May 19, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SATURDAY, 19 MAY 1945

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Eight B-25s try to bomb Minami Cape radar installation and cannery on the Naka River on Shimushu; only one gets near the targets and bombs and strafes the area, while intense AA fire and enemy fighters drive off the rest. Lost is B-25J 43-36140 pilot 2nd Lt. Raymond B. Lewis (3 POW, 3 MIA) and another B-25 with a third reaches Petropavlovsk.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-25s blast the Kaifeng warehouse area, destroying at least 5 warehouses, while another hits nearby railroad tracks; another B-25 bombs the town of Shanhsien; about 90 fighter- bombers attack river, road, and rail shipping, troops, supplies and general targets of opportunity, continuing the disruption of troop movement and withdrawal in S and E China.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The detachments of the 127th and 155th Liaison Squadrons (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, operating from Akyab Airfield with UC-64s and L-5s, return to base at Kalaikunda, India.

AAFPOA (VII Fighter Command): 100 P-51s are dispatched to escort B-29s to Tachikawa but abort due to weather. HQ 413th Fighter Group and 1st, 21st and 34th Fighter Squadrons arrive on Ie Shima from the US with P-47s.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 178: 272 B-29s make an abortive raid on the Tachikawa Aircraft Company and bomb Hamamatsu; 14 others hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-29s are lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s pound Kiirun Harbor and sink Japanese army cargo ship Kaiko Maru. B-25s sweep the west coast of Formosa hitting several targets including Toyohara, Nisui, and along the Ts'eng-Wen River, hitting a railroad yard, storage facilities, and damaging an alcohol plant on the Ts'eng Wen and fighters sweep the Giran, Tainan and Heito areas. B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers support ground forces throughout Luzon, concentrating in the Ipo Dam area. P-38s support ground action on Cebu. In Borneo, B-24s bomb Oelin Airfield and, along with P-38s, attack targets on Tarakan. The air echelon of the 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Group, based at Dulag with F-5s, begins operating from Clark Field.

U.S. Army: In U.S. Sixth Army's I Corps area, 25th Division is ordered to clear the area west of Highway 5 as far as Imugan and N and W of Santa Fe, is reinf by 126th Inf, 32d Div. In XI Corps area, 152d Inf confines its activity against Woodpecker Ridge to local probing for next few days. Enemy resistance to 43d Div in Ipo area ends and mopping up is begun.

On Mindanao, in U.S. Eighth Army's X Corps area, 19th Inf of 24th Div, passing 2d Bn through 1st, continues NE up coastal road to Panacan. 2d Bn, 34th Inf, will renew attack on Hill 550.

On Okinawa, in U.S. Tenth Army's III Amphib Corps area, 6th Mar Div consolidates positions and relieves depleted 29th Marines with 4th Marines. 5th Marines, 1st Mar Div, further neutralizes enemy positions in Wana Draw. 3d Bn, 7th Marines, continues assault on Wana Ridge until the 7th Marines is relieved by 1st Marines. In XXIV Corps area, beleaguered Co E of 307th Inf, 77th Div, withstands severe pressure on Ishimmi Ridge throughout day; at night, when relief force arrives, withdraws with very heavy casualties. Other elements of regt continue to consolidate positions around Chocolate Drop. Direct fire is placed on Flattop and Dick Hill. 382d Inf, 96th Div, is slowly expanding hold on reverse slope of Dick Hill. Elements of 383d Inf reach W end of King Hill, NW of Conical peak, but are driven off. 3d Bn, 381st Inf, continues southward attack toward Sugar Hill.

U.S. Navy: Destroyers bombard Japanese installations on Paramushiro.

Off Okinawa, destroyer escort Vammen (DE-644) is damaged in collision with oiler Cimarron (AO-22) at 26°24'N, 127°53'E. Cimarron is also damaged by grounding at 26°25'N, 127°53'E.

Motor gunboat PGM-1 is damaged by explosion off Luzon,14°41'N, 121°46'E.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Daishin Maru is sunk, and light cruiser Kashima damaged, when they collide in Tsushima Strait, 34°40'N, 128°38'E.

Japanese cargo vessel Ogishima Maru is damaged by aircraft, 34°39'N, 137°32'E.

Japanese merchant tanker Soei Maru is damaged by mine six kilometers east of Mushima.