air intelligence report, v1n21

8/8/2019 Air Intelligence Report, V1N21

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o ,5 th GOADSroTATO 'LANTUS ,ur ro lAPS TILL "OW PAGf 10Q) TO "GIIT "29.Ol: o NfMY NIGNT. 'AGE ".. DEFfNSE WUf(. t ' ~ G .lA' . . . . . GUN 'Air "NoT SO GOODlC1! I'"'8


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~ W I N ' I E T H AIR FORCE~ I I I T E I L I G E N C E REPORT28 July 1945

gQ I I OPERATIONSFour More Numbers UpPhoto 73rd Wing T a ~ e o f f Photo Red .Cross Girls3l5th Goads Jap Pot/loto PlantersMonotony Again on 16-17 JulyStrike Photo Oi ta

JAPANESE AIR DEFENSE-Japs Produce 1,577 Planes lIonthlyUnusual Jap AircraftHow to Fight B-29sEnemy Night Defense WeakJapanese Hiding Homeland Fighters

FLAK INTELLIGENCE

334567

910101112


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It is intended that tJl.h weelely re part be e source of Intorlll8tlon fo r COCl_ba t crew, arn1 starr ot!1cers who have aleg1t1.lnste interest i n th e operat I ons ofth e Twentieth A1.r For ce . Within those111111 ts i t should receive the widest pos sIble etrculatlon permisSible under th epr ovisions ot AR 3e0..5.

In ord er that a mu1mum ot in te l l i_gence may be included , th e report isgiven en overall classi t lcatlon of Sec_re t . lThen the nature ot th e mate r ia lwarrants, lccUvldual articles have re -celve4 e l ~ r secur i ty c l a s ~ l e 8 tT h ~ report Is so assembled that th ecaa.ponent sect i ons Illay be removed Blldc1rcuhted or rUed separately. I t' por _tions are reprodUced, security regula _tions 1Ia.I$ t be observed and th e s oureeCl'edited.

. Correspondence regarcU", this pub_lication shOUld be aOdrsUed to th e Com_mandlDr6 General. Twentieth " Air Poree,APO 234 , e/o Postmaster , San Jl'raneiseo,Cal1tarn1.e. , Attention: AC ot S , A- 2 .O. 4. h.. .,:

GARCIACOlonel; G.S.C .AC ot S, A- 2

AUTH: C.GlOAF. Initial.(k 11DATI 28 July 1945by 3!llh PTU 7 ~ / S - 5 8

'.

"

n th fewa ci t ies l e t t In the run .~ e s u l t of 20th A? tDCen-Hex es , Jap bets on theor ti n derb y were .on on the

" -. s on t 2_13 JUlY by ticket,'1'''''1y ho c1t109 of u""oo"",,,O..... _ &, TS uruga. " and {hfIIJi"-lnOustrlai , shlPPlr1S.. .1centers rece1.ad a ttons ot incendiaries454 20th 1.7 .-, ,9" . . . .OPped on other t;eJ",sts~ . , . . ...th e 49 6 S-S9' pr" . . lOll'

these tarStI -- ,

73rd !Ting . . . . . . l in ' up t ...night ta keoff in tbe raiD.IIi of i t s cr-t o ditchillS' .nB _ere,.ere DOr 11 . ,ere re!lC08 , 1,, __ _ 68. . . . . . ,,!t' ' ' , 10"' or _ .

IIlSS ION . , .' urs""(1IfYAtne lar&8s t c it7Ut l opolll i1S i!1dD odt,1d' theaD th " .:;a. I t 15 the ~ ! : ' t o r : t o - ' i ~ ~ ' " i pr.teeturfJ . . -l ta.l of di e 14tb f]1yf.si;dhe adqlJ8l"teJ"5 p r ~ 1 1 1 a trag!t il lf I l ' : : : : . loo O':f' . : ' ~ ........... or. . . . . .... . .. ....th " ~ d O l J l 111 t h ! a _ ~ 11.- ....'''!rt d""'''' ":: of ..r... eo ~ . r . r or.. . . .. ""'".... paY- ofb ~ - : . ; : ' . : : : . . ~ ~ _ t ....... 111.. . . . . .


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wo y roug c ou ro man a v ~ a g e alti tude of 13 , 800 feet .Five alrcraf t bombed other targets .In addltion to the above, two B- 2g sflew successfully an RCM jammingan d we!lther fo r ecast mission separate from the main force.Fi ve enemy aircraf t were sighted,but none a t tacked. Heavy and medium flak at the tar.a:et was meagerand inaccurate . Three searchlightswere 'l nable to penetrate the overcast . There were no casual t ies ,losses or damage due to enemy ac t ion. One B_29 ditched, kil l ing onecrew member. Nine of th e crew wererescued and one i 5 missing. No poststrike reconnaissance ha s been ob tained.

WISSION 264 IglINOIIIYA.One of a series of secondary ci t_ie s within a radius of 30 miles ofNagoya, Ichinomiya ' began early int h e ~ to convert industries intosa te l l i tes of Nagoya's aircraf t in

dustry". I t is an ol d city wlth ty p i cal inflammable construct ion.Densely compact , i ts built-up areacovers approximately one mila square .It l ies nine miles northwest ofa g ~ a on th e rokkaldo doub l e - t rackmaln l ine from. Nagoya to GU u. A

......... on h r e . . . . , - ~ ... ~ 1 n J ... -assuse. pI U' ......--_ ... a target a t tbu tlllllt~ t l D C ! .."1 I torted to use he rports as a point ot en ~ 1 1 ,11 har shlpp1n&The 73rd W1nggainst Ich1nomiYa s e ~ t l3..9 a.,,,,,.twenty three o r ' b ne l H I l l G r ~ > 3 " tons of 1ncendlar1 eln l ' O P ~ (114 by radar, s e v e ~ s on tb@ ~ ' ! ( tw o b y ' DR) thrOUgh '1iSUlll, Ittfran 10,200 feet a l t 0/10 ~ l : J l a1rcraf t banbe


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, ,; Rising Sun Petroleum Company an dth e Mitsui Storage Depot. WithinI th e compound are complete fac i l l ie sr tor th e manufacture of most ~ e r y type of oll ,gasol lne and lubrieant .DailY refining capacity i s estimate d at 7,000 barre ls .Sixty two 315th Wing B-29s wereairborne agalnst tn e Kawasaki Petroleum center . Fif ty two of themdropped 444 tons of 5OQ..pound GPson th e t a rge t (5 1 by radar and onevIsually) tbrough 8 to 10/10 cloud

trom an al t i tude a t 15,650 t ee t .One aircraf t bombed another ta rget .tw o B-f9s were airborne as wind-runaircraf t . One airplane crashed at t ar takeoff between Guam and Tin1anja Buddy B-29 remained to mark th eposi t ion an d four at th e crew otth e crashed airplane were rescued.One B-:Z9 is miSSing, reason unknown.Six to eighteen enemy ai reraf twere s1ghted. Two at tacks were sustained. Heavy f lak was n il to mea_ge r and inaceurate. Searchlightswere ineffeetive due to th e weather.There was no Iolown loss or damagedu e to enemy aet ion. No posts t r ike photos have been obtained.

- - - ' -wing-shift Ja p home-detenseworkers pu t in another rout inenight 's work on 16-17 Ju ly a t Numazu , Oita, Kuwana an d Hiratsuka,when they ass is te d a t th e burning

ot the ir respective industr ia l an durban areas by 20th AF B-29s. Thistour- target effor t brought the to t a l number at Jap ei t ies burned to42. This work was accomp+ished ina to ta l of 53 20th AF ineendiaryattacks.Of th e 49 8 20th AF B-29s air_

~ o r n e to tend to these four targets ,471 aircraf t dropped a combinedto ta l a t 3,680 tons of in cendiar ie son th e c1 1es. There were no casualt ies or losses to B-29s and onlym i n ~ f lak damage was sustained bytwo ! i rc ra t t . Weather ha s preventedreconnaissance lown trom obtaining

. ~ ' . ' ! . . .-;:. . ,' '. . . .'.. , ' ,' . ,

- ~ . . . . . . " July . Th1s rePeetth e tourtb 1ara:eatth e Ja p inner . - . .miles SOutheasta ke y prO(lucer otan d o11a.SeventY_One B_2geth e 3 ~ 5 t h aga1nstSixty-two at t h .at 500"'POUnd OPeby radar aM two viaU;U"variable low eloud to'denst ty. !lotllbtng 1IIlS

tude a t 10.5'75 teet, ; ; : - ~ ~ B-29s, which Pl'teedld .....torce dropped 16 toQI


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,new 12th Naval Air Depot whicbserves three important air t ' ie lds .The ra i l yards and shops ar e primary repair facil1ties between Ko .kura end Ylyakonojo on the easteoast ct Kyushu.The pOp,llatlon ot 01 ta 1s approx_imately 76,000 crowded into a to ta lbuilt_up area of about three squarem.i les . The ci ty 1s fa i r ly ol d withtyplca: Japanese construction atone and two-story buildings.One hundred and th i r t y two B .29sof th e 73rd _ Wng were airborne against 01 ta . Two of these were onan Rei!' Jamming errand 1n conjunctionwith th e str ike. Two superdumbosalso took pert 1n th e mission. Onehundred and twenty seven aircraftdropped 791 tons of lnceoolarles onth e target (122 by radar and f ivevisually) through 4 to 5/10 cloudfrom 10,500 feet al t i tude.Th:-ee enemy aircraf t were Sight

ed , DJne attacking. APproximately25 percent of th e force reportedheavy and medium very meager and in accurate f lak. Only two searchlightswere observed, and these only by afew crews. One B- 29 sustained min or flak damage. There were no casual t ies or losses,and a t th is time,no !'hotos of th e st r ike have beenobtained.MISSION 273 __ KU?i'ANA

Located 12 miles southwest ofNago]8, Kuwe.na is an 1lnportant par tof th e Nagoya war production cente r . [ t supplies s uch items as an t i f.rlction bearings , aircraf t parts,e lec tr ical equ1pment,machine tools.Dlval sheets and speCial steels toth e Ja p war machine. S1nce Nagoyahas been ser10usly d a m a g ~ d by 20thAF incendiary attacks, th e burdenat carrying on war product1on inthe area fa l l s on th e smaller ci t ies su ch as Kuwana. The c1 ty issomewhat sprawling in character,but the main built_up portion ofabout one square mile has a popul ation density of about 30,000 and is~ g h l y inflammable. About 12,000

e

Eight enemy 1rted and one i a eI ' l t t- .sustained. He::;reetbe at':lAwas meager snd 1na "1Itsurfe red minor n a ~ ~ a t e . I:t. J.fIinaccurate groundwere reported. There a1rualt1es or losses. Jowett 110_target photos are a v a U a ~ ~ I ~

KISSION 27 IIIRA"",H1ratsuka, about 34 _tit"west at th e Imperial Pal,eUAT:;

i s a center of aircraft "'-and related indUstries. It is 1'0.ca l paint tor naval acthlti.which include arseoal Plodztl.:t,armament repair, a11' tedlnlca1",search and develoPllent azr11ng. It I is the western llICt::rtan extremely 1mpartaot 1ot'.Jtr!I!area with centers or a e t 1 r t ~ 1 I smaller canmunltles a lq tb I_to th e esst . Hiratsuia bU PI"ula ion of 43,000 crowded 1$urban area of sl1ghtl1 l_one square mile.The 3l4th neg put up:ragainst Hiratsuka. pearwere RCII Jammers, 0D8 .,ru n ai rcraf t 8 ~ d .. ~ _ a ~

Am!l~ " " 620-" 9 '....

lOS est imateslap production ofeombat type alre:raft a t 1,577 aaof 1 July 1945,brolten dOwn Ufollow':NAVY T?TAL

390 1,010

e"" 37'It interest are fo1101f1DS poinU:(a) P1.ghter producttOD- ha S

I ~ l e d stnce . lIaY ~ 9 4 5 . (11) lpp!'ox1m&tel;r 55 pereent of

:" product Ol l rate is accountedlis 1 estimated reJtaratiop a t.::14, but a J ye t u n k n O Y ! 1 ~ lo -1II.T;r fighter Qeorge 1a_ oa t of proctuctlon 4u8 110tn ~ : . ! . attackS on .r uo and Biap_ta .One le tar ge t (12'1 DJuMelIIIl'" 4) ett7 product10n at .Ubla&v1sually) thrCQlb J I - _ _0 ~ o c k e d oa t

11.900 te.t a l t l O l l l ...r._ t 1 ~ ~ BoUd 101 book .. .148n08 iD -U_' I PHDk waa pro4U0e4 a t.... ...... __ .. . Qte: plant a t ttle re U ~ ! 5 0 enemy ai rcraf t ,tgbtlll. ' . . . . . .11'" .OQth. octobeJ' aDdheavy and modi"', OOOI"!'" "'" Ita.' I t 10 ... .0 4 ..,10 .....curate over the tar"" i:oJool""", .. ... U tbo . laot - ,,1' 10losses and damage - oof1. 1945.

(f ) The increase 10 .._v r lte r s over tt l J -. - gtl_princ1pa1l1 n ~ e : ! : ' t e o t is dllt~ n , t d ,1'oJo produetlOll at d U ~ : : e such as Utsona.lJ Ddun1dentltled l o e a t l o n s ~ ! n d a!I ,e tery ot OSear and tOIl1 ' I ' . I ! ~ :and Kagplgah&l"a. .Recent 20tb A.P. o p e r e . t 1 o ~ al ready bave .ade the 115 e 5 t ~ t e s caewb&t .gQt or date because or(1 ) th e attact m e1ty or tJtsonca11lbelieyed to have arreeted prodUCtion of Prank scae'fbat , (2) 1l1sbl1s\leeesst'Ul attacks upon nt!llbUtiland xansat i facUltie, at KaIP!.gahal'a, latter arrectll11 ToaT. (3)attack on laft5ald at iDSb1 , a150aneeting TOD1 and (40) attack upooUW1 Al1' USeM1 et tach1tad, pro.dUcer" or OIcar.cu.JIS, to ta l at 92 Jap aircraft . . .d.str0Je4 in t i l . a11 Iftd 00 \b '",aund b1 th e Alli85 d'al'laS the. . . . or :s-9 JulJ 1915

I)JI:"lDl aOOtb at JUDI tb_A111e5 desU'0Jt4 690 J'P atrCntJon the sround and 1D tb I .11tbll total. 2940 -- t 1 ~ ~ ' ' : : : pi.cb J83 war- 4e5tr ce'- uJ. orail' TbU c ~ p a r e s .. tb to 111 eST la p aU'crat t d e s u . : ~ , j , I d . , at iIb10b 2'0 --.. ~ " " ....,.

r I tib- JuDIcraft .e r.t1er'" 01~ . " ' 1 ... ,)

air intelligence report, v1n21

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