FRIDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER 1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-25's bomb Katha; twenty-three B-24s haul
fuel to Kunming; large-scale troop carrier operations to many CBI terminals
continue.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, Eighteen B-24s attack five railroad
bridges at Giap Nat, Dui Giang, Hue, Trach, Duc Tho, and Quang Tri, knocking
out the Quang Tri bridge. Three B-24s claim a destroyer sunk south of Hong Kong. In
China, Five B-25s destroy a bridge near Kiyang, bomb Hengyang and Lingling, and
damage a bridge near Hengyang; 100+ P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance
hit a large variety of targets of opportunity including troops, river shipping,
bridges, airstrips, supplies, trucks, and railroad targets over the vast SE
China areas at Lingling, Kiyang, Tunganhsien,Hengyang, Lingkuantien, and Leiyang;
HQ 23d Fighter Group moves from Kweilin to Liuchow.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Twentieth Air Force): Ninety Chengtu based B-29s
bomb the Showa Steel Works at Anshan, 3 others bomb other targets in Anshan,
5 hit Sinsiang railroad yards, and 3 others hit various targets of opportunity;
Major General Curtis Emerson LeMay, Commanding General XX Bomber Command, accompanies
the mission. During the night of 8/9 September Japanese bombers attack HQ, storage
areas, and parked aircraft at Hsinching damaging a B-29, a C-46,
and wounding two soldiers.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Saipan bomb Iwo Jima and Pagan and hit shipping at Chichi Jima. B-25s hit Ponape and B-24s from Kwajalein bomb Wotje.
USN: Ditched off Yap is F6F 58140 pilot Ensign Robert E. Slingerland (rescued). Over Palau, VT-18 Avengers bomb Japanese positions on Babelthuap Island. After bombing an ammunition dump, TBM Avenger 16923 pilot Lt(jg) John J. Savage (POW, executed, crew MIA) was damaged by the explosion and crashed.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s pound Langoan
Airfield. On Halmahera, B-25s hit Galela Airfield and Tobelo while B-24s
bomb Lolobata and P-47s attack Kaoe Airfield and AA positions, Djailolo Airfield and barges at Point Lelo; P-38s hit Boela while B-25s hit small
shipping at Ceram. In New Guinea, B-24s bomb Langgoer Airfield, Faan Airfield, Letfoean Airfield,
and Toeal; fighter-bombers and A-20s hit airstrips and targets of opportunity
at Efman, Samate, Babo, Urarom, Manokwari, Moemi, and Ransiki; P-39s strafe the Wewak coastal area;
and the 673d and 674th Bombardment Squadrons, 417th Bombardment Group move from Saidor to Kornasoren with A-20s.
USMC: F4U Corsair piloted by Charles A. Lindbergh armed with a single 2,000 pound bomband released the bomb over Wotje Island to test the modifications and prove the Corsair could drop larger loads.
USN: The Third Fleet began a probing operation in the Western Carolines and the Philippines with strikes against Yap and the Palau Islands (7 and 8 September),
