03°41'S, 150°15'E, respectively, as she attempts to transport soldiers and supplies to Garove. Damage prompts her to cancell the mission.
