JANUARY 1945
- SQUADRON
HISTORY
[Back]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[Next]
|
The
arrival of the new Year found this Squadron working with a will toward becoming the most
efficient of its kind in operation. New Year's resolutions were not in order as those
resolutions adopted at the beginning of operations in this theater could not be improved
on. Operations became more extensive over the Philippines and Borneo. Main objectives of
these operations were the
Negros and
Palawan strikes in the Philippines and the Tarakan strikes in
Borneo. Another mission that was claiming more importance was the delivery of gasoline to
the Dipolog, Mindanao strip. Pilots from the southern bases finding themselves short of
fuel due to the long trip north and enemy action, were frequently landing at the Dipolog
strip. The two C-47's assigned to this squadron began making
almost regular deliveries of gasoline to refuel these ships. [photo1] [photo2] [photo3] At APO 159, (Sansapor2) [photo] operations, although on a smaller
scale, were continuing and scheduled missions were being flown over the Celebes, Ceram and
the Halmaheras.
72 missions totaling
665:00 hours were flown during the month of January 1945.
The squadron lost another ship on 26 January 1945. On a special
search mission of Mindanao, ship 44-33874
made a landing at Iligen Bay and a leaking hull forced the pilot to beach the plane. A
special search was conducted by Major Mathis, who had returned to the squadron upon his
release from the hospital on the 5 January, and the downed ship was located on the 29
January. It was decided that the ship could be reparied so a ground crew was dispatched to
the scene to begin repair work. [Ship could not be repaired and was written off 14
February 1945, per
INDIVIDUAL AIRCRAFT RECORD
CARD3] No member of the crew was injured.
On the 14 January, 5 members of the Australian Ground Forces were
attached to the squadron. These men were to instruct the Air Crews in Jungle-Craft in the
event that they were ever forced down over unoccupied or hostile territory. A crew and plane (A24-109 -
belonging to 113th Air Sea Rescue Flight of the Royal Australian Air Force) were attached on the 28 January. This ship covered strikes by the
R.A.A.F. in this area and removed a considerable burden from the ships assigned to this
organization.
Various members of the squadron were awarded the
Air
Medal and Oak
Leaf Clusters during the month. A copy of these
orders are attached to this history.
GENERAL ORDERS No. 801 |
HQ, Far East Air Forces, |
12 January 1945 |
GENERAL ORDERS
No. 811 |
HQ, Far East Air Forces, |
12 January 1945 |
GENERAL ORDERS No. 1211 |
HQ, Far East Air Forces, |
(19 January 1945) |
GENERAL ORDERS No.
1621 |
HQ, Far East Air Forces, |
(28 January 1945) |
GENERAL ORDERS No.
1631 |
HQ, Far East Air Forces, |
(28 January 1945) |
The change in strength is recorded in the following figures:
OFFICERS |
STRENGTH |
|
ENLISTED |
STRENGTH |
1 Jan
1945 |
65 |
|
1 Jan
1945 |
266 |
Total
Gain |
4 |
|
Total
Gain |
4 |
31 Jan
1945 |
69 |
|
31 Jan
1945 |
270 |
A total of
62 rescues and
16
evacuations were effected during the month. They are as follows:
01 January - |
Sea rescue of 12 men,
the crews of 2 B-25's. 15 miles from Tarakan. Sea rescue of 2 members of Beaufighter crew
off Bairo Island. |
03 January - |
Sea rescue of 1 fighter
pilot at Cape Sarong. |
04
January - |
Evacuated 1 American
Officer from Snug Harbor. |
05 January - |
Sea rescue of 6 members
of B-25 crew under fire from shore batteries at Manado Island. Sea rescue of 4 members of
B-25 crew about 20 miles Northwest Tifore Island. Land rescues of 6 soldiers and 1
civilian from Brooks Point, Palawan. Soldiers escaped P.O.W.s. |
06 January
- |
Rescued 3 members of a
downed B-25 of the 75th Bomb Squadron, 42nd Bomb Group when his ship was
struck by anti-aircraft fire whole over the target. |
06 January - |
Sea rescue of
6 members
of Bomb crew near Manado Island. |
08 January - |
Evacuated 2 Officers at
Dipolog, Mindanao. |
12 January - |
Land rescue of 13
members of bomb crews at Sindangan. |
13 January - |
Sea rescue of 3 members
of bomb crew. |
16 January - |
Sea rescue of 6 members
of bomb crew. |
18 January - |
Evacuated 1 Officer at
Sindangan. |
[Back][Next][Top]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Text in gray is not official
and is used to clarify or add additional information.
1
From Squadron microfilm
obtained from Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
2
APO numbers from "Numbered Army & Air Force Post Office Locations" - 7th
Edition - by Russ Carter
3
From Individual Aircraft Record Cards - Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
|