FRIDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 1945
Yalta Conference: Argonaut ends after conferees have agreed to plan for an invasion of Japan after defeat of Germany. Defeat of Germany, it is now believed, will come about 1 July 1945. After Japanese will to resist has been weakened by air and naval blockade and intensive aerial bombardment, Japan itself will be invaded. The pace of the Pacific war, however, will be slowed until the capitulation of Germany. The Soviet Union, as a reward for intervention in the war against Japan will invade Manchuria.
Burma: In ALFSEA area, 15 Corps completes capture of Ramree Island.
China: Chinese SOS is organized.
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 8 fighters hit rail bridges in the Kiyang and Lukou areas, damaging 1 bridge; several trucks are strafed and destroyed; 3 fighters on a railroad sweep destroy several locomotives between Peking and Sinsiang; several other fighters bomb railroad yards at Kaifeng and the airfield at Sinsiang; Chinese-American Composite Wing (CACW) fighters make a surprise strike at Tsingtao Airfield, and claim about 100 aircraft destroyed and damaged, and also destroy several nearby locomotives.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, ten B-25s damage a bridge at Tonglau and destroy one bridge and damage another at Ke-hsi Mansam; two others pound trucks, gun positions, and buildings during a road sweep from Hsipaw
to Loilem to Lashio; 9 P-47s knock out a bridge at Bawgyo and damage another
at Inailong; 22 P-47s support ground forces in the Myitson area; troops, supplies, and communications are attacked at Tangtong, Man Mau, Se-u, Mansam, Panghai, Na-lang, and Man hpat by 40+ fighter-bombers. 479 transport sorties are flown to forward areas.
AAFPOA Seventh Air Force: 22 B-24s from Guam and Saipan bomb
airfields, defense and radar-radio installations and AA positions on Iwo
Jima; during the night of 9/10 Feb, 11 more B-24s from Saipan make
separate strikes against airfields and AA defenses. HQ 21st Fighter Group departs Hawaii for Iwo Jima. VI Air Service Area Command: The 311th Troop Carrier Squadron arrives at Kahuku, Hawaii from the U.S.
with C-47s (the squadron will perform aerial transportation in the C and W Pacific, Feb-2 Sep 45).
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 28: 29 XXI Bomber Command B-29s hit Moen for the second consecutive day, bombing Moen Airfield Number 2.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s fly
morning and afternoon raids against Corregidor gun positions; A-20s also hit Corregidor; Mariveles and the southern part of Bataan
Peninsula are pounded by B-24s and A-20s throughout the morning and afternoon;
B-25s and P-51s hit shipping near Legaspi and in San Miguel Bay and destroy
buildings at San
Fernando on Negros . In support of ground forces, A-24s and P-40s over Balete
Pass area attack bridges and roads. The 17th Photographic Reconnaissance
Squadron, Thirteenth AF, based at Morotai with
B-25s and F-5s, sends a detachment to operate from Dulag.
The 421st Night Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Wing, based at San Marcelino,
with P-38s and P-61s, sends a detachment to operate from Tacloban. Lost on a combat training mission is A-20G "Shag On" 43-9134 (MIA).
U.S. Army: On Luzon, U.S. Sixth Army releases 112th Cav RCT to 1st Cav Div. In XIV Corps area, 37th Div units fighting S of the Pasig in Manila make very small gains against tenacious resistance. 1st Cav Div forces clearing east suburbs reach the Pasig and begin crossing. In 40th Div zone, 185th Inf gets into position for assault on Snake Hill North; 160th continues to hold on McSevney Pt; 108th takes Hills 3 and 4 and pushes toward Hill 6. In I Corps area, after repelling predawn counterattack, 2d Bn of 127th Inf, 32d Div, continues attack to clear Villa Verde Trail but is soon checked by enemy fire. In XI Corps area, 38th Div continues to eliminate enemy positions in the Zigzag.
In U.S. Eighth Army area, 11th Airborne Division meet intense opposition at Nichols Field.
U.S. Navy: Navy aircraft sink Japanese army cargo ship Hekisui Maru off Mako, Formosa, 23°28'N, 119°40'E.
PV-1 sinks small Japanese cargo vessel No.177 Nanshin Maru in Flores Sea west of Maumere.
Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.61 is damaged by mine [laid by submarine Ray (SS-271) on 22 February 1944°], 10 miles off Cape St. Jacques, French Indochina,10°10'N, 106°55'E.
In the Indian Ocean, U.S. freighter Cape Edmont rescues a boatload of survivors from sunken freighter Peter Silvester, sunk February 6, 1945 by U-862.
