September 5, 1944
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

TUESDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 1944

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): Eight B-25s pound targets at Indaw. Twenty-one B-24s fly fuel to Kunming and numerous other cargo and troop carrier sorties are flown to various CBI terminals.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, twenty-five B-25s pounding Kiyang and Hengyang cause considerable damage in both towns and at the Hengyang Airfield. Six other B-25s attack trucks and other targets of opportunity at the Siangtan ferry crossing near Hengyang and Kiyang, in the Lingling and Yoyang areas, and at Samshui; 2 more B-25s bomb Kowloon shipyards; 26 P-40s blast concentrations of river junks, troops and horses in the Kiyang-Wangyang area; and other fighter-bombers, operating individually or in flights of 2-10 aircraft, hit a variety of targets of opportunity throughout the Hengyang, Kiyang, Yungfengshih, and Lishui area.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 20 B-24s from Saipan bomb Iwo Jima and two B-24s on armed reconnaissance hit Marcus and Yap. P-47s make strafing and rocket attacks on AA positions on Pagan. B-25s attack Nauru and Ponape.

[SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s hit Peleliu Airfield. Small-scale B-24 strikes hit Kendari Airfield while fighter-bombers attack Galela Airfield and nearby villages on Halmahera. Nearly sixty B-24s blast Langoan Airfield while a sizeable B-25 force bombs Djailolo Airfield, several villages, and Kaoe AA positions on Halmahera . In New Guinea, fighter-bombers hit Soepiori Peninsula villages and Waren Airfield and Moemi Airfield; the 405th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Nadzab to Biak with B-25s; and the 547th Night Fighter Squadron, Fifth Air Force, arrives at Oro Bay from the US with P-38s and P-61s.

USAAF: P-38J 43-28918 pilot Captain Kenneth C. Sparks and P-38F Lighting 43-2049 pilot 1st Lt. Syney A. Story suffered a midair collison over over Muroc Bombing & Gunnery with both pilots killed.