Kaeng Khoi Tha, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand • October 25, 1943 The Burma-Thailand Railway was inaugurated on this date in 1943 near the Konkoita forced labor camp about 11 miles/18 km south of the Burmese border. The opening of the new rail line was declared a holiday by Japanese authorities. The festivities celebrated the meeting of the northern and…
Surigao Strait, Philippines • October 25, 1944 In the lightless hours on this date, October 25, 1945, 2 elderly Japanese battleships—Fuso and Yamashiro—escorted by heavy cruiser Mogami and 4 destroyers, steamed into what would become one of the most lop-sided battles in naval history. The warships made up half the Imperial Japanese Navy’s southern strike force under…
Off the China Coast • October 25, 1944 By October 1944 U.S. Navy submarine Tang and her skipper Richard O’Kane were legendary. (O’Kane had earlier made a name for himself aboard the U.S. Navy sub Wahoo as executive officer under Dudley Walker “Mush” Morton.) The Tang, a 312‑ft Balao-class submarine, was credited during the war…