The Battle Under: Japan looks to the South

[SierraJuliet]

12 December 1943  


Kweiyang is bombed by 80 Helen escorted by 11 George, 8 Tojo and 32 Tony.  No CAP and the airbase is hit 13 times, airbase supply 5 times and the runway 75 times.  

Mandaly is bombed by 114 Liberator bombers.

Andaman Island is bombed by 31 Liberator bombers.  

SS Seawolf finds an ASW screen and puts 2 torpedoes into DD Asagiri and in return shrugs off 1 hit.  

It is my birthday today and my wife gave me two books which look like good reads relating to the Australian aerial effort in the Pacific during the war.  ‘Whispering Death – Australian Airmen in the Pacific War’by Mark Johnston and ‘Darwin Spitfires – The Real Battle For Australia’ by Anthony Cooper.

[SierraJuliet]

15 July 1944

The war has come a long way for the Japanese Empire. The Allied fleets have cut a path through the Pacific and American marines now call Tori Shima home.
The base at Palau has just fallen and the Americans work towards clearing out the last the wretched and starving defenders.


Port Moresby has been invaded and will fall in short order.


The only good news comes from Burma. After the ignominious loss of the Burma Army the remnants were chased headlong until a stand was made at Tavoy and Krung Thep. The Allied bombardments from land and air have been ferocious. At Tavoy British battleships have joined in as well. The fortifications at both bases have been blasted and rebuilt by the hard pressed engineers.


Tavoy has managed to gather up 1942 in assault strength and thanks to bad weather keeping the Allied planes on the ground the forts have been restored to level 2. At Krung Thep the assault strength has stabilised at 1221 behind forts of level 1. The tattered air force, normally based at Bangkok, has moved to Krung Thep in an effort to get the airfield repaired and allow the fort to move up another level. At present the building of fots sits at 135% but this building will not be finished until the airfield lies undamaged. A tall order with B-29s bombing almost at will.
The Allies have 32 Units committed to the fight at Tavoy and another 12 Units (85 000+ troops, 774 guns and 1360 AFVs) at Krung Thep.


Even with all this commitment Japanese High Command is acutely aware of the possibility of the British Fleet covering an invasion at Victoria Point or further down the Malay Peninsula. The forces covering Victoria Point are pitiful at present but given time will work themselves into a useful force. The forts are presently at 8 with the assault strength at a disturbingly low 59. Given the forces present this is to be expected. The 1st Parachute Rgt and 15th Naval Guard have recently arrived after being mauled at Tavoy and are in process of rebuilding. In support is the 14th Army HQ and 122nd and 134th IJA Base Forces.


Bangkok is home to a growing number of units undergoing reconstitution into worthwhile fighting units. 29th Ind Mixed Bde is the best unit available if needed to rush into the fray. Four weeks ago this unit had been reduced to an assault value of 5 after an extended period defending Krung Thep. Morale had fallen to 9, disruption stood at 38 and fatigue was at 58. With an infusion of replacement troops and an uninterrupted period of peace the assault value now stands at 77, morale has improved to 19, there is no disruption and fatigue sits at 6. If the current situation stays the same the 29th will remain in Bangkok with the intention of getting the assault strength above 100 and morale above 50.


While the Allied bombers stay away Bangkok has been a haven for broken unit to rest up and prepare to re-enter the fight.

[SierraJuliet]

16 July 1944

Port Moresby falls and the bedraggled Japanese flee to the Owen Stanley Range. In a rather bizarre happening the 4th Tank Regiment has managed to drive 6 Type 3 Medium Tanks up the range!!!!! This was fixed in AE wasn’t it?


Tracker reports that another double ace has been acknowledged. WO Koga flying a Tony in the 21st Ftr Sentai is credited with 2 to bring his tally to 10. He has an experience level of 81 and would be one of only a handful of such experienced fighter pilots that I have left.


Two air raids came in over Krung Thep today. During the first a CAP of 55 mixed fighters took on20 LIghtnings escorting 33 B-29s. On the initial reported results 15 fighters were lost to 5 Lightning and 2 of the bombers claimed as destroyed. During the second raid 41 fighters took on a 119 strong B-29 force. 4 fighters were reported lost in exchange for 7 of the big birds claimed as destroyed. The airfield was hit both times but not to the extent that it would have been without a CAP. The CAP did the job and the runway is now completely repaired with airfield service damage down to 36. The CAP will remain based at Krung Thep for at least one more day so this damage can be repaired to allow those forts to move on up to a level 2 rating.


The intelligence report has 14 B-29 reported as lost in air to air combat for the day. I’ll take this as a good result for my very inexperience group of fighter pilots. According to the intelligence reports the Allies have now lost 68 B-29s in air combat over Burma and Malaysia. It has come at an amazingly high cost to my air fleet in this region. Todd tells me that he now has a number of fighter and bomber units in the high 80s and low 90s in terms of experience.

[SierraJuliet]

17 July 1944

Keeping the CAP at Krung Thep for one more day did the trick. Forts are now back up to level 2 and 30% on the way to the next level. I’ll be happy to keep them at level 2 and hopefully next time Todd orders an attack here he will be surprised that the forts are back up and functioning. I’ve surprised him a couple of times in this area with the Japanese ability to get forts up again after they have been flattened.


As for the air attacks on Krung Thep…. 32 Spitfire VIII sweep the place. I have a mixed CAP of 33 planes up and 13 of them are reported destroyed. In return 6 of the Spitfires are claimed as kills. 25 unescorted B-29 then fly in to bomb the place and meet a CAP of 20 planes. A couple of Zekes get hammered and 1 of the bombers is reported destroyed. Not too bad though as the airfield took no hits and the engineers can get busy working on those forts instead of repairing runways. I’ve moved all the fighters back to Bangkok as 2 days without numerous fighters to cover the airfield is inviting a large retaliation from the Allies.


It looks like LTJG Nagano F. flying a Zeke in F1/153rd Hikotai bagged two of the Spitfires and became an ace by picking up his 6th kill. This is a very good effort from a pilot who has flown only his third mission of the war. Just for good measure he goes and gets himself shot down and then rescued. He was only posted to the unit 13 days ago and at that time his experience stood at 42… pretty good in comparison to a lot of pilots I have been throwing into the Burma grinder in the last couple of months. His experience now stands at 81! How do I manage to keep such a gifted (probably should read amazingly lucky) pilot alive. And how I should like to have more than a few more rookie pilots who could emulate him.


As for Bangkok; I did leave a small force of fighters there so it didn’t appear to be completely unprotected. 38 Lightnings come in and meet 10 Zekes and 12 Franks. 14 of my CAP are reported destroyed in a trade for 3 destroyed Lightnings. A dreadful rate of exchange but considering the experience level of my pilots it is to be expected.


Tavoy has been taking a massive pounding. I haven’t had any fighter presence here and the state of things reflects this. Port damage is at 50, airfield service damage is complete (sitting on 100) and the airfield itself is at 61.


I sneak in a force of 11 Helen to bomb the airfield at Rahaeng. They get past the CAP of 4 Spitfires and drop their bombs and claim a single Spitfire destroyed on the ground with several others damaged. I’ve been sending in the odd small bomber force to harass the Allied forces on the ground at Krung Thep as well. Maybe if I keep up some small time bombing of his closer airfields I might encourage Todd to draw off some of his fighter escort for airfield protection duty.

[SierraJuliet]

18 July 1944


Moving the fighters back to Bangkok was probably not the best thing to do. A raid by 37 Lightnings meets a CAP of 59 mixed types. A mere 4 Lightnings, and a F-5C Lightning are claimed as destroyed against 16 Zeke, 4 George, 10 Frank and 2 Randy smashed out of the sky. LTJG Nagano survives to fight another day and looks to have sat this one out on the ground. If I had of left the fighters at Krung Thep they would have met 11 Spitfires followed by 20 B-29s…. now against that force they may have managed better results. I’ll leave them at Bangkok and see what is thrown at them tomorrow.


My repeat bombing at Rahaeng is not nearly as successful as the previous day with 6 Spitfires on patrol and they shoot down 3 out the 10 strong Helen bomber force.

[SierraJuliet]

19 July 1944

Here come the Lightnings again at Bangkok. 37 of them this time. I get a CAP of 50 in the air this time and down come 4 Zeke, 2 George, 13 Frank and 2 Randy. A reasonable effort though as on this day 11 Lightnings are claimed as destroyed.


Krung Thep sees a massed raid comprised of over 120 Liberators. They do enough damage for me to send in fighters for tomorrow and see what they can do. Hopefully this big raid will be followed up by some smaller raids that my fighters can do so damage to… maybe some more big silver birds might fall from the sky. The forts sit at 33 on the way to the next level at Krung Thep so some pain to keep the air field open would see the forts move on up to a level 3 assuming no nasty land attacks develop and knock them back down again. We shall see, but even if an attack does succeed in taking down the forts some work done now to boost them will see a speedy recovery post attack.


The supply situation at Paramushiro Jima looks like it will become an issue very quickly. My relief convoy carrying a substantial amount of supply was decimated by Liberators operating out of Petropavlask. The Soviets are happy to allow the Americans to stage out of this airfield and short of declaring war on Stalin I am in a quandary as to how to deal with this developing situation. Even in that event I would not be able to do anything as I am sure this base is crawling with Americans. I currently have over 11000 supplies on the island and an AV of 511 dug in behind level 9 forts. So all if good for now but my fighters on the island are easily suppressed by P-47s and it will not be long I fear before the Liberators start bombing the airfield and bring that supply level down. I shall have to start flying in supplies again. This is one island I want to be a difficult prize to claim.

[SierraJuliet]

20 July 1944


Things didn’t quite work out as well as I had hoped at Krung Thep. That Allied war machine is so well organized that they could throw together another raid of over 130 Liberators escorted by 17 Lightnings. A CAP of 33 planes met it but of course they were a tad bit overwhelmed. 12 of the CAP were reported as lost and in return they claimed a pitiful 2 Liberators and 1 Lightning destroyed. The place was plastered with airfield damage moving up from 16 to 26 and the airfield service moving from 60 to 75. This is not good and if Todd keeps it up he will close down the airfield and those forts are never going to progress. More fighters will be tasked to look after the airfield at Krung Thep tomorrow.


No air attack on Bangkok today so the fighters that were posted to look after that airfield got a rest.


No such luxury for the troops on the ground at Krung Thep. The allies launch a deliberate attack and thanks to the level 2 forts they obtain assault odds of 0 – 1. A close run thing though as the adjusted assault value was 1607 against the adjusted defence value of 1709, however, the forts hold and stay at level 2. My troops are suffering in the long run as can be seen from the combat results. 2504 Japanese casualties compared to only 542 Allied casualties. I really need to get those forts up another notch…. Question is how long Todd will maintain the air assault or will the weather come to my rescue and shut down operations long enough for the air field to be repaired.


On Paulu the Japanese are almost completely gone. This turn sees the destruction of 90th Naval Guard Unit and 133rd INJAF Base Force due to attrition. All that is left is the 2nd Amphibious Brigade with an AV of 32 and out of supplies. How they manage to maintain morale of 77 is way beyond me.

[SierraJuliet]

21 July 1944

Things did not look too good during the running of the turn. 106 Liberators (although only escorted by 2 Lightnings… good) clean up the base again with the airbase taking 4 hits and 81 reported hits on the runway. 4 defending planes are reported destroyed, however, 8 Liberators are reported as shot down. The next raid resorted to bombing the troops with 48th Division picked out. 70 Thunderbolts escorted by 16 Lightnings roar in. The 22 strong CAP claims 3 Thunderbolts and a Lightning for 12 of the defending planes destroyed. Not good for the troops but it helps take the pressure off the base.


So, as for my goal of repairing the airfield, not too bad. Even with the new damage the airfield service has dropped to 73 and the runway is completely open for operations. I will maintain the fighters that are based at Krung Thep, even though their support facilities are blasted, at least there won’t be planes lost through runway damage. With Bangkok receiving another reprieve I’ll reassign planes ordered to provide LRC to Krung Thep. I have also flown in a daitai of Frances bombers for some close range bombing of the Allied troops at Krung Thep….. this should help keep those Allies on their toes and maybe draw off some fighters as LRC.


On the ground at Krung Thep both sides trade blows with artillery. The Allies have the upper hand in this game too. The Japanese manage to score 44 Allied casualties whilst the Allied effort records a punishing 438 casualties and 10 guns lost.


The pummelling of Tavoy continues with 48 Mitchell bombers hitting the place

[SierraJuliet]

22 July


Looks like Todd is onto something at Thrung Thep. More bombers are sent in. This time 86 Liberator and 36 B-29s escorted by 18 Lightnings make the journey. I get a CAP of 33 mixed planes in the air and they get hammered. 21 of them reported destroyed and only 2 Liberators reported destroyed. Again the base thunders and shakes under the impact of the bombs. 139 hits on the runway, 5 airbase hits and another 160 casualties. To add further hurt to the injury 128 unescorted B-29s show up and brush aside the 15 plane CAP. A single B-29 is reported as destroyed and the runway suffers another 91 hits.


After these punishing raids the airfield service damage has risen to 90 and the runway now has 29 damage.


Time to move my fighters out of Thrung Thep otherwise they will end up being fighter groups in name only and a bunch of pilots wastefully sitting on the ground and becoming targets for the bombers. Back to Bangkok they go and the air defence of Thrung Thep will have to consist of LRC out of Bangkok.


On the ground a Krung Thep the one way bombardment continues. The Allies have 13 casualties inflicted upon them whilst the Japanese sustain 682 casualties and 14 guns lost.


With the loss of Port Moresby Rabaul is now in the sights of the Allied Air Forces. 42 B-17 and 96 Liberators hit the airfield and pepper it with 206 hits.


The island of Woleai is captured by American forces.


And sadly, during the previous days air duels, LTJG Nagano F. was wounded and is now out of action for an undetermined period of time. He will return and soon I hope. I think I am sustaining almost as many pilots injured to those that are killed.

[SierraJuliet]

23 July 1944

Today sees a 100+ unescorted raid of B-29s attack Thrung Thep. The CAP does an outstanding job and shoot down 11 bombers. The outstanding success story of the day belonged to F2/Yamada Daitai flying J2M Jacks. They had been in reserve for some time at Clark Field and to date have the best kill tally with 406. Today they moved that by 8 to 414 with a no less than 7 pilots scoring. The unit has 2 aces and both improved their tally by 1 and LTJG Masyuama B. scored his first 2 kills to improve his experience from 63 up to 71. The unit does lose 2 pilots and the return fire from the bombers is punishing at the 13 of the 27 available planes have sustained damage.

On the ground at Thrung Thep some progress has been made. The runway has been completely repair and service damage has been reduced to 82. Hopefully with a little more sacrifice this damage too can be repaired and work can resume on those fortifications.

[SierraJuliet]

24 July 1944

The weather closes in the Allied airbases in Burma. A rare day of respite during which the damage on the airfield service is reduced to 12. Some more bad weather days on the Allied side would be very good. No such ill fortune for the Japanese bombers as 2 air raids are mounted on the Allied troops at Thrung Thep. 20 Frances bomb 18th UK Division resulting in 72 casualties and 3 guns lost. The second raid for the day by 18 Frances and 6 Helen bombs 3rd Indian Division for 33 casualties and 1lost.

The net in the South Pacific is now closing on the what remains on the Japanese conquest here. Truk, Gili Gili, Rabaul and Lunga are all bombed. Supplies are extremely low or non-existent. I do what I can to rescue what troops I can but their situation is perilous.
The Americans take the Island of Satawal.

[SierraJuliet]

25 July 1944

Another day without air attack upon Krung Thep. The airfield is finally fully repaired and work has recommenced on fortifications which have moved from 33 to 41. Hopefully some further big gains will be made on this work on the next couple of days.

Todd does however LRC the airfield here and the incoming force of 18 Frances and 4 Helen is chopped to pieces by 10 Thunderbolt II. 10 Frances and 1Betty are destroyed in return for 25th Indian Division taking 15 casualties and 1 gun lost. It is probably time to return fighters to the airfield at Krung Thep even at the risk of having them chewed up by the LRC.

Tavoy has also had a reprieve from the bombing. The airfield here has returned to fully operational mode and as a result work on the forts has also progressed. At present progress towards a level 3 fort stands at 33%.

Morotai has received a first bomber raid from 59 Liberator. At present I have no fighters based here but this may change in the near future.

[SierraJuliet]

26 July 1944

Well the bombers have returned with a vengeance. 114 Liberators plus 48 B-29 escorted by 22 Lightning smash the airfield with 23 airbase hits, 17 supply hits and 118 runway hits. I lose 16 fighters on the ground and in the air.

The second raid is comprised of 106 B-29s and the runway takes another 85 hits. On the positive side 5 Liberators, 5 Superforts and 1 one of the escorts are claimed as shot down. On the negative side the airfield service damage now stands at 66 and the runway has 29 damage. I’ve withdrawn the fighters from Krung Thep and will rely upon LRC and the weather to help get those forts up another level.

Whilst Krung Thep has been receiving attention Tavoy has been left alone and has removed all damage to the airfield. The fort here have move in the last two days from 22 to 40 on the way to level 3.

[SierraJuliet]

27 July 1944

An interesting day with Bangkok being targeted. The first raid is comprised of 37 Mitchell escorted by 18 Lightning. An impressive CAP of 88 mixed fighters greets them. 19 of the CAP are reported destroyed and 12 of the Lightning plus 2 of the bombers are claimed as destroyed. The bombers beat a hasty retreat and for a change no bombs rain down on Japanese territory.

The second raid is comprised of 28 unescorted Liberators. The CAP is reduced to 52 fighters. 3 Franks are lost amidst a bunch of others being damaged and 4 of the bombers are claimed as downed. This raid too turns tail and leaves Bangkok alone. I’m not sure how Todd will react to this but it does show that the Japanese air defence still has some teeth left. And for me a feel good day late in the war.

My ploy to use LCR at Krung Thep is not so successful. I get a CAP of 21 fighters in the air and they have to contend with 91 Liberators and 41 B-29s escorted by 18 Lightnings. 9 of the CAP go down but 3 Liberators, 2 Lightning and 1 B-29 are claimed in return. The runway takes 186 hits and the airbase 5 hits. Damage though is not too bad with the airfield service damage now standing at 79 and runway damage has actually come down to 23.

Tavoy has been left alone for another day and the fort building there has now progressed to 56%. How much longer does Todd intend to leave this place alone or has Krung Thep become his focus.

Not far from Petropavlask I-33 has a little success and claims 1 torpedo hit of CVE Kitkun Bay. Unlikely to be enough to sink her and she will no doubt make it to the Soviet port that has been a haven to so many US combatants.

[SierraJuliet]

28 July 1944

Well a somewhat quiet day in the air over Burma. Not a single bomber raid. Instead the Allied forces opted for a fighter sweep over Bangkok. I guess they want to clean out the hornets’ nest a bit before they return with their heavies.

66 Lightning roar in to deal with a CAP of 60 Japanese planes. 13 Lightnings are claimed but in return a total of 38 defending planes are reported as lost…. Hopefully a bunch of those pilots made it back somehow and just need another sky chariot to keep up their heroic defence.

A couple of points of interest from tracker concerning the previous day of aerial fighting over Bangkok. Maj G. Gushi flying a Ki-102a Randy managed to shot down 2 Lightnings. A great effort considering this plane type hasn’t achieved much since they were introduced. The Major’s experience climbed from 62 to 70 on the back of that effort. And LTJG Komachi, R. flying a Jack got 1 kill to make it too ace status.

Krung Thep is left alone and the airfield service damage is reduced to 28 and the runway is patched up again…. Should I base a fighter presence here again I wonder? I go ahead and do it and have just over 20 fighters available for a show of local defence.

The forts at Tavoy have now reached 71%. So close to moving up to level 3 but I am sure there must be an attack brewing soon which no doubt will happen just before those forts make it to the next level.

[SierraJuliet]

29 July 1944

The strategy of reducing my fighter presence at Bangkok continues. 42 Lightning take on a CAP of 71 fighters. 24 of the CAP are downed and claim 15 of the twin tailed devils in their turn. Not content to let the CAP rest up another 26 Lightning roar in and take on the reduced CAP of 27 fighters. 11 of the CAP are reported lost but 7 of the Lightnings are also claimed as kills.

The skies above Bangkok have become a difficult proposition for the Allied pilots. FOW of course has to be accounted for but over the last three days the Bangkok pilots have claimed a total of 47 Lightnings shot down! There must be some basis to these claims as Todd has enquired where the influx of decent pilots in Bangkok has come from. I’ve previously told him that the multitude of Japanese soldiers holding him up at Tavoy and Krung Thep are my Pacific Japanese so he has contended himself with the apparent new back bone of these Japanese fighters coming from the Pacific. I was actually quite correct in saying that the ground forces were Pacific Japanese. For example the Imperial Guards had been having a nice holiday on Kwajalein. I shipped them out under the nose of the USN, dropped them off at Bangkok and now they are holding the line at Krung Thep. As for the current quality of the fighter pilots at Bangkok… that is a more complex story. I suspect that if Todd was to throw Thunderbolts at Bangkok he might be getting different results. I can’t recall now if he has used them over Bangkok before. I have quite a preference for the Lightnings in comparison to the Thunderbolts and other American terror fighters as up until the previous turn tracker shows 582 P-38G and 505 P-38J as having been down in air to air combat. Whilst they haven’t been around for as long the Thunderbolt II shows as 38 claimed, the P-47C is 4 and the P-47D as 33. So keep on sending the Lightnings. As for my experience levels I have 9 sentai (each operating between 5 to 10 aircraft that have an average experience of 60 – 64. They are my best and I know Todd is easily operating most of his fighter pilots in the 80+ experience range now. Perhaps home ground does have some advantages.

Krung Thep has been left alone and the airfield is fully repaired and the fort level now goes to 47%.

Tavoy also has another day of peace and the fort building there goes to 86%.

I suspect that Todd is planning to invade further down the peninsula in order to try and break this stalemate. I am reinforcing Victoria Point but further down the line at Georgetown and Alor Star I have precious little to put up a fight.

[SierraJuliet]

29 July 1944

The strategy of reducing my fighter presence at Bangkok continues. 42 Lightning take on a CAP of 71 fighters. 24 of the CAP are downed and claim 15 of the twin tailed devils in their turn. Not content to let the CAP rest up another 26 Lightning roar in and take on the reduced CAP of 27 fighters. 11 of the CAP are reported lost but 7 of the Lightnings are also claimed as kills.

The skies above Bangkok have become a difficult proposition for the Allied pilots. FOW of course has to be accounted for but over the last three days the Bangkok pilots have claimed a total of 47 Lightnings shot down! There must be some basis to these claims as Todd has enquired where the influx of decent pilots in Bangkok has come from. I’ve previously told him that the multitude of Japanese soldiers holding him up at Tavoy and Krung Thep are my Pacific Japanese so he has contended himself with the apparent new back bone of these Japanese fighters coming from the Pacific. I was actually quite correct in saying that the ground forces were Pacific Japanese. For example the Imperial Guards had been having a nice holiday on Kwajalein. I shipped them out under the nose of the USN, dropped them off at Bangkok and now they are holding the line at Krung Thep. As for the current quality of the fighter pilots at Bangkok… that is a more complex story. I suspect that if Todd was to throw Thunderbolts at Bangkok he might be getting different results. I can’t recall now if he has used them over Bangkok before. I have quite a preference for the Lightnings in comparison to the Thunderbolts and other American terror fighters as up until the previous turn tracker shows 582 P-38G and 505 P-38J as having been down in air to air combat. Whilst they haven’t been around for as long the Thunderbolt II shows as 38 claimed, the P-47C is 4 and the P-47D as 33. So keep on sending the Lightnings. As for my experience levels I have 9 sentai (each operating between 5 to 10 aircraft that have an average experience of 60 – 64. They are my best and I know Todd is easily operating most of his fighter pilots in the 80+ experience range now. Perhaps home ground does have some advantages.

Krung Thep has been left alone and the airfield is fully repaired and the fort level now goes to 47%.

Tavoy also has another day of peace and the fort building there goes to 86%.

I suspect that Todd is planning to invade further down the peninsula in order to try and break this stalemate. I am reinforcing Victoria Point but further down the line at Georgetown and Alor Star I have precious little to put up a fight.

[SierraJuliet]

30 July 1944

The Thunderbolts (plus Spitfires and Lightnings) return and as I expected the results are devastating for my airman defending Bangkok. 32 Lightning, 23 Spitfire VIII and 32 Thunderbolt II turn up to play. 87 Allied fighters against my mixed CAP of 102 planes. At staggering 80 planes from the CAP are reported lost. In return my pilots claim 9 Spitfires, 2 Lightnings and 5 of the Thunderbolts destroyed. A dreadful return but in terms of the qualitative differences in pilots totally expected at this stage of the war.

The Allies now follow up with the bombers. The CAP has cracked and only 2 George and 1 Zeke are in the air. 63 Mitchells, 159 Liberators and 48 B-29s escorted by a massive 77 Thunderbolts and 21 Lightnings lay waste to the port. Port damage at Bangkok is now 47.

In the afternoon, for good measure, another raid of 36 Mitchell come in an target a convoy offloading troops of the 2nd Armoured Division and 32nd Army. The Marus Kiso, Yosida, Uragami, Heimei and Hukko and take between 3 and 7 bomb hits. Luckily many of the ground troops are off but even so 523 casualties, 6 guns and 23 vehicles are reported lost.

Krung Thep also comes in for some attention as 26 Lightning take on my scratch force of 5 Zeke, 4 George and 9 Frank. 1 Frank and 2 George are reported destroyed in return for claiming 6 of the Lightnings destroyed. A very good return and WO Mitsumoto S. of 33rd Fighter Sentai flying a Frank claims 4 of the kills and now has 10 to his credit. And he has moved his experience up to 83. Probably the only fighter pilot in this area that I have with experience over 80.

With Krung Thep missing out on the bomber attention fort construction has moved on to 56%.

Over at Tavoy the forts have reached level 3. I have the distinct impression that Todd is now using this as a holding force and is preparing for a sea borne invasion further south.

In New Guinea Hollandia is invaded. I have a detachment of the 1st South Seas Detachment there but do not hold out hope of them surviving for long.

I bring back my fighter force from Krung Thep to bolster the sadly depleted air defence of Bangkok. I now have 115 fighters there but at present 74 of them are damaged. If Todd has the capacity to follow up with another big air strike straight away he may well break my ability to mount a reasonable air defence in the Bangkok – Krung Thep area.

[SierraJuliet]

31 July 1944

Todd now seems determined to neutralize Bangkok and said as much in his last email.

Today sees 137 Liberators, 48 Mitchell and 39 B-29s escorted by 77 Thunderbolt and 33 Lightnings take on a CAP of 42. The attrition battle is brutal. 40 Japanese planes are destroyed in the air and on the ground. A mere 5 Thunderbolts, 1 Liberator and 1 Mitchell are claimed as destroyed. The port is again hammered with port supply and the port taking 20 hits each and 214 casualties lost on the ground. Damage to the port is now 41. Rather strange that even with the new damage the port has been somewhat repaired. There must be some feverish activity going there.

A second air supremacy mission by 36 Thunderbolt and 27 Lightning meets 4 Japanese fighters. We lose 3 and don’t touch the raiders.

To add insult to injury 35 unescorted Mitchell bomb the convoy still unloading troops. There is only a CAP of 2 which is completely ineffectual. AKs Usan, Kinyo, Yamafuji and Jaijun are all hit by at least one bomb.

Later in the day 48 Mosquito escorted by 52 Thunderbolt and 19 Lightning hit the ships again. 10 of the freighters in the convoy are hit and most of them multiple times. Getting the armoured division to Bangkok has been costly in shipping.

At Krung Thep the forts have progressed to level 2 - 67%. Todd sends in Lightnings but there are no Japanese planes to greet them on this day.

At Tavoy the forts now stand at level 3 - 15%.

Hollandia is captured.

Time to see if Todd will persist with strikes on Bangkok. Hopefully I can keep the flow of planes coming in and eventually if a decent CAP is maintained he may back off and look for a different way in. Bangkok must stay open for business.

[SierraJuliet]

01 August 1944

Another punishing day at Bangkok. 39 Lightning versus 44 CAP. 5 Lightning dispatched but 25 of the CAP also go down. Masses of bombers and their escort hit the port again and a bunch of ships attempting to reduce their flotation damage. 15 more fighters go down and the only result is a bunch of damaged Allied planes. Another raid on the port and this time only 3 fighters make it into the sky. And yet another raid (this time from the Mosquito force) and the CAP of 3 is eliminated and more ships are hit.

The port damage at Bangkok now stands at 51. About 6 freighters have also been sunk at their moorings.

At Krung Thep the forts now stand at 77% on their way to level 3.

At Tavoy the forts now stand at 29% on their way to level 4.

At Merak a small success as a destroyer ASW force records 5 hits on SS Gudgeon.

I had forgotten about the seriously useful intel gathering that the Allies have available to them. Todd stated in his last email that his ‘intel was good and timely in a place where he had the assets to do something about it. If it was really accurate that’s an armoured LCU on the battered ships.’ How right he is for it is the newly acquired 2nd Armoured Division that has been landed at Bangkok. Most of the division has made it ashore and most of the losses on-board the stricken freighters is in motorized support. I shall have to be careful what I say to Todd as that intell is far too good from my side of the fence. Besides I can’t have him thinking that the division was more or less successfully landed. From now on all incoming and outgoing unit shall have to arrive at Saigon or some other place on the Malay Peninsula.