SATURDAY, 22 APRIL 1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A weather sortie is aborted soon after take off
due to weather.
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 B-25s hit Kamaing while 5 B-25s
and 6 P-51s attack ammunition and other supplies at Hopin; 3 B-25s and 4 P-51s
hit a village NE of Bhamo while 7 P-51s attack Gokteik Viaduct. Detachment of
24th Combat Mapping Squadron, Tenth Air Force, operating from Jorhat with F-7s returns to base at Guskhara.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 6 B-24s claim 4 freighters
and a gunboat sunk near Cap-Saint-Jacques and 1 other knocks out a bridge SW
of Vinh. P-40s on armed reconnaissance over N Burma destroy ten boxcars and a
truck north of Lashio.
PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): During the night of 21/22 Apr,
B-24s from Kwajalein bomb Wotje; other B-24s from Kwajalein follow
with another raid on Wotje during the day. B-25s from Tarawa, using Majuro as a shuttle base for rearming, bomb Jaluit, Maloelap and Mille.
SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 40 B-25s bomb supply areas at Ratawul and Talili Bay, pound Keravat and hit
the area between Rapopo and Cape Gazelle; and 40+ fighter-bombers attack the
runway and gun positions at Rapopo while 9 strike Lakunai Airfield. During the
night of 22/23 April, seventeen B-24s bomb Dublon, Param, and Eten at Truk.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 20+ B-24s bomb airstrips on Noemfoor. 80+ B-24s and A-20s hit Boram Airfield, But Airfield and other targets in the Wewak area; 100+ B-24s and B-25s pound targets along Hansa Bay. All through the day B-25s and fighter-bombers, in flights of
one to twenty plus aircraft, attack areas around Hansa Bay, Wewak, Bogia, Madang, and
many other points along the north and east coast of New Guinea; many of the strikes
indirectly support HQ 375th Troop Carrier Group moves from Port Moresby to Nadzab. Lost is P-47D pilot McDonough (KIA).
US Army: "Operation Reckless"
amphibious landings at Humbolt Bay and Tanahmerah Bay near Hollandia. To the east, "Operation Persecution" lands at Aitape. Both operations are to capture airfields and island hop close to the Philippines and bypass the Japanese garrison at Wewak.
USN: Task Force 58 (TF-58) under the command of Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher covers the "Operation Persecution" amphibious landings
at Aitape and "Operation Reckless" amphibious landings at Humbolt Bay and Tanahmerah Bay near Hollandia and supports troop
ashore for the next two days. Eight escort carriers from Task Force 78 (TF-78) under the command of Rear
Admiral R. E. Davison fly cover and anti-submarine patrols for the attack group during the approach and provided support for the landing
at Aitape. Carrier aircraft accounted for the destruction of 30 enemy aircraft
in the air and claim 103 on the ground. SB2C Helldivers from VB-2 attack Sawar Airfield. Reference: Dauntless Helldivers by Harold Buell page 269.
Lost is PB4Y-1 Liberator
32222 pilot Lt. William R. Doerr (KIA) on a patrol over Puluwat Atoll and was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and crashed off Alet Island.
USMC: Lost in bad weather is PBJ 35087 (MIA).
