TUESDAY, 3 JULY 1945
AAF PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (Seventh Air Force): Two B-24s from Guam attack
water storage buildings on Marcus. 36 B-25s from Okinawa, attacking in
two flights hit Chiran Airfield. The 438th Bombardment Squadron,
319th Bombardment Group arrives at Kadena from the US with
A-26s.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): 509 B-29s participate in 1 mining and 4 incendiary
missions during the night of 3/4 Jul; 3 B-29s are lost: Mission 246: 26 B-29s
mine Shimonoseki Strait and waters at Funakawa and Maizuru during the predawn
hours of the 4th; 2 other B-29s mine alternate targets. Mission 247: 116 B-29s
attack the Takamatsu urban area destroying 1.4 sq mi (4.6 sq km), 78% of the
city; 3 other hit alternate targets; 2 B-29s are lost. Mission 248: 125 B-29s
hit the Kochi urban area destroying 0.92 sq mi (3.0 sq km), 48% of the city;
1 B-29 is lost. Mission 249: 106 B-29s attack Himeji urban area destroying 1.216
sq mi (3.99 sq km), 63.3% of the city. Mission 250: 129 B-29s hit the Tokushima
urban area destroying 1.7 sq mi (5.6 sq km), 74% of the city; 2 B-29s attack
alternate targets.
CHINA THEATER (AAF, China Theater) Fourteenth Air Force: Three B-25s knock out a
bridge near Suicheng while two P-47 escorts hit nearby AA positions; 70+ P-51s
and P-47s continue to disrupt the Japanese withdrawal, attacking transport,
supply, and communications targets, troops, bridges and Japanese-held points;
the targets are near Hengyang, Paoching, Kueiyangshih, Changsha, Kweilin, Lingling,
Kukong, Hankow, Siangtan, Isuho, Chiuchiang, Fahsien, Tanchuk, Lohochai, and
the Luichow Peninsula. The fighter bombers also hit shipping, a cement plant,
an airfield, and barracks area near Haiphong.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): The air echelon of the XX Bomber Command, including
Brigadier General Joseph Smith, Commanding General, sets sails from India for
Okinawa; the rest of the command sails in 2 lots, on 12 Jul and 4 Aug, leaving
only a few small detachments in the India-Burma area. [The 58th Bombardment
Wing (Very Heavy) earlier sailed to the Marianas on 27 Feb].
WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: 5th AF fighters fly their first
mission over Japan, P-51s destroying floatplanes in the Fukuoka Harbor area. On Luzon, fighter-bombers hit resistance areas in the Mankayan and Kiangan sectors. B-24s bomb runways at Mandai Airifled and Limboeng
Airfield. In Borneo, B-24s pound Batu Kawa Airfield SE of Kuching and defensive
positions near Balikpapan in support of the Australian drive inland. The 868th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), Thirteenth AF, moves from Morotai to Leyte
with B-24s (the squadron specializes in low-level night attacks and pathfinder
missions).
