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380th Bomb
Group Association
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| THE BACKGROUND OF OUR SERVICE, WHY WE WERE IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: A REVIEW |
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380th Bomb
Group Association
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| THE BACKGROUND OF OUR SERVICE, WHY WE WERE IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: A REVIEW |
PART B:
The first operational invasion action of Southwest Pacific Forces after the conquest of the Vogelkopf (the Northwest peninsula of New Guinea) was the attack on Morotai Island, the northeast corner island of the Halmaheras, which took place on 15 September 1944 under the title of OPERATION INTERLUDE. This opened up the way to the Philippines as soon as sufficient airfield capacity had been established on Morotai.
The overall Operational Plans for the Invasion of the Philippines (called the Musketeer Plan) involved several separate sets of Operational Planning Documents, one for each of the several operations in sequence. The first of these were individually labeled as GOSSIPMONGER, KING I, KING III, and KING II (Table B1) and were to be sequentially carried out according to original planning.
They were as follows:
1. GOSSIPMONGER - To capture the Talaud Islands, midway between Morotai and the Philippines and about 120 miles southeast of Mindanao, as a first step in the capture of the Philippines. Scheduled originally for 15 October 1944. (Reference 1)
2. KING I - To land at Sarangani, southwest of Davao, Mindanao, in order to capture Davao as a base for further excursions in the Philippines. This was originally scheduled for 15 November 1944. (Reference 1)
3. KING III - Misamis, Mindanao. Added later but considered to take place between Sarangani and Leyte. Misamis is located on the northwest side of Mindanao. Originally scheduled for 7 December 1944.
4.
KING II - The invasion of Leyte, one of the Visayan Islands in the
central Philippines, and originally scheduled for 20 December 1944.
Table B1
The Musketeer Plan
(The Original Plan for Contingent Operations)
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Title |
Selected Landing |
Original Planned Date |
Actual Date |
|
GOSSIPMONGER |
Talaud Islands |
15 October 1944 |
Abandoned |
|
KING-1 (K-1) |
Sarangani, Southern Mindinao |
15 November 1944 |
Abandoned |
|
K-2 |
Leyte Island, Visayan Group, Central Philippines |
20 December 1944 |
20 October 1944 |
|
K-3 |
Misamis, Northwest Mindinao |
7 December 1944 |
Abandoned |
|
LOVE-2 |
Aparri, Luzon |
31 January 1944 |
Abandoned |
|
LOVE-3 |
Mindoro |
15 February 1945 |
15 December 1944 |
It is noted that the planning for GOSSIPMONGER specifically presented the 380th Bomb Group as a unit which would represent the heavy bomber component of that Operation. It is noted that the bomber strip on Talaud Island was scheduled for completion on G+45, or 1 December 1944. The 380th was to be scheduled to occupy this strip immediately thereafter. This was later reduced to G+25, or approximately 10 November 1944. Under these revised plans, the 22nd Bomb Group would join the 380th on the 1 December 1944 date. Figures B1 and B2 show the relationship of Talaud to neighboring islands and Figure B3 presents the plan for the airstrips and other facilities on Talaud.
Figure B4 shows the location of the proposed Sarangani landing in the Davao area.
Likewise, the 90th was named for KING I and the 43rd and the 22nd specifically mentioned for KING II. The plans for KING III are not available.
Figure B1
The Location of Talaud Island
Figure B2
The Location of Talaud Island
Figure B3
Proposed Development of Talaud
Figure B4: Map 1
Location of Sarangani in Southern Mindanao (Davao Area)
Figure B4: Map 2
Location of Sarangani in Southern Mindanao (Davao Area)
With the extensive guerilla
movement in the Philippines (the uprising of the native Filipinos against the
Japanese), the U.S. had excellent intelligence of the disposition of Japanese
troops and their capabilities. From this information it was determined that
GOSSIPMONGER, KING I, and KING III would be unnecessary expenditures of our
troops and resources and that the Allies could directly invade Leyte and bypass
those earlier considered. Thus these earlier proposals were dropped and the
Leyte Operation was advanced in time to 20 October 1944.
The important fact to note here is that when the planners decided to skip any particular planned operation(s), they dropped all considerations expressed therein and accepted the full details of the Operation selected, including all military units listed therein. Thus the bypassing of GOSSIPMONGER left the 380th still in the Darwin area, and the dropping of KING I left the 90th on Biak Island until future planning picked them up again.
Therefore the 90th and 380th waited until the generation of Operation LOVE-3, originally scheduled for 15 February 1945 for the invasion of Mindoro, but advanced to 15 December 1944, to be selected for inclusion there and their eventual shipment to Mindoro in February and March 1945. The result of this was that both Groups arrived after the bulk of the Japanese Air Forces' ability to harass heavy bombers over the Philippines had been almost totally depleted. Thus only a very few Philippines missions were carried out by these groups and the vast majority of the 380th's missions from the Philippines were to Formosa and French Indochina, with a few to China itself. (See Part VIII of this series.)
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I |
Letter to Lt. General H.H. Arnold from Lt. General G.C. Kenney, 23 January 1943 |
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II |
General H.H. Arnold's Letter to General Kenney, March 1943 |
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III |
Initial Order to send the 380th Bomb Group to England for duty with the 8th Air Force, 24 March 1943 |
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IV |
Change Directive Letters Transferring 380th to the Southwest Pacific, 30 March 1943 - 31 March 1943 |
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V |
Orders Sending 380th to Southwest Pacific Area, 30 March 1943 |
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VI |
Australian Headquarters Announcement of Assignment of Bomb Group, 9 April 1943 |
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VII |
Arrival in Australia of Flight Crews, 23 April 1943 |
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VIII |
380th Movement Orders to Australia, Ground Staff, 10 April 1943 |
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IX |
Arrival in Northern Territory, Australia, Flight Crews, Undated Letter |
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X |
Orders to Northern Territory, Ground Staff, 20 May 1943 |
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XI |
General Kenney's Early Assessment of the 380th Performance, 29 June 1943 |
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Last updated: 07/08/2012 09:05 PM