March 18, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 1945

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A weather sortie is flown.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): Six B-24s sweep the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea, claiming one freighter damaged. 2 P-51s over N French Indochina strafe trucks, troops, and horsecarts.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 P-47s support the Chinese ground forces near Hsipaw; 8 others support British 36 Division troops by dropping napalm NE of Mogok; 11 B-25s and 20 fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations and supplies immediately behind the battlefront and roads S of the bomb line are swept by 16 P-38s. Transports continue steady operations.

Seventh Air Force: 14 B-24s from Guam pound Susaki Airfield and 1 other hits Haha Jima; during the night of 18/19 Mar, 5 more B-24s individually strike Susaki Airfield. The 392d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Saipan to Kipapa Field with B-24s. VII Fighter Command: 16 P-51s from Iwo Jima dive-bomb radar and radio installations and barges on Chichi Jima.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 44: During the night of 18/19 Mar, 290 of 313 XXI Bomber Command B-29s continue the fire raids, bombing Nagoya from 4,500 to 9,000 feet with incendiaries for the second time this month; an additional 3 square miles (7.8 square km) are destroyed; the Nagoya arsenal, Aichi engine plant and freight yards are damaged but the Mitsubishi plants escape with minor damage; this mission ends the March fire raids. Thirty-four USAAF B-29s mine Shimonoseki Straits and the waters off Tsuruya, Japan.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s, A-20s, and fighters support ground forces by hitting the Ipo area and various targets in Batangas Province. B-24s again bomb Bacolod, hit several targets on Cebu, and bomb Sepinggang and Jesselton Airfields. Tainan Airfield, Takao Seaplane Base, and Koshun Airfield are also hit. The 419th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, based at Puerto Princesa Airfield with P-61s, sends a detachment to operate from Zamboanga.

U.S. Army: In U.S. Sixth Army's I Corps area, 33d Div TF (1st Bn, 130th Inf, reinf) assembles near Bauang for rcn in force of Bauang-Naguilian area. Japanese, under increasing pressure from Filipino guerrillas on N and Americans on S, are ordered to withdraw from San Fernando on 20th. 25th Div at last overruns the enemy positions N of Putlan that have been delaying it for some days. Next objective on Highway 5 is Kapintalan, some 4½ air miles N of Putlan. In XI Corps area, 2d Bn of 20th Inf, 6th Div, attacks NE, night 18-19, toward Mt Baytangan. 1st Inf, in limited action, recovers ground lost in counterattack. 1st Bn of 103 Inf, 43d Div, drives to S end of Bench Mark 23. 3d Bn attacks toward Mt Tanauan and gains positions on slopes. 38th Div commander requests and receives permission to reconnoiter Caballo I. In XIV Corps area, 158th Inf turns over responsibility for Calumpan Peninsula to AT Co. Guerrilla patrol reports Mt Bijang clear of enemy.

In the southern Philippines, in U.S. Eighth Army area, Victor I Attack Group (TG 78.3) under Adm Struble lands 185th Inf, 40th Div, on south Panay after brief naval gunfire bombardment of landing beaches in Tigbauan area. Landing is unopposed and assault forces move rapidly E and NE toward Iloilo, forward elements reaching Arevale, 10 miles E of Tigbauan. 2d Bn, 160th Inf, follows 185th Inf ashore and takes responsibility for NW edge of beachhead. 40th Rcn Tr columns drive to Alimodian and Santa Barbara. CG, 40th Div, assumes command ashore. In Mindanao area, elements of Co. F, 162d Inf, 41st Div, move from Basilan I. to Malamaui I. where search for enemy is uneventful.

U.S. Navy: In preparation for Operation Iceburg, the invasion of the Ryukyus, carrier planes from Task Force 58 (TF 58) under Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher strike airfields on southern Kyushu. The strikes are highly effective, resulting in heavy damage to airfields and installations and destruction of many aircraft on the ground and in the air. They also attack convoy KATA-504, escorted by Coast Defense Vessel No.29 and submarine chaser Ch 58, damaging cargo vessel Kiyo Maru and sinking transport Kenyo Maru and tanker No.1 Nansei Maru, and Okinawa-bound auxiliary sailing vessels Kamo Maru and Tenjin Maru off Noma Misaki, 31°24'N, 130°07'E. Off Kyushu, Japanese planes bomb USS Enterprise (CV-6), 30°50'N, 133°42'E, and USS Yorktown (CV-10), 30°40'N, 133°49'E, damaging both. USS Intrepid (CV-11) is hit by kamikaze plane and hit by friendly fire, 30°47'N, 133°50'E.

TG 78.3 (Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble) lands Army troops (40th Division, less one RCT) on Iloilo, off the southeast coast of Panay, under covering fire of light cruiser Cleveland (CL-55) and three destroyers (TU 74.2.2); the troops encounter only token resistance.

PV-1s (VPB 128), on the basis of reports from Filipino guerillas, bomb two Japanese midget submarines in Davao Gulf.

Tank landing ship LST-635 is damaged by grounding, P.I., 11°05'N, 125°05'E.

Submarine Balao (SS-285) sinks Japanese merchant trawler No.2 Daito Maru, 35°00'N, 123°51'E.

Submarine Springer (SS-414), attacking Japanese convoy, sinks fast transport T.18 and damages minesweeper W 17 near Mutsure Jima, Ryukyus, 26°38'N, 127°12'E.

Submarine Trigger (SS-237) sinks Japanese army cargo ship No.3 Tsukushi Maru northwest of Okinawa, 28°05'N, 126°44'E.

TF 58 planes sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.43 Yusen Maru 45 miles southwest of Satamisaki Light; planes from carrier Hornet (CV-12) sink merchant vessel No.1 Nansei Maru and damage Tokuho Maru and Asahi Maru in Yamakawa harbor.

Japanese landing ship T.137 is damaged by aircraft, Yaene, Hachijo Jima.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Taiju Maru is sunk by aircraft, off Hime Jima.

Japanese ship Koichi Maru is damaged by aircraft, Amachi harbor, Kochi-Ken.

Lost is XF8F-1 Bearcat 90460 pilot Lt(jg) David Loyd Mandt killed in the crash.

USMC: Marine aircraft support the U.S. Army landing at Panay on Samar.

3d Mar Div relieves RCT 24, 4th Mar Div, with RCT 9, whereupon RCT 24 reembarks. RCT's 9 and 21, 3d Mar Div, patrol and mop up from this date until relieved by garrison forces. 5th Mar Div is methodically reducing final pocket of resistance: RCT 28 conducts holding action along S rim of the rocky gorge across its front and provides fire support while RCT 26 works forward slowly from N to E. Elements of 5th Mar Div not engaged in combat begin re-embarking.

RAAF: Crashed while landing is Beaufort A9-501 pilot Flt Lt Enoch H. Brockhouse (survived).