Qualla: Bombing of Wewak https://qualla.com/bombing-of-wewak en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Bombing of Wewak https://qualla.com/bombing-of-wewak Bombing of Wewak: Introduction https://qualla.com/bombing-of-wewak/ The dust was the point. At two fake airfields north of Lae, small Allied construction crews drove trucks in circles to raise visible plumes, and the Japanese obliged by bombing the empty dirt day after day. Fifty miles away at Tsili Tsili, Allied engineers built a real runway in near silence and slipped fighters onto it before anyone noticed. When General George Kenney's Fifth Air Force finally launched its raid on Wewak on 17 August 1943, the American P-38s and B-25s flying escort were close enough to matter. Five days later, the Japanese Fourth Air Army had lost about 170 aircraft and would never again be a serious force over New Guinea.

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/q/5/bombing-of-wewak-wp/rpq5-bombing-of-wewak-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Bombing of Wewak: The Fourth Air Army in Trouble https://qualla.com/bombing-of-wewak/ By August 1943, the Fourth Air Army was already in a bad way. It had been formed two months earlier to defend the New Guinea theater, and on paper it carried 200 aircraft. Only 130 were operational. The Japanese historian Hiroyuki Shindo later wrote that the low readiness rate wa...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/q/5/bombing-of-wewak-wp/rpq5-bombing-of-wewak-the-fourth-air-army-in-trouble.mp3 0:06 2 full Bombing of Wewak: Parafrags and the Low Pass https://qualla.com/bombing-of-wewak/ On 17 August, 62 B-25s of the Fifth Air Force went in low against Wewak and Boram airfields, each carrying twelve clusters of three 23-pound "parafrag" bombs. The parachutes on the parafrags were the key innovation: they slowed the bombs enough that an attacking aircraft could cl...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/q/5/bombing-of-wewak-wp/rpq5-bombing-of-wewak-parafrags-and-the-low-pass.mp3 0:06 3 full Bombing of Wewak: Major Cheli's Last Pass https://qualla.com/bombing-of-wewak/ The price to the Americans was remarkably small. Only three U.S. aircraft were shot down in the raids across all five days, and ten total were lost. One of those losses earned the Medal of Honor. Major Ralph Cheli, commander of the 405th Bombardment Squadron, was leading a low-le...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/q/5/bombing-of-wewak-wp/rpq5-bombing-of-wewak-major-chelis-last-pass.mp3 0:06 4 full Bombing of Wewak: Ceasing To Exist https://qualla.com/bombing-of-wewak/ When the Fourth Air Army counted what it had left, the numbers were staggering. Of roughly 200 aircraft at the four Wewak-area bases, 174 were out of action: 54 shot down, 16 blown up, 57 badly damaged, and 47 slightly damaged. Operational strength collapsed to about 30 planes. T...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/q/5/bombing-of-wewak-wp/rpq5-bombing-of-wewak-ceasing-to-exist.mp3 0:06 5 full