SUNDAY, 9 JANUARY 1944
(CBI) BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 21 P-51's and A-36's attack the Loilaw, Burma area, severely damaging a bridge, hitting an ammunition storage building,
and scoring direct hits on large barracks.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In
China, 9 fighters strafe 6 steamboats and many smaller craft on the Yangtze
River at Puchi; 2 B-25's on a sea sweep bomb a 200' vessel S of Swatow,
reporting the ship destroyed. 8 fighter-bombers hit Sadon, Burma and in French Indochina, 4 bomb the Atson railroad yards and Lao Kay railroad station.
SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): B-25's
hit Buka Seaplane Base and the Kahili supply area;
fighters strafe the Cape Dunganon area and along the Ramusian River W of Teop.
7 squadrons of Allied fighters cover a USN dive bomber
strike on Tobera; 2 squadrons of B-24's pound Vunakanau Airfield. Six B-25's bomb
Taharai Airfield, New Ireland and afterwards some hit targets of opportunity. Transfers from Espiritu Santo to Munda Airfield: 23d and 72d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 5th Bombardment
Group (Heavy), with B-24's. 371st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) and 372d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 307th
Bombardment Group (Heavy), with B-24's.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): Fighters and
bombers attack Alexishafen, Madang, Bogadjim, Uligan Harbor, and the area E
of Saidor; and Cape Beechey is strafed by P-40's. Transfers in New Guinea: 36th
Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group, from Nadzab to Finschhafen with P-47's.
498th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 345th Bombardment Group (Medium), from Port Moresby to Dobodura with B-25's.
USN: Lost is PBY Catalina 08436 (POW/MIA) and F6F Hellcat 25853 (MIA).
RNZAF: Lost is P-40N NZ3121 (MIA).
