This day in the war in the Pacific 65 years ago.

[syscom3]

PACIFIC: The USN submarine USS Sturgeon (SS-187) sinks the unmarked 7,267-ton Japanese transport SS Montevideo Maru about 65 miles (105 km) west of Luzon, Philippine Islands. The transport had sailed from Rabaul, New
Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, on 22 June 1942 destined for Hainan
Island carrying 1,250 Australian civilians and POWs of the 2/22 Battalion. The only survivors of the sinking are 18 Japanese seaman.

ALASKA (11th AF): The XI Bomber Command (Provisional) comprising the 28th Composite Group and its assigned squadrons is activated, Colonel William O Eareckson in command. A B-17 flies weather reconnaissance over Kiska, Aleutian and lands early due to weather.

WESTERN US DEFENSE (4th AF): 4th, 7th, 18th and 391st Bombardment Squadrons, 34th BG (Heavy), move from Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona to Geiger Field, Washington and continue flying ASW patrols with B-24s.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) (10th AF): In China, 4 B-25s from Hengyang, escorted by P-40s, bomb docks at Hankow; bad weather handicaps the bombardiers, and the effects of the raid are inconsequential.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th AF): B-26's bomb Salamaua. Other medium and heavy bomber strikes abort due to bad weather.

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ALASKA (11th AF): In the Aleutian , 7 B-24s and 1 B-17 fly photo and bombing missions to Attu , which appears deserted, and to Kiska and Agattu; near misses are scored on a transport and a destroyer at Agattu.

WESTERN DEFENSE COMMAND (4th AF): 48th Bombardment Squadron, 41st BG (Medium), moves from Minter Field to NAS Alameda, California and continues flying ASW patrols with A-29s and B-18s.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) (10th AF): B-25s and P-40s hit the Hankow dock area for the second consecutive day. This raid, more successful than the first, causes considerable damage. The Japanese retaliate during the night by attacking Hengyang but fail to hit the airfield.

US: The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff define three stages for the occupation of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. The first phase is the occupation of the eastern Solomon and Santa Cruz Islands; second, an advance through the rest of the Solomons and along the northeastern coast of New Guinea; and finally, the liberation of New Britain and New Ireland Islands and further advances in northeastern New Guinea. The first offensive will be the occupation of eastern Solomons with the code name
Operation WATCHTOWER assigned to the invasion of Tulagi Island scheduled for 1 August 1942.

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ALASKA (11th AF): In the Aleutian , 7 B-24s and 2 B-17s bomb Kiska and Near , encountering neither fighter opposition nor AA; results are not observed.

WESTERN DEFENSE COMMAND: 46th Bombardment Squadron, 41st BG (Medium), moves from NAS Alameda to Hammer Field, California with A-29s and B-18s and continues flying ASW patrols.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) (10th AF): In China, 10th AF aircraft bomb and strafe the airfield at Nanchang, the probable base of the preceding night's raiders on Hengyang; several parked aircraft are destroyed; during the night Japanese aircraft again strike at Hengyang and once more fail to hit the airfield.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th AF): B-17s attack the barracks area at Koepang, Timor and airfield at Lae. 1 A-24 (SBD?) bombs Tulagi (?)

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The RN submarine HMS Truant sinks a Japanese army cargo ship off the coast of Sumatra west of Kuala Lumpur.

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CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) (10th AF): CHINA AIR TASK FORCE (CATF): CATF is activated under command of Brigadier General Clare L Chennault. This new command is the successor to Chennault's American Volunteer Group (AVG) which had attained 300 confirmed victories over Japanese aircraft at a cost of less than 50 aircraft and only 9 pilots. Only 5 pilots and a few ground personnel of the AVG choose to join the USAAF, although 20 other pilots agree to stay until replacements arrive in Kunming, China. Combat elements of CATF are:

1. HQ 23d Fighter Group at Kunming with Colonel Robert L Scott, Jr in command and 74th and 76th Fighter Squadrons at Kunming with P-40s and 75th Fighter Squadron at Hengyang with P-40s; all units were activated today.

2. 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group attached to 23d Fighter Group, at Kunming with P-40s.

3. 11th Bombardment Squadron, 7th BG (Heavy), at Kunming and a detachment at Kweilin, Hengyang and Nanning with B-25s; Colonel Caleb V Haynes is in command.

In air action in China, 5 B-25s, with fighter escort, heavily damage buildings, runways and parked aircraft at Tien Ho Airfield. P-40s over Kweilin intercept a formation of fighter-bombers, claiming 13 destroyed; the Japanese fail to bomb the target.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th AF): B-17s, B-26s and B-25s bomb airfields at Lae and Salamaua. 19th Bombardment Squadron, 22d BG (Medium), moves from Townsville to Woodstock, Australia with B-26s. Lost during an interception over Port Moresby is P-400 AP 378.

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ALASKA (11th AF): A B-17 flies a weather mission.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th AF): B-17s and 22nd BG B-26's attack Lae and Salamaua. HQ 22d Bombardment Group (Medium) moves from Townsville to Woodstock, Australia.

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ALASKA (11th AF): 4 B-24s and 1 LB-30 fly bombing and weather missions to Kiska ; results are not observed.

CHINA AIR TASK FORCE (CATF): B-25s bomb the waterfront at Canton, China, marking their initial action against coastal facilities of Japanese-held Chinese ports.

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ALASKA (11th AF): 1 B-17 and 7 B-24s fly weather, bombing and photo missions to Kiska, Attu and Agattu ; all bombs are returned to base due to weather; 1 seaplane is shot down.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Joint Chiefs of Staff): Major General Millard F Harmon, USAAF, is designated Commanding General of US Army Forces in the South Pacific (COMGENSOPAC).

USA - An agreement was reached between the Army and Navy, which provided that the Army would deliver to the Navy a specified number of B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and B-34 Venturas to meet the Navy's requirement for long range landplanes. Also, the Navy would relinquish its production cognizance of the Boeing Renton plant to the Army for expanded B-29 production and limit its orders for PBY's to avoid interference with B-24 production.

PACIFIC: Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, South Pacific Area commander, arrives in Australia to discuss the upcoming operations in the Solomon Islands with General Douglas A. MacArthur, the Commanding General Southwest Pacific Area.

USA: Second Lieutenant Richard Bong loops the loop around the central span of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, while flying a P-38 Lightning. He then flies up Market Street at low altitude causing a local woman's laundry to be blown off the clothes line. Bong is ordered to report to Major General George C. Kenney, Commanding General 4th Air Force, and Kenney orders him to re-wash the woman's laundry as punishment. Kenney goes on to command the Fifth Air Force, and later Far East Air Forces, in the Southwest Pacific Area. Bong is later assigned to the Fifth Air Force and becomes the U.S.'s top fighter ace of all time with 40 Japanese aircraft shot down.

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ALASKA (11th AF): 404th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group arrives in the Alaskan Theater with B-24s, originally destined for N Africa; first mission is 18 Jul. In the Aleutian , 1 B-24 flies 2 photo missions over the S shore of Kiska and over Little Kiska ; the bombing mission is cancelled due to weather.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) (10th AF): A single B-25 piloted by Colonel Caleb V Haynes, bombs Japanese HQ at Tengchung, China near the Burma border. Bad weather, pilot fatigue, and maintenance halt major operations for several days.

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AMERICAN ALASKA (11th AF): 5 B-24s fly photo, weather, and bombing missions to Kiska but return with the bombs due to weather.

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ALASKA (11th AF): 1 B-24 aborts a reconnaissance mission to Kiska due to weather.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, 7th AF): Ground echelon of the 11th Bombardment Group leaves Hawaii for the S Pacific aboard USS Argonne (AS-10).

SOLOMONS: In the Solomon Islands, USN PBY-5 Catalinas of Patrol Squadron Fourteen (VP-14) based at Noumea, New Caledonia, attempt to bomb Japanese installations on Tulagi and Gavutu Islands but bad weather causes the mission to be aborted.
The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff change the date of Operation WATCHTOWER, the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi, from 1 to 7 August.

ALASKA: the crew of a VP-41 PBY-5A Catalina spots a crashed "Zeke" fighter (Mitsubishi A6M2 Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter Model 21), while flying low over the tundra of Akutan Island near their base at NAF Dutch Harbor. The pilot of the fighter had engine problems and attempted to land on what he had assumed was a grass field, not realizing that it was actually a swamp. The "Zeke" had nosed over immediately on landing, breaking the pilot's neck. The aircraft had lain there undiscovered since the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor in early June.
The pilot of the PBY later leads a recovery party to the site to retrieve the aircraft. The "Zeke" was disassembled and then sent under great secrecy to NAS San Diego, California, where it was reassembled and test flown. It was the first example of the "Zeke" to fall in to Allied hands and proved to be one of the more fortuitous finds of the war.

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ALASKA (11th AF): 4 B-24s taking off for weather, bombing and photo missions to Kiska are attack by seaplane fighters; no losses. A cruiser is bombed with unobserved results.

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ALASKA: A USN salvage party is transported to Akutan Island to begin salvaging the "Zeke" fighter discovered there on 10 July.

In the Aleutians, three 11th Air Force B-24 Liberators dispatched on weather, photo and bombing missions to Kiska Island abort due to weather.

[Graeme]

NEW GUINEA: An Australian force reached Kokoda. The small unit trekked five days over a difficult trail over the Owen Stanley Range from Port Moresby. Intent on denying the Japanese any further gains in New Guinea, and determined to prevent them from occupying the northern coastal town of Buna; the plan being made for this was given the code name Operation Providence. At the same time, American troops began their preparations for the liberation of the Solomon Islands.

INDOCHINA: Vichy French officials in Indochina ceded a disputed border region of Cambodia to Thailand.

[syscom3]

Thanks Graeme.

Please keep posting.

[Graeme]

CHINA: Japanese marines capture Juian.

WASHINGTON: Roosevelt has today approved the formation of a central intelligence agency for America. Called the Office of Strategic Services, it has grown out of an organisation called the Office of the Coordinator of Information and is headed by "Wild Bill" Donovan, a millionaire lawyer from Wall Street. Donovan, a forceful "can do" man, has close ties with Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) and has carried out missions for Mr Churchill.