December 3, 1944
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SUNDAY, 3 DECEMBER 1944

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, five B-24s place delayed action bombs near Pengpu bridge; 4 B-25s and 10 P-51s bomb a storage area at Sintsiang; 67 fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance blast trucks, railroad targets, warehouses, shipping and other targets of opportunity at Wanling, Burma, and in China, Loyang, Yuncheng, Hei-Shih Kuan, Wuhu, and particularly in areas around Shihhweiyao and from Hengyang to Siangtan and Lingling.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 32 P-47s continue close support of ground forces attacking Bhamo; 18 others damage road bridges at Hay-ti and Tonbo and 6 attack several railroad bridges in N Burma; 4 drop delay-fuse bombs on the Myitson ferry landing; 30+ fighter-bombers hit troop and equipment concentrations, fuel and other supplies, artillery, ammunition dumps, and general town areas in or near Hopaw, Loipao, Man Kat, Namhpai, and Indaw; 9 strafe targets of opportunity along the Shwebo-Wuntho rail line; 4 B-25s during the night of 3/4 Dec, destroy a train on the Tangon railroad bridge and attack several other targets of opportunity. 323 transport sorties are flown to forward bases and frontline areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Seventeen B-24s from Guam pound Iwo Jima; seven others, escorting photo aircraft over the Bonins and Kazan, bomb Haha Jima and Iwo Jima. B-24s on snooper missions from the Mariana during the night of 3/4, continue to bomb Iwo Jima.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 10: 86 Mariana based B-29s are dispatched to attack the Musashino aircraft plant and docks and urban areas in Tokyo; 60 B-29s hit the primary target and 15 hit alternate targets; they claim 10-11-18 Japanese aircraft; 5 B-29s are lost including: B-29 "Rosalia Rocket" 42-24656,

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Major B-24 strikes include raids against Malimpoeng and Mandai on Celebes Island. B-25s pound 4 airfields on Halmahera Island while A-20s attack Point Noejew, New Guinea. In the Philippine Islands, fighter-bombers hit a storage area at Palompon on Leyte and airfields near Masbate.

USN: During the Battle of Ormoc Bay sunk by a torpedo is USS Cooper DD-695.

RNZAF: Lost is F4U NZ5464 pilot FSgt Floyd J. Cousins (MIA) on a strike mission.