Hsinchu Air Raid Site

The Hsinchu Air Raid of November 25, 1943 was the first Allied aerial attack on the Japanese colony of Formosa (Taiwan) during the Pacific War; Soviet volunteer and Chinese bombers had raided Matsuyama airfield near Taipei in February 1938. The operation was a joint mission between the United States Army Air Forces' 14th Air Force, commanded by Major General Claire Chennault, and the newly formed Chinese-American Composite Wing (CACW). It marked a pivotal moment in the Pacific War, demonstrating that Allied air power could reach Japanese-held territories previously considered beyond range.

The strike force consisted of 14 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers — 8 from the 11th Bombardment Squadron and 6 from the CACW's 2nd Bomber Squadron with Chinese crews — escorted by 8 P-38G Lightning and 7 P-51A Mustang fighters from the 23rd Fighter Group. The formation staged through Suichuan (遂川) airfield in Jiangxi Province, China, and crossed the Taiwan Strait at extremely low altitude to evade Japanese radar on Datun Mountain, which lacked low-altitude detection capability.

The surprise was total. Japanese defenses at Hsinchu were minimal — the base had no permanently stationed fighter units and was mainly a training field for Type 96 land-based attack bombers. The B-25s and their escorts swept over the airfield, bombing and strafing the aircraft parked in the open. Allied crews judged that 37–42 aircraft had been destroyed on the ground and 14–15 shot down, whereas Japanese navy records admitted four aircraft shot down and 13 bombers destroyed on the ground, with 25 killed and 20 wounded; eyewitnesses believed the real losses were higher. The Allied force suffered no losses, with only two aircraft sustaining minor damage.

The raid's consequences extended far beyond the immediate destruction. The Japanese Navy's Shinchiku Air Group (新竹海軍航空隊) was disbanded on January 1, 1944, its surviving personnel redistributed to other units. More significantly, the demonstration that China-based American bombers could strike Taiwan alarmed the Imperial General Headquarters, contributing to their decision to launch the massive Ichi-Go Offensive (一号作戦) in 1944 — an attempt to overrun the Chinese airfields from which such raids originated.

The Hsinchu air raid opened the floodgates of Allied bombing on Formosa. Over the following two years, the island endured sustained aerial campaigns: USAAF bombers from China returned repeatedly in 1944; US Navy carrier aircraft attacked during the Formosa Air Battle of October 1944; and B-29 Superfortresses struck in January 1945. Hsinchu and its surrounding area ultimately received the greatest tonnage of American bombs among all locations on Taiwan during the war. Today, the site is remembered as the place where Taiwan first experienced the devastating reach of Allied air power.