The arrival of the new Year found this Squadron working with a will toward becoming the most efficient of its kind in operation. New Year's resolutions were not in order as those resolutions adopted at the beginning of operations in this theater could not be improved on.
       Operations became more extensive over the Philippines and Borneo. Main objectives of these operations were the Negros and Palawan strikes in the Philippines and the Tarakan strikes in Borneo. Another mission that was claiming more importance was the delivery of gasoline to the Dipolog, Mindanao strip. Pilots from the southern bases finding themselves short of fuel due to the long trip north and enemy action, were frequently landing at the Dipolog strip. The two C-47's assigned to this squadron began making almost regular deliveries of gasoline to refuel these ships. [photo1] [photo2] [photo3] At APO 159, (Sansapor²) [photo] operations, although on a smaller scale, were continuing and scheduled missions were being flown over the Celebes, Ceram and the Halmaheras.
        72 missions totaling 665:00 hours were flown during the month of January 1945.
       The squadron lost another ship on 26 January 1945. On a special search mission of Mindanao, ship 44-33874 made a landing at Iligen Bay and a leaking hull forced the pilot to beach the plane. A special search was conducted by Major Mathis, who had returned to the squadron upon his release from the hospital on the 5 January, and the downed ship was located on the 29 January. It was decided that the ship could be reparied so a ground crew was dispatched to the scene to begin repair work. [Ship could not be repaired and was written off 14 February 1945, per INDIVIDUAL AIRCRAFT RECORD CARD³] No member of the crew was injured.
       On the 14 January, 5 members of the Australian Ground Forces were attached to the squadron. These men were to instruct the Air Crews in Jungle-Craft in the event that they were ever forced down over unoccupied or hostile territory. A crew and plane (A24-109 - belonging to 113th Air Sea Rescue Flight of the Royal Australian Air Force) were attached on the 28 January. This ship covered strikes by the R.A.A.F. in this area and removed a considerable burden from the ships assigned to this organization. Various members of the squadron were awarded the Air Medal and Oak Leaf Clusters during the month. A copy of these orders are attached to this history.

GENERAL ORDERS No. 801	HQ, Far East Air Forces,	12 January 1945
GENERAL ORDERS No. 811	HQ, Far East Air Forces,	12 January 1945
GENERAL ORDERS No. 1211	HQ, Far East Air Forces,	(19 January 1945)
GENERAL ORDERS No. 1621	HQ, Far East Air Forces,	(28 January 1945)
GENERAL ORDERS No. 1631	HQ, Far East Air Forces,	(28 January 1945)

       The change in strength is recorded in the following figures:

       A total of 62 rescues and 16 evacuations were effected during the month. They are as follows:

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Text in gray is not official and is used to clarify or add additional information.
^{1 From Squadron microfilm obtained from Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
2} APO numbers from "Numbered Army & Air Force Post Office Locations" - 7th Edition - by Russ Carter
³ From Individual Aircraft Record Cards - Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama