FRIDAY, 2 OCTOBER 1942
AMERICAN
THEATER OF OPERATIONS
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): On Kiska Island,
11 B-24s and 6 P-39s bomb 2 cargo ships in the harbor (no hits observed), drop
demolition charges throughout the Main Camp area, and hit a hangar S of the
seaplane ramp; 4 floatplanes and 1 biplane are shot down. Enemy aircraft bomb the Adak Island airfield
without inflicting damage.
CARIBBEAN (Sixth Air Force): German sub,
U-512, is sunk off French Guiana, 06-50N, 52-25W, by aircraft of the 99th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 9th Bombardment Group (Heavy), based at Zandery
Field, Surinam.
EUROPEAN
THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: Mission 13: 61 bombers and
54 fighters are dispatched to attack 3 targets in France; 1 fighter is lost:
1. 32 of 43 B-17s dispatched hit the Avions
Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte; they claim 4-9-5 aircraft; 6 B-17s are
damaged; 3 airmen are WIA.
Escort
is provided by 31 P-38s; 1 P-38 is lost.
2. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a diversionary missions
to St Omer/Longuenesse Airfield; they claim 5-4-4 aircraft. Escort is provided
by 23 Spitfires; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft without loss.
3. 11 of 12 unescorted DB-7s attack a ship in
a dock at Le Havre without loss.
SOUTHWEST
PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): In the Owen Stanley Range of New Guinea,
A-20s bomb and strafe Japanese campsites around Myola and hit several trails in
the area, while P-400s strafe bridges at Sirorata and Wairopi and a village NE
of Wairopi. B-17s bomb shipping and airfield at Rabaul on New Britain Island,
Bismarck Archipelago.
SATURDAY, 2 OCTOBER 1943
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA
THEATER OF OPERATIONS
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 5 P-40's
dive-bomb and strafe Yangtze River shipping in the Chiuchiang, China area.
Strafing damages several small craft.
HQ 51st Fighter Group transfers from Dinjan,
India to Kunming, China and is reassigned from the Tenth to Fourteenth Air
Force.
EUROPEAN
THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): VIII Bomber Command Mission 106: 349
B-17's are dispatched to the industrial area of Emden, Germany; led by 2 B-17
pathfinders, 339 hit the target at 1557-1603 hours; they claim 15-6-12
Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17's are lost and 34 damaged; casualties are 2 WIA and
21 MIA. The B-17's are escorted by 227 P-47's who claim 5-3-1 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 1 P-47 is damaged. In addition to the above, 21 B-24's are dispatched
to Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands; the target is obscured by clouds and
the mission is aborted.
VIII Air Support Command Mission 75: 72
B-26's are dispatched to the St Omer/Longuenesse Airfield in France; because of
cloud cover, only 6 hit the target at 1715 hours; the remainder refrain from
bombing because the target is in occupied territory; 12 B-26's are damaged;
casualties are 1 KIA and
4 WIA.
VIII Bomber Command Mission 107: 2 B-17's
join the Royal Air Force (RAF) in a night mission to Munich; no losses or
casualties.
MEDITERRANEAN
THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): Brigadier General Gordon P Saville
becomes Commanding General, XII Fighter Command. Weather curtails operations.
In Italy, fighter-bombers of the XII Air Support Command attack motor
transport, roads, and bridges during armed reconnaissance missions from the
Volturno Valley N to Isernia and W to Benevento.
The 64th and 65th Fighter Squadrons, 57th
Fighter Group, transfer from Rocco Bernardo to Foggia, Italy with P-40's.
SOUTH
PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 6 B-25's join USN dive
bombers in attacking Hamberi Cove barge hideout near Vila on Kolombangara
Island.
SOUTHWEST
PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): On New Britain Island, B-25's
strafe villages in the Talasea area and barges off Gasmata Island; B-26's bomb
Hoskins Airfield; and a B-24 bombs Cape Gloucester Airfield. Other B-24's bomb
Amboina Island in the Moluccas Islands.
Australian
forces take the town and harbor of Finschhafen and prepare to take nearby
commanding positions still held by the Japanese.
The 6th Troop Carrier Squadron transfers from
Port Moresby, New Guinea to Garbutt Field, Townsville, Queensland, Australia with
C-47's.
MONDAY, 2 OCTOBER 1944
AMERICAN
THEATER OF OPERATIONS
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile
Islands, photo reconnaissance missions, by 4 B-25s to Paramushiru Island and by
2 B-24s to Onnekotan Island, abort due to weather.
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA
(CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 49
P-47s pound several towns and bridges in the Bhamo area and destroy buildings
in Shwekyina, Kaungsin, Maingka, Kyungyi, Singan, and Kabani; 20+ P-47s hit N
Burma railroad targets and troops at Man He and Manla; 7 P-47s bomb Kutkai
while 8 sweep the Lungling, China-Loiwing, Burma area, destroying a warehouse
at Selan; 8 B-25s slightly damage road bridges N of Lashio; 4 others bomb and
damage Nambkai road bridges and their vicinity; troop carrier aircraft fly 260+
sorties, delivering men and supplies to various points in the CBI. The
detachments of the 1st and 3d Combat Cargo Squadrons, 1st Combat Cargo Group,
operating from Yunnani, China with C-47s return to base at Sylhet, India.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 11
B-25s attack the town of Pingnam while 16 bomb Tien Ho and White Cloud
Airfields in Canton and the town of Samshui; 70+ P-40s and P-51s on armed
reconnaissance over S China attack various targets of opportunity, chiefly
river traffic and troop areas around Chuanhsien, Taochuan, Takbing, Wuchou,
Dosing, and the Wenchow peninsula, and attack shipping in the Campba
Port-Hongay area of French Indochina.
EUROPEAN
THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier
Command): In France, HQ 441st Troop Carrier Group and the 100th and 302d Troop
Carrier Squadrons move from Villeneuve/Vetrus to St Marceau with C-47s.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 4
missions are flown:
Mission 658: 887 B-17s and 549 fighters are
dispatched to make PFF attacks on industrial targets at Cologne and Kassel,
Germany; 2 B-17s are lost:
1. 305 B-17s are dispatched to hit the
Bettenhausen ordnance depot at Kassel (129); targets of opportunity are Kassel
(143), Fritzlar Airfield (12) and other (1); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair
and 89 damaged; 5 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 228 P-47s and P-51s
without loss.
2. 458 B-17s are dispatched to hit the
Henschel motor vehicle plant at Kassel (384); targets of opportunity are
Wiesbaden (31), Gesecke (9) and other (17); 2 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond
repair and 144 damaged; 16 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 20 MIA. Escort is provided
by 219 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
3. 110 of 124 B-17s hit the Ford motor
vehicle plant at Cologne; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged.
Escort is provided by 53 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
Mission 659: 308 B-24s are dispatched to make
a PFF attack on the marshalling yard at Hamm (266); targets of opportunity are
Handorf Airfield
(29) and
Munster (1); 2 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 144 damaged; 1
airman is KIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 212 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; 1
P-51 is lost (pilot MIA), 2 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged;
1 pilot
is KIA.
Mission 660: 2 B-17s, escorted by 15 P-51s,
drop leaflets on Dutch islands during the day.
Mission 661: 5 B-24s and 3 B-17s drop
leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command
(Provisional)
goes into operation along with the US Ninth Army (this new Tactical Air Command
is formed from elements of the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands); in Germany,
the 9th Bombardment Division strikes the industrial area of Ubach and defended
positions at Herbach; fighters fly armed reconnaissance (and later night
patrol) over Belgium, E France, and W Germany and support the US First, Third,
and Seventh Armies in E France and W Germany. In Belgium, HQ IX Tactical Air
Command moves advanced HQ from Janoulx to to Verviers maintaining the close
association with the US First Army; HQ 368th Fighter Group and the 395th, 396th
and 397th Fighter Squadrons move from Laon, France to Chievres with P-47s; the
428th, 429th and 430th Fighter Squadrons, 474th Fighter Group, move from
Peronne, France to Florennes. In France, HQ 386th Bombardment Group (Medium)
and the 552d, 554th and 555th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Great
Dunmow, England to Beaumont-sur-Oise with B-26s. In Luxembourg, the 161st
Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves
from Montrevil, France to Sandwieler with F-6s.
MEDITERRANEAN
THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force):
Unfavorable weather again cancels bombing missions and limits operations to
weather reconnaissance. The 885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), Fifteenth AF
(attached to Mediterranean Allied Air Forces), begins a movement from Maison
Blanche, Algeria to Brindisi, Italy with B-24s (the squadron transports
supplies to partisans and drops leaflets in the MTO).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In
Italy, weather grounds medium bombers and restricts fighters to reconnaissance
and patrols; during the night of 1/2 Oct A-20s bomb targets of opportunity in
the Po Valley; HQ 27th Fighter Group and the 522d, 523d and 524th Fighter
Squadrons move from Loyettes, France to Tarquinia with P-47s.
PACIFIC
OCEAN AREA (POA)
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan
Island-based B-24s hit Marcus Island in the North Pacific and shipping W of
Chichi Jima Island, Bonin Islands.
SOUTHWEST
PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-25s pound Laha Airfield on
Ambon Island while B-24s hit Haroekoe Island; P-38s cover the Laha raid, attack
shipping in Seri and Amboina Bays and hit Amahai on Ceram Island and Kairatoe
Airfield on Celebes Island. Off Halmahera Island B-25s fly a barge sweep, bomb
Laboehan, and attack the coastal villages on Weda and Boeli Bays. In New
Guinea, P-40s attack vessels off Tamoelol village and Misool Island and bomb
Otawiri and Ransiki Airfields; the 64th Troop Carrier Squadron, 403d Troop
Carrier Group, based on Biak Island begins operating from Wake Island with
C-47s.
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