FRIDAY, 18 AUGUST 1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 P-47s and P-51s knock out a road
bridge, attack town areas, and hit general targets of opportunity in the Bhamo
area; 4 P-47s knock out both approaches to a bridge in Hsenwi; a troop concentration
in Moda is pounded by 15 P-47s and P-51s and an A-36; 39 P-47s, P-40s and P-51s closely support ground forces in various Pinbaw area sectors;
Eight P-47s sweep Lashio Airfield, strafing several targets of opportunity.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 B-25s bomb storage areas at Mangshih;
6 pound a storage area at Changsha; 60+ P-40s, P-51s, and P-38s on armed reconnaissance
attack troops, town areas, bridges, and other targets of opportunity in E Burma; Lashio; the Tengchung, Lungling, and Mangshih areas; and in the Tungting
Lake-C Yangtze River area at points including Yoyang, Chaling, Yuhsien, Hengshan,
Chuchou, and Hsuchang.
PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): P-47s from Saipan bomb
and strafe Pagan.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Armed reconnaissance
missions continue over wide stretches of the SWPA including Ambon-Ceram,
Palau Islands, and Halmahera Islands; several targets of opportunity are attacked.
In New Guinea, fighter-bombers and A-20s pound troops and a storage area at Suain and hit defensive lines near Sarmi. The detachment of the 419th Night
Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, operating from Los Negros with
P-61s, returns to base on Guadalcanal. Lost is F-5 44-23227 (pilot 2nd Lt. Arthur F. Eastman MIA).
IJN: Taiyo is sunk by a torpedo fired by USS Rasher (SS-269). Natori is sunk by torpedoes fired by USS Hardhead (SS-365) east of San Bernardino Strait.
