May 30, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

WEDNESDAY, 30 MAY 1945

SEAC: Adm Mountbatten meets in Delhi with commanders of Operations ZIPPER and MAILFIST (conquests of Malaya and Singapore, respectively) and decides that these operations shall at first be under command of 34 Corps and that hq of Fourteenth Army and 15 Corps shall be moved in about D plus 50.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): Seven B-25s pound railroad yards at Sinsiang and knock out a bridge at Sincheng; 28 fighter-bombers attack bridges, enemy positions, trucks, railroad targets, barracks, and general targets of opportunity around Anyang, Liuchow, Chingmen, Chungmow, Linfen, Huluehchen, Kweilin, Hsinganhsien, Leiyang, and Yenkoupu.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The 90th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group moves from Moran to Dudhkundi, India with P-47s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Ten B-24s from Guam hit Marcus Airfield.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Fourteen P-47s strafe barges at Truk; 28 P-47s from Ie Shima hit shipping and a lighthouse at Amami-O-Shima, and Okino Erabu, Ryukus Islands. The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron and 393d Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), 509th Composite Group, arrive at North Field from the US with C-47s, C-54s and B-29s respectively.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Formosa, 100+ B-24s pound Takao while fighters sweep the coastal areas and B-25s concentrate on the Shinei area. A-20s hit Cagayan Valley targets. B-24s and fighters hit several targets in Borneo, concentrating on Tawau personnel and supply area and the Ranau Airfield.

U.S. Army: In U.S. Tenth Army's III Amphib Corps area, 2d and 3d Bns of 22d Marines, 6th Mar Div, cross canal in Naha and attack through 1st Bn; assisted by direct tank fire, take Hill 27 at SE edge of Naha. 1st Mar Div forces in Shuri are being supplied by air and carrying parties. XXIV Corps makes substantial gains as enemy rear-guard opposition weakens. 77th Div takes 3 hills E of Shuri (Dorothy, Jane, and Tom), former strongpoints in enemy's inner defenses of Shuri; find an elaborate network of cave defenses on Dorothy. Right flank elements of 77th Div cross into III Amphib Corps zone and begin attack for 100 Meter Hill. 96th Div pushes forward all along its front, clearing most of its zone N of Yonabaru-Shuri-Naha road. Among hill positions taken are Hen Hill, which enemy has successfully defended for 9 days, Love Hill, and reverse slope of Oboe. In coordinated westward attack, 32d Inf of 7th Div seizes Oak, Ella, and June Hills, SW of Yonawa; patrols of 184th Inf push into Chinen Peninsula without incident.

U.S. Navy: Carrier planes from VC-82 from escort carrier USS Anzio (CVE-57) sink Japanese submarine I-361, 400 miles southeast of Okinawa, 22°22'N, 134°09'E.

Submarine Blenny (SS-324) sinks Japanese cargo ship Hokoku Maru 40 miles southwest of Bandjermasin, 04°09'S, 114°16'E.

Submarine Croaker (SS-246), despite proximity of escorting auxiliary submarine chaser Kenkai Maru, sinks No.154 Shuttle Boat and No.146 Shuttle Boat at 04°50'S, 113°10'E.

Mines laid by B-29s sink Japanese transport Hakuun Maru off Hakata, Japan, 33°36'N, 130°25'E, and merchant cargo ships Fujitama Maru off Wadanomisaki light, 34°30'N, 135°11'E, Kasumi Maru .8 kilometers off Mijizaki, and No.14 Takasago Maru northwest of Tadotsu, 35°15'N, 133°44'E, and damage army cargo ships Hyuga Maru 3.6 kilometerssouth-southeast of Genka Jima and Shinno Maru at mouth of Tsuruga Bay.

USMC: On Okinawa, the major portion of the 32d Japanese Army had evacuated the Shuri lines, successfully escaping the flanking drives of the III Amphibious Corps and the XXIV Corps, USA, and withdrew to Kiyamu Peninsula at the southernmost part of Okinawa.

PBJ Mitcells bomb enemy installations at the Kibawe Trail near Davao. Lost is PBJ Mitchell 35243 pilot 1st Lt. Doit L. Fish (MIA) and PBJ Mitchell 35164 pilot Lt Col George A. Sarles (MIA).

Australian Army: General Stanley G. Savige Commanding Officer (C. O.) II Corps took a reconnaissance flight over northern Bougainville including Porton observing pillboxes and bunkers and believed an amphibious landing by the 31st/51st Battalion at Porton Plantation would bypass these defenses and allow them to advance across the peninsula to Chindawon. The Australians incorrectly believed Porton Plantation was lightly defended begins planning an operation in early June 1945 against this location.