Note 58 — Chapter VI · The Japanese Reaction

On 3 November fifteen P-38’s of the 49th Bomber Group struck “one of the most lucrative strafing targets of their history.”58 In an early morning search for enemy shipping in Ormoc Bay the bombers found nothing, but on their return they sighted a ten-mile-long convoy of trucks, artillery, and tanks extending from Ormoc to Valencia. The convoy was strafed and dispersed, leaving twenty to thirty-five trucks destroyed and many other vehicles, including two tanks, in flames.59 However, two American planes were shot down by enemy antiaircraft fire, four came in on single engines, and all showed many bullet holes. The bombers made no further strikes against the convoy, “as all aircraft received extremely heavy and accurate ground fire.”60