November 17, 1944
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

FRIDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 1944

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Four B-24s bomb Suribachi Airfield; two fighters intercept and damage one B-24 which force lands on Kamchatka.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, three B-24s bomb Kowloon Docks in Hong Kong; 15 B-25s, in flights of 2 or 3 each, attack gun positions, storage areas, and village and town areas N of Chuchou, W of Nanyo, and at Chefang and Nanyo and S of Hpalen, Burma; also a bridge at Tingka is knocked out; 100+ P-40s and P-51s hit targets of opportunity throughout SE and SW China, concentrating on the Mangshih and Changsha areas.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 33 P-47s hit troop and vehicle concentrations and supply areas at Manlu, Loi-Lum, Nawngmoloi, and Kyaukme; 10 P-47s support ground forces in the N Burma railroad corridor near Meza; 16 others sweep the rail line from Hsipaw to Sedaw hitting rolling stock, gun positions and other targets of opportunity while 3 bomb the Meza railroad station; 16 others strafe airfields at Nawnghkio, Anisakan, and Onbauk; nine B-25s bomb bridges at Lashio, knocking out a bypass bridge and damaging others; several machine gun positions are silenced in the bridge area; transports continue to operate on large scale, flying 266 sorties to forward areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Fifteen B-24s, flying a shipping strike out of Saipan, attack vessels SW of Muko Jima Island and the attack harbor and town of Okimura.

PROJECT MIKE continues as B-24s from 42d Bombardment Squadron lay 8 mines in effective locations in Futami Ko, Chichi Jima.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb Legaspi Airfield; B-24s bomb Sasa and Likanan; other B-24s and B-25s fly heckling missions over the Central Philippines, Mindanao, and NE Celebes B-25s continue to support ground forces on Mapia. HQ 317th Troop Carrier Group moves from Hollandia to Leyte.

USN: USS Gunnel SS-253 sinks Hiyodori in the South China Sea.