WEDNESDAY, 1 AUGUST 1945
Twentieth Air Force: During the night of 1/2 Aug, 801 of 836 B-29s dispatched
carry out a mining, five fire-bomb and one bombing mission on Japan; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 305: 37 B-29s drop mines into Shimonoseki Strait, Nakaumi Lagoon,
at Hamada, Sakai, Yonago, Najin, and Seishin; 5 others mine alternate targets.
Mission 306: 169 B-29s attack Hachioji urban area destroying 1.12 sq mi
(2.9 sq km), 80% of the city; 3 others hit alternate targets; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 307: 173 B-29s hit the Toyama urban area, a center of aluminum, ball bearing
and special steel production, destroying 1.87 sq mi (4.84 sq km), 99.5% of the city; 1 other hits an alternate target.
Mission 308: 125 B-29s attack the Nagaoka urban area destroying 1.33 sq miles, 65.5% of the city; 5 others hit alternate targets.
Mission 309: 160 B-29s hit the Mito urban area destroying 1.7 sq miles, 65% of the city; 1 other hits a target of opportunity.
Mission 310: 120 B-29s bomb the Mitsubishi Oil Company at Kawasaki but could
only add slightly to the damage previously inflicted; 2 other hit targets of
opportunity. 30+ P-51s from Iwo Jima hit airfields and other targets in the
Osaka-Nagoya area; bad weather prevents numerous other fighters from
reaching targets.
Tenth Air Force: Major General Albert F Hegenberger becomes Commanding General
Tenth AF and HQ Tenth AF moves from Piardoba to Kunming (HQ at Kunming was officially opened on 23 Jul). The scheduled role of the Tenth AF
in China is almost identical with its completed Burma mission: to act as the
tactical AF giving direct support and providing air supply to Chinese ground
forces operating S of the 27th parallel N.
Fourteenth Air Force: In China, bad weather severely curtails operations;
P-61s effectively sweep rivers in the Wuchou, Canton, and Tsingyun areas, sinking
several large junks and sampans. Unit moves in China: the 26th Fighter Squadron,
51st Fighter Group, from Kunming to Nanning with P-51s; 322d Troop Carrier Squadron, Fourteenth AF, from Loping to Liangshan with C-47s.
Unit moves in China during Aug 45: HQ 23d Fighter Group and 74th and 75th Fighter
Squadrons from Luliang to Liuchow with P-51s (the detachment of the 74th operating
from Tushan also moves to Liuchow); 528th, 529th and 530th Fighter Squadrons,
311th Fighter Group from Shwangliu and Pungchacheng respectively to Hsian with
P-51s.
Far East Air Force (FEAF): B-24s bomb shipyards at Pontianak and other
B-24s hit barracks and AA guns along Makassar Strait. P-38s
strafe locomotives in the Soerabaja area. On Luzon, P-38s support
ground forces ENE and SE of Mankayan and, along with US Marine Corps (USMC)
aircraft, pound enemy positions and concentrations in the Upian area. In French Indochina, B-24s bomb the Tourane marshalling yard while escorting P-51s strafe
boxcars at Quang Nam. Other B-24s strike military stores at Takao.
In Japan, about 50 B-24s bomb targets in the Nagasaki dock and harbor area;
B-25s and fighter-bombers in the Nagasaki area hit docks, railroad yards, and
shipping; other B-24s bomb Koniya Airfield and hit Kakeroma Island; 80+ P-47s
hit railroad bridges and other railroad targets at Sendai and P-47s fly their
first combat mission from Iwo Jima, joining VII Fighter Command P-51s in a
sweep over southern Honshu; and rolling stock and airfields are attacked in
the Okazaki, Itami, and Nagoya areas. Unit moves during Aug 45: HQ V Bomber
Command and HQ V Fighter Command from Clark
Field, Luzon to Okinawa; HQ 71st
Reconnaissance Group from Binmaley to Ie Shima; 22d Troop Carrier Squadron,
374th Troop Carrier Group, from Finschhafen to Nielson
Field with C-47s; the detachment of the 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter
Command, operating from Sanga Sanga with P-61s, returns to base
at Tacloban,
Leyte. HQ AAF: During Aug 45, the 4th Reconnaissance Squadron (Long Range,
Photographic), 311th Reconnaissance Wing (attached to 6th Reconnaissance Group),
based at Tacloban with F-7s, sends the detachment operating from Clark
Field
to operate from Okinawa (squadron is mapping areas of the SW and W Pacific).
