SUNDAY, 19 DECEMBER 1943
CBI: Chiang Kai-shek rejects Adm Mountbatten's proposal for a major attack.
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 29 B-24's from Nanumea and Baker bomb barracks, hangars, and wharf areas on Mille and Maloelap; they claim
7 fighters shot down. P-39's from Makin strafe Mille Atoll destroying 3 airplanes and firing an oil dump; 2 P-39's
are lost.
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 20 B-24's fly a night strike against newly
expanded dock area at Bangkok,
causing considerable destruction.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): Roughly 35 Japanese bombers and fighters
attack Hengyang Airfield; 26 P-40's are sent up against the attacking force
and shoot down 9; 2 P-40's are lost. 12 B-25's and 8 P-40's attack Nanhsien
and Ansiang.
SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): Twenty-four B-25's bomb the Moisuru bivouac and supply dump; other
planes on armed reconnaissance hit targets of opportunity at Buka, Bonis, Ratsua, Poporang, Kara, Kahili, Koiaris and Nissan. 16 B-24's, escorted by 50
AAF and RNZAF fighters, bomb Rabaul and Simpson Harbor.
USMC: Corsairs from Marine Fighting Squadron 216 (VMF-216) fly an escort mission over Rabaul. Lost is F4U Corsair 17806 pilot Captain Lawrence M. Faulkner (MIA), F4U Corsair 17845 pilot 1st Lt. Guy Harmon Kemper (MIA). Damaged is F4U Corsair 17736 pilot 1st Lt. Robert Marshall (survived) written off after landing at Torokina Airfield.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): Cape
Gloucester is bombed by more than 140 B-24's, B-25's, and B-26's as pre-invasion
operations increase; 37 P-40's hit Gasmata;
and 20 A-20's pound forces NE of Arawe.
In New Guinea, about 30 B-25's, A-20's, and P-39's hit barges, bivouac areas,
and gun positions north and west of Finschhafen; 30 B-25's and B-26's pound Madang;
and P-47's sweep the coastline of NE New Guinea. HQ 375th Troop Carrier Group transfers from Dobodura to Port Moresby. The 2d Bombardment Squadron
(Medium), 22d Bombardment Group (Medium), transfers from Dobodura to Nadzab with B-25's. Crashed is C-47 "Hoosier Traveler" 43-30742 (KIA).
USAAF B-24 and USN PBYs sink Japanese cargo ship Kaito Maru southwest of Kavieng, 03°17'S, 151°18'E.
USN: USS Grayback (SS-208) sinks Japanese destroyer Numakaze, 50 miles east-northeast of Naha, Okinawa, 26°30'N, 128°26'E.
PBY damages Japanese merchant cargo vessel Shoei Maru, Kwajalein; Shoei Maru sinks the next day.
