The Battle Under: The Allies Fight Back

[tocaff]

October 18, 1944 Amboina

Intel

11th Army is located at Nanning.
Nakajo-wan Fortress is located at Kadina.
27th Division is located at Nanning.
87703 men are based at Pescadores.
2nd South Seas Det. is located at Kwajalein.
China Expeditionary Army is located at Nanning.
8146 men are based at Hakodate.
193435 men are based at Truk.
7th AF Construction Battalion is located at Soerabaja.
5th Engineer Regiment is located at Dobodura.
108th Division is located at Harbin.
6148 men are based at Takamatsu.
31st AA Regiment is located at Sapporo.
Radio transmissions detected at Vancouver.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Osaka/Kobe 5 X AP, 5 X AK, 10 LCUs 6060/111/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Luang Prabang 1 LCU 1280/6/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Pisanuloke 4 LCUs 9520/14/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Lautem 1 LCU 1000/0/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 2300/14/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Jolo vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Hansa vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Koepang 3 LCUs 12600/30/0

Combat

A PBM Mariner attacked an IJN sub 175 miles W of Marcus Island and claimed hitting it.

The SS Boarfish, 95 miles SW of Sasebo, snuck inside a TK's escorts and hit it with a torpedo. She wasn't able to slip away as the DD and 3 PCs rained DCs down on her. The sub took enough punishment to end her patrol prematurely due to systems failing. She has no flooding so the transit to a repair facility should be no problem.

The SS Cobia, spotted a TK being escorted by a DD and 5 MSWs about 87 miles SE of Swatow. She tried and failed to get an attack in.

At Wewak Allied troops took heavy losses during their landings.

The SS Templar attacked a lone AK 20 miles E of Medan, hitting it with 2 fish, causing heavy damage. In the afternoon the sub made an attack on another lone AK, scoring a torpedo hit that caused a fire. After reloading her tubes the Templar tried to finish off the burning AK, but missed.

Tavoy was struck by 50 X B-25J (4 damaged), 11 X Thunderbolt II and 12 X Spitfire VIII. The airfield was moderately damaged, a secondary explosion was observed and casualties were moderate. Another strike of 43 X B-25J (2 damaged), 44 X Mosquito FB.VI and 14 X Thunderbolt II added moderately heavy damage to the airstrip, a few secondary explosions and negligible personnel losses.

Krung Thep had the attention of 30 X B-29, 33 X B-24J and 121 X Liberator VI (2 damaged). The airfield suffered moderately heavy damage, many secondary explosions were observed, 16 X Frank and a Zeke were left burning on the ground and casualties were heavy.

Lunga was hit by 16 X B-24J for light damage to the port.

The IJA 66th Division, on Morotai was pounded by 63 X B-24J (1 downed, 1 damaged), 32 X B-24D (1 damaged), 17 X P-51D, 10 X P-47D and 19 X F6F for moderate losses. An attack was made by the Allied forces that gained more ground and inflicted extremely heavy losses on the Japanese, while sustaining heavy casualties of their own.

The 6th Chinese Air Base Force was attacked by 12 X Peggy, who bombed already destroyed material.

An IJN APD near Amboina was under the protection of 11 X George and 29 X Franks when 16 X PB4Y and 2 X P-51D arrived. In the fight the Japanese had a George damaged and lost a Frank (5 damaged). The Allied bombers penetrated the air cover and hit the APD with 6 bombs, causing heavy damage and fires. 4 PB4Ys were shot down and 8 others were damaged. More APDs near Amboina were attacked by 20 X PB4Y and 32 X P-38J. 11 X George and 28 X Frank greeted them and the furball was on. Once again the Japanese were unable to turn away the attackers. 3 Georges and 18 Franks were shot down while the Allies had a PB4Y damaged and lost 2 Lightnings (2 damaged). Of the 3 APDs present 1 was struck by 4 bombs, leaving it heavily damaged with fires blazing. Another attack was made by 3 X PB4Y and 21 X P-38J later in the day. The CAP of 6 X George and 6 X Frank did enough to cause the bombs to miss. A Frank went down as did a Lightning (1 damaged). The Allies weren't done yet as they threw 17 X PB4Y, 16 X P-51D and 3 X P-38J at 2 APDs. 6 Georges and 5 Franks engaged and 5 Georges and 3 Franks were lost as 1 of the APDs took 6 bomb hits, causing heavy damage and fires. Later reports indicated that 2 APDs will no longer be serving the IJN.

Stick is up to 58 combat missions, not including CAPs. He hopes that being based at Menado will give him the chance that he longs for.

Dave reads an article in the paper about the 2 top Allied Aces in the PTO. LT P Findley of the ABG flew Mustangs recently until he was KIA and LT M Daley of the 23rd FG. He flies Lightnings and is alive and well. Both were credited with 31 kills.

Gene's mind is working overtime concerning the possibility of going to the Electric Boat Company. If he had the time he would like to go and look at the Groton area and facilities, but that's not in the cards. He couldn't live with his parents, he'd miss the guys at work, the list of negatives goes on and on but there are positives too.

A call up for Volkstrum started in Germany. All males 10 to 60 years old are to be conscripted.

The Russians entered Norway.

Victory Points Allied 42448 Japanese 34920

[tocaff]

October 19, 1944 Tori Shima

Intel

4th Air Army is located at Tokyo.
116th Division is located at Wenchow.
30th Division is located at Krung Thep.
68th Ind. Mixed Brigade is located at Naha.
61st Division is located at Tokyo.
6024 men are based at Pusan.
49th Division is located at Bangkok.
4th Division is located at Davao.
68th Construction Battalion is located at Hamamatsu.
52nd Construction Battalion is located at Changchun.
North China Area Army is located at Nanning.
86th Division is located at Nagaoka.
Radio transmissions detected at Tori Shima.

Recon

Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Lautem 1 LCU 1780/0/0
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Siador vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Brunei 2 X AK, 4 X AP, 2 X APD, 1 LCU 3900/0/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Kendari 3 LCUs 11320/33/0

Combat

A PBM has spotted an IJN APD near Buru Island and reported hitting it with a bomb. Later a PB4Y spotted what was assumed to have been the same APD and claimed another bomb hit. Another sighting confirmed that the APD no longer is able to serve as anything other than an artificial reef.

The SS KXVI, 31 miles E of Medan, was violently attacked by 6 DDs who hammered away at her for hours. The sub has suffered light systems damage and she will make for Diamond Harbor for repairs.

Tavoy was subjected to a raid by 40 X B-25J (1 damaged), 47 X Mosquito FB.VI and 11 X Thunderbolt II who caused moderate damage to the airfield, a couple of secondary explosions and very light casualties.

Krung Thep was the target for 27 X B-29 (2 damaged), 31 X B-24J (1 damaged) and 121 X Liberator VI (2 damaged). They did very heavy damage to the airstrip, triggered many secondary explosions and inflicted heavy personnel losses.

Amboina was attacked by 53 X B-24J (3 damaged), 38 X B-24D and 24 X P-51D who were on a sweep. The bombers arrived a bit early so they got to see the Mustangs in the process of downing 3 of the 5 Georges and 3 of the 8 Franks that were on CAP duty. Then the bombs rained down doing moderate damage to the airfield, causing some secondary explosions 1 of which was a fuel tank and there were moderate casualties.

Truk was hammered by 190 X B-29 for heavy airfield damage, very heavy port damage, some secondary explosions and a fireball from a fuel explosion. There were very heavy troop losses.

Gili Gili was hit by 44 X B-24D for light port damage, a few secondary explosions and moderate casualties.

The 5th New Chinese Corps was subjected to it's daily visit by Miss Peggy. Today there were 8 of them and the Chinese had light losses.

The 1st BAF AA Regiment, 20 miles N of Krung Thep, was being snooped on by a Dinah. The unit held it's fire to not give away it's position or strength when suddenly 7 Thunderbolt IIs arrived chasing off the Japanese plane.

At Morotai the Allied troops attacked again, further squeezing the Japanese perimeter while inflicting very heavy losses. The attackers had heavy casualties.

Wewak's defenders were attacked, but no ground was gained as the Japanese had moderate losses and the Allied troops had light casualties.

Gil is amazed at how these bombing missions are starting to feel like a normal thing to do. He doesn't consider that people are being killed, only that facilities are being destroyed. Now that another mission has been completed they will get some rest and go at it again.

Sam sighs as his squad readies for another patrol. This time they are looking for something in particular at least. Somebody on the island has been moving around and broadcasting with a radio. This somebody has to be Japanese and the brass want the source found and dealt with.

Bill watches as lines are cast off and the Helena will now begin the journey to Pearl Harbor with 2 DDs. He doesn't know if the work will be done in Pearl or on the West Coast and won't find out until reaching Pearl. What he does know is that something very big is afoot as the fleet is heading out with replenishment assets and amphibious vessels loading. I guess I'll hear about it soon enough, he thinks. He doesn't mind missing out on this one.

Gunny listens to the man who tells him that get got it from a guy who has a friend at division. “I tell ya we're going to the Philippines, some island called Mindanao or something like that.” Gunny brushes it off as just more scuttlebutt.

Field Marshall Model gives up attempts to relieve Aachen.

The Germans evacuated Belgrade.

Hitler ordered the destruction of Warsaw.

Victory Points Allied 42474 Allied 34940

[tocaff]

October 20, 1944 Brisbane

Intel

10th Area Army is located at Chengting.
5th Army is located at Tsitsihar.
5th AA Regiment is located at Niigata.
Yosu Fortress is located at Masan.
39th Road Construction Battalion is located at Manila.
10th Area Army is located at Chengting.
139th IJA Base Force is located at Truk.
4650 men are based at Wakkanai.
Kitachishima Fortress is located at Paramushiro Jima.
35th Brigade is located at Bangkok.
2nd Construction Battalion is planning for an attack on Chungking.
Radio transmissions detected at Pakhoi.
Nagasaki Fortress is located at Nagasaki.
23rd Engineer Regiment is located at Inch'on.
Radio transmissions detected at Vancouver.

Recon

F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Bangkok 1 X AP, 1 X AK, 1 X PG, 1 X PC, 37 fighters, 11 bombers, 42 aux, 31 LCUs
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Amboina 2 fighters, 7 aux, 5 LCUs 18100/43/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Butuan vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Gasmata 3 LCUs 0/5/0

Combat

The SS Plaice, 17 miles E of Wenchow, tracked a convoy with her radar and put herself into a position to intercept it, then dove and waited. Sure enough the escorts passed right over her without even knowing it. Then the juicy TK was fired on with 2 torpedoes hitting it causing fires and heavy damage. The DD and 5 MSWs never even got a sniff as the sub quietly glided away. Later in the day the sub fed the TK, now without any escorts 2 more fish sinking the burning hulk.

Nanning was raided by 77 X B-25J (5 downed, 39 damaged) and 55 X P-40N. The AA fire was intense and accurate, but the Chinese put their bombs on the airfield doing moderately heavy damage, many secondary explosions were claimed, 6 Helens,a Topsy and 3 Tabbys were trashed and the casualties were placed at very heavy.

Tavoy was hit by 37 X B-25J (3 damaged), 45 X Mosquito FB.VI, 37 X Thunderbolt II and 9 X Spitfire VIII who caused moderate airfield damage, a couple of secondary explosions and light personnel losses.

Bangkok was swept by 21 X P-51D who were challenged by 38 X Zeke, 4 X George, 25 X Jack and 3 X Frank. A Mustang was shot down and 2 others took damage, but the Japanese lost 22 Zekes, 2 Georges, 9 Jacks and a Frank. At the debriefing an Allied pilot claimed that the lack of ammunition saved the Japanese planes that survived.

Krung Thep was bombed by 22 X B-29 (2 damaged), 33 X B-24J (1 damaged) and 118 X Liberator VI (1 damaged). The airstrip was very heavily damaged, a great many secondary explosions were reported and casualties were heavy.

Amboina was attacked by 27 X B-24D and 15 X P-51D. The Japanese CAP of 4 X George and 5 X Frank tried and failed to prevent the strike from reaching it's target. 3 Georges and 2 Franks (1 damaged) were downed and flak damaged 9 of the bombers. The airfield was lightly damaged and there were some secondary explosions.

Davao was swept by 41 X P-38J who were engaged by 19 X Zeke, 8 X George, 36 X Jack and 36 X Tony. The Allies lost 20 Lightnings and had another damaged while the Japanese had 7 Zekes, 7 Jacks (1 damaged) and 9 Tonys (1 damaged) destroyed.

Bonin was raided by 6 X Frances and 12 X Oscar. The CAP of 9 X F4U-1 and 19 X P-38J turned them away, killing a Frances and 4 Oscars.

An Allied attack on the Japanese still on Morotai resulted in more territorial gains, extremely heavy Japanese losses and heavy Allied casualties.

At Wewak Allied artillery inflicted light losses on the Japanese.

The patrolling has been fruitless, but Sam's unit keeps getting sent out, sweeping the area randomly. At least I get something to do, even if it's just a walk he thinks to himself.

Gene keeps rolling thinks through his head as he tries to weigh the pros and cons of staying or moving. His mother knows something is bothering him and asks about it. He doesn't want to tell her, but she drags it out of him. “If you can't decide what to do then just go with what your heart tells you to do,” she says. Later his father tells him to go with his gut instinct.

Sandy watches some gathering clouds and senses that a storm is on the way. She hopes that it won't cause them to delay a trip into town. She wants to get the mail as soon as possible and everything else is secondary. Dave walks out on the porch, stretches and tells her that if they're going into town they'd better get moving as some nasty looking weather is on the way.

Jon Doe hands Pete an envelope and just says, “I'll see ya later.” Pete opens the envelope and reads the contents. It's a letter from Will asking about his new family addition and telling him that Ben was on a flight that was posted as overdue and that he fears for the worst. The letter ends with that they need to get together after the war ends for a drink and some catching up.

Victory Points Allied 42620 Japanese 35083

[tocaff]

October 21, 1944 Ulithi

Intel

Nagasaki Fortress is located at Nagasaki.
10th Tank Regiment is located at Mishan.
21st Engineer Regiment is located at Lunga.
6656 men are based at Saigon.
22nd AA Regiment is located at Osaka/Kobe.
19th Engineer Regiment is located at Ichang.
52nd Construction Battalion is located at Changchun.
8th Hvy Field Artillery Regiment is planning for an attack on Broome.
31st Division is located at Tavoy.
56th Ind. Mixed Brigade is located at Tarakan.
153rd IJA Base Force is located at Marcus Island.
28019 men are based at Arshaan.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Osaka/Kobe 10 X AP, 10 6640/111/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 17120/78/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 5 fighters, 23 bombers, 7 aux, 3 LCUs 23280/178/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato 1 LCU
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Kwajalein 7 LCUs
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Lae 1 LCU 1300/0/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Admiralty Islands 2 LCUs 6660/29/0
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Gasmata 3 LCUs 0/3/0

Combat

The SS Shad, 88 miles SE of Aomori, found a nice, juicy AK all by it's lonesome. The sub fired a spread and 3 torpedoes tore the AK to shreds.

Nanning was swept by 37 X P-38J, but the Japanese kept their planes at home today. When the 39 X B-25J (5 downed, 14 damaged) and 34 X P-40N arrived they did light damage to the airfield, saw many secondary explosions, destroyed 4 Helens and 2 Topsys and troop losses were put at heavy.

Tavoy was struck by 27 X B-25J (2 damaged), 44 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 downed, 2 damaged), 35 X Thunderbolt II and 10 X Spitfire VIII. The airfield was moderately hit, a secondary explosion was observed and casualties were light.

Krung Thep was bombed by 23 X B-29, 31 X B-24J (1 damaged) and 114 X Liberator VI (1 damaged). The damage done to the airfield was very heavy, there was a very large number of secondary explosions and personnel losses were heavy.

Andaman Island was pounded by 132 X B-29 and the flak damaged 4 of them. The port was heavily damaged, there was a huge number of secondary explosions and casualties were moderate.

Bangkok was swept by 16 X P-51D who encountered 26 Zekes, 4 Georges, 13 Jacks and 5 Franks. 2 Mustangs were shot down and 2 others were damaged while the Japanese had 14 Zekes (1 damaged), 2 Georges and 4 Jacks destroyed.

Koepang's port was hit by 30 X B-24J and AA fire damaged 4 of them. The port was moderately damaged, there were some secondary explosions and casualties were extremely light.

Lautem was hit by 141 X B-25J, 21 X P-40N and 9 X Kittyhawk III for light port damage and some secondary explosions.

The IJA 16th Mixed Brigade, on Kai Island, had heavy losses from 64 X P-38J and 9 X Kittyhawk III.

Morotai saw the Japanese lose more ground and have extremely heavy losses while the Allied attackers sustained heavy casualties.

At Wewak the Allied artillery had no effect.

Sam drops onto his cot as the rest of the squad enter the tent too. “I hope to hell somebody finds that damned radio soon,” he says. He's tired, dirty and hungry all for nothing. Just then he hears the drone of an approaching engine. “Anybody care to make a bet that I can tell the type of that Jap plane without seeing it? What no takers? OK it's free then. It's a Dinah.” He gets up and peeks outside to confirm and sure enough he's right. “I'm getting good at this,” he announces as he starts to get ready to head off for some hot chow.

Bill feel the building excitement even though he tries to temper it with the thought that Pearl can do the work on the ship. He eyes the stack of letters and decides to write another one knowing that he'll mail all of them when they reach Pearl Harbor, even if they get orders to return to the US.

“So I can give you a letter to give to him? I mean you'll be able to get it going in his direction?” asks Pete. John Doe nods and says not to worry about it, though it might take a while to reach Will.

Still not having anything official Gunny has totally dismissed the latest scuttlebutt about Mindanao. Slim eyes balls a map and announces that it makes sense to him. “Even a blind man can see where the next attack will be. If I were a general the PIs would cut the Japs off from half of their empire, raw materials and a good portion of their military.” The guys laugh at him, but Gunny starts thinking that maybe, just maybe Slim could be right.

Aachen fell today. It was the first German city captured.

12,000 German POWs have been taken since October 2nd.

The Canadian troops took Breskens.

Victory Points Allied 42675 Japanese 35106

[tocaff]

Steve and his family are off on vacation for a month. Of course this comes during my largest operation of the war to date. The game is paused at January 6, 1945 so this AAR will be picking up some ground between now and Steve's return. I will probably get a little irregular with the postings during the holidays as my home will be filled with visitors.

October 22, 1944 Ulithi

Intel

Yangtze SNLF is located at Ichang.
Hunchun Garrison Regiment is located at Changkufeng.
112th Division is located at Mishan.
96 ships are based at Nagoya.
2290 men are based at Yap.
6th Coastal Gun Regiment is located at Truk.
2nd Area Army is located at Soerabaja.
Yura Fortress is located at Takamatsu.
21st AA Regiment is located at Changsha.
11th Division is located at Mishan.
16th AA Regiment is located at Bangkok.
59th Division is located at Kweilin.
2nd Fleet is located at Kendari.
Radio transmissions detected at Ulithi.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 29 fighters, 16 bombers, 38 aux, 14 LCUs 74100/701/4
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 5 fighters, 30 bombers, 7 aux, 3 LCUs 26320/171/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Gasmata 3 LCUs 0/4/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Luang Prabang 1 LCU 17200/5/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Saigon 5 X AP, 10 fighters, 19 bombers, 35 aux, 1 LCU 4120/24/0
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Kwajalein 6 LCUs
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Lae 1 LCU 1400/0/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Admiralty Islands 2 LCUs 7300/31/0

Combat

The SS Rasher, 23 miles S of Manila, was hunted by 5 DDs, but they never could nail down her exact location.

Nanning was swept by 33 X P-38J and today the Japanese offered up 14 X Jack, 20 X Tojo, 9 X Nick and 13 X Tony for the fight. A Lightning was damaged at the big Allied fighters tore through the loose Japanese formations. 9 Jacks, 13 Tojos, 8 Nicks and 10 Tonys were shot down. A reduced CAP of 2 Jacks, 6 Tojos and a Tony tried to fight off 26 X B-25J and 80 X P-40N. The Chinese lost a Mitchell, another 12 were damaged and 5 P-40Ns were downed. The airfield had light damage, there were a couple of secondary explosions, personnel losses were moderately heavy and 3 Jacks, 6 Tojos, 3 Tonys, a Nick, a Zeke, a Helen and 2 Tabbys were lost to the Allied fighters and bombs.

Tavoy was raided by 35 X B-25J and 12 X Spitfire VIII. A Mitchell went down and 6 sustained damage. The port was lightly damaged, there were some secondary explosions and casualties were negligible. The the airfield was attacked by 29 X B-25J (1 damaged), 46 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 downed, 1 damaged) and 26 X Thunderbolt II. The airfield was moderately damaged, there was a single secondary explosion and troop losses were moderate.

Bangkok was swept by 69 X P-38J and they attacked the 29 Zekes, 5 Georges, 20 Jacks and 6 Franks that were aloft. The furball saw the Allies loose 7 Lightnings and another was damaged. 19 Zekes, 4 Georges, 17 Jacks and all of the Franks were shot down.

Krung Thep was bombed by 26 X B-29, 31 X B-24J and 111 X Liberator VI (1 damaged). They dish out out very heavy damage to the airfield, many secondary explosions were seen and casualties were placed at heavy.

Davao was attacked by 95 X B-24J, 39 X B-24D and 24 X P-51D. The attackers were met by 20 X Zeke, 11 X George, 23 X Jack and 35 X Tony. Between the Japanese fighters and the AA fire 5 B-24Js (25 damaged), a B-24D (5 damaged) and 3 P-51Ds (3 damaged) were lost. 12 Zekes, all of the Georges, 19 Jacks and 18 Tonys were destroyed. The airstrip took heavy damage, there were some secondary explosions, a Judy was left burning and casualties were heavy.

The 5th New Chinese Corps was hit by 11 X Peggy for light losses.

The SS Sennet, 83 miles N of Marcus Island attacked a lone AP, hitting it twice with the deck gun and 3 torpedoes. The ship slipped beneath the waves in short order.

Morotai saw the Japanese become surrounded by the Allied troops as the attack bottled them up in a tight little pocket. Japanese losses were extremely heavy and the Allied casualties were moderate.

The debate rages among the lads and Slim has them convinced. “He's got it all figured out,” one of them says. “Just look at the map.” Now the pool as to where has been closed, but another one started today, when.

Sam watches another Dinah fly by as he strolls towards the airstrip. He amazed at how much the Sea Bees have done and yet still have time to make all sorts of trinkets to sell to the Army troops. He pulls the last of his beers out of his pocket and plops down on the ground just in time to watch 4 Mustangs taking off. “Maybe they'll get the damned Dinah,” he mutters to himself.

Elaine has some letters to send out tomorrow morning when the Post Office opens. She has 3 letters for Gil and 1 for her brother along with 2 more letters for him from her sister and mother.

There are rumors about getting stood down so the planes can get some proper maintenance, but Gil doubts that it's true. The other rumor is that more B-29 Groups are on their way and then they'll really start pounding the Japanese.

Victory Points Allied 42874 Japanese 35128

[tocaff]

October 23, 1944 Moscow

Intel

North Chishima Fortress is located at Paramushiro Jima.
18th Division is located at Davao.
27th Ind. Mixed Brigade is located at Batavia.
147th IJN Base Force is located at Buin.
132nd IJNAF Base Force is located at Tassafaronga.
Shimbu Force is located at Kadina.
6140 men are based at Takamatsu.
67th Construction Battalion is located at Toyama.
Hunchun Garrison Regiment is located at Changkufeng.
15881 men are based at Nagaoka.
7th Ind. Brigade is located at Changsha.
11th Tank Regiment is located at Mishan.
2nd Construction Battalion is located at Ichang.

Recon

Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Camranh Bay 2 X AK, 1 X AP. 1 X AG, 2 LCUs 7740/76/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Pisanuloke 4 LCUs 11000/21/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 59 fighters, 22 bombers, 58 aux, 14 LCUs 66920/567/12
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 38 fighters, 28 bombers, 41 aux, 3 LCUs 27980/237/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato vacant
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Kwajalein 1 X SS, 7 LCUs
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Finschafen vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Gili Gili 11 LCUs 35280 /179/3
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Admiralty Islands vacant

Combat

The SS Gabilan, 94 miles SW of Hong Kong, was attacked by 4 PCs. With moderate damage to her systems and light flooding the sub will head back to the barn for repairs.

The SS Rasher, 27 miles W of Manila, underwent a horrible pounding by 5 PCs. She has light systems damage and moderately heavy flooding so her patrol is over and a fight to survive is on. It is expected that she will be able to limp into port for repairs.

More Allied troops came ashore at Wewak, taking heavy losses.

The SS Plaice, 139 miles E of Shanghai, attempted an attack on a DD and 5 MSWs, but failed.

Tavoy underwent an air raid made by 30 X B-25J (10 damaged), 10 X Thunderbolt II and 9 X Spitfire VIII who did light damage to the port and caused a few secondary explosions. An hour later 27 X B-25J (4 damaged), 41 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 damaged) and 11 X Thunderbolt II took their turn and donated heavy damage to the airfield, a secondary explosion and light troop losses. Then it was time for the main event as 105 X B-29 (4 damaged) pounded the port for very heavy damage, a great many secondary explosions were reported and casualties were light.

Bangkok still stubbornly puts up a CAP against the Allied fighter sweeps. Today pitted 29 X Zeke, 2 X George, 8 X Jack and 3 X Frank against 66 X P-38J. It was a one sided battle as 27 Zekes, both Georges, 5 Jacks and all of the Franks were shot down. The Allies lost 2 fighters and had another damaged.

Krung Thep”s airstrip was bombed by 27 X B-29, 27 X B-24J and 100 X Liberator VI for heavy damage, a large number of secondary explosions were reported and personnel losses were heavy.

The 5th New Chinese Corps had light casualties due to an attack made by 11 X Peggy.

Morotai was the scene of continued bitter fighting as the Japanese had very heavy casualties and the Allied attackers suffered light losses. The pocket continues to shrink, but the stubborn Japanese troops continue to fight on with whatever they can use despite hunger and thirst.

Flights into and out of Paramushiro Jima continued to be intercepted by Thunderbolts.

Pete tells Sylvia about his time with the Pirates and how they could always rely on one another. He does admit that life has changed more than a little since he last saw any of them, but he would like to remain in contact. She nods knowingly and understands his feelings.

Stick's plane is not flyable as the engine won't turn over so he's sitting in another plane awaiting clearance to roll down the runway. He wonders if this could be an omen that could reward him with his first kill or is it bad luck to sit in someone else's cockpit. No matter as he is cleared for takeoff and with a roar of the big engine he's on the move.

Stalin goes over plans for all fronts, but seems to be unusually interested in the areas facing the Japanese. “We know that the Nazis are as good as done. It's just a matter of time there. What I want is territory in the East and the only way to get it is through force of arms. I don't want to hear about problems, only solutions.” As is the norm his generals are all fearfully in agreement, to do otherwise is not something to contemplate.

The 3rd Panzer Corps began what will be a 6 day long counter attack near Debrecen.

Victory Points Allied 42929 Japanese 35141

[tocaff]

October 24, 1944 Ulithi

Intel

209040 men are based at Port Arthur.
14th Area Army is located at Truk.
18th Army is located at Dobodura.
19th Engineer Regiment is planning for an attack on Chungking.
1st Engineer Regiment is located at Dobodura.
2740 men are based at Toyama.
2nd Mountain Gun Regiment is located at Nanning.
2nd Parachute Regiment is located at Bangkok.
2nd Construction Battalion is planning for an attack on Chungking.
9th Aviation Rgt is located at Hailar.
Radio transmissions detected at Vancouver.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 69 fighters, 64 aux, 14 LCUs 96160/945/7
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 56 fighters, 33 bombers, 63 aux, 3 LCUs 28900/237/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 3080/18/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato 1 LCU
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Kwajalein 1 X SS, 8 LCUs 2440/0/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Hansa vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Siador vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Gili Gili 11 LCUs 57640/355/2
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Haiphong 1 X AG, 1 X AP
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Luang Prabang 1 LCU 1480/7/0

Combat

A PB4Y, 20 miles E of Menado, attacked an IJN sub and claimed a hit.

2 MSWs detected a mine field at Ominato and commenced with sweeping.

The SS Kingfish tried and failed to attack an AK screened by 4 PCs 33 miles S of Swatow.

The SS Plaice, 231 miles NE of Taipei, tried to attack her would be hunters but couldn't get into a good position to launch against the DD and 5 MSWs.

The SS Jack was attacked by a PG and 2 PCs 73 miles NW of Manila. Later 5 DDs joined the hunt, but couldn't find the Jack. She is cutting short her patrol due to very light systems damage.

Tavoy was hit by 27 X B-25J (1 downed, 1 damaged), 42 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 damaged) and 24 X Thunderbolt II for moderate damage to the airfield, and moderate casualties.

Bangkok was swept by 56 X P-38J and the Japanese threw 14 X Zeke, 5 X George, 9 X Jack and 3 X Frank against them. The Allies lost 4 Lightnings and had 2 others damaged while the Japanese had 13 Zekes, all of the Georges, 7 Jacks and 2 Franks shot down. Why the Japanese continue to offer themselves up for the slaughter mystifies the Allied commanders.

Krung Thep was bombed by 25 X B-29, 26 X B-24J and 115 X Liberator VI (1 damaged). The airstrip took extremely heavy damage, there were a large number of secondary explosions and casualties were moderate.

Davao was swept by 42 X P-38J who faced 16 X Zeke, 8 X George, 17 X Jack and 22 X Tony. The furball left the Japanese with 6 Zekes (1 damaged), 3 Georges (2 damaged), 6 Jacks (1 damaged) and 8 Tonys (1 damaged) destroyed while the Allies suffered the loss of 12 Lightnings and 3 more damaged. Later the CAP of 9 Zekes, 6 Georges, 10 Jacks and 4 Tonys then faced a raid made up of 78 X B-24J, 36 X B-24D and 19 X P-51D. The Japanese lost 6 Zekes, 6 Georges, 5 Jacks (1 damaged) and 6 Tonys trying to turn the attacking formations away. Between the AA fire and the fighters the Allies had 10 B-24Js and 6 B-24Ds damaged. The airfield was heavily damaged, there were some secondary explosions, 2 Judys were destroyed and troop losses were heavy. Then the USN's turn to get a punch in arrived. The 24 X SBD (4 damaged), 128 X SB2C (4 downed, 16 damaged), 72 X TBF (2 damaged), 54 X TBM (3 damaged) and 15 X F6F were unopposed by fighters and they went to work causing heavy damage to the airstrip and port, a large number of secondary explosions (some were fuel tanks), 3 Georges, 8 Tonys, 3 Jacks, 5 Judys, a Zeke and 2 Emilys were destroyed and personnel losses were heavy.

Gili Gili was bombed by 45 X B-24D who caused moderate damage to the port, many secondary explosions and moderate casualties.

The 5th New Chinese Corps, was struck by 11 X Peggy for light losses.

The 1st BAF AA Regiment, 22 miles N of Krung Thep, was being observed by a Dinah until 7 Thunderbolt IIs arrived to drive it off trailing smoke due to damage inflicted by a hail of .50 cal.

The cleanup of the remaining Japanese troops on Morotai continued with very heavy Japanese losses and negligible Allied casualties. The compression of the pocket continued. One soldier likened it to squeezing grapes. The only remaining Japanese on the island are stragglers as organized resistance has been crushed.

Wewak's defenders were attacked and forced to retreat towards Hansa, suffering unknown losses. The Allied force had very light casualties. The base is now in Allied hands. Allied troops will be dropped off at all Japanese bases along the coast of PNG now that effective Japanese resistance has been eliminated.

Interception of Japanese flights into and out of Paramushiro Jima continued as P-47Ds feast on the undefended transports and bombers.

The invasion forces that will take undefended or lightly defended bases in PNG, the Solomons and the Bismarck Archipelago are well on their way. The are disagreements about Gili Gili and Rabaul as to assault them or letting them starve. The Australian government wants the Japanese forces, which are considerable in size, eliminated. Washington sees no need to spend lives on strong positions that are isolated and of no threat. The two countries also are at odd concerning Timor. FDR confides in PM Curtin through a cable that the USN can not be everywhere in strength. The Australians are wary of pushing the Americans to hard as they remember who saved them not to long ago while London turned a deaf ear.

Halfway to Pearl and Bill feels the tensions flowing out of his body. He considers this and orders a drill. If he's relaxing his crew must be doing the same and they need to stay sharp.

“How much is in the pot?” asks Slim. “Maybe we should open it up to other units to and it'll get really sweet.” The next thing they know the other companies in their battalion are initiating a flood of money and the problem now is where to keep it all and who should be responsible. Slim says that he wants no part of the pool except to collect his winnings when his date is proved correct. The squad's smaller pool is for where they're going and Slim tells them he intends on winning that one too.

Gene has decided that he can't make up his mind without seeing Electric Boat's operations and speaking to them so he arranges to have a couple of days off and plans on a train ride.

Victory Points Allied 43088 Japanese 35172

[tocaff]

October 25, 1944 Morotai

Intel

3244 men are based at Anshan.
Kaosing Fortress is located at Takao.
9th Engineer Regiment is located at Changkufeng.
49th Ind. Mixed Brigade is located at Kadina.
6th Construction Battalion is located at Tsitsihar.
108th Division is located at Harbin.
Elements of the 15th Division are located at Ichang.
52nd Division is located at Hamamatsu.
52nd Road Construction Battalion is planning for an attack on Chungking.
Radio transmissions detected at Vancouver.

Recon

Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Haiphong 1 X AG, 1 X AP
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Pisanuloke 4 LCUs 12300/30/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 13 fighters, 17 aux, 14 LCUs 95700/923/9
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 5120/16/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato 1 LCU
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Kwajalein 8 LCUs
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Gili Gili 11 LCUs 58920/352/8
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 69 fighters, 35 bombers, 64 aux, 3 LCUs 27720/226/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Madang vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Salamaua vacant

Combat

A PB4Y attacked an IJN sub near Morotai and reported hitting it. Later on another PB4Y attacked what was presumed to have been the same sub and claimed a hit. Another PB4Y called in an oil slick and then attacked a sub in the same area, also claiming a hit. Still another PB4Y spotted a sub, attacked it and claimed a hit. 2 more PB4Ys in the same area radioed in spotting subs and making successful attacks on them. Not to be outdone a Coronado and yet another PB4Y also claimed to spot and hit a sub in the same area. Sightings and claims of hits continued in this area right up until darkness forced a suspension of the air patrols. HQs doesn't know how many subs infested the area though a confirmed kill was awarded.

The SS Spirit, near Medan, found a lone AK and fired a spread of torpedoes at it. All 4 fish struck and exploded tearing the hapless vessel apart dooming most of her crew to a watery grave.

The SS Grayback, was attacked by 6 DDs about 24 miles W of Merak as she tried to set up the Japanese DDs for an attack. She escaped without damage, just a couple of sprung valves. She will move to another location that isn't so warm though.

Tavoy was raided by 22 X B-25J (1 downed, 1 damaged, 43 X Mosquito FB.VI, 36 X Thunderbolt II and 10 X Spitfire VIII. The airfield was moderately damaged and casualties were light.

Bangkok was swept by 24 X P-51D who swooped in on 12 X Zeke, a George, 5 X Jack, 5 X Irving and 23 X Frank. In a fast and furious fight 7 Zekes, the George, 3 Jacks, 4 Irvings and 9 Franks were shot down at the cost of 2 Mustangs destroyed and 1 damaged.

Krung Thep was bombed by 12 X B-29, 29 X B-24J and 101 X Liberator VI (1 damaged). The airfield was heavily damaged, there were a great many secondary explosions and personnel losses were light.

Menado was swept by 13 X Frank who ran into 7 X F4U-1D, 7 X P-38J and 9 X P-47D. The Japanese planes tried to run but they lost 4 fighters anyway. Then 15 X Sally came in without escorts and the CAP downed 3 and damaged 2 of them as the raid was repulsed with no damage done to the base. A Corsair and a Thunderbolt were damaged in the fighting.

Rabaul was visited by 48 X B-17E, 48 X B-24D and 48 X B-24J who leisurely unloaded on the facilities doing heavy damage to the airstrip, light damage to the port, a very large number of secondary explosions were seen and casualties were placed at heavy.

Davao had a CAP of 29 Zekes and 16 Tonys up when an Allied strike comprised of 22 X SBD (2 damaged), 97 X SB2C (2 destroyed, 16 damaged), 70 X TBF (8 damaged), 51 X TBM (1 destroyed, 2 damaged) and 82 X F6F (3 destroyed, 1 damaged) arrived. The Hellcats fended off the Japanese fighters downing all of them. The airfield was moderately damaged, the port took light damage, there were some fuel tank explosions and some other secondary explosions were observed, a Zeke, 5 Tonys, 2 Jacks, 2 Judys and a George were destroyed on the ground and troop losses were thought to have been very heavy.

The SS Runner, 41 miles W of Banjarmasin, tried to attack an unescorted AK, but couldn't get into a favorable position from which to hit it.

The Flying Deuces have gotten credit for a few more kills today. It drives Stick crazy that he didn't even get off of the ground until after all of the fighting was over. “You're our charm that keeps the Japs away while we refuel and rearm,” jokes one of the pilots. Stick mutters something about the funny poet.

Victory points Allied 43227 Japanese 35199

[Capt. Harlock]

It drives Stick crazy that he didn't even get off of the ground until after all of the fighting was over. “You're our charm that keeps the Japs away while we refuel and rearm,” jokes one of the pilots. Stick mutters something about the funny poet.

Stick may have borrowed another plane, but his luck is still his own!

[tocaff]

October 26, 1944 Palau

Intel

Northern Area Force is located at Etorofo Jima.
11th Tank Regiment is located at Mishan.
5th Army is located at Tsitsihar.
3994 men are based at Osumi.
57th Construction Battalion is located at Maizuru.
1st Mixed Regiment is located at Amoy.
3rd Cavarly Brigade is located at Mishan.
3rd Engineer Regiment is located at Lunga.
Mongol Army is located at Sasebo.
27059 men are based at Hamamatsu.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 10 fighters, 9 aux, 14 LCUs 94760/895/11
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 2 X AK, 2 X AP, 1 X DE, 47 fighters, 33 bombers, 48 aux, 3 LCUs 26552/213/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato vacant
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Kwajalein 1 X SS, 8 LCUs 2000/9/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Lae 1 LCU 2200/0/0
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Rabaul 12 LCUs 31800/81/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Gasmata 3 LCUs 0/3/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Haiphong vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Pisanuloke 4 LCUs 13020/30/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 3700/6/0

Combat

A PB4Y Liberator attacked a sub 93 miles N of Morotai, claiming a hit.

The SS Amberjack, 29 miles SE of Takao, tried to attack a DD and 5 MSWs that were hunting for her, but failed. A few hours later 5 X DD arrived and gave her a horrible pounding that lasted for a long time. With light systems damage done to her the patrol is over and she will head for a port for repairs.

Allied troops unloading over beach at Hansa took heavy casualties.

Allied troops unloading over beach at Madang sustained heavy losses.

The SS Tactician, 16 miles E of Medan, was trying to achieve a favorable position from which to attack 6 DDs that were searching for her when suddenly the Japanese ships located and attacked the sub. She has uncontrollable flooding and her pumps are dead so the order is given to abandon and scuttle her.

Tavoy was struck by 26 X B-25J (2 damaged), 46 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 damaged) and 24 X Thunderbolt II who inflicted moderate damage to the airfield, a secondary explosion was claimed and personnel losses were thought to have been very light.

Bangkok was swept by 55 X P-38J and the Japanese were flying 15 X Zeke, 2 X George, 8 X Jack, 4 X Irving and 36 X Frank. In the chaos that followed 8 Zekes, a George, 6 Jacks, all of the Irvings and 23 Franks were blasted from the sky. Allied losses were 3 Lightnings shot down and 4 damaged.

Krung Thep was pounded by 30 X B-29, 29 X B-24J and 115 X Liberator VI (3 damaged) for very heavy damage to the airstrip, a very large number of secondary explosions were observed and casualties were heavy.

Menado was raided by 3 unescorted Sallys that were all destroyed long before they could do any damage by the CAP of 8 X F4U-1D, 9 X P-38J and 9 X P-47D. 2 Lightnings were damaged.

Gili Gili was bombed by 48 X B-24D for moderately heavy port damage, some secondary explosions and very light troop losses.

Lunga was attacked by 51 X B-24J who did light damage to the port and triggered a couple of secondary explosions.

Davao's CAP of 10 Zekes and a Tony was tested by 50 X SBD (2 downed, 7 damaged), 143 X SB2C (5 downed, 20 damaged), 80 X TBF (1 downed, 2 damaged), 89 X TBM (3 downed, 4 damaged), 16 X F6F (1 damaged) and 12 X FM-2 (1 downed). Between the fighter's guns and the falling bombs the Japanese suffered 8 Zekes, 2 Tonys, 2 Jacks and 2 Georges destroyed. The airstrip had moderately heavy damage, the port moderate damage, a few fuel explosions were seen, and a few other secondary explosions were reported and casualties were heavy.

Japanese shipping near Cagayan was under an umbrella of 22 X Jack, 6 X Tojo and 6 X Tony when 8 X PB4Y and 18 X P-51D attacked. 3 Jacks, 2 Tojos and 3 Tonys were destroyed while 2 bombers were damaged. An AP was struck by a bomb, causing a fire to break out and troops were seen jumping into the water.

The Tarpon docked at Palau today and the crew is pleased since this means that their next patrol should take them to more active areas than they've been in lately. Palau is a far cry from Noumea though as there's nothing to do and little to drink unless you buy it from the Sea Bees. One of the crew asks, “How come those guys always seem to have everything?”

The Palawan sits at a wharf at Ulithi having some minor repair work done to her. Red, Cookie and Lucky are enjoying an afternoon at the beach. They talk with some guys and find out that they are from the 2nd Marine Division. “Speaking of Marines, do you ever wonder about that guy? What was his name? Ralph, right?” asks Cookie. Red tells him that once the war ends he'll try to find him, but for now he just intends to relax.

The Helena is passing to the S of Midway and as she draws closer to Pearl the electricity of anticipation grows among the crew. Bill is no exception and he wonders what is in store for him once they arrive.

Victory Points Allied 43315 Japanese 35237

[tocaff]

October 27, 1944 Tori Shima

Intel

86619 men are based at Camranh Bay.
4th Reserve AA Regiment is located at Kagoshima.
7th AA Regiment is located at Sendai.
102nd IJA Base Force is located at Harbin.
1st Army is planning for an attack on Chungking.
38th Construction Battalion is located at Toyohara.
1st Reserve Tank Regiment is located at Kitakyushu.
51st Construction Battalion is located at Changchun.
1st Fleet is located at Manila.
Nakajo-wan Fortress is located at Kadina.
1st Division is located at Harbin.
14th Air Fleet is located at Manila.
Radio transmissions detected at Yap.
Radio transmissions detected at Morotai.
Radio transmissions detected at Prince Rupert.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Tokyo 1 X DE, 28 LCUs
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Luang Prabang 1 LCU 1820/6/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Ubon vacant
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 93640/895/6
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 1 X AP, 1 X AK, 1 X DE, 59 fighters, 39 bombers, 62 aux, 4 LCUs 29440/285/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 5080/23/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato vacant
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Marcus Island 1 X AP, 1 X AK, 1 X CA, 12 LCUs 14420/50/0
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Kwajalein 1 X SS, 8 LCUs 14140/15/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Siador vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Finschafen vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Buin 7 LCUs 13680/6/0
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Tulagi 4 LCUs 1480/0/0

Combat

An SBD Dauntless reported a submarine 251 miles E of Davao and prosecuted an attack, claiming a hit. Throughout the day reports of subs in this area flowed in and some contained claims of hits. Later in the day a confirmed kill was given.

A PB2Y attacked a sub 138 miles NE of Tomini.

An Ann attacked the SS Trigger 93 miles E of Batan Island. The sub has very light systems damage and some minor leaks were sprung, but as a precaution she will make for base.

In a night time engagement 79 miles N of Koepang, the Dutch DDs Isaac Sweers and Van Galen hit an unescorted AP 11 times. Troops were observed diving into the water, but no attempt was made to rescue them.

Tavoy was raided by 38 X B-25J and 10 X Spitfire VIII. AA fire damaged 11 of the bombers as they did light damage to the port, triggered a single secondary explosion and accounted for extremely light casualties. Then another strike comprised of 18 X B-25J (1 damaged), 48 X Mosquito FB.VI, 24 X Thunderbolt II and 11 X Spitfire VIII came in. They caused moderate damage to the airfield and there were light personnel losses.

Bangkok was swept again, this time by 50 X P-38J who faced opposition from 17 X Zeke, 3 X George, 25 X Jack, 2 X Irving and 18 X Frank. Both side lost heavily as 11 Zekes, a George, 15 Jacks, both Irvings and 6 Franks (1 damaged) were shot down. The Allies had 10 Lightnings destroyed and 3 damaged.

Krung Thep was bombed by 29 X B-29, 27 X B-24J and 115 X Liberator VI (3 damaged). The airstrip took very heavy damage, there were a great many secondary explosions and casualties were moderate.

Davao had 8 Zekes up and they tried valiantly to stop a raid made by 68 X B-24J (6 damaged), 26 X B-24D (2 damaged) and 17 X P-51D. The Mustangs disposed of the CAP easily and the AA fire was all that was left to deter the bombers. The airfield was heavily damaged, the port took light damage, there were a couple of secondary explosions reported, 2 Zekes, 2 Tonys, 2 Jacks and a George were destroyed on the ground and troop losses were placed at light. With the sky cleared of Japanese planes 50 X SBD (1 downed, 3 damaged), 126 X SB2C (1 destroyed, 8 damaged), 78 X TBF (6 damaged), 86 X TBM (1 damaged) and 15 X F6F came on to do heavy damage to the airfield, moderate damage to the port, light up 2 fuel tanks, trigger some secondary explosions, destroyed a Tony, a Judy, 3 Jacks, a George and a Zeke on the ground and cause heavy personnel losses.

Truk was bombed by 185 X B-29 who inflicted heavy damage to the airfield, heavy damage to the port, a fuel tank exploded, there were some secondary explosions and casualties were heavy.

Kwajalein was raided by 20 X PB4Y for light damage to the airstrip.

The 5th New Chinese Corps, still frozen in place, had light losses from an attack made by 13 X Peggy.

The Japanese ships near Cagayan were under an umbrella of a George, 24 Jacks, 5 Tojos and 4 Tonys when a raid came in made up of 24 X TBM and 19 X FM-2. In the furball a Jack (2 damaged) and a Tojo were destroyed while 7 FM-2s (1 damaged) and 3 Avengers (7 damaged) were shot down. Though the torpedoes were dropped none struck anything. These were planes from CVEs, not the big boys. The CAP was at 18 Jacks, 4 Tojos and 4 Tonys when another attack appeared. 10 X PB4Y and 25 X P-38J came on and 2 Jacks (3 damaged), a Tojo and 3 Tonys were killed. 3 Lightnings were lost and 2 were damaged. A Liberator was damaged by the AA fire thrown up by the ships. A PC was struck by a bomb which did heavy damage to the vessel and it was burning while an AP also took a bomb hit and had fires erupt.

Gasmata was hit by 52 X SB2C and 36 X TBF for light airstrip damage, light damage to the port, a secondary explosion and 3 trashed Kates.

Hansa fell to Allied troops as did Madang.

Dave has run out of coffee and Sandy offers him some tea, which he accepts. “It's not as good as a nice, strong, hot cup of coffee though,” he says. Sandy is concerned because there haven't been any letters from Bill lately.

Gil shares the contents of his package with the guys. Toll House cookies were sent to him by Elaine, though the letter admits that her mother baked them. The cookies have been reduced to crumbs and they're a bit soggy, but the package's contents are wolfed down and in short order gone.

Sam is alarmed by the way the temperatures have been dropping. The good news is that one of the Sea Bees told him that soon there will be proper tents and Quonset huts instead of the pup tents being used by the troops now. Sam thanks the guy for the good news and buys some booze from him. He can't believe that he really has a bottle of whiskey in his possession. He plans on keeping it a secret and springing it on the guys for Halloween.

Victory Points Allied 43421 Japanese 35258

[tocaff]

October 28, 1944 French Frigate Shoals

Intel

12th Heavy AA Battalion is located at Nagoya.
4th AA Regiment is located at Toyama.
41st AA Regiment is located at Changchun.
22nd Heavy AA Battalion is located at Changsha.
21st Aviation Unit is located at Batan Island.
3343 men are based at Akita.
84338 men are based at Naha.
23rd Engineer Regiment is located at Inch'on.
Keelung Fortress is located at Taipei.
39th Division is located at Sining.
29152 men are based at Shimuzu.
5th Mortar Battalion is located at Bangkok.
83126 men are based at Mishan.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Shimuzu 2 LCUs
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Phnom Penh vacant
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Victoria Point 6 fighters, 24 bombers, 37 aux, 7 LCUs 11420/54/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 94520/886/8
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 64 fighters, 34 bombers, 74 aux, 4 LCUs 29240/254/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 3500/10/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato 1 LCU 6280/83/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Paramushiro Jima 5 LCUs 720/9/0
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Kwajalein 1 X SS, 8 LCUs 28480/42/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Lae vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Salamaua vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Buin 7 LCUs 17380/7/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Nagoya 4 X AP, 4 X AK, 4 LCUs
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Tulagi 4 LCUs 1180/0/0

Combat

Allied troops unloading over beach at Siador took light losses.

Allied troops unloading over beach at Gasmata had very heavy casualties.

Tavoy underwent a raid by 28 X B-25J (3 damaged), 11 X Thunderbolt II and 12 X Spitfire VIII. No facilities were hit, but there were 2 secondary explosions and personnel losses were extremely light. The next strike arrived an hour later. The 24 X B-25J (1 damaged), 47 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 downed, 1 damaged), 25 X Thunderbolt II and 10 X Spitfire VIII caused moderate damage to the airfield, a secondary explosion and light casualties.

Bangkok was swept by 21 X P-51D who attacked the 14 X Zeke, 5 X George, 24 X Jack, an Irving and 19 X Frank. Losses were heavy for both sides as the Allies lost 6 fighters and another was damaged. The Japanese sustained 8 Zekes, (1 damaged), 2 Georges, 10 Jacks, the Irving and 9 Franks shot down.

Krung Thep was pummeled by 25 X B-29, 23 X B-24J and 84 X Liberator VI (1 damaged) for heavy damage to the airstrip, many secondary explosions and moderate troop losses.

Davao was raided by 19 X B-24D and 24 X P-51D. AA fire damaged 6 bombers. The port was lightly damaged and casualties were moderate. Then another attack came made up of 43 X SBD (1 downed, 2 damaged), 127 X SB2C (2 downed, 11 damaged), 80 X TBF (3 damaged), 89 X TBM (4 damaged) and 15 X F6F. Only the heavy flak opposed them as the bombs fell doing heavy damage to the airfield, moderate damage to the port, some secondary explosions were observed, a Zeke and 4 Jacks were destroyed and casualties were heavy.

Paramushiro Jima saw 6 Franks chase off an intruding Coronado.

Truk was bombed by 166 X B-29. The airfield was heavily damaged, the port also was heavily damaged, a couple of fuel tanks blew up, there were many secondary explosions and losses were heavy.

Kwajalein was hit by 30 X PB4Y for very light damage to the airstrip and a secondary explosion was seen.

Rabaul was pounded by 48 X B-17E, 48 X B-24D and 48 X B-24J. The airfield was lightly hit, the port took moderate damage, there were a few secondary explosions and casualties were moderate.

The 6th Chinese Air Base Force got off the hook as 8 Peggys dropped their bombs off target.

Helena's little TF passed N of French Frigate Shoals and all aboard feel the excitement rise to an even higher level. Just as Bill's mind starts to wander to thoughts of Sandy the klaxon sounds and all hands race to their battle stations. One of the escorts reported a sub contact. Bill orders a turn to port and an increase in speed to 25 knots shortly followed by a turn to port. After a brief, but tense time, the escort reports the contact to be gone so the ships return to their base course.

Gil has another mission under his belt and once more other than long hours in the air the raid was uneventful. He finishes with the debriefing and head off to the mess for something to eat and drink. For some reason he's very thirsty. Later he writes to Elaine.

Stalin is outraged that his forces have been repelled by the Germans and demands answers. When one of his generals starts offering reasons Stalin screams that excuses will not be tolerated. “There are 2 kinds of people in this room,” he states, “Those who see problems and those who solve them. Take this fool and assign him to a labor battalion as a private. Let this stimulate all of you to be problem solvers.”

The Germans pulled back to Walcheren.

German troops started to evacuate Albania.

The Red Army was stopped in the Goldap area.

The last trainload of Jews to Auschwitz was gassed.

Victory Points Allied 43477 Japanese 35180

[tocaff]

October 29, 1944 Gasmata

Intel

North China Area Army is located at Nanning.
2nd Fleet is located at Kendari.
4638 men are based at Wakkanai.
38th Construction Battalion is located at Toyohara.
27th Air Flotilla is located at Toyohara.
Kembu Force is located at Kadina.
28406 men are based at Iwo Jima.
Hensui Construction Battalion is located at Sasebo.
23rd Engineer Regiment is located at Inch'on.
8th Engineer Regiment is located at Ichang.
19279 men are based at Shikka.
39th Division is planning for an attack on Chungking.
Radio transmissions detected at Vancouver.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Shimuzu 2 LCUs
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Nagoya 7 X AP, 3 X AK, 15 fighters, 17 aux, 5 LCUs 1080/38/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 96400/896/5
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 3440/21/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato 1 LCU
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Buin 7 LCUs 16880/5/0
PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Tulagi 5 LCUs 1740/0/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Luang Prabang 1 LCU 1660/7/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Bien Hoa vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 63 fighters, 22 bombers, 69 aux, 4 LCUs 29220/220/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Lae vacant
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Salamaua vacant

Combat

An IJN sub was attacked by a PB4Y near Zamboanga.

Allied troops unloading over beach at Gasmata had heavy losses. The attack took the base, 12 Kates and 5 Sallys were destroyed.

Allied troops unloading over beach at Siador had heavy casualties.

Ichang was swept by 56 X P-38J and the Japanese gave battle with 24 X George, 22 X Jack, 51 X Tojo, 15 X Tony and 26 X Frank. 17 Lightnings were lost and 6 others took damage. 7 Georges (4 damaged), 6 Jacks, 24 Tojos, 11 Tonys and 15 Franks were shot down.

Victoria Point was attacked by 131 X B-29 and the CAP of 9 Franks didn't press home their attacks. AA fire downed 1 bomber and damaged 17 while a Frank was downed and 4 others were damaged. The airfield was heavily damaged, there were many secondary explosions, 4 X Betty, 3 X Myrt, 3 X Frances and an Irving were left burning and casualties were moderately heavy.

Tavoy was hit by 30 X B-25J Mitchell (4 damaged), 12 X Thunderbolt II and 10 X Spitfire VIII. The port took light damage, there was a secondary explosion and troop losses were moderate. Another strike attacked later in the morning. It was composed of 32 X B-25J Mitchell (5 damaged), 42 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 damaged) and 24 X Thunderbolt II. The airstrip was moderately damaged, a secondary explosion was claimed and casualties were light.

61 X P-38J swept Bangkok and attacked the 16 X Zeke, 5 X George, 21 X Jack, 1 X Irving and 14 X Frank that were aloft. All of the Zekes, 3 Georges, 17 Jacks, the Irving and 8 Franks were destroyed. 8 Lightnings were shot down.

Krung Thep was bombed by 28 X B-29, 25 X B-24J and 118 X Liberator VI (1 damaged). The airfield was heavily damaged, there were a huge number of secondary explosions and personnel losses were heavy.

Davao was attacked by 40 X B-24J and 23 X P-51D. Flak damaged 7 bombers. No facilities were hit, but casualties were moderate. Another raid by 45 X SBD (1 downed, 1 damaged), 115 X SB2C (1 downed, 6 damaged), 79 X TBF (2 damaged), 89 X TBM (6 damaged) and and 14 X F6F did heavy damage to the airfield, moderate damage to the port, a fuel tank went up, there some secondary explosions 5 Jacks, a Tony and a Zeke were trashed and troop losses were very heavy.

Kwajalein was raided by 32 X SB2C and 24 X P-47D. The airstrip had light damage.

Gili Gili was hit by 14 X A-20G and 9 X Spitfire VIII. The port was moderately damaged and there were some secondary explosions.

The 1st BAF AA Regiment, 20 miles N of Krung Thep, was under observation by a Dinah until 7 Thunderbolt IIs drove it off. The snooper was damaged, but managed to escape.

The Japanese AP near Kai Island was attacked by 64 X P-47D,54 X P-38J, 18 X P-40N, and 20 X Kittyhawk III. There were 7 Franks present and they were all shot down. A Kittyhawk III was downed and the ship was hit by many strafing fighters and 6 bombs. It was burning and listing when the attack ended. The waters were alive with Japanese struggling to save themselves as troops were being loaded when the attackers arrived.

Ed sits on the bridge of the BB Colorado quietly drinking a mug of coffee. So far everything has gone according to plan. He wonders when the last of the invasion ships arrive and the whole fleet sets off for the ultimate destination if mines will have been discovered. There actually is a choice of 3 spots to land, but 1 for obvious reasons is the first choice. If there are no mines there the Allied troops will pour ashore and then there will be nothing left for the Japanese except to die.

Tomorrow we'll be in Pearl and then I'll know what the Navy has in mind for me. Bill hopes that it involves enough time for him to get to California.

RAF Lancasters attacked the Tirpitz with “Tallboy” bombs off of Tomso.

Victory Points Allied 43701 Japanese 35331

[tocaff]

October 30, 1944 Siador

Intel

75400 men are based at Sapporo.
1st Reserve AA Regiment is located at Kyoto.
67th Construction Battalion is located at Toyama.
31st Army is located at Manila.
22nd AA Regiment is located at Osaka/Kobe.
Chinkai Base Force is located at Masan.
13th Ind. Brigade is located at Ichang.
20th Engineer Regiment is located at Canton.
13th Army is located at Nanning.
2090 men are based at Kitakyushu.
62nd Ind. Mixed Brigade is located at Nanking.
10th Area Army is located at Chengting.
50th Construction Battalion is located at Kyoto.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Nagoya 10 X AP, 5 LCUs 1640/35/0
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Andaman Island 2 LCUs 6780/23/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Pisanuloke 4 LCUs 9500/21/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Alor Star 3 LCUs 4200/21/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Paramushiro Jima 7 LCUs 10040/88/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Lae 1 LCU 2360/0/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Salamaua vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Buin 7 LCUs 16740/6/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Shimuzu 2 LCUs
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 95240/933/8
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 67 fighters, 21 bombers, 68 aux, 4 LCUs 29900/202/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato 1 LCU

Combat

Allied troops unloading over beach at Siador and encountered no resistance. The base is now in Allied hands.

Ichang was swept by 40 X P-38J and the Japanese put up a fight with 12 X George, 16 X Jack, 25 X Tojo, 4 X Tony and 14 X Frank. The Allies lost 6 fighters and 3 damaged while the Japanese suffered 4 Georges, 4 Jacks (1 damaged), 7 Tojos, 3 Tonys and 5 Franks (3 damaged) shot down.

Tavoy underwent an attack by 40 X B-25J (5 damaged), 10 X Thunderbolt II and 12 X Spitfire VIII. The port took light damage, a secondary explosion was observed and casualties were light. Another raid was made by 15 X B-25J (1 damaged), 42 X Mosquito FB.VI (2 damaged), 24 X Thunderbolt II and 9 X Spitfire VIII. The airstrip had moderate damage, a secondary explosion was claimed and personnel losses were extremely light.

Krung Thep was bombed by 26 X B-29, 28 X B-24J, and 121 X Liberator VI (4 damaged). The airfield was very heavily damaged, there were a large number of secondary explosions and casualties were placed at moderate.

Gili Gili was greeted at day break with an attack made by 12 X A-20G and 9 X Spitfire VIII. Japanese troop losses were negligible. 2 hours later 21 X B-24D hit the airfield for moderate damage and a couple of secondary explosions .

Lunga was hit by 57 X B-24J for moderate port damage and many secondary explosions.

Davao was attacked by 50 X SBD (2 downed, 8 damaged), 112 X SB2C (3 downed, 10 damaged), 74 X TBF (1 downed), 81 X TBM (1 downed, 2 damaged) and 12 X F6F who did moderately heavy damage to the airfield, moderate damage to the port, some secondary explosions were seen, 4 Jacks, a Zeke, a George and an Emily were destroyed on the ground and casualties were heavy.

Sam has managed to keep the bottle hidden from the guys so far and he looks forward to springing it on them. He's taking a walk and watches another of the cursed Dinahs fly by. While he's gone the guys take the bottle, drain it and replace the contents with tea. Once done they squirrel away to booze and place the bottle back in it's “safe” hiding place. “This ought to be good when he goes for a nip,” says one of the guys.

Gunny heard about all of the activity in the Solomons, PNG and New Britain. He wonders why the 2nd Marine Division keeps getting moved, but other than minor stuff doesn't do much except train lately. Slim once more pontificates and insists that he knows the master plan. “We'll see,” says Gunny.

Elaine and her sister declare the house ready for Halloween and look forward to the children in the costumes looking to get candy. Her father is amazed that so many things seem normal despite a war going on.

Today marked the last time the gas chambers were used at Auschwitz.

Victory Points Allied 43750 Japanese 35352

[tocaff]

October 31, 1944 Pearl Harbor

Intel

34 aircraft are based at Rahaeng.
13th AA Regiment is located at Maizuru.
39th Division is planning for an attack on Chungking.
54th Heavy AA Battalion is located at Mutanchiang.
5905 men are based at Niigata.
1831 men are based at Hungnam.
12th AA Regiment is located at Peking.
9th Ind. Brigade is located at Changsha.
4th Air Army is located at Tokyo.
1st Air Division is planning for an attack on Chungking.
27995 men are based at Arshaan.
2nd Reserve AA Regiment is located at Tokyo.
Nanking Naval Guard Unit is located at Nanking.
17th Mixed/B Brigade is located at Soochow.
83050 men are based at Mishan.
Nagasaki Fortress is located at Nagasaki.

Recon

PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Shimuzu 2 LCUs
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Andaman Island 2 LCUs 7200/27/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 3480/14/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Lae 1 LCU 2120/0/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Salamaua vacant
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Nagoya 9 X AP, 5 LCUs 1700/45/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Luang Prabang 1 LCU 2040/5/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 94440/911/10
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 78 fighters, 16 bombers, 76 aux, 4 LCUs 28920/219/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Buin 7 LCUs 16640/10/0

Combat

Allied troops unloading over beach at Finschafen had moderate casualties.

Tavoy was raided by 31 X Mosquito FB.VI and 13 X Thunderbolt II and the AA fire damaged 3 of the Mosquitos. The airfield was lightly damaged, a secondary explosion occurred and personnel losses were negligible. Another attack made up of 27 X B-29 (1 damaged), 28 X B-24J and 117 X Liberator VI inflicted very heavy damage to the airstrip, triggered a huge number of secondary explosions and there were moderate casualties.

Krung Thep was swept by 59 X P-38J, but no Japanese planes were up.

Kai Island had it's port hit by 143 X B-25J and 22 X Kittyhawk III for light damage. There were many secondary explosions and troop losses were moderate.

Davao was attacked by 48 X B-24J, 48 X B-24D (5 damaged) and 3 X P-51D. The airfield took moderately heavy damage, a fuel explosion rocked the port area, some other secondary explosions were seen, 2 Jacks, a Tony and a Zeke were destroyed at their revetments and casualties were moderate.

Lunga's port was bombed by 50 X B-24J for light damage, some secondary explosions were claimed and personnel losses were extremely light.

The 5th New Chinese Corps, still stuck in place and providing the Japanese a training target, was struck by 8 X Peggy for light casualties.

The 1st BAF AA Regiment, 20 miles N of Krung Thep witnessed a Dinah being chased away by 5 Thunderbolt IIs.

The DMS Elliot, near Dadjangas, was attacked by 14 X Judy, 12 X Zeke and 3 X George. 5 X F6F appeared and intercepted the attackers, saving the ship's hide. 4 Judys (1 damaged), a Zeke and a George were shot down in the battle.

Bill reads his orders as the Helena is refueled. They are to proceed to Los Angeles for upgrades to the ship. Once there he will relinquish his command and travel to Mare Island for further orders. His heart leaps and sinks at the same time. He will be so close to Sandy and if he can obtain liberty he'll be able to see her, but at the same time is shocked and unhappy about being relieved of his command of the Helena.

The Palawan continues to idle at Ulithi. Red continues to be wary of the sun, not wanting to get roasted once again. Cookie has a deep tan that is testament to their having plenty of time and nothing to do with it. He's on the beach tossing a ball that Lucky happily retrieves.

Sam watches the Mustangs flying in and out of the airstrip and wonders where they go to. He's happy to have them here. He thinks of tonight and his surprise for the guys and heads back to their area to prepare for some chow. After the guys down some food they wander back to their area and Sam announces that he's got a little surprise for them. They guys get settled and Sam produces the bottle, opens it and takes a belt. “Son of a,” he roars, “Who the hell?” The guys are rolling around laughing so hard that some of them begin to tear. Finally one of them produces the booze and another mutters something about secrets in the squad being almost impossible. They settle in to BSing and passing the bottle around until it's gone. All in all it was a pretty good night, especially considering the tense situation they live in.

The British reached the River Mass, south of Rotterdam, and established a beachhead.

Victory Points Allied 43773 Japanese 35372

[tocaff]

November 1, 1944 Finschafen

Intel

Home Defense Force is located at Tokyo.
29134 men are based at Shimuzu.
10th Mortar Battalion is located at Chiamussu.
7th Engineer Regiment is located at Mishan.
354150 men are based at Tokyo.
6907 men are based at Inch'on.
52nd Naval Guard Unit is located at Truk.
6th Ind. Brigade is located at Sian.
22nd Engineer Regiment is located at Mishan.
8th Tank Regiment is located at Singapore.
48th Road Construction Battalion is located at Mutanchiang.
9th Ind. Mixed Regiment is located at Paramushiro Jima.
119th IJNAF Base Force is located at Bangkok.
132nd IJNAF Base Force is located at Tassafaronga.
3353 men are based at Akita.

Recon

F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Andaman Island 2 LCUs 6880/26/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Bandou vacant
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Songkhia 1 LCU 0/0/111
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Kendari 2 aux, 7 LCUs 8500/27/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 3860/17/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Lae 1 LCU 2860/1/0
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Rabaul 12 LCUs 33100/69/0

Combat

The SS Tantalus attacked 6 DDs about 34 miles W of Georgetown, hitting 1 of them with a torpedo. The remaining 5 destroyers hunted, located and pounded the sub relentlessly for hours on end. With light systems damage and moderate flooding she will now make for Rangoon to have temporary repairs made and then a yard will be required to make her fit to rejoin the war.

Allied troops unloading over beach at Salamaua had heavy losses.

Tavoy was raided by 30 X Mosquito FB.VI, 3 were damaged by the AA fire and 11 X Thunderbolt II. The airstrip was lightly damaged and personnel losses were negligible. In the afternoon 28 X B-29 (2 damaged) and 50 X Liberator VI (1 damaged) added heavy damage to the airfield, caused many secondary explosions and there were light casualties.

Krung Thep was swept by 61 X P-38J who found no opposition. This is the second sweep to have been ordered to visit Bangkok and instead it went here.

Davao was attacked by 29 X B-24J (4 damaged), 34 X B-24D (2 damaged) and 3 X P-51D. The 2 Zekes flying in the area fled and the bombs rained down doing moderate damage to the airfield, triggering a few secondary explosions, nailing 2 Jacks on the ground and inflicting heavy troop losses.

Gili Gili was paid a visit by 7 X A-20G and 10 X Spitfire VIII. The port was lightly damaged.

The 6th Chinese Air Base Force was struck by 8 X Peggy and both sides escaped the encounter unharmed.

Finschafen fell to Allied forces.

The Tarpon rests at Palau nestled against the side of an AS. She's ready for her next patrol.

Helena is on her journey to the US with a crew that is visibly excited at the prospect of being able to see loved ones after so long. Bill has drills scheduled to keep the men sharp as the only thing that is certain in war is that the enemy will always surprise you. He heads to his cabin and dives into a pile of paperwork and about halfway through it he leans back in his seat and lets out a sigh.

Sam watches the Japanese plane fly by and he flips it the bird. He hates these daily flights and curses them mightily. What he can't do is anything about them. He continues to play with his adopted pal, Frankie. The dog loves playing and is a bundle of limitless energy. What Sam likes the most is that Frankie is an excellent watch dog. Something that can be of limitless value in the future.

Gene has finished work and heads to the bar for a beer. He arrives just in time to see a familiar looking face being led away in handcuffs. I suppose this means the end of my career as a spy hunter, he thinks to himself.

The first of 9,000 balloon bombs reached the US from Tokyo.

Victory Points Allied 43803 Japanese 35372

[tocaff]

November 2, 1944 Salamaua

Intel

1st Army is planning for an attack on Chungking.
87748 men are based at Pescadores.
Yokosuka Reserve Coastal Artillery Regiment is located at Tokyo.
42nd AA Regiment is located at Harbin.
18th Army is located at Dobodura.
52nd Road Construction Battalion is located at Sining.
56th Construction Battalion is located at Georgetown.
51st Ind. Mixed Brigade is located at Naha.
5911 men are based at Niigata.
28008 men are based at Arshaan.
Karafuto Mixed Brigade is located at Shikka.
56th Brigade is located at Bangkok.
6904 men are based at Inch'on.
Radio transmissions detected at Vancouver.

Recon

F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Georgetown 5 LCUs 12140/5/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Taiping vacant
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Kendari 4 aux, 7 LCUs 21760/77/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 95740/933/6
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 48 fighters, 23 bombers, 50 aux, 4 LCUs 30640/211/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 5120/20/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Rabaul 12 LCUs 49420/141/0
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Andaman Island 2 LCUs 7080/18/0

Combat

Allied troops continued unloading over the beach at Salamaua taking light losses and then they stormed and took the base.

The SS Croaker tried unsuccessfully to attack an AK accompanied by 4 PCs about 45 miles W of the Amami Group. Later in the day, 77 miles NW of the Amami Group, the sub attacked a pair of AKs being escorted by a PG and 6 MSWs. 2 fish tore into the side of one of the AKs doing horrific damage and setting it on fire. The escorts located her, attacked and then she escaped after a short, but tense time.

Allied troops unloading over beach at Lae had heavy casualties.

Nanning scrambled 8 Zekes, 11 Jacks, 9 Tojos, 12 Nicks, 12 Tonys and 18 Franks to intercept a raid of 68 X B-25J and 80 X P-40N that the Chinese threw their way. The battle was merciless and cost the Japanese 2 Zekes (4 damaged), a Jack, 7 Tojos, 9 Nicks, 6 Tonys, 6 Franks (2 damaged), 4 Helens, 3 Tabbys and a Topsy between the fighter's guns and the bombs. The Chinese had 5 Mitchells shot down by AA fire and 36 damaged and the loss of 43 Warhawks in the dogfights. The airfield was lightly damaged, a couple of secondary explosions were claimed and casualties were moderately heavy.

Tavoy was attacked by 31 X B-25J (2 damaged), 45 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 damaged), 26 X Thunderbolt II and 9 X Spitfire VIII. The airfield was heavily damaged, there were some secondary explosions and personnel losses were heavy.

Bangkok was swept by 48 X P-38J who tore into the gaggle of Japanese fighters. 31 X Zeke, 6 X George, 21 X Jack, 15 X Frank and 7 X Randy gave battle and lost all of the Zekes, 4 Georges, 12 Jacks, 8 Franks and all of the Randys. 7 Lightnings were downed and 2 took damage. A reduced CAP of 12 X Zeke, 2 X George and 6 X Jack were then jumped by 24 X P-51D. 4 Zekes, a George and 7 Jacks were shot down before they could run and the Allies had a single Mustang killed.

Krung Thep was bombed by 28 X B-29 and 41 X Liberator VI (1 damaged). The airfield was heavily damaged, there were many secondary explosions and troop losses were moderate.

Cagayan was raided by 33 X B-24J and 24 X P-51D were in attendance. They were met by a swarm of Japanese fighters. 11 X Zeke, 4 X George, 21 X Jack, 6 X Irving, 10 X Tojo and 3 X Tony attacked the Allied planes. The Mustangs fought bravely and the Japanese suffered 6 Zekes shot down, 2 Georges damaged, 8 Jacks killed (4 damaged), 4 Irvings lost, all of the Tojos were destroyed as were the 3 Tonys. The cost was a Mustang killed and another was damaged. Meanwhile the AA fire claimed 5 bombers downed and 10 others damaged. The airfield was moderately damaged, there were some secondary explosions 2 Judys and 4 Bettys were trashed and casualties were placed at extremely light.

Gili Gili was raided by 35 X B-24D and 10 X Spitfire VIII. The port was moderately damaged, there were many secondary explosions and personnel losses were extremely light. In the afternoon another attack came in. This time 45 X B-24D did heavy damage to the airfield, some secondary explosions were seen and casualties were light.

Rabaul was bombed by 43 X B-17E and 43 X B-24D. The airfield was moderately damaged, the port was lightly hit,some secondary explosions were reported and troop losses were moderate.

The 5th New Chinese Corps was hit by 11 X Peggy for light losses.

Davao was attacked by 50 X SBD (1 downed, 2 damaged), 130 X SB2C (1 downed, 9 damaged), 79 X TBF (1 destroyed, 6 damaged), 90 X TBM (3 damaged) and 9 X F6F. The airstrip took heavy damage, the port was lightly damaged, there were some fuel tank eruptions, there were some secondary explosions seen, 5 Jacks and a Zeke were destroyed and there were very heavy casualties.

Gunny and Slim know that soon they will be ashore on Mindanao, but for now they are amazed by the sheer number of ships that they can see stretching from horizon to horizon. The word came down and the next thing they knew they were boarding a ship. “I thought that this war was wait, wait and wait some more,” says Slim as he lights a smoke. Gunny shrugs his shoulders in response as he wonders what the Japanese have in the way of strength where they're going.

The Flying Deuces have 38 kills credited to them and an Ace in their ranks. Stick is still looking for that elusive first kill.

Gene sits in the office of his boss and says, “Nah, I like it here so I guess I'll let Electric Boat find somebody else.” That took care of that and after some chit chat Gene takes his leave and heads back to his crew.

Stalin has ordered the upgrading of plane types to be accelerated in the East and though supplies are stretched tightly nobody dares to say anything other than an affirmative.

Canadian troops took Zeebrugge.

All eligible Germans were ordered to enroll in the Volkstrum.

The German Army stopped the Soviet troops at Kraisevo.

The Red Army entered the suburbs of Budapest.

Victory Points Allied 43974 Japanese 35443

[tocaff]

November 3, 1944 Near Mindanao

Intel

1837 men are based at Hungnam.
Maizuru Fortress is located at Maizuru.
110th Division is located at Hsinyang.
49th Construction Battalion is located at Hailar.
1st Aviation Rgt is located at Georgetown.
13 men are based at Taichu.
Elements of the 5th Mongolian Cavalry Division are located at Peking.
Elements of the 8th Mongolian Cavalry Division are located at Yenen.
1st Heavy AA Battalion is located at Tokyo.
55th Ind. Mixed Brigade is located at San Marcelino.
1st Mortar Regiment is located at Sasebo.

Recon

F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Andaman Island 2 LCUs 7620/25/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Kendari 7 aux, 8 LCUs 28560/145/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 96180/975/4
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 32 fighters, 22 bombers, 61 aux, 4 LCUs 30620/228/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 4740/21/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato vacant
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Rabaul 12 LCUs 49740/144/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Victoria Point 8 fighters, 7 bombers, 28 aux, 7 LCUs 23180/130/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Kuala Lumpur vacant

Combat

Allied troops unloading over beach at Lae took heavy losses.

A PG and 6 MSWs attacked the SS Albacore 27 miles NW of Okinawa, but did her no harm.

Victoria Point was being protected by 11 X Frank when 116 X B-29 appeared. The Franks made halfhearted runs on the bombers and contributed to the AA's fire in damaging 7 of the big birds. The Superforts did heavy damage to the airfield, caused a few secondary explosions, destroyed a Frank (5 damaged) in the air, 4 X Frances, 4 X Betty, 2 X Myrt and 2 X Irving were burning on the ground and troop losses were moderately heavy.

Tavoy was struck by 53 X B-25J (1 downed, 3 damaged), 10 X Thunderbolt II and 9 X Spitfire VIII for a few secondary explosions and light casualties.

Bangkok was swept by 65 X P-38J and they were faced by 25 X Zeke, 5 X George, 14 X Jack, 10 X Frank and 3 X Randy. In the swirling aerial battle 18 Zekes, all of the Georges, 11 Jacks, all of the Franks and the Randys were blasted from the sky at the cost of 7 Lightnings shot down and 3 others were damaged.

Cagayan was under a CAP of 9 X Zeke, 7 X George, 9 X Jack, 5 X Irving, 6 X Tojo and a Tony when 29 X B-24J and 23 X P-51D arrived. The Mustangs tried to prevent the Japanese fighters from getting to the bombers, but though they did very well between the enemy planes and flak 3 Liberators went down and 4 were damaged. A Mustang was destroyed and 2 got shot up, but the Japanese lost 2 Zekes (1 damaged), 3 Georges, 5 Jacks, all of the Irvings and the Tojo. The bombs fell off target but did manage to destroy a Tojo and damage another on the ground.

Truk was bombed by 191 X B-29 and the island shook as the bombs impacted. The airstrip was very heavily damaged, the port took extremely heavy damage, a few fuel tanks exploded into flames, a couple of other secondary explosions were reported and casualties were heavy.

Gili Gili was attacked by 28 X B-24D and 5 X Spitfire VIII. The port was lightly damaged, there were some secondary explosions and troop losses were light. Later another raid of 48 X B-24D hit the airfield for moderately heavy damage and a few secondary explosions were seen.

Rabaul was struck by 41 X B-17E and 42 X B-24J Liberator x 42 for moderate damage to the airstrip and port, a couple of secondary explosions were observed and casualties were heavy.

The 62nd Naval Guard Unit, at Buna, was pounced on by 9 X A-20G and 7 X Spitfire VIII. The unit had very light losses.

The 5th New Chinese Corps had light casualties from an attack made by 7 X Peggy. Not to far away the 6th Chinese Air Base Force was visited by 6 X Peggy whose bombs fell wide of the target.

Davao was raided by 50 X SBD (7 damaged), 125 X SB2C (6 damaged), 80 X TBF (1 damaged), 73 X TBM (2 damaged) and 2 X F6F. The pair of Hellcats peeled off and killed the lone Zeke that was in the air. The airstrip was heavily damaged, the port took light damage, a fuel tank blew up, there were some secondary explosions, 5 Jacks were destroyed and troop losses were very heavy.

Tomorrow Dadjangas will be bombarded by some of Ed's Old Gals, invaded by the 81st Division and receive ground support from many CVEs. A LRCAP will be provided and the main fleet will continue to it's target of Cotobato. Davao will continue to be pounded tomorrow and then the air attacks will shift to Cagayan in an effort to neutralize the airfield there.

Gil is amazed to hear the results of the raid he was part of today. He still thinks in terms of things being destroyed and not of people being killed on the ground. To hear that so many people, even if they are Japanese, were killed is unsettling.

Slim lies in his rack smoking with thoughts of the looming battle that he'll face. The fact that he's been through it before makes this all the more ominous for him. He knows what to expect and he knows how he'll react under fire, but he wonders if he can live through the carnage again.

Ed finds it hard to get any sleep, but he doesn't want to be a bother on the bridge so he remains on edge in his cabin. Though reports indicate that there are no minefields he can't help but worry if they've been missed and await his ships.

The Germans evacuated Skopje, Yugoslavia.

The 20th Gebirgsjager evacuated the mineral rich Petsamo region in N Finland.

Victory Points Allied 44106 Japanese 35471

[tocaff]

November 4, 1944 Lae

Intel

12th Heavy AA Battalion is located at Nagoya.
132nd IJA Base Force is located at Bangkok.
64th Construction Battalion is located at Nagasaki.
52nd Division is located at Hamamatsu.
1st Guards Mixed Brigade is located at Tokyo.
1st Mixed Brigade is located at Mutanchiang.
59th Division is located at Kweilin.

Recon

F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Luang Prabang 1 LCU 1500/7/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Khota Bharu vacant
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Amboina 6 fighters, 67 bombers, 55 aux, 5 LCUs 16260/44/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 14 LCUs 96960/865/9
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 21 fighters, 31 bombers, 22 aux, 4 LCUs 30720/245/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato 1 LCU
F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Buin 7 LCUs 7680/5/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 14960/216/0

Combat

The USN conducted a naval bombardment of Dadjangas doing moderately light damage to the port, causing lots of secondary explosions and inflicting very heavy casualties. Japanese coastal guns fired in defense hitting the DDs Cummings and Russell multiple times,causing fires and an LCI (R) was also hit. The IJA 16th Mixed Brigade was attacked by 8 X TBF, 112 X TBM (1 downed, 17 damaged) and 1 F6F. The unit had moderate casualties. The troops storming ashore took extremely heavy losses. Japanese troops bombarded the Allied force, but did no harm. The DD Russell has light systems damage, light flooding and light fires and the DD Cummings has moderate systems damage, light flooding and light fires. They will retire for repairs.

An IJN sub attacked the Allied TF 351 miles N of Morotai hitting the DD Ingraham with a torpedo. The tin can is burning and has heavy damage, but she did her job in helping to protect the CV Bon Homme Richard.

Nanning was swept by 46 X P-38J who ran into 8 X Zeke, 12 X Jack, 9 X Tojo, 12 X Nick, 17 X Tony and 15 X Frank. The battle was fierce and without quarter asked or given. The Japanese had 4 Zekes, a Jack (2 damaged), 6 Tojos, 6 Nicks, 11 Tonys and 6 Franks blasted from the sky. The Allies lost 11 Lightnings and 2 others were shot up and were limping home.

Tavoy was raided by 47 X B-25J (6 damaged), 13 X Thunderbolt II and 12 X Spitfire VIII. No facilities were hit, there was a single secondary explosion and personnel losses were extremely light. Later in the day 47 X B-24J, 44 X B-25J (2 damaged), 46 X Mosquito FB.VI and 25 X Thunderbolt II struck for heavy damage to the airfield, light damage to the port, a large number of secondary explosions were claimed and casualties were moderate.

Krung Thep was being protected by 10 Zekes and 13 Irvings when an Allied strike made up of 34 X B-29, 124 X Liberator VI, 12 X P-51D, 47 X P-38J, 37 X Thunderbolt II and 8 X Spitfire VIII arrived. The Japanese fighters tried in vain to repel the attack and the Allied fighters knocked all of them out sky. A Thunderbolt II was destroyed and a Spitfire VIII was damaged. AA fire damaged a B-29 and 2 Liberators. The airfield was very heavily damaged, there was a huge number of secondary explosions and troop losses were heavy.

Cagayan was swept by 71 X P-38J and the Japanese gave battle with 11 X Zeke, 8 X George, 9 X Jack, 4 X Irving, 7 X Tojo and 7 X Tony. 9 Zekes, 3 Georges, 4 Jacks, all of the Irvings, all of the Tojos and all of the Tonys were downed. 2 P-38Js were killed and 3 were damaged.

Gili Gili was hit by 35 X B-24D and 5 X Spitfire VIII for heavy port damage and a few secondary explosions.

Rabaul was the target for 38 X B-17E and 41 X B-24J. The airfield was moderately damaged, as was the port and there were a couple of secondary explosions.

Lunga was bombed by 56 X B-24J who missed hitting any facilities, but triggered a large number of secondary explosions.

The 47th Naval Guard Unit, at Dobodura, was hit by 9 X A-20G and 7 X Spitfire VIII for moderate losses.

The 1st BAF AA Regiment, 21 miles N of Krung Thep, was being observed by a Dinah until 7 Thunderbolt IIs arrived and chased it away.

Davao was attacked by 50 X SBD (3 damaged), 111 X SB2C (1 downed, 6 damaged), 80 X TBF (3 damaged), 71 X TBM (1 downed, 2 damaged) and 1 X F6F. The Hellcat shot down a Zeke that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The airstrip took moderate damage, the port was lightly damaged, there were lots of secondary explosions, 2 Jacks were destroyed on the ground and casualties were heavy.

Lae was assaulted by the Allied troops and they took the base, surrounding the Japanese troops and inflicting very light losses on them.

The Palawan continues loading supplies at Ulithi. Yesterday they loaded VMF-123 and their Corsairs. Red and Cookie are now the main attractions of the men of VMF-123. The rest of Palawan's crew struggles and strains as they manhandle the cargo into the holds, securing it as best they can. The Marine pilots like Cookie's chow and Red's tuning into some music for them to listen to. Lucky of course is a big hit also and the Marines offer to buy him. Red quickly rejects the offer and when the Marines up the bid Red tells them to forget it.

Ed happily gets on with his work knowing that if there are any mines around his ships avoided them and the bombardment went off without a hitch. It's hard to tell if the targets were taken out because it's tough enough trying to find them to designate as a target in the first place. The men of the 81st Division will be requesting plenty of fire support and as long as the Old Gals have adequate ammo they'll help out.

With the hatch open a little air manages to come in where Slim watches some of his lads busily tossing dice against the bulkhead. The lads are in their skivvies as it's very hot below decks. They have checked and rechecked their 782 gear and now gambling, shooting the breeze, writing letters and sleeping are the most common activities. They convoy plods along towards it's destination without all but a select few knowing that part of it peeled off last night and this morning conducted landings at Dadjangas.

Victory Points Allied 44242 Japanese 35502

[tocaff]

November 5, 1944 Near Mindanao

Intel

23rd Tank Regiment is located at Chiamussu.
84th Division is located at Osaka/Kobe.
Kwantung Defense Brigade is located at Changchun.
1st Division is located at Harbin.
11th Division is located at Mishan.
4th AF Construction Battalion is located at Medan.
130th IJA Base Force is located at Kai Island.
12th Division is located at 61,33.
23rd Division is located at Tsitsihar.
106643 men are based at Tsitsihar.

Recon

Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Victoria Point 14 fighters, 23 bombers, 41 aux, 7 LCUs 23700/131/0
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Pisanuloke 4 LCUs 11840/24/0
Mosquito PR.IX takes recon photos of Amboina 10 fighters, 44 bombers, 41 aux, 5 LCUs 18580/48/0
PB2Y Coronado takes recon photos of Cotabato vacant
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Davao 30 fighters, 179 bombers, 134 aux, 14 LCUs 95260/871/4
F-5C Lightning takes recon photos of Cagayan 34 fighters, 40 aux, 4 LCUs 29760/206/0
PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Dadjangas 4 LCUs 16120/213/0

Combat

A Betty attacked the SS Cobia 371 miles E of Butuan and the sub radioed in that she had been hit.

The Japanese defenders at Dadjangas continue to pour fire into the landing troops and ships of the invasion force. The DD Reid was hit as were 3 LCI(G)s, 1 of which is on fire and an LST was hit many times. The troops had heavy losses. A naval bombardment by the Old Gals did light damage to the port, triggered a few secondary explosions and caused heavy casualties. None of the bombarding ships were hit. The IJA 16th Mixed Brigade was jumped on by 8 X TBF, 152 X TBM (1 downed, 12 damaged), 1 X F6F and 8 X FM-2. The unit suffered moderately heavy losses. Japanese artillery accounted for negligible Allied troop losses among the force that is already ashore.

Nanning was swept by 34 X P-38J who tore into the 11 X Zeke, 16 X Jack, 7 X Tojo, 8 X Nick, 13 X Tony and 22 X Frank that were up. 6 Zekes, 6 Jacks (1 damaged), a Tojo, 2 Nicks, 7 Tonys and 10 Franks were shot down at the price of 8 Lightnings lost and 4 damaged.

Tavoy was struck by 46 X B-25J and the AA fire damaged 3 of them. No damage was done as the bombs fell harmlessly due to the target being obscured by low cloud cover. Later in the day 43 X B-24J (1 damaged), 41 X B-25J, 45 X Mosquito FB.VI (1 downed) and 23 X Thunderbolt II attacked and they did light damage to the port, moderate damage to the airfield, caused many secondary explosions and there were moderate personnel losses.

Krung Thep was bombed by 36 X B-29 and 128 X Liberator VI (2 damaged). The airfield took very heavy damage, a very large number of secondary explosions were claimed and casualties were heavy.

Morotai was attacked by 51 X P1Y Frances, 10 X Sally, 21 X Peggy and 4 X Frank. They were intercepted by a CAP consisting of 24 X F6F and 9 X P-47D. In the running fight the Japanese suffered 18 X Frances destroyed (2 damaged), 3 X Frank shot down, 4 X Sally downed (1 damaged) and 14 X Peggy killed between the guns of the Allied fighters and the AA fire. 13 Hellcats were damaged, a Jug went down and 2 others took damage in the furball. The airfield was subjected to negligible damage, a pair of secondary explosions were triggered, a B-24J was trashed and troop losses were moderate.

Cagayan was swept by 6 X P-38J and the Japanese CAP of 4 X Zeke, 7 X George, 4 X Irving and 3 X Tojo engaged them. An Irving was shot down and a snooping F-5C was lost as the Japanese didn't have their hearts in the fight and ran.

Gili Gili was hit by 42 X B-24D and 2 X Spitfire VIII for light damage to the port, many secondary explosions were observed and casualties were placed at very light.

The 1st Engineer Regiment, at Dobodura, was attacked by 12 X A-20G, 64 X P-38J and 10 X Spitfire VIII. The Japanese had moderate casualties.

The Allied ships 27 miles W of Cotabato were attacked by 12 X Betty who had no escorts. The CAP of 318 X F6F, 213 X FM-2 and 19 X F4F-4 tried to stay out of each other's way in making their runs on the helpless Bettys. All of the bombers were flamed and 2 Hellcats were damaged. The ships were never in danger. Then a V of 3 Bettys appeared only to be dispatched by the CAP.

Davao was attacked by 80 X TBF (7 damaged), 66 X TBM (3 damaged) and 1 X F6F. A Zeke was in the air and he ran for his life. The port was lightly damaged, 2 fuel tanks blew up, a couple of other secondary explosions were reported and personnel losses were moderate.

The SS Swordfish, 20 miles NW of San Jose, was hunted by 3 DDs for a few hours. The Japanese never were able to pin down the sub's location and she managed to slip away.

The SS Sennet, 208 miles N of Marcus Island, found a lone AK, but couldn't achieve a favorable position from which to launch an attack.

The Japanese had flights into and out of Paramushiro Jima intercepted.

Tomorrow morning the 2nd Marine Division will go ashore at Cotabato as part of a massive force charged with wresting control of Mindanao from the Japanese.

With the Yorktown at anchor and being worked on at Ulithi Chris relaxes and catches up reading backlogged mail from home. Defiance High School played against Findlay, but of course he'll have to wait to get the results. He wonders how many kids will be trading in high school sports uniforms for military ones this coming Spring. It seems so long ago that he joined the Yorktown's air group.

Gunny makes his rounds encouraging the lads to square away their 782 gear, attend to their boondockers, check their dungarees and to get some sleep. He comes up on Slim who is already dealings with his charges. Gunny lets his mind drift to thinking of tomorrow and then tells himself to stow it.

British troops landed at Salonika, Greece.

The German 5th Army retook Goldap in E Prussia.

Victory Points Allied 44360 Japanese 35529