TUESDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 1945
SEAC: Because of successes in Burma, Adm Mountbatten issues directives calling for formulation, as soon as possible, of plans to capture Rangoon and later Singapore.
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 20 P-51s pound and considerably
damage Peking Airfield, claiming 7 aircraft destroyed; other fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance hit several targets of opportunity
(mainly rail and river traffic) around Tsingpu, Wuhu, Suchow, Hsiangcheng, Ichang, Chingmen, and Yungning. Fighter-bombers sink numerous river craft
on the Mekong River from Wan Mai-Lo to Nguen, Burma.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 86 P-47s and P-38s and 25
B-25s pound troop concentrations, supplies, and AA positions in the Lashio area; 4 P-38s damage the approach to Mong Tong bridge. Transports complete
514 sorties, carrying men and supplies to forward areas.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Nine
B-24s from Guam hit AA defenses and radar and radio installations on Iwo
Jima; 10 more bomb Ototo Jima and the the town of Omura
on Kyushu. One B-24 from Angaur Airfield bombs Koror. Two B-24s hit Bulan Airfield and 19 B-24s bomb Corregidor. During the night of 6/7 Feb, eight B-24s from Guam fly
individual strikes against Iwo
Jima airfields.
USMC: PBJs from Eniwetok attack Palikir Airfield Number
2 on Ponape. Shot down is by anti-aircraft fire is PBJ-1H "Love Bug" 35275 (MIA).
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s
bomb Corregidor gun positions; B-25s and P-38s hit Echague and a camp on
the Rosario-Baguio road;
A-20s attack gun positions and defenses at Nichols
Field in support of ground forces and bomb Caballo. B-24s and B-25s
fly coastal sweeps hitting various targets at Divilacan Bay, Hondagua, and
the Bicol Peninsula. A-20s attack Fabrica Airfield. B-24s with P-38 support hit Manggar and Sepinggang Airfield.
The detachment of the 25th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Photographic
Reconnaissance Group operating from Dulag with
F-5s, returns to base at San
Jose. The 342d Fighter Squadron and 460th Fighter Squadron, 348th Fighter Group move from Tanauan to San Marcelino with P-47s.
RAAF: Lost is Boomerang A46-216 (MIA) crashed on Bougainville.
U.S. Army: GHQ SWPA directs Eighth Army to plan for Operation VICTOR III against Palawan and for VICTOR IV against Sulu Archipelago.
On Luzon, In U.S. Sixth Army's XIV Corps area, 37th Div and 1st Cav Div have cleared most of Manila N of Pasig R. 40th Div is ordered to speed action to clear right rear of corps. 160th Inf, with tank and air support, secures foothold on McSevney Pt, W nose of Storm King Mountain. In I Corps area, Japanese continue stubborn defense of Munoz, target of very heavy arty concentration, and Lupao. Enemy withdrawal routes from Munoz are cut. 32d Div suspends attack up Villa Verde Trail while consolidating current positions about 1,500 yards N of Santa Maria. In XI Corps area, 149th Inf of 38th Div starts W toward Zigzag Pass, where enemy positions are worked over thoroughly by aircraft, now based on San Marcelino airstrip, and by arty. 152d Inf continues eastward and penetrates enemy line late in day. 151st relieves 34th Inf.
In U.S. Eighth Army area, 511th Para Inf of 11th Airborne Division gains about 500 yards toward Manila. 188th Inf moves forward in preparation for attack on Nichols Field.
U.S. Navy: Submarine Pampanito (SS-383), attacking Japanese convoy, sinks merchant tanker Engen Maru about 200 miles northeast of Singapore, 06°22'N, 106°00'E.
Submarine Spadefish (SS-411) sinks Japanese merchant passenger/cargo ship Shohei Maru off Port Arthur, Korea, 38°46'N, 121°28'E.
Navy PB4Ys attack Japanese convoy in the Sakishima- Okinawa area, sinking small cargo ship No.77 Ume Maru.
USAAF planes sink Japanese cargo ship No.3 Kinyu Maru at 12°50'N, 109°23'E.
Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.12 is damaged by aircraft, 36 miles northwest of Chichi Jima. Japanese tanker Obi Maru is sunk by mine laid by USAAF B-29 (20th Bomber Command) on January 25, 1945 in Johore Strait, 01°09'N, 103°36'E.
Japanese battleship/carrier Ise is damaged by mine off Singapore.
SS Peter Silvester is torpedoed and sunk by U-862 in the Indian Ocean at roughly Lat 34°19'S Long 99°37'E about 900 miles west of Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia; 7 of the 26-man Armed Guard perish with the ship.
