July 12, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

THURSDAY, 12 JULY 1945

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS (Eleventh Air Force): Four B-25s on a shipping sweep bomb and strafe a freighter. One B-25 is lost killing the crew.

AAF PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (Seventh Air Force): HQ Seventh AF on Okinawa is declared open by a General Order on this date. 47 B-24s from Okinawa, failing to bomb the primary target, Tsuiki, Japan because of clouds, attack the airfield on Kikaiga-shima. During the night, two Okinawa based B-24s bomb Byu Airfield and Miyazaki Airfield on Kyushu. 50+ B-25s bomb Kanoya Airfield and the town of Aburatsu on Kyushu and Tokuno Airfield on Tokuno Shima. Chiran Airfield is pounded by 70 B-25s and A-26s (this is the first strike against Japan by Seventh AF A-26s); Two more A-26s hit the Ibusuki seaplane station.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): During the night of 12/13 Jul, 1 bombing and 4 incendiary missions are flown; 3 B-29s are lost. Mission 263: 115 B-29s attack the Utsunomiya urban area destroying 0.94 sq mi (2.4 sq km), 34.2% of the city; 5 others hit alternate targets; 1 B-29 is lost. Mission 264: 123 B-29s hit the Ichinomiya urban area destroying 0.01 sq mi (0.03 sq km), 0.8% of the city area; 2 others hit alternate targets. Mission 265: 92 B-29s attack the Tsuruga urban area destroying 0.77 sq mi (2 sq km), 68% of the city; 2 others hit alternate targets. Mission 266: 123 B-29s hit the Uwajima urban area destroying 0.14 sq mi (0.36 sq km), 14% of the city; 1 other hits an alternate target. Mission 267: 53 B-29s bomb the Kawasaki Petroleum Center destroying about 25% of the target; 2 B-29s are lost, 1 between Guam and Tinian.

CHINA THEATER (AAF, China Theater) Fourteenth Air Force: 3 B-25s blast supply convoys moving through the Siang Chiang Valley; 43 P-51s and P-38s attack bridges, rivercraft, barracks road traffic, and coastal shipping around Changsha, Hsinching, the Luichow Peninsula and Nanchang and in French Indochina, Hamrong, the Tonkin area, and Cao Bang. 2 bridges are knocked out and others damaged, airfields are strafed at Vinh, French Indochina and Kiungshan.

WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: P-51s sweep Kyushu. B-24s bomb Canton. On Formosa, B-24s bomb Toshien while A-26s hit numerous targets at Tamazato and P-51s hit targets along the W coast. On Luzon, fighter-bombers hit pillboxes E of Iguig, attack concentrations in the Bontoc-Kiangan area, and support ground forces E of Manila (the town of Kiangan falls to the 6th Infantry Division, but resistance in the area continues). B-24s over Negros Island in support of ground forces bomb a concentration NE of Mount Mandalagan. B-24s destroy a barrack area at Tandjung, Borneo and others hit warehouses at Donggala, Celebes Island. The 341st, 342d and 460th Fighter Squadrons, 348th Fighter Group, move from Floridablanca to Ie Shima with P-51s.