March 11, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SUNDAY, 11 MARCH 1945

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, four B-25s knock out 1 bridge and hit numerous boxcars at Kep and near Don Met. Five B-24s over the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin claim one freighter sunk and another damaged; 10 P-40s and P-51s blast locomotives on the Tsinpu railroad and demolish 3 villages E of Lohochai; the 1st Combat Cargo Group, 1st Combat Cargo Group, based at Hsinching with C-47s, sends a detachment to operate from Liangshan.

SEAC: Adm Mountbatten announces that a regt of U.S. 5332d is to leave for China at once, the rest of the brig on 1 April.

Burma: In Br Fourteenth Army's 33 Corps area, Ind 19th Div continues battle for Mandalay, taking hill strongpoint commanding NE part of the city.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 14 B-25s pound stores, troops, vehicles, and ammunition dumps at Konghsa, Kwai-Kong, Man Kat, and Mong Yai; 4 P-38s knock out a bridge at Mong Tong; 8 P-47s hit troop concentration at Kyaukme; 30+ P-47s hit targets of opportunity during a road sweeps behind enemy lines. Transports fly 547 sorties to forward areas.

AAFPOA Seventh Air Force: Eleven B-24s from Guam again hit Susaki Airfield, while eight more during the night of 11/12 March, hit the Susaki Airfield individually. VII Fighter Command: Iwo Jima based P-51s also bomb Susaki Airfield and strafe Okimura and Kitamura on Haha Jima.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 41: During the night of March 11-12, attacking at altitudes ranging from 5,100' to 8,500' 285 of 310 B-29s bomb the Nagoya, Japan urban area with incendiaries destroying 2.05 square miles; 6 others hit a secondary target; 1 B-29 is lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb the Zamboanga area, Mercedes village, and San Roque Airfield and B-25s hit Mercedes, support ground forces near Zamboanga, and in conjunction with PT boats hit Isabela, Barlak, Taluksangay, and a HQ north of Zamboanga. B-24s hit the Aparri area and support ground forces at Wawa; A-20s and fighter-bombers fly ground support missions and attack supply dumps and numerous targets of opportunity throughout Luzon. On Formosa, fighter-bombers hit Takao and B-24s bomb Mako. B-25s from 38th BG, 823rd BS and 405th BS conduct a sweep along the coast of China for Japanese shipping. Lost is B-25J Mitchell 44-29270 pilot 2nd Lt. James N. Webb (MIA).

U.S. Army: U.S. Sixth Army issues basic plan for its part in clearing Bicol Peninsula and Visayan Passage. RCT 158, currently assisting 11th A/B Div, XIV Corps, in clearing S Luzon, is to make amphibious assault against Legaspi, in Bicol Peninsula, and will assemble at staging area by 17th; 511th Para Inf of 11th A/B Div, less one bn, will serve as army reserve for the operation. In XIV Corps area, 43d Div begins relieving 1st Cav Div, which is now generally on first phase line except at Antipolo. 1st Inf, 6th Div, gets into favorable position to exploit advance eastward. 2d Bn drives nearly a mile E to trail junction while 3d Bn seizes Bench Mark B. After nightfall, Japanese begin series of abortive counterattacks, all small, against 6th Div. Efforts to penetrate positions of all 3 regts fail. In 11th A/B Div sector of S Luzon, 2d Bn of 158th Inf clears Batangas and immediate vicinity while rest of regt is cleaning out region to W and NW. 1st Bn, 187th Inf, completes capture of Hill 660. 3d Bn, 511th Inf, is brought to a halt by Japanese firmly entrenched on Mt Bijang. In I Corps area, 33d Div consolidates and patrols toward Galiano, about 10 miles W of Baguio. 127th Inf, 32d Div, is still held up by strong enemy defense of Salacsac Pass positions on Villa Verde Trail. As 25th Div's 27th and 161st Regts continue forward astride Highway 5, 3d Bn of 35th Inf seizes Salazar, an Old Spanish Trail. 43d Div, less RCT 169, is transferred to XI Corps from XIV Corps.

In the southern Philippines, in U.S. Eighth Army area, 163d Inf of first Div secures airfield and Zamboanga City on Mindanao and pushes toward Pasananca. 162d extends positions toward Caldera Pt. East entrance of Visayan Passage is now secure and Filipino guerrillas take over occupation of Burias and Ticao Islands, releasing 1st Bn of 132d Inf, which returns to Leyte. Co C, reinf, 19th Inf, makes unopposed landing on Romblon shortly after midnight 11-12.

IJN: Twenty-four P1Y1 Ginga (Frances) took off from Kanoya Airfield on a tokko (special attack) kamikaze mission each armed with a single single 1,764 pound bomb as part of "Operation Tan No. 2" against U.S. Navy (USN) carriers at Ulithi Lagoon. Before departing, the Combined Fleet sent a message to the air group: "Go forward, all of you, pledging yourself to defend our sacred land by surely destroying the arrogant enemy by ramming yourself into the enemy." Inbound, five abort the mission and return to base. Twelve ditched into the sea unable to locate the target. Three became lost due to a navigational error and ended up at Yap Island.

Only two bombers reach Ulithi Lagoon at high altitude and dropped tin foil chaff to deceive American radar. Undetected, the pair dove in low and found the warships and islands fully illuminated and no red alert was sounded. The first P1Y Ginga radios "successful attack!” before making a kamikaze dive and at 8:07pm crashed into USS Randolph (CV-15) off Sorlen Island. The second Ginga mistook Sorlen Island for an aircraft carrier and crashed into a warehouse.

The fates of the twenty-four P1Y1 Ginga that participated in the Operation Tan No. 2 mission:
5 x P1Y1 Ginga aborted the mission and returned to land at Kanoya Airfield.
2 x P1Y1 Ginga ditched into the sea with all crews lost.
12 x P1Y1Ginga ditched into the sea near Ulithi with all crews lost.
P1Y1 Ginga Tail 762-24 pilot WO Ochiai landed safely at Colonia Airfield on Yap Island.
P1Y1 Ginga Tail 762-T25 pilot Captain Kuromaru damaged landing at Colonia Airfield on Yap Island.
P1Y1 Ginga Tail 762-T22 ditched off Rumung Island near Yap Island.
P1Y1 Ginga pilot Lt Koetsu Fukuda, obs CPO Takeshi Igai and RG CPA Kenji Ota crash USS Randolph (CV-15) in Ulithi Lagoon.
P1Y1 Ginga pilot CPO Yuji Hayasaka, obs Lt(jg) Hiro Miyazawa, RG PO2 Nishikawa Shigemasa crash Sorlen Island in Ulithi Lagoon.

U.S. Navy: At 8:07pm USS Randolph (CV-15) anchored off Sorlen Island in Ulithi Lagoon at 10°01'N, 139°40'E was hit by a kamikaze P1Y Francis in the starboard side to the aft just below the flight deck, but had so little fuel left it did not burst into flames but the explosion of its bomb destroyed parked planes in the vicinity and hangar decks causing damage and killed 26 with 105 wounded. Another kamikaze P1Y Francis crashes into Sorlen Island. Salvage vessel USS Current (ARS-22) is damaged by collision with Randolph during fire-fighting operations. Afterwards, repaired locally and in early April 1945 returned to duty as the flagship of Task Force 58 (TF-58) during the latter part of the Okinawa campaign.

Submarine Segundo (SS-398) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Shori Maru off Shori Island southern Korea, 34°25'N, 127°54'E.

PBM-3D (VPB 28) attacks Japanese convoy in South China Sea, sinking water carrier Wayo Maru about 40 miles southeast of Macao, 21°31'N, 112°28'E.

USAAF B-25s bomb Japanese shipping off Tourane, French Indochina, sinking motor sailships Kinsei Maru, Namikiri Maru and No.3 Hinode Maru.

Japanese merchant trawler Koko Maru is sunk by USAAF mine in Yangtze River, 31°22'N, 121°34'E.

USMC: 4th Mar Div, V AC, overcomes organized resistance within its zone on right flank of corps except for stubborn pocket on div right. In center of corps, 3d Mar Div's RCT 21 mops up and protects right flank of 5th Mar Div while RCT 9 develops enemy pocket on div right. Withdrawing RCT 26 from line, 5th Mar Div continues attack on left flank of corps with RCT 27 on right and RCT 28 on left. Terrain, as well as enemy, makes progress slow despite close arty support.

The final phase of the Iwo Jima campaign opened with the 3d and 4th Marine Divisions driving to the east coast and the 5th Marine Division to the north.