During 1944, the 501st Bomb Squadron completed 147 combat missions to 108 distinct target locations. On the 135 days that missions were flown, 904 sorties, or attacks by individual airplanes, were completed. Missions were flown regardless of holidays, or perhaps especially on holidays. As mentioned in a previous post, these numbers reflect the number of historical documents available to me more than absolute, definitive numbers of missions.
The data for 1944 was particularly detailed and allowed for some very precise target location placement. The mission narrative reports were often lengthy, with detailed descriptions of the attack of each airplane, and included detailed mission maps. In many cases, the mission maps were traced from, and referenced to, topographic maps that are still available. Mission load lists were also available for most of the year, so the names of crew members for each airplane are displayed in the pop-ups. Where mission maps were missing or lacked detail, targets were estimated from the text of the report.
Missions were flown in the New Britain, New Ireland, and Admiralty islands, Territory of New Guinea, Dutch New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines and covered a swath of some 3,000 miles from one end to the other. Missions were flown in support of Allied invasions, against enemy shipping, and against enemy ground installations.
1944 seems to be the year that the momentum of the war swung from the Japanese to the Allies. Whereas 1943 seems to have been a year of holding the line against Japanese expansion, refining tactics, and gathering forces, 1944 was a year of reducing the military might of the Japanese bases and pushing the enemy back toward Japan.