TUESDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): Tweleve B-25s knock out 4 bridges and damage
2 others in N French Indochina. In China, 12 others bomb Ishan and Hwaiyuanchen;
Four B-24s over the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea attack shipping, claiming
2 vessels sunk; 19 fighter-bombers hit barracks SW of Ishan, 15 attack Kiungshan
Airfield, 12 hit targets of opportunity in the Yoyang area, 23 hit targets
of opportunity around Kiyang, and 30 others hit scattered targets of opportunity
at other points in S and E China; the 22d Bombardment Squadron (Medium),
341st Bombardment Group (Medium), based at Yangkai with B-25s, sends a detachment
to operate from Peishiyi; the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron,
Fourteenth AF, based at Chanyi with F-5s, sends a detachment to operate from
Laohwangping (another detachment is operating from Chengkung).
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 40: In the Malayan States during the
night of 27/28 Feb, 10 of 12 B-29s mine Johore Strait east of Singapore and one mines Penang Harbor. Personnel of the 58th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy)
begin shipping out of Calcutta for Tinian and Guam,
implementing the redeployment orders of the 6 Feb War Department directive;
the final shipment arrives in the the Mariana on 6 Jun, completing the transfer
of the wing from India without loss of a single life or aircraft.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth
Air Force): In Burma, 18 P-47s closely support ground forces in the Mongmit
area; 4 others knock out a small bypass bridge at Hay-ti; about 100 fighter-bombers
attack troop concentrations, supplies, gun positions, elephant transport, and
road traffic along the battlefronts and behind enemy lines. Transport operations
continue on a large-scale as 589 sorties are completed.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 9 Guam based
B-24s blast pillboxes, artillery emplacements, blockhouse, and mortar positions
on the N part of Iwo Jima. On Mindanao 22 B-24s from Angaur Airfield bomb Daliao Airfield and Libby Airfield. During the night of
27/28 Feb, nine B-24s, flying snooper strikes out of Guam,
bomb airfields, radio stations, and the town of Okimura on Haha Jima.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: B-24s, A-20s, and P-38s strike Puerto Princesa in preparation for the following morning's amphibious landings. On Luzon, ground support continues on a largescale including a strike on Baguio by
P-51s. On Mindanao P-38s
and USMC aircraft hit airfields. B-24s bomb Tarakan and Jesselton Airfields.
On Formosa, Takao is hit by B-24s while fighters sweep the W coast. Sweeping
the China coast, B-25s hit a fleet of junks and sampans near Hong Kong destroying
and damaging 25+. The 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, moves from San Jose to Lingayen Airfield with P-38s and the 12th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, moves
from Lingayen Airfield to San Jose with P-38s. The 65th and 66th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 403d Troop
Carrier Group, moves from Biak to Morotai with
C-46s and C-47s (the squadrons cease operating from Hill
Field, Mindoro);
and the 432d Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group, moves from Dulag to Clark Field with P-38s (a detachment is operating from San
Jose). Lost on a ferry flight are P-51D pilot Alexander (POW / MIA) and P-51D 44-63338 pilot 2nd Lt Leon A. Bollinger (MIA).
