June 15, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

FRIDAY, 15 JUNE 1945

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 3 B-25s and 47 P-51s and P-47s knock out a bridge W of Shihkiachwang, damage and attack others, and hit trucks, barracks, river-craft, storage facilities, gun positions, railroad targets, and targets of opportunity; targets are the Pinghan railroad, Kukong, Lingling, Chenhsien, Kuotaichiao, Pakonghow, Kweilin, Anyang, Shihkiachwang, Loyang, Liuchow, and Paoching areas.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 203: 444 B-29s fly an incendiary mission against the Osaka- Amagasaki urban area, ending a month of concentrated fire raids against large Japanese cities; an additional 1.9 square miles (4.9 square km) of Osaka and 0.59 square miles (1.5 square km) of Amagasaki are burned out; 25 other B-29s hit alternate targets; 2 B-29s are lost. 123 P-51s are dispatched as escort but 380 miles from Iwo Jima the fighters are warned by a weather plane of a towering front over Japan and they abort the mission; 1 P-51 is lost. Mission 204: During the night of 15/16 May, 30 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and waters around Fukuoka, Karatsu, and Fushiki. The 680th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), attached to HQ 504th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), arrives at North Field from the US with B-29s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In Formosa, B-24s bomb Taichu Airfield and B-25s hit the town of Rokko and the airfield at Okaseki. On Luzon numerous B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers pound various objectives, concentrating on the Cagayan Valley, the Cervantes area, and the Antipolo-Ipo sector. In Borneo, B-24s blast gun positions at Balikpapan and B-25s and P-38s hit areas between Brunei and Kudat. The 68th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Tanauan to Clark Field, with C-46s.

USN: FC1c Robert Archibald Wilson died as a Prisoner Of War (POW) while detained at Java POW Camps D.X.Y. at Batavia on Java.