FRIDAY, 13 APRIL 1945
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Twenty-seven P-38s and P-40s scramble fron Attu after
radar reports of unidentified plots over the western Aleutians. The fighters manage to shoot down nine of eleven Japanese
balloon bombs.
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 6 B-25s hit a fort at Bac Ninh, French
Indochina. In China, 11 B-25s bomb the railroad yards and warehouse area at
Kaifeng and 6 knock out a bridge at Ningming; Seven B-25s hit shipping in the South
China Sea, Bakli Bay and the town areas of Tenghsien and Liuchow; 4 others, along with 5 P-51s, knock out a bridge and hit the town area
and shipping at Puchi; 24 P-38s and P-51s knock out 3 bridges, damage another,
and hit several targets of opportunity in N French Indochina; about 140 fighter-bombers
fly armed reconnaissance and strikes throughout S and E China, hitting rail,
road, and river traffic, town areas, troops, and general targets of opportunity.
Unit moves in China: the detachment of the 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter
Group, operating from Poseh with P-51s returns to base at Chengkung; the 490th
Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium), from Warazup,
Burma to Hanchung with B-25s.
China: Japanese open full-scale drive on Chihchiang, making main effort along road from Paoching.
Burma: In Br Fourteenth Army's 33 Corps area, Ind 20th Div seizes Taungdwingyi.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 30+ P-47s and P-38s attack
troops and supplies in the Hamn gai, Loi-hseng, and Wan Yin areas and sweep
roads S of the bomb line in C Burma; air transport operations to the front areas
total 450 sorties. The 317th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando
Group, moves from Palel to Kalaikunda, India with C-47s.
AAFPOA (Seventh AF): Eighteen Guam based B-24s pound enemy positions on Marcus; 23 B-24s from Angaur Airfield bomb personnel and storage
areas at Kabacan on Mindanao Island. 2 Saipan-based P-61 night fighters bomb
and strafe Pagan.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 67: During the night of 13/14 Apr, 327
B-29s bomb the Tokyo arsenal area; 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-29s
are lost.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s hit the Hong
Kong waterfront (Taikoo Docks) and storage areas in Canton. On Formosa,
other B-24s hit Tainan Airfield and Okayama Airfield while B-25s attack railroads.
On Luzon, numerous sweeps are flown over the Cagayan Valley and ground
support missions are continued on Luzon, Cebu, and Negros. On Mindanao, B-24s bomb the Davao area and B-25s hit various targets on Mindanao and in the Sulu Archipelago. B-24s (13th Air Force) sink Japanese merchant tanker No.12 Nanshin Maru off southeast coast of Borneo, 04°00'N, 116°20'E.
Ten P-38s from 67th Fighter Squadron strafe and bomb targets at Tarakan and Sandakan on Borneo. Inbound, one P-38 aborts the mission. At 10:30am, the nine remaining P-38s arrived over Tarakan Island at minimum altitude and conducted bombing and strafing of enemy positions claiming two bomb hits on a radar and machine gun positions and a single hit on a personnel and supply area at the southern tip of Tarakan Island. Two other bomb hits were 1,000' northwest of the target area and one bomb hit 1,000' southeast of the target area. Two bombs were reported as duds and one bomb was jettisoned over the sea. The results of the skip bombing attacks from minimum altitude were unobserved and strafing runs were also made. At 11:30am they strafe an area approximately two miles southeast of Sandakan Airfield runway no. 2 and the road leading towards Sandakan two military trucks were strafed and destroyed. On the road approximately 1 and 3/4 miles from the runway three military cars were strafed with one damaged. Lost was P-38L 44-24519 (MIA) pilot 2nd Lt. Harry B. Smith (MIA).
U,S. Army: In U.S. Sixth Army area, RCT 158, less 2d Bn, continues indecisive battle for Cituinan Hill area for next week. 2d Bn, reinf by AT Co, attacks toward San Francisco, in Sorsogon Province, meeting heavy fire from hills around the town.
In I Corps area, 129th Inf of 37th Div, clearing hills commanding Highway 9, reaches position 300 yards W of Monglo. 27th Inf, 25th Div, continues northward attack on Mt Myoko, taking a feature called the Wart. XI Corps continues to probe enemy positions in mountains of central Luzon. On Caballo the last Japanese are eliminated. TF (Co F (-) of 151st Inf and engineers) blows up Fort Drum on El Fraile with ignited oil causing a huge explosion. In XIV Corps area, 5th Cav of 1st Cav Div, advancing SE toward Calaug, finds prepared enemy positions that are unoccupied. As 8th Cav closes in on enemy positions in Mt Mataasna Bundoc area, 11th A/B Div prepares for final assault against Mt Malepunyo and Mt Macolod.
In the southern Philippines, in U.S. Eighth Army area, assault forces for Mindanao operation embarks from Mindoro and Leyte. On Cebu, Americal Div continues battle for Babay Ridge: 182d Inf secures Hill 21; 1st Bn, 164th Inf, makes slow progress against strong opposition; 132d Inf attempts in vain to secure Hill 25, N of Guadalupe road, and for next few days destroys pillboxes and seals caves. Japanese are ordered to abandon their Cebu City defenses on night of 16th. On Negros, 185th Inf of 40th Div repels predawn counterattack by about 50 Japanese in vicinity of San Juan, killing most of the force. RCT 503 reaches positions about 1,000 yards S of Manzanares and pauses for several days to patrol. 160th Inf draws heavy fire from Hill 3155.
On Okinawa, in U.S. Tenth Army's III Amphib Corps area, 6th Mar Div prepares to attack well-organized enemy positions on Yae-Take hill mass of Motobu Peninsula. Some elements of 22d Marines moving up west coast of Okinawa reach north tip at Hedo; others are reconnoitering along E coast and inland. XXIV Corps is fully occupied mopping up enemy infiltrators and repelling further counterattacks.
U.S. Navy: Preinvasion bombardment of Ie Shima is intensified. Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) begin reconnaissance of beaches.
Off Okinawa, destroyer escort Connolly (DE-306) is damaged by kamikaze, 26°55'N, 126°46'E; gasoline tanker Wabash (AOG-4) is damaged in collision with small craft, 26°00'N, 128°00'E.
Submarine Parche (SS-384) sinks Japanese auxiliary minesweeper No.1 Misago Maru, 38°36'N, 141°41'E, and guardboat No.2 Kosho Maru, 38°27'N, 142°13'E off Todogasaki.
U.S. freighter Harrington Emerson is mistakenly bombed and strafed by U.S. aircraft off Borneo, 05°03'N, 119°44'E. The ship is only slightly damaged, and there are no fatalities among the merchant crew, the passengers, stevedores, or the 29 Armed Guards.
Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Kaiko Maru is sunk by aircraft, 21°25'N, 109°20'E.
Mines laid by USAAF B-29 sinks Japanese cargo ship Shinro Maru southeast of Hesaki Light, 33°53'N, 131°02'E, and damage Coast Defense Vessel No.40 off Futaio Jima. B-29-laid mine sinks cargo ship Kinoto Maru off Cape Wada light, 34°39'N, 135°11'E.
USMC: The Fleet Marine Force Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion occupies Minna Shima, an island off the northwest coast of Okinawa, in preparation for an assault on Ie Shima.
Royal Navy: HMS Stygian sinks auxiliary minesweeper Wa.104 off Bali, 08°05'S, 115°06'E.
