June 18, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

MONDAY, 18 JUNE 1945

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Six B-24s join US Navy aircraft in attacking Kataoka on Shimushu and Tomari Cape, Paramushiru but cloud cover prevents observation of effects; One B-24 flies a radar-ferret mission over the Kurile Islands.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 70+ P-51s, P-61s, and P-47s continue to disrupt the Japanese withdrawal from S and E China, attacking bridges, villages and town areas, barracks, troop concentrations, motor transport, shipping and rail traffic, and targets of opportunity throughout wide areas.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: Supporting US Sixth Army forces on Luzon, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers continue to attack targets in the Cagayan Valley, Balete Pass, and Cervantes areas, and other locations. In Borneo, B-24s blast troop concentrations in Balikpapan and S of Miri, Manggar Airfield and Sepinggang defenses and B-25s support ground forces on Labuan. In Formosa, B-24s destroy a block of buildings and several warehouses and small vessels in the Kiirun Harbor area, P-51s hit Taien Airfield and Toyohara Airfield and targets of opportunity while P-38s start numerous fires in the town of Kari. Lost is C-47B 43-49762 (MIA).

U. S. Army: Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was Killed In Action (KIA) on a hilltop at Itoman on southern Okinawa.