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The following is a general description of each of the campaigns
the 13th Army Air Force participated in during World War II.
The following information is from "Air Force Combat Units of
World War II", edited by Maurer, Maurer (1983).
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CHINA DEFENSIVE.
July 4 1942 to May 4 1945. The American Volunteer Group (AVG) under Chennault helped to defend China until July 4 1942, when regular AAF units (formed into Fourteenth Air Force in March 1943) took over the task. The AAF support for Chiang Kai-shek's armies was limited, however, because of the small size of the force, and because of the lack of supplies, which had to be transported over the Hump route from India. A strong Japanese offensive along the Hankow railway in 1944 resulted in the loss of important air bases Fourteenth Air Force had been using in southeastern China. And by December 1944 the Japanese columns driving southward had met others that were moving up from Indochina.
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GUADALCANAL:
August 7 1942 to February 21 1943. The seizure of Guadalcanal in June 1942 marked the high tide of the Japanese advance in the Southwest Pacific. U.S.Marines landed on the island on August 7 and quickly took Henderson Field, which was needed in order to gain control of the air. The Japanese made several attempts to retake the field, and they repeatedly bombed the base to curtail Allied aerial activity. The contest, which became one of reinforcement and supply, was decided when Japanese troop transports that were heading for the island were destroyed by American ships and planes in November, but the Japanese held out on Guadalcanal until the following February.
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NEW GUINEA:
January 24 1943 to December 1944. After the loss of Buna and Gona in New Guinea, the Japanese fell back on the stronghold at Lae. Their attempt to reinforce Lae by sea in March 1943 met with disaster when American and Australian planes sank most of the convoy in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Salamua and Lae then became the objectives for an Allied advance along the northern coast of New Guinea. Fifth Air Force bombers attacked airfields at Wewak, 300 miles west of Lae, to neutralize them. The Allies dropped paratroops at Nadzab, just beyond Lae. Enemy resistance at Salamua broke on September 14 1943; Lae fell two days later. In the months that followed, MacArthur's forces pushed westward, capturing some Japanese strongholds and bypassing others. After taking Hollandia in April 1944, the Allies attacked islands off the northern coast of New Guinea, taking Wakde and Biak in May, Owi in June, and Noemfoor in July. Sansapor on New Guinea also was gained in July. Aerial attacks on the Philippines began in August, and Morotai wa seized in October to provide air bases for the invasion of the Philippines. Allied planes also bombed the oil center at Balikpapan and other targets in Borneo and Celebes.
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NORTHERN SOLOMONS:
February 22 1943 to November 21 1944. After the conquest of Guadalcanal, Halsey's forces, supported by the Thirteenth Air Force, began a campaign to capture Japanese strongholds in the Northern Solomons. In February 1943 American forces landed in the Russell Islands to obtain an air strip. Air bases at Munda (New Georgia) and on Kolombangara Island were attacked as the Allies fought to gain superiority in the air. American troops landed on Rendova and on New Georgia at the end of June. The air base at Munda was taken in August, and the base at Kolombangara was neutralized. Landings were made in the Treasury Islands in October. Allied air power struck the great Japanese naval and air bases at Rabaul on New Britain to support the assault on Bougainville, which began on November 1 1943. Enemy garrisons on Bougainville were contained, and other Japanese forces in the Northern Solomons were isolated. Although the enemy continued to resist, American air and naval power dominated the Solomons.
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EASTERN MANDATES:
December 7 1943 to April 16 1944. After the operations in the Gilberts, American air and naval forces bombed and shelled Japanese bases in the Marshall Islands. In February 1944 American troops went ashore on Kwajalein, Roi, Namur, and Eniwetok. Other islands, including Jaluit and Wotje in the Marshalls and Truk in the Carolines, were bombed and shelled but were bypassed.
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BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO:
December 15 1943 to November 27 1944. To isolate and neutralize Rabaul on New Britain and the Japanese base at Kavieng on New Ireland, American forces landed at Arawe and Cape Gloucester in December 1943, on Green and Los Negros Islands in February 1944, and at Talasea on New Britain and on Manus Island in March. Some other enemy forces in the Bismarck Archipelago were bypassed.
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WESTERN PACIFIC:
April 17 1944 to September 2 1945. Attacks on Truk, where the Japanese had a major base, continued as preparations were made for the invasion of the Marianas. The American troops that landed at Saipan on June 15 1944 met bitter opposition; but, after a desperate Japanese counterattack on July 7, organized resistance soon terminated. Tinian, invaded on July 25, was won by August 1. Guam, which had been seized by the Japanese on December 10 1941, was invaded on July 20 and regained after 20 days of fighting. With the conquest of the Marianas, the United States gained valuable bases for an aerial offensive against Japan itself. To provide bases for operations against the Philippines, the Palaus were invaded in mid-September. Later, aerial attacks were made on Formosa to support the invasion of the Philippines and Okinawa.
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LEYTE:
October 17 1944 to July 1 1945. On October 17 1944, after preparatory bombardment, the invasion of the Philippines got under way with the seizure of islands guarding Leyte Gulf. The landing on Leyte itself on October 20 was strongly contested by Japanese forces on land and at sea. Organized resistance on the island did not end until after Christmas, and mopping up operations continued for a long time. Meanwhile, at the end of October, the neighboring island of Samar was occupied with little difficulty.
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LUZON:
December 15 1944 to July 4 1945. After Leyte came Mindoro, which was invaded on December 15 1944, an air strip being obtained to provide a base for operations during the invasion on Luzon. American troops landed on the shores of Lingayen Gulf on January 9 1945 and pushed to Manila, which the Japanese defended vigorously until February 24. Rather than meet the Americans in a decisive battle, the Japanese decided to fight delaying actions in numerous places. Organized resistance ended in southern Luzon in April and in central and northern Luzon in June.
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SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES:
February 27 1945 to July 1945. After Luzon had been invaded and Manila taken, a series of landings were made in the southern Philippines, on Palawan, Mindanao, Panay, Cebu, Negros, and other islands. In some places the Japanese offered little resistance; in others they held out for considerable time. The liberation of the Philippines was announced by MacArthur on July 5 1945.
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CHINA OFFENSIVE:
May 5 1945 to September 2 1945. In the spring of 1945 the Chinese began an offensive in Southern China. Some of the air bases lost the previous year being retaken, Fourteenth Air Force was in a better position to support the Chinese as they recovered the territory lost to the Japanese during 1944.
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