January 14, 1944
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

FRIDAY, 14 JANUARY 1944

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): Bad weather limits operations to fighter patrols in the Sumprabum, Burma area.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): Four B-25's on a coastal sweep from Pakhoi to Haiphong, bomb a group of buildings on Weichow; 2 B-24's damage two vessels near Saint John Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): 12 B-24's, staging through Tarawa bomb Kwajalein; 3 B-25's from Makin fly a mission against shipping off Wotje; 2 of the B-25's attack 2 small vessels, sinking 1 and damaging the other; the other B-25 bombs Wotje Airfield and building on the southern part of Wotje.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): During the night of January 13-14 Jan, fifteen B-24s take off to bomb Vunakanau and Lakunai, Rabaul, Rapopo and Malaguna before dawn. Some meet bad weather and bomb alternate targets on New Ireland and Buka. Lost is B-25D 41-30566. Twelve B-25's hit Au and Cape Gazelle and Buka. P-39's join USN SBD's in bombing Wakunai, Bougainville.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): 50+ B-24's, B-25's, and P-40's hit the Alexishafen and Erima area. On New Britain, B-24's bomb Cape Busching; B-25's attack targets of opportunity along the north coast, and A-20's strike villages along the south coast.

IJN: Ditched is G4M1 Betty 6107. At Rabaul, seventeen Allied Prisoners Of War (POW) detained at Keibitai Headquarters at Rabaul are executed on Matupi Island and their bodies buried in a mass grave. The seventeen executed included F/O Ross B. O'Loghlen navigator Beaufort A9-262 whose remains were recovered and identified postwar.

RAAF: Beaufort A9-141 ground looped at Tocumwal Airfield.

USMC: First full scale attack by land based light bombers against Rabaul. The formation includes 36 SBD Dauntless dive bombers from VMSB-236 and VMSB-341 plus 18 TBF Avengers strike Japanese shipping off Rabaul. The bombers were escorted by 73 fighters including 12 F4U Corsairs from VMF-211 and F6F Hellcats. Lost are SBD-5 35971 pilot 1st Lt. Billy Ray Ramsey (MIA) gunner Sgt Charlie J. Sciara (POW, executed), SBD-5 36230 pilot 1st Lt. Harold Rudolph Tuck (MIA) gunner Pfc Paul F. Mc Cleaf (POW, executed), F4U 17722 pilot 2nd Lt. John James Knight Jr. (MIA), F4U 17807 pilot 1st Lt. N. R. Landon, Jr. (MIA).

USN: USS Albacore (SS-218) torpedoes and sinks Sazanami roughly 300 miles southeast of Yap.