July 3, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

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: Phase IV of Operation Starvation 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. Lost is B-29 "Miss Hap" 42-24774 pilot Lt. Col John H. Griffith (KIA). 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.

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].

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.

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. 868th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) moves from Morotai to Leyte with B-24s the squadron specializes in low-level night attacks and pathfinder missions.

Japanese merchant tanker No.5 Nanko Maru is sunk by marine casualty, Seto, Inland Sea. Japanese army cargo ship Hoei Maru is sunk by aircraft, 34°22'N, 126°25'E. USAAF B-24s bomb Japanese shipping at Bandjermasin sinking cargo vessel No.3 Misaki Maru.

Japanese merchant tanker No.5 Nanko Maru is sunk by marine casualty, Seto Inland Sea.

Japanese army cargo ship Hoei Maru is sunk by aircraft, 34°22'N, 126°25'E. USAAF B-24s bomb Japanese shipping at Bandjermasin, sinking cargo vessel No.3 Misaki Maru.