WEDNESDAY, 26 APRIL 1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 3 B-24s bomb Akyab; 6 P-38s hit the
Tiddim road near Chindwin; 70 fighter-bombers and three B-25s pound numerous targets
at Mogaung, Kamaing and several points in the N part of the Mogaung Valley;
in Mandalay and the surrounding area, 9 B-24s bomb railroad yards and engine
sheds, and 9 P-38s hit stores and hangars.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In Burma, P-40s on armed reconnaissance from Lashio to Man Kat cause considerable damage; 2 trucks, a warehouse, a water
tank, and 2 locomotives are destroyed, gun positions and a bridge are strafed
and a Japanese-occupied building is left in flames.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Twentieth Air Force): Japanese fighters make their first
interception of B-29s as they are flying over the Hump; the brief confrontation
results in no losses on either aide.
PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-24s, having landed at Los Negros after bombing Guam on 25 Apr, hit Ponape and return to Kwajalein. B-25s based on Makin hit Jaluit and Wotje.
SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 24
B-25s bomb the runway and dispersal area at Lakunai Airfield; and 35 fighter-bombers
pound Tobera Airfield. 8 P-40s attack occupied areas along bays of Tabut
and Wariki, Bougainville.
USN: Avengers from VT-305 bomb the runway at Vunakanau Airfield.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 120+ B-25s and
A-20s pound the Wewak area, hitting Wewak Airfield, But Airfield, Dagua Airfield and Boram Airfield,
and supply areas, troops, and several small villages. 13 B-24s bomb Awar
Point,
20 P-39s and P-47s attack bridges and targets of opportunity near Madang and
8 P-39s attack roads, villages, and supply dump near Bunabun Harbor; a B-25
on reconnaissance sinks a lugger in the Sepik River; and Allied ground forces
take Hollandia and occupy Alexishafen.
The new US airbase at Tadji Airfield near Aitape is up and running only two days after
the US landings on the site. This location allows ground based air cover for
the entire New Guinea region.
RNZAF: Avengers attack Vunakanau Airfield. Lost is TBF Avenger NZ2507 (MIA).
RAAF: Lost is Boomerang A46-119 pilot F/O Lindsay Alfred James Dann (KIA) and Boomerang A46-148 pilot F/O Keith Hindmarsh (KIA).
Australian Army: 30th Battalion advanced northward on the north coast road and occupies Alexishafen and Alexishafen Airfield. In the area, large quantities of stores and undamaged equipment were captured.
