THURSDAY, 24 MAY 1945
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): Five B-25s knock out a railroad bridge N
of Anyang; 30+ fighter-bombers attack railroad targets, truck convoys, bridges,
and other targets of opportunity around Nanyang, Burma and Anyang, Sichuan,
Kuo-lueh-chen, Kuantaokou, Luntangpu, Houpo, Laohokow, Sinsiang, Kiehsiu, Linfen,
Taiyuan, Puchou, and Yutze, China.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): HQ 80th Fighter Group moves from Myitkyina to Dudhkundi, India. The 434th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th Bombardment
Group (Medium), ceases operating from Magwe, Burma with B-25s, and returns to
base at Fenny.
AAFPOA Seventh Air Force: Twenty-six B-24s from Guam bomb Marcus Airfield and
surrounding area. VII Fighter Command: 120 Iwo Jima based
P-51s dispatched against Matsudo and Tokorozawa abort because of weather. During the night of 24/25
May P-47s fly heckler strikes against Kyushu.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 182: During the night of 24/25 May, 25
B-29s lay mines in Shimonoseki Strait and at Niigata, Nanao, and Fushiki.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: On Luzon, B-24s
pound Cagayan Valley targets including Aparri; B-25s, A-20s, and P-51s hit
numerous targets throughout the Valley and in NW and S Luzon, including the
Vira, Callang,
Santa Cruz, Baguio, Balete
Pass, Ipo, and Antipolo areas. Fighter-bombers also
support ground forces on Negros. In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and P-38s
attack
Ft Brook, Bintula, Tawau, Beaufort, Jesselton, along the Lawas River, and Malinau.
JAAF: During the night of May 24, 1945, between 8:00pm to 10:00pm roughly fifty Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) aircraft bombed Yontan Airfield and the surrounding area as a diversionary raid. Meanwhile, twelve Ki-21 Sallys from the 3rd Dokuritsu Chutai commanded by Captain Chuichi Suwabe, each with eight to twelve commandos aboard attempted to crash land at Yontan Airfield and Kadena Airfield to destroy parked aircraft and fuel dumps. Eight attempted to land at Yontan Airfield while four attempted to land at Kadena Airfield. Inbound, four Sallys aborted the mission due to engine problems, three others were shot down before reaching Okinawa. Around 10:30pm, the remaining five bombers managed to crash and at Yontan Airfield including Ki-21 Sally Tail 546.
