25 Oct 1942, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

25 Oct 1942, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong

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Submitted by Admin on Sun, 2014-02-16 22:32
Book / Document: 
WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China
Date(s) of events described: 
Sun, 25 Oct 1942

http://www.usaaf.net/chron/42/oct42.htm says:

(Tenth Air Force):

CHINA AIR TASK FORCE (CATF): 12 B-25s and 7 P-40s, led by Colonel Merian C Cooper, hit Kowloon Docks at Hong Kong; 21 aircraft intercept; 1 B-25 and 1 P-40 are shot down; this marks the first loss of a CATF B-25 in combat; the Japanese interceptors are virtually annihilated; during the night of 25/26 Oct 6 B-25s, on the first CATF night strike, continue pounding Hong Kong, bombing the North Point power plant which provides electricity for the shipyards; 3 other B-25s bomb the secondary target, the Canton warehouse area, causing several large explosions and fires.

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Submitted by ssuni86 on Wed, 2014-02-19 23:58.

 

Here is an interesting account of the Oct. 25 daylight raid, summarized from this book in my own words:

 

Boyd, John and Gary Garth.  Tenko!  Rangoon Jail: The Amazing Story of Sgt. John Boyd’s Survival as a POW in an Notorious Japanese Prison Camp.  Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company, 1996.

 

The loss of the the B-25 flown by Lt. Aller (or Allers) is recorded in numerous sources, both official and unofficial.  However, this account of the plane's demise is the only one that mentions an attack on a ship in the harbor.

 

Aircraft #59, an aging and war weary B-25B that was one of the slowest in the squadron, had the following crew: Lt. Aller (pilot), Wilbur Marcus (copilot), Lt. Joe Cunningham (bombardier), Sgt. Rusty Webb (top gunner).  Cunningham and Webb both downed a Japanese fighter during the mission.  During the pre-mission briefing Chennault told Cunningham and Aller that there was a transport moored in the harbor.  Chennault asked them if they could drop out of formation and hit it.  Cunningham said he could.  Aller was flying as “tail end Charlie” so dropping down to bomb the ship was simple enough—he destroyed the ship, an achievement for which he received the Silver Star.  As he pulled up from his bomb run, he was hit with heavy AA fire and jumped by 30 Zeros.  The B-25 lost one engine and lagged behind the formation.  Aller and his crew bailed out, re-grouped on the ground, and attempted to reach friendly forces.  Aller had been shot in the foot.  Cunningham and Marcus went in search of water, and while away from the other crewmen they were all captured.   Cunningham and Marcus made their way to friendly territory and continued flying with the 22nd squadron of the 341st bomb group, though Marcus was killed a few months later in an aircraft accident. 

 

Submitted by Admin on Sun, 2014-02-23 04:25.

Here's how it was reported in the Hong Kong News the next day:

Air Raids on Hong Kong October 1942

And again a few days later:

Air Raids on Hong Kong-October 1942

Submitted by moddsey on Sun, 2014-02-23 12:12.

Video footage of the 25 October 1942 air raid can be seen here

Submitted by HO Lim-peng on Tue, 2014-02-25 04:14.
Gen Chennault's widow Anna lives on in New York. Their daughter Cynthia was at one time President Ronald Reagan's Mandarin interpreter.

Submitted by Lawrence Tsui on Tue, 2014-02-25 10:31.

BAAG Waichow Intelligence Report of Dec 1942 gave detailed description of the plane & its engine which crashed into the sea at Hang Hau.  A diagram was also provided.  At first, it was wrongly suspected that the plane was Japanese.  Eventually, part of the engine was retrieved by the Guerrillas and sent to Kweilin HQ.  The engine bore identification marks of US manufacturers including the 'Aluminum Company of America'.  (Ref: Ride Papers AWM S.11 F.8)