5 January, the Task Group steamed south for strikes on Luzon, in the area around Manila and to the north. Reports of a Japanese Task Force, somewhere in the area, had been received by the High Command. The journey south provided both an opportunity to search for the Japs, and another chance to hit what installations still remained relatively undamaged on Luzon.

 

6 January, McBrayer's Division participated in a strike on Luzon. We encountered no airborne planes. Targets were trains, trucks, coastwise shipping, military depots, and enemy troop concentrations. The weather was clear, which made it easier for the anti-aircraft batteries to do their job. Constant heavy anti-aircraft fire was taking its toll in mental anxiety, as well as in physical casualties. We all came back from that raid, but after landing many of us found shrapnel holes in our planes. The outstanding memory of the day was the display a locomotive creates as it explodes after a burst of .50 caliber machine gun fire.

 

The next day, as I was flying CAP over the Fleet, other divisions were pounding Luzon again. It was during these strikes that Frank Upham was hit by anti-aircraft fire and lost. No enemy planes approached the Fleet, and the CAP concluded without incident.