TUESDAY, 6 MARCH 1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A mission against the Kuriles is cancelled due to inclement weather.
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): Four B-25s bomb Chikhom; about 50 fighter-bombers hit storage, troops, railroad targets, and river and road traffic around Hankow, along the Pinghan railroad, Kaifeng, Suchow, Hsuchang, Changsha, Yoyang, Liuyang, and Hengyang and on railroads from Liuliho to Chengtung and from Tungpu to Tatung.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 31 P-47s support British 36 Division forces in the Mogok area; 12 B-25s join 60+ fighter-bombers in striking troop concentrations, road traffic, supply and fuel dumps, and other targets in the vicinity of the battlefront and in areas close behind enemy lines. Transport operations continue on a large scale with 663 sorties completed to forward areas throughout the day.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Eleven B-24s from Guam again pound Susaki Airfield; five more B-25s hit Susaki Airfield during the night of 6/7 March in separate strikes. Brigadier General Ernest C. Moore, Commanding General, 7th Fighter Command, lands on Airfield No. 1 with HQ 15th Fighter Group (15th FG) arrives on Iwo Jima from Hawaii and the air echelon of the 47th Fighter Squadron (47th FS) and 548th Night Fighter Squadron (548th NFS) moves from Saipan to Iwo Jima with P-61s. In total, there are now 28 P-51s and 12 P-61s on the Iwo Jima.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s pound San Roque and Zamboanga areas. On Luzon, B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit the Antipolo area, bomb Balete
Pass, Fort Drum and Caballo and support guerrillas near San
Fernando.
B-25s and P-38s attack Hainan and
considerably damage Samah
Airfield. Fighters hit the Koshun area. HQ 347th
Fighter Group and the 67th Fighter Squadron, 68th Fighter Squadron and 339th Fighter Squadron move from San
Jose to Puerto Princesa with P-38s (the 67th
Fighter Squadron and 339th Fighter Squadron are operating from Morotai);
the 419th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, moves from Middelburg to Puerto Princesa, the squadron is operating from Morotai with
P-38s and P-61s.
U.S. Army: In U.S. Sixth Army area, XIV Corps is ordered by General Krueger to relieve 1st Cav Div with 43d Div, less one RCT. Enemy positions are being softened with aerial and arty bombardment in preparation for renewed ground attack. In 11th A/B Div sector, elements of 158th Inf reach Lemery, across Pansipit R from Taal. I Corps is ordered by General Krueger to speed action toward Balete Pass-Santa Fe-Imugan area. Elements of 80th Inf, 33d Div, assemble at Damortis for drive on Aringay. On Villa Verde Trail, 1st Bn of 127th Inf, 32d Div, crosses Cabalisian River and drives eastward toward Salacsac Pass No. 2. 25th Div drives N astride Highway 5 toward Putlan with 161st Inf on W and 27th on E. 35th Inf's 1st Bn starts wide enveloping move NE from Carranglan to secure high ground about 5,000 yards NE of Putlan. 3d Bn, upon relief at Digdig by 27th Inf, starts recon up the Old Spanish Trail toward Salazar.
In the southern Philippines, U.S. Eighth Army area, 21st Inf patrols find two other islands of Lubang Group free of enemy. On Palawan, Japanese on Hill 1445 repulse attacks of 2d Bn, 186th Inf. On Burias, 1st Bn of 132d Inf gains first contact with enemy.
U. S. Navy: Attack cargo ship Yancey (AKA-93) is damaged by collision off Iwo Jima.
USAAF B-24 (possibly a Navy PB4Y) sinks Japanese salvage vessel Toei Maru east of Sanmen Wan, 29°00'N, 122°00'E.
USAAF planes attack Japanese convoy at 20°00'N, 112°30'E, and although the airmen believe that they sink a "destroyer," their quarry, actually Coast Defense Vessel No. 207, survives undamaged.
Japanese army vessel tanker Rikko Maru is stranded and sunk near Keelung, Formosa, 25°09'N, 121°44'E.
Japanese merchant cargo ship Hokusui Maru is sunk (most likely by drifting Japanese mine) off Otabe, Hokkaido, 41°27'N, 140°15'E.
Japanese merchant cargo ship No.22 Suma Maru is damaged by aircraft, four miles northwest of Fukikaku Light.
USMC: USS Gilbert Islands (CVE-107) is the second Marine escort carrier to be commissioned, embarks Marine Carrier Group 2 including VMF-512, VMTB-143, and CASD-2 at San Diego and departs for the Pacific the following month.
After intensive artillery and naval gunfire preparation, elements of the 3d, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions attacked to the northeast and east in an all-out effort to breach the Japanese final defense line. After the most intensive massed arty preparation of this operation, supplemented by naval gunfire, V AC renews efforts to break through to O-3 line but is still so bitterly opposed that progress is negligible. In center of corps, RCT 21 of 3d Mar Div achieves maximum gain of corps-- about 200 yards. Progress on flanks is limited to 100 yards or less. 4th Mar Div, passing RCT 23 through left flank of RCT 24, pushes SE toward coast with 2 regts abreast, while RCT 25, on right, supports assault with fire and mops up in Minami area. 5th Mar Div attacks an hour before rest of corps, with RCT's 27, 26, and 28, from right to left, and gains 50-100 yards except on left, where no progress is made. Seventh Air force fighters land on Airfield No. 1 to support ground operations.
