air intelligence report, v1n19

8/8/2019 Air Intelligence Report, V1N19

1/9

SUmllARY OfoPERAnons

JAPS nEED .PlEDAnD FlREPOWEA

JAPS TOUGHon 6 JUnE

.... flAM fRom. " PICKET BOATS

15

17

11


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3356881011

1112131414

XX I B 0 M BER e 0 MMAND

r / L / ~ INTELLIGENCE REPORTJ.4 JUT 1945

XXI BIl.!CCY OPERATIONS- .3,495 Tons on Four CitiesPhoto of OkaTama DamagePhoto of Nobeoka DamageFour More Cities BurnedPhoto of Ube Damage37th Incendiary AttackPhoto of Tokushima Damage315th Cuts Jap 011 supplyResults of Earlier MissionsObjection SUstainedPhoto of Akashi Plant DamagePhoto of Eitoku Plant DamageSetting I t Right

JAPANESE AIR DEFENSE-


3/9

OXAYAlIA INCENDIARY [WfACiE resul t -in g frcm th e seth Wing'S strike on2 e - ~ 9 June total! 2.13 5Quare mUell,or 63 percent or the builf..UP &1'_'

,

ReturniItt&:ks ng to n ilIet's 1 f O ~ i n 5 t u r b a ~ h t incend1ary~ ~ ~ I 5 1 5 o ~ t 2 9 a g a 1 n S ~ e ~ ~ A a f t e r a-eIIUId - 5 of th uus t r ia lf 28-29 w;re airborne e XXI Bombera the JaD ~ : e l a ~ 1 n s t o ~ o : e c ~ ~ ~ ~ ta .nu. ',.,,;a"". ... .",,,,.aU7. ,_",,"117 .n d .11'- ., 'un. . bo o j l .n d Nob t ~ : 1 " "" ,,,"' ot un-I to""" .0 , ," u . _ 11 WO ' bu t 11"7 ..,.u"'", ." ta l or rr-- t'" .. : . ~ - - '. ~ 35 to er7 t a ro . ' " AD _ ,_ .-.. 1 O f t I " " . ~ , : - 'e O l l l a e . ~ a r g e t s n ' T " " . . . . . . . . D. ,..... ..- ot " uUo",0ol,< 0' h . ottar t cos' to .... "'_. . . . -- _.ne 8 .29 .'I S . . . . ..t>' .. ,........... ,0 0

",-_ SION 2M __ OItAY'" 01'" -' ot a o11d 'n -~ I : _ _ _ , .. . rros . . - ' ot .... DO -I . , , ,.. 1s "


4/9

,

'ten enelll)" atrcraft "ere Il1ghted

and one attaCk _de . '!'here .. re DOloslle' and 00 clataS &P1DSt th eenOlDY' TWO a1J'craft landed at 1..0, lak ' was lIlaaget' and insecura tetnreugh the uodercast. ROI a1J'CZ'at tsucceeded in J.-.J.Oli .rtf/IIIJY radars.one ot 1lhleh ceased operation atthe beainninfl of t;be J . -1a&~ to W . c itT (rCJJ th e aiJIaion b. .a . . . . rrca pOltS c r i ~ reconaaUS,a.nee of" .s! ! . ~ ~.u.,about ' 8 ~ t Cb ..-up a r - or wa citT ' f b J ' I I e ~ -fa" sb"" ~ . 1ft. cltT. . . .U 1 pari1a111' c ~ b1 .- .!rtJIJ SbS-OIIOII at ttla t p i t t i l pboCOll ..,. . . . .

'


5/9

Twenty enemy t1ghters made onlythree weak at tacks. Med1WD aOOheaVY f lak was n1 l to mode ra te andgener al ly i n ac cu r at e. There wereno losses and only aD! a i r c r a f tsustained minar damage. Elevenlanded a t Iwo.

About .4 2 square m1le ot damager es u lt ed f ra n th e miS!lion e3 pe r ..cent of th e city 'S buil t-uP area.The damage 1s eoncentrated in thecenter -of th e e i ty . Two industr1esiincludil18 th e Higashi.1I1S4lDe ceeYine\ received heaVY damBge.MISSION 243 .- SHDIONOSEKI

The ShimonOSe ld Urban Area (aeelIissioD 236 fa r 1mpartance ot target) was attacked by 126 ou t o f 1 '23l4th Wing ai rcrat t . They dropped81 9 tons ot incendiaries.12 v1!lual..ly and 114 by radaI' through 4 to9/10 cloud frOlll an average altitudeot 14,250 feet . Five dropped CDother targets and nine returnedearly. One E..29 was abandoned 25miles north of two and nine crewm e ~ b e r s were rescued. Twenty sevenlanded a t 1"No enelllY aircraft "ere encount.ered. TWo aircraft sustained . inardamage from mea&8r tollloderate heavYflak and generallY lIloderat e lIledlU1l1t lak. TWo to 12 5earehl1gh t5 wereil16frecti'1e tllr0U6h t,"!e overcast.greatly redUCing tlak 4amale .n dcauS ing 1nacCUl'aoy.COlIple te photo eovera&e ,bOWSthe main portion of the cl t r d.. .!ltJ'oyed as a resul t thiS m1 s d i[)aIIS8Ie totalS about .!51 sqU81'e Id e.)1 ' ;,6 percent of the I l U l l ~ P pot'.tlon or the el t r . (Seezoet )

,

19.&0 at 100,680.One hun&'ed twelve a i rc ra f t atth e 313th 'R1ng were a i rborne . Onehundr ed d ro pp ed 752 tOD5 or 100 aDd50o...POUnd 1 n c e n d 1 a r 1 8 ~ trCID an aV'"erage a l t i t ude of 10,600 t ee t . F1tty two b o m b e ~ v1susl l1 and 48 by

radar .

lIlSSIOtl 242 __ UBEt . r ~ e et15 a coal mining and lndU5"ttp or Hy near the southwesternl : l t l Onshu. I t i s off the mainIt e : ~ l a t 1 o n routes of Honshu,buttal:! to J ns several key plants reI .., COlt ap war prodtlction. I t halll~ t l l d : a ~ t 1 y built_up cOllloerclal and~ l o t l n 1&1 area which atfordlll ..I t t a e ~ b l e target fo r incendiary I t had a populatioD in

TIl_ 1Jrd lUng sent 162 a i rc ra f tijl!ll!t it , 1&l of which dropped1111 tons of incendiaries fran anUulle altitude ot 10,500 feet .! ~ I . n & n ! mainly by radar throughI 10/10 doud. One bOOlbed an ..I ~ e r target and. seven returnedeul.1. CM sireratt d1 tched on ret ; I ' ~ and the entire crew was res ..~ . A d . j1'our landed at Iwo.

rout ene:ny 81rcratt were s ight ....d llIt none attacked. Clouds pre,,:ted narchl1ght5 from l l luminatire a1rcratt to r AA f i re . Flak:'t: ~ ~ e r and inaccurate with oneer.... t receivil\& minor damage.

~ tra!! the mission totalsit ~ U ~ o t l l l t l e b or about 16 percent(It}' se a uilt-up area ot th e1Iip' vera1 barrack type build ..~ . w e r e destroyed in the military

~ in the indUstrial.t's ot..fjJ' ,ISSloN ,41 . - J(1lllAlloro

otO the tourth laI'gest

!iYu,hU is the capi tal ordtf oto Prefecture and as such 15~ o t t a n t goverlllleot center. I twe llladquarter5 of the 6th ArmyttrUl01l aod l.! the cClDDler

c1a1cenof the area east of Sh1m8bara~ It includes a number of Inb:jtt1a1 iostauati005 probablYc:t'll'tld to war production. Kuma ...

I:tO al.!o 15 8 s t r a t e g l c a l ~ impor..u:t raU a highway tren5porta...111lll bub.

dropped 1,039 tons ot lOO-po.:d U.cendiery bombs and 5QO.pOUDll_d i ary c lus t er s . One hlllldred one of them bClDbed by raw _th e 6 to 8/10 cloud. BIIIb1t1 alt!tude was 10,800 teet. CkIe.1reN!\bombed another target ,nil sl1 rtturned early .Seven enemy fighter, " " ,II!:"ed but (Ud not attack. r w : ~nl1 to meager and i . c e l l l " l ~ ;th e f i r s t part of ttl, (


6/9

MISSION 250 __ TOKUSlUltATokUsll 1m8- i5 the l ar ges t c it y onShikOkU, . i th a popUlat iOn at 121000. I t is the si te or se.eralarge text i le m.iUS. probablT conva r ted to war production. The pop-ulat10n density is 40,000 per squarelIlila.The '14th ."irlg ha d i t as ear-get, sendiOi lS1 aircraft .pin-s ti t . or tIles_,].29 dropped 1,050tons at inC_ndiari- t h J " ~ cl.-z'.eather __ 54 dS"""U1 ..,a 7 ' bYradar __ rre-a 11 .050 teet .b ~ e d other tarSets aDd 51$ r.tllJ'ned .ar lT. lfol18 or the l[! 8'1e"" .U'-

The 3l3th W1ng sent 107 a1rcrar tagains t i t , 105 of which dropped76 0 tons of incendiaries through.4 to 7/10 clOUd.. Thirty four bombed. by radar , 57 visual ly and 14 byradar with visua l correctiOns. "Theaverage bombing a l t i tude waS 10,600fee t .No a i rc ra f t were los t bUt one hadi t s ver t ica l s tabi l izer and rUddervi r tua l ly de s troyed by banbs fa l l ing from another B-29. F ou r landeda t 1wo. seventeen enemy fighterSwere seen and they made seven att ac ks . F la k was pr1IO.arllY (rOC lIledium weapon! with a few bW"sts framheaVy AA reported. One a1rcrattsustained minor damage frODl f lak.

PhotoS shOW that 1.12 squaremile of th e city 1l'8S destroyed ordamaged as a resu l t of the lIi5sinThis is 56 percent of the city .b ri ng ing t he to tal destruction todate to 1.38 Square mile or 71 per-cent.

Rimeji , with 8 populat ion of104 ,000, i s a major r a il ro ad. t e rm ina l on the sar!Y0 tIl8in l ine . I t isan important mil i ta ry cen ter , conta ining headquar ters bu11dings,ordnance and. munit ions stores and. a re ported arsena l . It i s th e site ofthe Kawanishi Aircraf t Assemblyplant , assembling the f ighterGeorge.

48 p er ce nt o f the he8vJ,.. . . . . . . . .area . Five unnumbered. and. ublden-t1i'ied. i n du s tr ie s a re d.amaged

MISSION 249 - - HIMEJI

sand shoPSi1.l' taell1tie nt a stD81. I l ~ t e ~ U ' e r a 1 ' t ps:apiane base

~ ~ k i a 1lI1norI " ' ~ ttll'k' I 11I111": t , ~ 1 l I l l 1 l ' . g ).28 a i rc ra f t58th 'RillS S r e n ~ i C h dropped.t I l 1 t l 160 s __ 95 ViS -# ~ of 1 n c e n d ~ a r i ~ c m an aver~ .Dd III by ra feet . Three;,J.lJ'11t1tude ot 10, t5 and eight re ~ e other ~ r : e aircraft crashed.r.z:Jl!d tarlY after take-off and one1(.0 : ~ was rescued. Twenty ""ed at 1110.,11- no air opposition.f/lIl"l : ~ e r to moderate,inac-r..sk was, .ost '" medium. Thera'::'1!,8 en 6 l , t;U co loU or damage rr om ?hoto reconnais!ance Sh01fS t ha tIW51 port10n of t he 1 Ie st ern ,cenend southern sections of th e-'ltJ 15 destroyed. The easternit. .t of the e1 ty as s t i l l eovered.

~ . t l l s ~ o k e at th e time th e photosI!l'I taken.VlSSI0N 248 __ KOCHl[odl1 15 the industrial ano cowweill center of southern 5bikokU.It u the cap1tal of Kochi Prefec

t '2t and l.s located a t the head oft:ado Bay, rive IIl1les inland. In ~ . s t r 1 e s 1n the city include paperul tuttle 1lI1l:U now converted toproduction and larger induSt:les around th e ci ty include a~ ; r 0 0 d p lant , meta l working plantel ....cement and chemical plants . The 'I probably is more important asISeap1tal am commercial center thanl a t ~ 1ndu,s t r ia l center . The popu-

OQ 5 106,000.or One hUndred twenty nine a i rc ra f t. the nrd ~ i n g were airborne~ 1 ~ t i t ; 1e6 dropped 1i060 tonsel ru:end.1aries through to e/l0a llld ~ 113 by radar and 13 visur ~ Bombing alt i tude was 10,500lJ.' 'lbree aircraf t returned ear-bIl. bo enemy aLrcraf't were s1l:hud1 d1d no t attack. one B-2: ..1 l to unknown reaSona c " l i :htflaked at Iwo. lol.ediUIII :: ' ..a,,:eJ", .. , encountereC I ttid generally inaccurate.

~ . _ _ _ .quar- . i l - or- t r t e to tal - . "

Again on th enight of 3- 4 Julyfour of the wingstook 8 Japanesecity apiece Bnddropped incendiarybombs on i t . Thec i t tes were Toku_s hlma.Takama t9 u BndKochi on Shikokuand Hlmejl on Hon_s,hu. This serieso r attack3 broughtto 26 tr>. "" ....l-. _ _

, - . - ~ ~ I [ ~ " : : 'DA!lAGE TOwestern UBE. mininghe b u l l ~ ' P or Honshu a ~ ' ndus t ra l "nt . r ",,, . . .-up area as' 5 .42 square mile or 23 p e ~ .a r esu l t of 313th '5 str:Ucllo 0II1..!"""of Japanese c1ties to Dt ~ to incendiary "ttaCkll . rt;"th e to ta l of such 111,51001 " . '

VISs ION 247 _ .,,,,,-ftJTakam8ts u is S I 1 1 k ~ : ' ~

par t city and the ~ ra i l road ferry , e t ' d ~with KOMhU. I t nat'of 111,247 'lfithln a b ~ teO area of d IOuat' "portent l n s t a l l a t l o ~ ~ 0_._ ..... ..Ailr orA t . . I

3 7 ~ T T A C K

meager auy ,1..110"" . . . . . . . . . . .


7/9

.-. .-=-

r n m ~ m mOARLI MISSIONS

MISSION 223, sumital10 Light veta ls Industry a t OSaka, Target 263A,flown by 58th W1D8: HOot dam8&etot!l.U 250,000 square feet, 12 per.cent of total roof area.

l.lISSION 224, osaka 8,r111Y ArseDBl,Target 382. flown by 73l'd >'I'log. ()JlI.plete coverage shOWS no new damS&e.

~ r r S S I O N 225, Ka'll'8SaId Aircr&1'tcompany, AkBShi plent, T81'get 1547 flown by 31.3th lUng: Hew dacsge is904,750 Square Ceet of roof ares,26 percent of totsl area.IIISSIOH 226, no coVerage.

Photos taken af te r th e missionsh01'l' f i res s t i l l burning in twotanks a t th e r ef in er y i n t he c rude011 s to rag e area a t th e south endof the plant. In th e refin ing areaono uni t is severely damaged. Somedamage is vis ible in th e north port ion of th e p la nt acroSS th e r iver .

Returns are now in on the result.!!ot most of the missions f lown on 26June, which were reporteCI 1n th el a s t issue of the A.I.R. but onwhich DO post strike photos had beenobtained. Here are th e assessmentsof damage:

J,tISSION 227 AUuU F8ctcr l' Hsgora Arsenal. farget 197: .eo peorcent of roof area daJDBged or destroyed briOS inc total to date to55 percent. Hippon vehiCle ~ cactur i 08 COllIpe.I17. rarget . ed: Ne"dama&e is 40 percent. br1nging tOo-t a l to ez p e r ~ n t . Both or theseterse t.9 . . re h it bY the ,,14th "ins:on th l . misS ioO

Flak ..,a9

u

r 'fb.ere we,J." ., re no 10"" to thO . . . . ,!to t.ed bX enelllY a i r c r a t t ' ..erebomb u t they ..de no a ttaok8 er s landed .t IWo 11_

'lfttv" JA! O ~ S U p p ~ .urdment Wlng,..mlch3].5th BOlli start on th e n igh t";! to a goodbombing the utsube

1 ~ 2 6 - t 7 JUne bytook a 1Ib8ck a t two~ 1 ' ! r ~ , 1 ' i ~ ~ ~ 1 Japanese 011 instal I U 1 ~ U week.udoll5 t on th e night or 29 ..30tIls targe Nippon 011 companyr.:l ns ]Q14ama t !lu. at one time th ei).1t'iaz,gest 011 reunery 1n ther,:t.h inner zone. I t producesI I ~ ~ : ga5011n8 and ol ls . ThetrlIt 15 located five milesr=t ot TokUYam8,site of other; rtll811e5 which were seriOUsly dam111 a.29 s t r ikes on 10 May.!teplant (Target 672) l i es 1mmediittl1 lU t or th e Hitachi Mamrl'ac;;:113& company Locomotive WorkS.Thirty si x aircraf t were a t r -

~ I r ! f ap1nst the ta rge t . 32 drop,1:1 ro8 tOn! of high explosives on11:1 target _. 31 by radar and one11 dead r e c k o n l ~ . Average bombingaltlwde liaS 16.650 fee t . Four ofe, 8-299 returned early .!lllrteen enemy a i rc ra f t werel!!bted bolt there were no attacks.i.u: was ni l to meager and inaccur11th 9earchl1ghts unable to:Us a coordinated ef fo r t throughto 10/10 cloud layer .

1 , ~ r : ; l n e r y unit which covered"':. .000 square feet of groonde:t m ~ s , destroyed as a resu l t oftype bSS on. Two small storage~ . l : t s ~ ~ n g s and a small by_prO-also were destroyed.e 4 , ! ~ O ~ 1 t , a n d 40 percent destroyl&Mu'a is mission was th e HitaChi~ ' l e O1ituRring Com.pany. just east ofefinery 4 z o 0 : : ~ t y eircraft were ail' i lOrne, 39otI th Il& 29'7 tons of 500.pound Ops' h l l l l ~ , ~ r i l i l a r y (35 byredar and f i c l : l b l ~ ) through 4 to 10/10 c ? ~ t

. '0 ) alti tude was 15,650 e U r c r a ~ t bombod another target.

or 74 percent or the t O ~ larea Of th e City. 'nIe e bJ.llt.has been destrOYed by r ~ l 1 tsmall parts in the eUl'e:ae e ~ ~ "es t portions. Tlro S _ l l ! ~ t . : . ltr ie s were destrOyed, (Seeretj 40l l lUe

Medium andmeager andno loss or

TOKOSllIl.!A all.! t3 -4 J ul y ~ ~ G E S T CITY ON SHIKOKU, u n t l l t h : - ~ "deJ:laged or d an lncend tary strike by .,1ts totul b u ~ l s t r o y e d 1 .7 s qu ar e -mile or"t-up area,

1.7 squareota lsamage

~ eraft sighted attacked.118avy flak was generallylnaccut 'a te . There wasl1alllllge.


8/9"'"

JC,lWASJJCl AlRCRAP'l ' CCIIPANf,Llft, OOW bas 7 pereent at lU ior ll1Dal root a r - ~ or 4 .atrCJ7ed. 26 pel"caot at tha to ta lroot sr_" 4 . - & ~ OIl 26 JuD8s t ; r lP by th a 3 l 3 ~ Wi..

1>

Bela teO. coverage au, ' - ...obtained on the HiteebiWorks, Kaigan Plan t, TariI'JIII;This 1nstallation na b,lt Itllll73rd W1I18 on 10 JUDe. Pon . .photos show that the 73N ..blew this target of t tbI .. . Itmajor buildings are c C l l p l l ~ .aged or destroyed. Qll1 et .. .or th e total roof ar .age. (Confident1al)

---ISSION 232, UtsubeRefinery I Target 1S84 !Ib""as bombed on the' 1'lI1I 'SJune by the 31Sth " 1 ~ & b t or ii irUnning it s tl.1'st 1 1 ; 1 ~ 1 t I I ..empire. Thirty percent .tt....ar ea or the itl!ta llatlOl "aged or destroye, . ""..th e most damage lrIl't tilthYdrogination un1ts, tbetetraethYl lead unIt, oU *'--:ufacturing unit a l ) 1 b ) ' " p r ~ . .cessing units. seVll1'al_ ...destroyed.

airto-dl The c1l1l t t l i .,tr(JJtd' .-ed bJ tIM IIc_i l4 CIllO.mi t tee and credit . . p .ent i re ere.... ft111 cJ,aiIbe the f i r s t or 1" tcred1t must be e l a ~ - .Major Schon!aU and b1I .. .

The le t ter is 1 ~ _ W l i . ~Terry, A-2 of the ~ _ refers us to ADDIS C"Opposition., at Xl ~ . Tactical 1115SioD RtJlOl""C-l-9, paragraph I t) . Jl!!Personally, .. 'II _ r ! ! " ~ '

take Col. Terr1" ~ S I o ~ ,and "e 're pret t1';:: " ' , , 'mon w111 too. .. 'good. t r ick .. 11 , .(Confidential)

-Ot no i t wasn'tth e f i r s t air-to_airbombing or a Ja pfighter by a B-29,.says ':he 58th Wing.TheY're talking abcut the storyon Pa&e 8 or Issue No. 16 of thisPUbl1:ation,wherein th e feat of Lt."alter Wilemon or t he 313 th \11ngwas Oescribed.Here 's t he 5 8t h Wing's le t ter onth e SUbje ct: "While i t is no t ourdestre to detract from Lt . Wilemon'sfeat, justice WOUld seem to requirethat h il l cla1lll ot being th e f i r s tto bring down a Jatlanese fighter bythis methOd IlIUst be contestM.-On 21 December 1944,Ha.1or JamesSchOll1au or the 46Bth BOJnb Group otthe :ex: Bomber Commanil brOUght downan U:'I1dentified Single engine f1gnter crier MUkden, Manchu ria by the

MISSION 230, Sumitomo DuraluminC O l D p a ~ Plant a t Nagoya, Target2040i 3l4th ,'/ing: 20 percent damaged bringing to ta l to 52 percent .

UI53ION 231, Kawasaki Aircraf tPlant, Kagamigahara, Target 240,flown by 314th ?ling: 27 percentdamage bringing to ta l to 60 percent .

I . ~ I S S I O N 229,Aichi Aircraf t ':.brks,Eitoku Plant, Target 1729: 113,800square feet of damage, 4 p er ce nt o ftotal . Damage to date is 19 percent. Hit by 3l3th \'ling.

MISSION 228, M1tsub1shi Aircraf t'7orks I Kagam1gahara Plant , Target1833: 20 percent new damage. Kaga_J:11gahara Llil1tary A1:rport, Target249: 50 . percent r oo f a re a da:nagedo r des tr oyed . Both t a rge ts bombedby 58th '1ing.


9/9

Returning B-29 Cl"ews descr ibe th ef i re power o f th e Jap interceptorsas meager and inaccurate. Presentf i re i s largely !'rem 20-mm cannon.Although th e enemy a t times repor tsl a rge numbers ot B-29s damaged bymp interceptors, it is doubtfUltha t he believes h is own l i e s . certainly he IllUst be aware ot t he " ea kness of h is f i re po"er. I t is probable tha t he " i l l replace th e .eO-mD1cannon in h is interceptors such asJack and George "i th 30_mm. I t isequally probable that he wil l equipbombers such as Peggy with 7S_mD1cannon.

Because of th e heavy damage toth e in- l ine engine a1rcra t t factorie s a t Akashi and A ts ut a, t he produc ti on o f Tony ha s been greatlyreduced. The enemy has b ee n searchin g to r a high_altitude f ighter .No" is an opportune tilDe to ki l ltwo birds with one stone - - continue th e p rod uc tio n of Tony and a tth e same time produce a bigh-al t i tude f ighter . This he can do , andprobably is doing now, by replacingth e in_11ne engine with a radiale ng in e o f sufficient power to makeTony a b1gb_altitude f1Bhter.I t a1S 0 is hiAAly probable thetth e enemy eventually " i l l produce atwin-engine high_altitude l ighter .

This could be a Nick or similarplane with a turbo-superoharger.I t 1s believed th5t there alreedyhas been in operation a high-alt i tude version at Dinah. (Secret)

This might be accomplished by in s ta l l ing jet_propuls ion units s imila r to those in Bake, possibly un der the wings. The units probablywould I n er ea se t he speed frail 25 to3 0 k no ts tor a very shor t operationa l p e ri od , e n ab li ng th e enemy toelude ou r in tercep tors 1n an a tt emp tto attack our surface craf t .

SHORT ON FIRS POWER

IUtl the loss or Okinawa th e en rtI h decreasing h is a tt ac k s in:. \ area and is withdrawing hisl!1eratt to the hCllleland to rebui ldtlJ depleted units in preparationf% the next amphibious landings.It aDpears that during this perbl ot callp&rat1vely l i t t l e offen_lIre activity the Japs wil l at temptlIprove their tact ical a i rcraf tt i J ~ strengthen thei r defense.~ 1 ! ' attention probably wil l be:ftred arQ,lnd increaSed speed fo re de aircraft, greater f i re_:;er tor intel'ceptors and bombers ,a hIgh.&!t i tude figh tel ' .Ra!D FASTER SUICIDE PLANESl ' ; ) 1 ~ : / I P l l 1 r are u si ng t rainers as

I;.@ed a craft. ObViously th e~ otor th ese 1s slow compared to~ I d e pI the P51 o r P .47 . The sul_t ane is of flO value to th elet Ulllass i t can reach i t s tar_~ u b:;lie.d landings heretoforel t r , j . b l l 3 ~ d l n 8 d e without support fromIto Planes, bu t with Okinawa~ as bases f'>l' frlefldly ftghe ~ ~ J : ne" lafldings w11l be ac -by strong a ir support.It Nip sUiciders wil l no t find~ t p t o / to elUde fas t Allied interItt. in Order to reach thei r tar_' ~ l e thae.rafore, i t is quite prob_Iller t the enell'()" will attempt to'lid -S a the speed of hi s t rainersUSe them as su1c1de planes.

ELUSIVE TARGET NUl.!BEiI 1729, ClAichi Aircraf t Works. Eitoku ;l&:'l,turned up almost intact in thll !'f"COtU1aissance t ak en a ft er tile 3!!ClWing 1s 2 6 June strike. Totalag e to da te is 19 percent.

. ,6}kr.- ntlone' , ~ ' ~ ; ;l e t t e r rrom th e 881,t Squed_ th e ebove meedit

ro r C1.'ro n ,r the SOOth Bomb Group IM1v1dual cr H_' ,;,...P01n t, o ut the t e photo PUbl1'h_ goe, to S/sgt ; 'n . ,_ til'"eo on Page 9 or Isoue 15 or th e gunner on th e p curt'" ""A.I.R. we, 1n ,or rec t ly cred ited . Cept. Fred J . it100. 1t,lI'.

The P'oto. Wh1ch 'h""" e 'kyrul 1n th e lead pea . . ere ... J"or 1ncend1er1e, desCand1ng uPon f ine shot and t cred" rYOkohsma on 29 Uay, Was takan by g iv e th a corra,!n " j

air intelligence report, v1n19

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