February 3, 1944
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

THURSDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 1944

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 P-38s attack bridges, encampments, and buildings along the Prome-Taungup road; 1 bridge is knocked out and another damaged; a tugboat is sunk at Akyab; 14 A-36s and a B-25 attack troops and camp area at Kumnyen and Lalawng Ga, and hit a motor pool and repair depot at Shingban; 16 P-51s hit an encampment at Sawnghka.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): P-40s from Makin bomb and strafe Mille.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): Nearly 100 B-24s and B-25s, supported by P-38s, P-40s and P-47s, pound airfields in the Wewak area; about 80 aircraft are destroyed on the ground and in the air; 41 B-25 strafers from 345th BG strike Dagua Airfield. 30 B-25 strafers from 38th BG strike But Airfield. A-20s attack Alexishafen and the Hansa Bay areas; P-39s and B-25s on armed reconnaissance hit trucks at Erima, barges on the New Britain coast, shipping in the northern Bismarck Sea, and Momote and Hyane Harbor. Transfers in New Guinea: HQ 3d Bombardment Group from Dobodura to Nadzab; 25th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, from Brisbane to Lae with F-5s, first mission on 5 Feb; 673d Bombardment Squadron, 417th Bombardment Group moves from Cape Sudest to Dobodura with A-20s, first mission on March 25, 1944.

USMC: During the night, two PB4Y-1 Liberators from VMD-254 Major James Christensen and Capitan James Yawn took off from Stirling Airfield on a photographic reconnaissance of Truk on a 12 hour flight of 1,000 miles. Inbound, the pair became separated and arrive at dawn on February 4, 1944.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): Two strikes against Rabaul. The first strike was P-40s and USMC F4U Corsairs covering 34 SBDs including 12 SBDs from VMSB-341. plus 23 TBFs including 18 from TBFs from VMTB escorted by 56 fighters including eight F4U Corsairs from Marine Fighting Squadron 215 (VMF-215) on a strtike against Tobera Airfield. Over the target, they explode a parked plane and trucks were strafed but are intercepted by approximately fifteen Zeros flying in groups of three to six. The escorts claim seven Zeros shot down. Two TBFs were damaged. Two Corsairs were lost including F4U Corsair 56039 pilot 1st Lt. Robert M. Hanson (MIA) shot down by anti-aircraft fire while strafing.

The second strike was fifteen B-24s bombing Lakunai Airfield escorted by fourteen P-38 and seventeen F4U Corsairs. Intercepted by roughly 25-30 Zeros that made aggressive overhead runs, resulting in head-on passes that damaged three B-24s. The escorts claimed five Zeros shot down including four by P-38s.

IJN: At Rabaul, 50 Zeros scramble to intercept the first strike. The second strike is intercepted by 55 Zeros. Together, they claim a total of 22 shot down for the loss of one Zero.

References
History of the Marine Corps Aviation in World War II page 205-206
South Pacific Air War (2024) pages 531 (February 3, 1944), 581 (footnotes 44, 45)