In September and October 1944, the 5th and 13th Air Forces under the command of General George Kenney launched a series of five raids from Noemfoor Island. Kenney was a strong advocate for using the powerful B-29 Superfortress for this raid but was forced to use the B-24 Liberator instead. Unbeknownst to the Allied forces, the Japanese Air Force had conserved many of its dwindling numbers of fighters to protect the important oil refineries. The first two raids did not have fighter cover and suffered severe losses.