THURSDAY, 19 OCTOBER 1944
ALASKA: A single B-24 bombs Kurabu Cape on Paramushiru.
(CBI) BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 10 P-47s blast approaches
to 2 bridges in the Mawlu area and 15 support ground forces in the Mohnyin
area,
hitting the village of Nyaunggaing and damaging a nearby bridge and pounding
the railroad station at Kadu. In India, a detachment of the 1st Combat Cargo
Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, begins operating from Hathazari, India with
C-47s (squadron is based at Sylhet, India).
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In
China, 100+ P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance over S China hit numerous
targets of opportunity from the Tungting Lake area to Luichow Peninsula;
the fighter-bombers concentrate on rivercraft, troop compounds, and building
areas;
the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth AF, based at Chanyi,
sends a detachment to operate from Chihkiang with F-5s.
PACIFIC OCEAN AREA: B-24s on armed reconnaissance
from Saipan bomb a bridge,
a pier, and the town area on Yap.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: B-24s hit Parepare,
Celebes. Fighter-bombers hit Amboina and Boela Airfield and shipping from Zamboanga south into the Sulu-Mindanao area, pound the airfield
at Cebu, hit nearby shipping, and strafe Miti, Djailolo, and Hate Tabako. A-20s and fighter-bombers blast airfields at Urarom, Sagan, and Babo; the 13th Troop Carrier Squadron and 63d Troop Carrier Squadron, 403d
Troop Carrier Group cease operating from Wakde with C-47s and returns to base on Biak. Flying out of in the remote Kimberly region of Western Australia,
eighteen B-24's from 380th Bomb Group took off from Truscott Airfield to bomb the Japanese inter-island
shipping off Pare-Pare, Malili and Palopo.
USN: TG 38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) and TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) continue attacks on principal Japanese airfields near Manila and shipping in theharbor. Navy carrier-based planes sink army cargo ship Belgium Maru and merchant cargo ships Jogu Maru and Toshikawa Maru, 14°35'N, 120°55'E, and Kurugane Maru and Tsukubasan Maru, damage oiler Ondo (damaged by Bluefish in November 1943), and damage cargo ship Urado Maru so severely that that ship is run aground. TG 38.1 and TG 38.4 then proceed south to provide direct support for the landings at Leyte.
Carrier planes from escort carriers including USS Chenango (CVE-28) conduct fighter sweeps and bombing missions against Japanese airfields on Negros.
Lost is F6F Hellcat 42551 pilot
Ensign Jesse O. Kennedy Jr. (KIA) hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed in the sea off Saravia Airfield (Alicante).
Destroyer Ross (DD-563) is damaged by mine off Leyte at roughly Lat 10°17'N, Long 125°40'E.
Destroyer Aulick (DD-569) is damaged by shore battery at roughly Lat11°13'N, Long 125°02'E.
Seventh Fleet aircraft sink Japanese ships Kosei Maru, Kafuku Maru, Koei Maru, No.8 Kanekichi Maru, No.11 Akita Maru, and No.18 Taigyo Maru at Cebu.
Submarine Narwhal (SS-167) lands men and supplies on southwest coast of Negros, P.I.
Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific in two flights (one TDR each) conducted this date against Japanese gun positions west of Ballale. In the first, one drone misses its target during its run; in the second, the drone drops part of its ordnance (the two four-100-pound bomb clusters) on the target before it crashes. Destroyer escort Gilligan (DE-508) bombards Mille Atoll. USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese weather ship Shonan Maru in northern waters of Makassar Strait.
USMC: Lost is FG Corsair 14039 (MIA).
