June 5, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

TUESDAY, 5 JUNE 1945

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 32 B-25s and 8 P-51s bomb the city of Nanyang, Burma, hit railroad yards at Anyang, and damage a bridge approach at Chuanhsien, China, and bomb ferries at Ninh Binh and Dap Cau, French Indochina. 40+ fighters bomb and strafe rail, river, and road traffic and general targets of opportunity throughout S and E China.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The 12th Combat Cargo Squadron, 3d Combat Cargo Group, moves from Ledo to Myitkyina with C-47s.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 188: 473 B-29s pound Kobe with incendiaries; 8 others hit targets of opportunity; they claim 86 Japanese fighters; 11 B-29s are lost; the attack burns off over 4 square miles (10.4 square km) and damages over half of the city. Lost are B-29 "Indian Maid" 42-24809 (6 POW, 5 MIA). P-47s from Ie Shima patrol over Amami Gunto and strafe a lighthouse.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Cagayan Valley targets while other fighter-bombers support ground actions in Cervantes, Balete Pass, and Ipo battle zones and hit forces east of Manila. In Borneo, B-24s bomb Melak, Asa, and Kuching Airfield and Tarakan and Labuan, while B-25s and fighters concentrate on Tuaran, Mensalung, and Kudat. B-24s pound Taito, crash landed returning from the mission was B-24J 44-41126 (8 KIA, 3 rescued).