June 16, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SATURDAY, 16 JUNE 1945

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Four B-24s bomb and strafe shipping off Suribachi Bay and a radar site on Minami Cape, Shimushu Island; one of the B-24s crashes into the water; four B-25s on a shipping strike score near misses on a freighter in Asahi Bay and bomb targets along the Torishima Chain; mechanical failures force two B-25s to fly to Petropavlovsk in Russia.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): Two B-25s hit supply movements on the Paoching-Hengyang road; 41 P-51s attack bridges, shipping, road transport, power facilities, and railroad traffic, knocking out bridges near Siangtan, Changsha, and Suchow; rail, road and river traffic is attacked near Yoyang, Hengyang, Kuanyang, Shou-yang, Peking, and Linfen. A power plant at Uong Bi, French Indochina is heavily damaged.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): P-61s arrive on Ie Shima and take over night heckler missions against Kyushu from the P-47s; other P-61s fly night intruder missions over Amami Gunto bombing various targets of opportunity; 38 P-47s from Ie Shima dive-bomb boats, AA positions, runways, and buildings on Kikai.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Luzon, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit personnel and supply targets in the Cagayan Valley and east of Manila, and support ground forces in the Cervantes sector. In Borneo, B-24s bomb Balikpapan gun emplacements, Tawau, and Samarinda, while B-25s hit the Brunei Bay area and fighter-bombers attack Miri Airfield, Jesselton Airfield, and Keningau Airfield and N Borneo targets of opportunity. On Formosa, 90+ B-24s pound Kiirun Harbor and Takao and three B-32s bomb Taito. HQ 308th Bombardment Wing moves from Luzon to Okinawa. Lost is C-47A 43-30746 pilot 2nd Lt. Richard J. Lawson (MIA).

USN: Lost is PB4Y-1 "Rugged Beloved" 38913 (MIA) on a patrol mission over the Makasar Strait.