March 23, 1944
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

THURSDAY, 23 MARCH 1944

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A detachment of the 11th Fighter Squadron, 343d Fighter Group, begins operating from Amchitka with P-40s and P-38s; the squadron is based on Adak.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In the Chin Hills region of Burma, 12 B-24s and 10 P-38s bomb Kalewa, and 9 B-25s attack Kaing and Shwebo; in the Katha area 12 P-51s bomb Naba Station while 12 others join 9 B-25s in attacking ammunition and gas dumps at Indaw; four P-40s bomb stores at Kamaing while 30+ other fighters fly armed reconnaissance over the Mogaung Valley in general; and 12 B-24s pound Moulmein jetty and attack Moulmein-Bangkok railroad targets, destroying 2 bridges, damaging several others, and scoring effective hits on 2 trains.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, B-25s on a railroad sweep north from Vinh destroy 2 engines and several boxcars at Van Trai Station yards and attack 3 bridges between Vinh and Thanh Hoa. HQ 312th Fighter Wing moves from Kunming to Chengtu.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Kwajalein bomb Wake; B-25s flying out of Eniwetok hit Ponape; and Tarawa based B-25s strike Maloelap and Jaluit, commencing a series of B-25 shuttle-missions between Tarawa or Makin and the USN's new base at Majuro which is used as the rearming base for the return strike.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 14 P-38s bomb targets of opportunity at Komaleai Point on Bougainville. Twenty-four B-25s hit Buka after weather prevented scheduled attacks on Rabaul. Fighters fly sweeps over Rabaul and general New Ireland area, and 12 P-40s bomb fuel dump at Keravia Bay; 15 B-24s out of 24 dispatched plow through the bad weather and bomb the Ratawul supply area.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): Nearly 100 B-24s, B-25s, A-20s and P-47s hit numerous targets in the Aitape, Wewak, Alexishafen, and Hansa Bay areas; and B-24s bomb Babo and during the night attack shipping in the Bismarck Sea. Twenty-nine P-40s attack Talasea and nearby bivouacs, including Gogosi.

Colgate University geology professor Harold Whitnail presents a proposal to the U.S. military that recommends bombing Japan's numerous volcanoes, theorizing that explosions might trigger eruptions. Little did he know, exactly a year earlier on March 23, 1943 a B-17 tried bombing Tuvuvur volcano near Rabaul without results.

On Luzon, Japanese Army Captain Ohto, the commander of the garrison at Tayug beheaded eighteen Filipino guerrillas, including one American.