June 22, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

FRIDAY, 22 JUNE 1945

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Major General John B Brooks relieves Brigadier General Isaiah Davies as Commanding General, Eleventh AF.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 23 B-25s and 4 P-47s pound trucks, trains, and gun positions in the Hanoi area and in China, bomb railroad yards and barracks area at Sinsiang, hit rail and road targets, buildings, and radar station in the Showyang area, knock out a bridge S of Saiping, and damage a bridge N of Hsuchang; 40+ fighters hit rail, road, and river traffic, artillery emplacements, line positions, and other targets in French Indochina and S and E China.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): The 5th and 6th Fighter Squadrons (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Kalaikunda to Asansol with P-47s.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): 446 B-29s are dispatched in 6 missions to targets on southern Honshu during the day. Mission 215: 162 B-29s attack the Kure Naval Arsenal destroying the incomplete submarines I-204 and I-352, and damaging escort destroyer Nire and submarine RO-67 and 12 others hit alternate targets; 72% of the roof area of the arsenal is damaged; 2 B-29s are lost. Mission 216: 108 B-29s hit the Mitsubishi aircraft plant at Tamashima destroying 135 of 231 machine tools and almost half the roof area; 10 others hit alternate targets; 2 B-29s are lost. Mission 217: 52 B-29s attack the Kawanishi aircraft plant at Himeji causing great destruction among the buildings and total destruction of machine tools; 4 others hit alternate targets. Missions 218 and 219: 34 B-29s hit the Mitsubishi and Kawasaki aircraft plants at Kagamigahara and 10 others hit alternate targets. 1 B-29 is lost. Lost is B-29A 42-93955 pilot Captain Carl R. Bauer (KIA). Mission 220: 25 B-29s hit the Kawasaki aircraft factory at Akashi and 1 hits an alternate target. 40+ P-47s from Ie Shima fly combat patrols over Amami Gunto claiming eleven Japanese aircraft downed.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Fighter-bombers supporting ground action continue to hit concentrations and positions in the Cagayan Valley. In Borneo, B-24s pound Balikpapan area gun and defensive positions while B-25s hit nearby warehouses and numerous other buildings and P-38s dive-bomb and score direct hits on pillboxes. On Formosa, B-24s hit Toshien oil facilities and P-38s attack Mato while 2 B-32s blast gun positions and barracks at Heito. The 25th Liaison Squadron, 13th AF, moves from Malabang to Del Monte on Mindanao with UC-78s and L-5s. Lost is C-47B 43-16230 (MIA) on a flight from Merauke to Biak.

U.S. Army: In U.S. Sixth Army's XI Corps area, advance party of eight personnel fly north to mark landing area for airborne drop zones near Aparri. In I Corps area, attack elements of 148th Inf, 37th Div, take Tumauini, on Highway 5, and continue N to stream 9,000 yards SE of Cabagan; 129th Inf assembles at Tumauini to take over northward drive. Filipino guerrillas are forced from Tuguegarao under heavy fire. TF Connolly secures Dugo and Camalaniugan in Aparri area. 25th Div elements open Old Spanish Trail through Susuga Pass.

On Okinawa, after 82 days the island is declared secure. U.S. Tenth Army completes capture of Okinawa and conducts flag-raising ceremony attended by representatives of all elements of the Tenth Army marked the official end of Japanese resistance. Lt Gen Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of Japanese 32d Army, and his chief of staff commit suicide. U.S. battle casualties, during this last and most costly campaign against the Japanese, total 49,151, of which 12,520 are killed or missing and 36,631 wounded. About 110,000 Japanese are killed and 7,400 captured. Ship losses to enemy action, largely air, during the campaign total 36 sunk and 368 damaged. Japanese suffer heavy losses in aircraft, 7,800.

U.S. Navy: Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage high speed minesweeper Ellyson (DMS-19), 26°04'N, 127°55'E; and tank landing ship LST-534, 26°18'N, 127°49'E; medium landing ship LSM-213 is damaged by operational casualty.

High speed transport Barry (APD-29) (previously damaged twice by kamikazes) sinks as the result of damage received the previous day (see 24 May 1945 and 21 June).

Motor minesweeper YMS-10 is damaged by shore battery, Balikpapan, Borneo, 01°18'S, 116°51'E.

Submarine Crevalle (SS-291) damages Japanese escort destroyer Kasado, 43°23'N, 139°47'E.

Submarine Parche (SS-384) sinks unnamed Japanese fishing boat, 42°08'N, 140°58'E.

Submarine Piranha (SS-389) damages Coast Defense Vessel No.196, 39°32'N, 142°11'E.

Mines laid by B-29s sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Yubu Maru in Kammon Channel, 34°00'N, 131°00'E, Tokasegawa Maru off Tsutura, in Kammon Channel, 33°55'N, 131°20'E, Taigen Maru near Kammon Channel, 34°00'N, 130°30'E, and Ungetsu Maru north of Mutsure, and damage transport Tatsumiya Maru one kilometer off Ganryu Jima Light.

PB4Y-2s (VPB 118), flying from Okinawa, continue aerial mining of waters of Korean archipelago, sowing mines in waters in channel between Hikin-To, Iion-To, and Gantai-To.

PBMs bomb lighthouse and Japanese shipping off south coast of Korea, 36°55'N, 125°47'E.

Australian Army: Organized enemy resistance ends on Tarakan.

USMC: On Okinawa, the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions plus the 7th and 97th Army Divisions were ordered to conduct a sweep to the north. Ten days were allotted to complete the mopping-up operations.