SATURDAY, 17 MARCH 1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Two B-24s fly bombing and photo missions over Matsuwa, concentrating on Matsuwa Airfield, and on returning photograph Shasukotan, Harumukotan and Onnekotan.
Burma: In Br Fourteenth Army's 33 Corps area, Japanese continue to hold Fort Dufferin, in Mandalay. Br 2d Div takes Ava Fort, at bend of the Irrawaddy S of Mandalay.
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 1 B-25 and 12 P-51s damage 21 locomotives and a river launch in the Peking area, around Tsinan, and between Taiyuan and Tatung.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 44: In Burma, 70 of 77 B-29s hit a storage dump at Rangoon; 2 others bomb targets of opportunity, the Sagyi Airfield and warehouses at Bassein without loss.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 P-47s support the British 36 Division around Mogok; 12 B-25s bomb troops and supplies near Namlan; 33 P-47s hit road targets behind enemy lines, concentrating on the Hay-ti and Mong Yai sectors; 40+ other fighter-bombers attack troops, supplies, tanks, and trucks behind the battleline including the Ta-mun, Namsaw, Pansupe, Tal-ti, and Kankang areas. Transports continue to fly troops and supplies to frontline areas.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Eleven B-24s from Guam hit Susaki
Airfield; during the night of 17/18 March, five B-24s again hit Susaki
Airfield. HQ
30th Bombardment Group and the 27th, 30th and 819th Bombardment Squadrons
move from Saipan to Wheeler Field with B-24s (the group will
train and fly patrol missions until VJ-Day).
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Formosa airfields
are pounded by B-24s operating in force. On Luzon, nearly 500 sorties are
flown in support of ground forces by B-25s, A-20s, and fighters. B-24s hit Panay beaches preparatory to landings on March 18 and bomb troops
in the combat areas on Mindanao. Bacolod Airfield on Negros is also bombed. HQ 317th Troop Carrier Group moves from Leyte to Clark
Field; the 31st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th Bombardment Group
(Heavy), moves from Morotai to Guiuan Airfield with B-24s.
U.S. Army: In U.S. Sixth Army's I Corps area, 27th Inf of 25th Div begins attack along ridge leading to Mt Myoko, on Balete Ridge 5,500 yards SE of Balete Pass. In XI Corps area, 6th Div attacks eastward against Shimbu line with 20th and 1st Regts, 20th on N, while 63d Inf holds along general line San Mateo-Montalban-San Isidro, gaining day's objectives. Elements of 1st Inf fall back under counterattack, however. 172d Inf, 43d Div, continues futile efforts to reduce Sugar Loaf Hill. With S entrances to Morong R Valley secure, 103d Inf patrols toward Pantay, NE of Bench Mark 20. In XIV Corps area 188th Inf (-1st Bn) of 11th A/B Div relieves RCT 158 in Batangas.
In the southern Philippines, In U.S. Eighth Army area, Japanese on Mindanao are firmly established at Masilay and Pasananca. 162d Inf, 41st Div, improves positions near San Roque, capturing hill. 163d advances NW of Pasananca. On Palawan, 1st Bn of RCT 186 leaves for Zamboanga, Mindanao, to join 41st Div.
USMC: RCT 24 of 4th Mar Div relieves RCT 25, which re-embarks; continues mopping up div zone on right flank of corps. 3d Mar Div mops up within its sector. Enemy is confined to such a small portion of N Iwo Jima that arty support of 5th Mar Div is impossible. 5th Mar Div pockets enemy forces, including their commander, Lt Gen Tadamichi Kuribayashi, in area 700 yards long and 200-500 yards wide. RCT 26, after advancing its right and center to N coast, presses S and W toward rocky gorge, along which RCT 28 remains. Elements of the 5th Marine Division attacked north to clear the remaining Japanese from Kitano Point on the northern coast of Iwo Jima.
U.S. Navy: USS Sealion (SS-315) sinks Thai oiler Samui bound for Bangkok off Trengganu coast, 05°18'N, 103°23'E.
USS Spot (SS-413) attacks Japanese Keelung-to-Shimonoseki convoy TAMO-49 escorted by escort vessel Ikina, Coast Defense Vessel No. 41 and minesweeper W.17, sinking army cargo vessel Nanking Maru off Yushiyama Island 25°28'N, 120°10'E, and damaging cargo ship I komasan Maru, which is beached off Matsu Island 26°07'N, 119°57'E, to permit salvage. Spot is damaged, however, by gunfire from one or more of the escorts. Later that day, USAAF B-25s further damage Ikomasan Maru.
PB4Y attacks Japanese convoy TAMO-49, damaging cargo vessel Kitakata Maru, 29°09'N, 122°07'E.
SS Oliver Kelley, while proceeding through Surigao Strait, is damaged by what is most likely a dud torpedo, fired by HA-79 Type C midget submarine.
Japanese transport Ken'Yo Maru is sunk by aircraft, Kagoshima Bay.
Japanese cargo ship Mansei Maru is sunk by USAAF mine in the Yangtze, near Shanghai, 31°19'N, 121°42'E.
USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) bomb Kobe, Japan, damaging Japanese submarine I-158 and cargo vessels Enkei Maru and Teika Maru (ex-Cap Varella).
