Qualla: Penghu Air Raids https://qualla.com/penghu-air-raids en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/h/v/penghu-air-raids-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Penghu Air Raids https://qualla.com/penghu-air-raids Penghu Air Raids: Introduction https://qualla.com/penghu-air-raids/ Photo credit Wing1990hk, CC BY-SA 3.0. Japan had been fortifying Penghu since 1901, when the government declared the island archipelago a "fortress" and established the Penghu Fortress Command. For four decades, the islands served as a strategic anchor in the Taiwan Strait -- a staging point for projecting military power across the region. In June 1939, Japanese forces used Penghu as an advance base to attack mainland China from Shantou, Guangdong. But by October 1944, the fortress had become a target. Allied carrier-based aircraft arrived over the archipelago on October 12, and for the next ten months, until the war's final day on August 14, 1945, they systematically dismantled everything Japan had built there.

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Image: Wing1990hk | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/h/v/penghu-air-raids-wp/wshv-penghu-air-raids-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Penghu Air Raids: Fortress in the Strait https://qualla.com/penghu-air-raids/ Photo credit Wing1990hk, CC BY-SA 3.0. Penghu's military significance predated World War II by decades. After Japan took control of Taiwan from the Qing dynasty in 1895, the strategic value of the Penghu archipelago -- sitting squarely between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland -- was immediately apparent. The 1901 fortr...

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Image: Wing1990hk | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/h/v/penghu-air-raids-wp/wshv-penghu-air-raids-fortress-in-the-strait.mp3 0:06 2 full Penghu Air Raids: Hellcats Over the Archipelago https://qualla.com/penghu-air-raids/ Photo credit Wing1990hk, CC BY-SA 3.0. The first attack came on October 12, 1944, carried out by elements of the Fast Carrier Task Force as part of the broader Formosa Air Battle. From dawn to dusk, waves of aircraft -- Grumman F6F Hellcats, Curtiss SB2C Helldivers, and Grumman TBF Avengers -- swept over the islands. ...

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Image: Wing1990hk | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/h/v/penghu-air-raids-wp/wshv-penghu-air-raids-hellcats-over-the-archipelago.mp3 0:06 3 full Penghu Air Raids: What the Bombs Left Behind https://qualla.com/penghu-air-raids/ Photo credit Wing1990hk, CC BY-SA 3.0. The sustained campaign resulted in the mass destruction of infrastructure and military hardware across the archipelago. Magong bore the heaviest damage, its naval installations reduced to wreckage by repeated bombing runs. Airfields were cratered, harbor facilities demolished, an...

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Image: Wing1990hk | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/h/v/penghu-air-raids-wp/wshv-penghu-air-raids-what-the-bombs-left-behind.mp3 0:06 4 full