WEDNESDAY, 4 APRIL 1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, two B-25s sink a junk in the Gulf of Tonkin. Six P-38s strafe trucks around Dien Bien Phu, Moc Chau, and Son La.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): Combat operations are restricted to attacks on a troop concentration and rice and fuel supplies behind enemy lines in central Burma; transports operate on steady basis throughout the day.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 24 B-24s from Angaur Airfield Island hit
a building at Bunawan, Mindanao.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): HQ 40th and 462d Bombardment Groups (Very Heavy)
arrive at West Field from India.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Formosa, B-24s
bomb Toyohara Airfield, Mako Harbor, and Tokichito Island. B-24s bomb Japanese shipping at Mako sinking merchant tanker No.2 Kinyu Maru and cargo vessel Horei Maru, 23°32'N, 119°34'E. A-20s hit Shinchiku factories and rail yards. B-24s bomb Hong Kong Harbor. P-38s and P-51s
pound various targets in central Luzon while A-20s and P-38s hit the Calauag
area. A-20s pound northwest Negros and B-24s bomb targets in Central Mindanao.
The 17th Reconnaissance Squadron (Bombardment), 71st Tactical Reconnaissance
Group, moves from San Jose to Lingayen Airfield with B-25s.
U.S. Army: In U.S. Sixth Army area, 1st Bn of RCT 158, moving northward to positions NW of Busay, attacks southward along ridge on left flank while 2d and 3d Bns are attacking frontally south of Daraga. Progress for next week is very slow since enemy must be destroyed in detail. In I Corps' 33d Div sector, 129th Inf patrol runs into heavy fire near Salat, about 3½ air miles SE of Burgos. In XI Corps area, 103d Inf, less 2d Bn, 43d Div, secures Santa Maria Valley, seizing Mabitac, Sinaloan, and Famy. Supporting weapons astride N-S highway block enemy escape. 2d Bn drives E along highway through Macatunao. 63d Inf, 6th Div, begins relief of 20th Inf and takes over its sector. In XIV Corps area, 5th Cav of 1st Cav Div, probing S with patrols from San Pablo, makes contact with 11th A/B Div forces in Tiaong area, completing isolation of Japanese on Mt Malepunyo. 188th Inf, 11th A/B Div, after contact is gained with 1st Cav Div, assembles S of Tiaong.
In the southern Philippines, in the U.S. Eighth Army area, 1st Bn of 160th Inf on Negros moves into Concepcion from which enemy has withdrawn. 2d Bn, 185th Inf, clears Guimbalon, important enemy supply base.
On Cebu, 182d Inf drives from Go Chan Hill against Horseshoe Ridge, about 800 yards to N, and takes it.
On Okinawa, In U.S. Tenth Army's III Amphib Corps area, corps CG assumes command ashore and moves CP ashore. 6th Mar Div closes along base of Ishikawa Isthmus, the L plus 15 line, and starts up the isthmus. 1st Mar Div clears its zone of action as remaining elements reach E coast. XXIV Corps meets stiffening resistance while pressing southward toward hill mass extending from Urasoe- Mura to Ouki. 96th Div, with 383d Inf on right and 382d on left, advances down W coast to Uchitomari area and pushes E flank units forward more than 2 miles beyond Nodake. 7th Div, employing 184th Inf on right and 32d on left, meets organized resistance W of Kuba on ridge surmounted by ruins of an ancient castle and falls behind.
On Iwo Jima, the 147th Infantry, USA, assumes full responsibility for ground defense and mopping-up from the U.S. Marines.
U.S. Navy: Off Okinawa, high speed transport Dickerson (APD-21), irreparably damaged by kamikaze on 2 April 1945, is towed out to sea and scuttled by salvage crew off Kerama Retto; infantry landing craft LCI-82 is sunk by assault demolition boat; destroyer Norman Scott (DD-690) is damaged in collision with oiler Cimarron (AO-22), 23°46'N, 129°25'E; kamikaze damages destroyer Wilson (DD-408) off southern end of Kerama Retto; destroyer Sproston (DD-577) is damaged by near-miss by bomb, 26°30'N, 127°30'E. Oiler Cowanesque (AO-79) is damaged in storm; medium landing ship LSM-12 founders in heavy weather. Groundings account for damage to tank landing ships LST-70, LST-624, LST-675, and LST-756, 26°21'N, 127°45'E; LST-166, LST-689, and LST-736, 26°20'N, 127°45'E; LST-343, 26°00'N, 128°00'E; LST-570, 26°21'N, 127°44'E, and LST-781, 26°23'N, 127°44'E. Tank landing ship LST-399 is damaged in collision with salvage vessel Gear (ARS-34), 26°20'N, 127°45'E.
Japanese escort vessel Mokuto is sunk by USAAF mine laid by B-29 in Shimonoseki Strait, 33°53'N, 131°03'E. Japanese merchant cargo ship Hozan Maru is sunk by mine, 33°45'N, 131°44'E. Submarines RO 64, 34°14'N, 132°16'E, and RO 67, 34°00'N, 133°00'E, are damaged by USAAF B-29-sown mines in the Inland Sea.
Japanese guardboat No.12 Kotoshiro Maru is sunk by U.S. aircraft off Tori-shima, 30°00'N, 140°00'E.
Japanese ship No.1 Manyu Maru is sunk by aircraft off Tajin Island.
Japanese hospital ship Arimasan Maru is damaged by mine, while en route to Singapore.
USMC: On Okinawa, all three runways of the Yontan Airfield are declared operational for fighter aircraft.
The 6th Marine Division attacked north up the west coast road; it was relieved of responsibility for the Yontan airstrip by the 29th Marines in the III Amphibious Corps reserve. The 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, occupied the Katchin Peninsula.
On Iwo Jima, the 9th Marines, 3d Mar Div prepared to depart for Guam.
Royal Navy:
HMS Spark attacks Japanese light cruiser Isuzu without success, in the Flores Sea.
RAAF: Auster A11-3 crashed while landing at Vernon Airfield on southwest Bougainville.
