THURSDAY, 21 DECEMBER 1944
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 145 P-40s and P-51s fly armed reconnaissance over wide expanses of south China, E Burma and N French Indochina; the fighters attack chiefly troops and river, road, and rail traffic and a variety of targets of opportunity at numerous locations; 9 B-25s bomb Kunlong and Minkiang, China. The 4th Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, moves from Tulihal, India to Chengkung, China with C-47s.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 23: 49 B-29s from Chengtu are
dispatched to attack Mukden; 19 hit the Manchuria
Airplane Manufacturing Company) but it suffers little damage and a nearby arsenal
and rail yards are slightly damaged; 8 other B-29s bomb alternate targets and
targets of opportunity; they claim 21-6-19 Japanese aircraft; 2 B-29s are lost.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 B-25s bomb a supply and
personnel area at Magyidon; 13 P-47s damage bridges at Hay-ti, Mong Long, and
Pa-mao; rail targets of opportunity from Hsumhsai to Hsipaw are attacked by
12 P-47s; 20+ fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations at several points including
Man Ka-lao and the general area E of the Shweli River; twelve P-47s bomb and strafe
the Lashio area. 290+ transport sorties are flown to forward bases and frontline
areas. The detachment of the 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 8th
Photographic Reconnaissance Group, operating from Chittagong with F-5s,
returns to base at Myitkyina.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 23 Guam based B-24s hit Iwo Jima.
During the night of 21/22 Dec, 4 B-24s from the Mariana fly 3 harassment
strikes against Iwo Jima.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s, B-25s, and
fighter-bombers pound 10 airfields mostly on Negros and elsewhere in
the Central Philippines; Leyte based fighter-bombers fly 100+
attack sorties; Likanan Airfield is also hit by B-24s. In the Moluccas Islands, B-25s pound Goeroea, Anggai,
and Lolobata on Halmahera. The 311th Fighter Squadron, 58th Fighter
Group, moves from San Roque, Leyte Island to San
Jose with
P-47s.
U.S. Army:
The newly created five star rank of "General of the Army" bestowed
on General Henry H. Arnold.
