Aerial Engagements of The Second Sino-Japanese War - 1944

1944

From late 1943 to the end of the war in August 1945, operations of the combined forces of the American and Chinese air units began to shift increasingly from defensive to offensive, and they eventually achieved air supremacy in China over Japanese air forces. It was made possible by the Americans' continuous supply of the latest war planes, fuel and material to China, and more importantly, the activation of the CACW as a unique Chinese component of the U.S. 14th Air Force, which was deployed in the China-Burma-India theatre, as well as the training by Americans of young Chinese pilots in the United States.

From 1944 onward, the CACW and other units of the Fourteenth Air Force were able to mount attacks against Japanese forces on all fronts in China, military installations, airbase in Taiwan, vital terminals of Japanese supply lines, which included Japanese-occupied river ports along the lower Yangtze River and Yellow River, seaports in southern China including Hong Kong and Hainan.

Separate missions were often flown daily by the CACW and other units of the 14th Air Force from different airbases with B-25 and B-24 bombers, P-40, P-38 and P-51 fighters. The following are some of the notable bombing missions and air combat on records during 1944.

On 11 February, six B-25 bombers escorted by 20 P-40 and P-51 fighters from the 14th Air Force including Chinese P-40s from the 32nd Fighter Squadron of the CACW bombed the storage area at Kai Tak Airfield, Hong Kong. The incoming formation encountered Japanese fighters from the 85th Sentai patrolling the area. In the ensuing air engagement the P-40s shot down five Japanese fighters and one probable, while the Japanese shot down one B-25, four P-40s and two P-51s and two probable fighters.

On 9 March, 18 CACW B-25s escorted by 24 P-40s bombed a foundry and floating docks at Huangshi in Hubei. They were intercepted by Japanese fighters from the 25th and 9th Sentai and lost 2 P-40s.

On 10 March, 2 bombers from the 2nd Bomber Squadron of the CACW bombed Japanese ships on the lower Yangtze; on returning flight one B-25 ran out of fuel and crash-landed killing its crew. On the same day, B-25s of the 14th Air Force escorted by P-38s attacked the river port at Anqing in Anhui. They sank a motor launch, damaged two cargo vessels and a barge; one of the Japanese intercepting fighters from the 25th Sentai flown by Moritsugu Kanai shot down one P-38.

On 29 March, 12 P-40s and three P-51s from the 14th Air Force attacked the railroad station area at Nanchang, and strafed the airfield and attacked a nearby bridge. Corporal Yasuzo Tanaka (Ki-44 Shoki-11) of the 25th Sentai was killed in Nanchang.

On 5 April, 26 Japanese A6Ms from the Sanya and Kaiko Kokutai took off from Hainan and carried out a major attack on Nanning in Guangxi; they destroyed two B-25s and three P-40s on the ground, and shot down nine P-40s (two unconfirmed), while eight A6Ms were shot down and their pilots killed.

By mid April, various Japanese air units had suffered heavy losses and had been replenished. The 25th Sentai was brought up to full strength with young pilots from Japan.

On 28 April, 26 B-24s from the 14th Air Force escorted by ten P-51 fighters carried out a bombing mission on the storage area north of Zhengzhou at the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The Japanese warning radar at Kaifeng was out of order, and the 9th Sentai stationed at Xinxiang with 10 Ki-44s failed to intercept. The B-24s pounded the storage area and damaged the Bawangcheng Bridge and another bridge on Yellow River.

On 3 May, seven B-25s of the CACW bombed Mihsien and hit numerous vehicles and Japanese troops northeast of Mihsien near Yueyang in northeastern Hunan, and strafed the town of Hsiangcheng. On the same day, ten CACW P-40s hit and damaged a bridge on the Yellow River northwest of Chenghsien near Luoyang, and destroyed 15 trucks and many troops.

On 2 June in a battle at China's Central Plain, seven P-40Ns from the 7th fighter Squadron of the CACW made an attack on an airfield at Zhengzhou where a Japanese air transport unit was based. Seven Japanese K-44 fighters of the 9th Sentai led by Captain Kobayashi intercepted the Chinese P-40Ns, and shot down five, including the one flown by the Flight Commander Zhang Lemin. The 9th Sentai lost one flown by Sergeant Fumio Oguri over Bawangcheng.

On 12 June, about 100 P-40s and P-51s from the 14th Air Force attacked numerous supply boats and other river and lake traffic in the Dongting Lake area, and hit docks and warehouses at Yuanjiang, and also villages and troops in Changsha.

On 28 August, 32 P-40s from the 14th Air Force, including 11 from the 5th Fighter Squadron of the CACW, attacked the Japanese air base at Pailuchi and targets of opportunity at Hengyang. They were intercepted by Japanese K-43s from the 48th Sentai and Ki-84s from the 22nd Sentai. In the air battle, the Japanese destroyed one Chinese and three American P-40s while the CACW shot down six enemy planes; one of the pilots from the 49th Sentai reportedly parachuted from his burning Ki-84 but drowned in the Yangtze River.

On 29 August, 13 P-40s from the 3rd Fighter Group of the CACW bombed and strafed shipping and dock facilities at Shayang in Hubei. After the attack, they were intercepted by 21 Japanese fighters near Jiayu. The CACW claimed a total of seven victories with Group Commander Lieutenant Colonel Bill Reed and his wingman Lieutenant Tan Kun each shooting down one Ki-43, and the other Chinese P-40s claiming five Japanese fighters. Commander Meng Shao-yi of the 28th Squadron of the CACW was shot down and killed.

On 29 August around 1 pm, 13 Japanese Ki-84s from the 22nd Sentai and 16 Ki-43s from the 25th Sentai, a total of 29 fighters engaged a large number of B-24s, P-40s and P-51s of the 14th Air Force near Yueyang in northeastern Hunan. The Japanese shot down four P-40s and one P-51, and damaged four B-24s, four P-40s and one P-51, and lost one Ki-43 and one Ki-84, and suffered damage on one Ki-84.

On 12 September, two separate groups from the 5th Fighter Group of the CACW engaged in air battles over northeastern Hunan. First Lieutenant Phil Colman of the 26th Squadron claimed one damaged Ki-43, and his wingman Lieutenant Yang Shaohua claimed one Ki-43 shot down over Xiangtan; Colman further claimed one Ki-43, two damaged Ki-43s and a probable "Hamp" (A6M Type Zero) over Changsha. Another group of eight P-40s fought 12 Japanese fighters including six Ki-84s over Hengshan just south of Xiangtan; Captains Reynolds and Ramsey each claimed a damaged Japanese fighters, but Lieutenant Tom Brink was shot down while strafing, and one P-40 flown by Lieutenant Su Yinghai was badly damaged and written off after returning to base.

On 26 October B-24s and B-25s of the 14th Air Force attacked shipping off the east Leizhou Peninsula situated opposite to Hainan in the South China Sea. Major Horace S. Carswell Jr. of the 308th Bomber Group was awarded the Medal of Honour for his action on that day when he attacked a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea under intense anti-aircraft fire. His B-24, No. 44-40825 (MARC 9612) was so badly damaged that when his plane reached over land, he ordered the crew to bail out. One crew member could not jump because his parachute had been ripped by flak, so Carswell remained with the aircraft to try to save the crew member by attempting to crash land. Before Carswell could attempt a crash landing, the bomber struck a mountainside and burned.

By the end of 1944, the continued bombings and attacks on Japanese supply lines and storage facilities in Japanese-occupied China had caused a severe shortage of fuel greatly hampering the operations of Japanese air units. The American and Chinese air forces in China had inflicted heavy losses to the Japanese air forces operating in China, and forced the Japanese to adopt a defensive stance.