General Orders 1946 - Fort Benning

pagan. Without the loss of a single crew member or airplane, making minimum
altitude attacks, the aroup droumd over 460,000 nounds of nanalm and demolition
bombs, 91 percent of wliich feil within the target area, aid expended 414000
rounds of ammunition in strafing. Crews of the 42d Bombardment Group (31)
dextrose8 gun positions, wavchousrs, yoad blocks, fuel and ammunition dump,
n radar station, numerous rehicles, and 73 military huiilliugs, as well as huge
stol.eS of gasoline and oil. which the enemy had plrcrd sirntegieallg so as to be
released into shollow nits 011 the bench and ignli.?.d whm the h~istrwliall ground
troops should make their assaults. Klging riolvn [lie iuvilsion bcacil under intcnsc
ellenly fire, the 11-20 airemft of the grou11 acNicved snrh 1:erfeet timing and coordination
in giving support to underwater nnval dcmoiition teams that uor one msn
of the team was last. So eff~ctivclg did the group smash Japanese defelles at
nnliklm1xn -. thni lhr enemy was toisllv unable to contest am of the landings arid
the Australian 7th Dirision came ashore on an uitde£er.dcd hench. CrcAit for
the success of the achievements of the gvorm - . iii this week of intense aud daiwerous
operations is due not only to the bon~bsr crews lint also to agerations, inl:elligenee,
and maintenance pfxsonnel, who soent loug hours plarlning the mission3 and
prelmrjug the serricillg the aircraft, despite inadequnle fneilities with which to
vork. I11 making such a significant cuulribution to the success of the hilied invarion
and seizure of Cornea, one 01 the most stmt~gicsliy irnportaut islands in
the encmS~hcld 17etherlands East Inrlies, Ihe 4Pd B@lnbardnLmt Croup (31)
brought new honor to the United Statcs Army Air lW'ces. (General Orders
2217, Hpadqn:irters Far East Air Fwces, 29 Sovemher 3945, as approved by the
Cornrnauder in Chief, Unilcd Stales A~xy Forccs, l'ncifir:.)
7. The Si4t7~ Dombardmont avoup (111) il; cited for outslarid:ng pcrforrnarice
of duty in action on 28 April 1945. Wiicn reconilaissnnce revealed the presence
of a large number of Jnp:!ws: shills riispcrred aloug ?he river at Ssigon, B'?encil
Indo-Chinx, as nell as large stirwgc depots, wurehouscs, :and bsrr>!ciis in lhe
vicinity, tie 345th I:o;iziio~.ilinrmt Cf,,wp ($1) was ord&ed to carry out the
first lor\~-l~vrl attacks to he made on Snigon, Setting out from the adsnnced
hasc of Pucrto Princzssa, Palawan, in tllr Philippine Islands, two squud:'ons of
eight bombers raclr werc dispatched on the mission. Althougb they could not
contact tte fighter cover that was to have heen provided, and although three of
the brllnbcis were fmced to reiunl to thcir base b?cnnse of mechanical trouble,
the 13-25 crews rootinor8 to the target. Several miles out from lheir objective,
they encountered heavs hzrmges of antiaircraft fire, forcing them la use evaaive
txctics. which rcdnccd ikit epccd so liecessnry ro the success of tllcir atlacks. FIF
ing orer flat terr~il,, mhich made it irnuossible to arhier~e surlu'ise or avoid antiaircraft
firc. one of the R-25 aircraft was hit and cradled on thc edge ooi the target
IIEH, while two others were shot down hy antiaircrnlt firc and interception during
the tnr~et nm. Despite the Sact that all airplanes xr.ere damaged, the Crem of the
group demonstreled nemarknbl~ liornbing accuracy in attncking the shim which
weve anchored in a nnrrov. winding riwr. Besides sillking a ROO-Ion freighter, a
2,300-ton freighter-transport. a 2,800-lon freighter, a 230-tan tanker, a 203-ton
freighter, and a WUO-ton troby transport, they damaged four other vcssels totalling
3,000 tons, bombed and destroyed sereral llrnrehonses and strafed and set
afire oil storaEe tanks and llarracks in the wharf area. Credit for the SUCCPSS of
this mission, which severely depleted euemy shipping strength in the Saigon area,
mmt go . not only to the air crews, who fought their way so pallautly Lhrough beaFy
enemy opposition to make their attacks, but also to the p~rsunncl of Lhc ground
ecllelon, whoworked long and hard hours to yrqare the bombers for their mission.
The achievements of the 845th Bombardment Croup (BI) on this occasion are in
AGO 3682B