Word: formosae
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
With the securing of the Philippines, MacArthur would come to the geographical limits of his present command. As CINCSoWesPAC (Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific), he now has nothing to say about operations which might take Allied forces to China, Formosa, the Bonins, Ryukyus, Kurils or Japan itself...
...from Nimitz, who could pick his way up the steppingstone islands to the mouth of Tokyo Bay. Whether Japan could be invaded before the Jap armies on the mainland of Asia had been engaged was still debatable. But the way to China did not necessarily lie through Luzon and Formosa. The Japs themselves had pointed to the possibility of a northern route through the Ryukyu Islands to the great ports around the mouth of the Yangtze River...
...escort craft were being bombed and strafed from Indo-China to the Ryukyus. Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Fleet carriers (16, by enemy count) sent planes up & down the coast and the island chain. They hammered Hong Kong, Swatow, Amoy and Canton in China; Takao on Formosa; Okinawa in the Ryukyus. Primarily, their job was to keep the Japs from flying planes or shipping supplies and reinforcements to Luzon. Also, if an enemy naval force should appear, Halsey would be ready...
From China and from the Marianas, B-29s were keeping Formosa, Kyushu and Honshu under attack. Their performance was getting better. The 21st Bomber Command (Saipan and Guam) struck at a tempting target, the Kawasaki aircraft factory near Kobe, where the Japs made the new twin-engined fighter known as "Nick." Returning pilots, with photographs to back them, reported 315 hits in the target area, and the plant out of operation for months...
From Singapore to Formosa to Tokyo, meanwhile, the B-29s flying from India, China and Saipan gave the enemy no rest. Every arm of air and sea-air warfare was swinging heavy and repeated blows to keep the enemy reeling while the landing on Luzon was made good...