2 April 1939

Yesterday Tomorrow

April 2nd, 1939 (SUNDAY)

FRANCE: The French Grand Prix is held at Pau. Hermann Lang wins driving for Mercedes Benz.

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2 April 1940

Yesterday Tomorrow

April 2nd, 1940 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Mr. John McCabe, a Royal Ordnance Factory assistant foreman, tackled a fire at the factory; he told others to escape before a blast killed him. For this he was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal.

RAF Coastal Command: Sunderland flying boat drove off six Ju 88s,shot one down into the sea and another was forced to land in Norway.

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. 166 Sqn. K8993 damaged taxiing at Jurby. Flg Off Hannigan and crew safe. 102 Sqn. N1368 overshot Driffield. Plt Off K.N. Gray and crew safe.

These two aircraft were Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 38 Whitleys; K8993 was a Mk. III assigned to No. 166 Squadron based at Abingdon, Berkshire, England, and N1368 was a Mk. V. assigned to No. 102 Squadron based at Driffield, Yorkshire, England.

RAF Fighter Command: 2 Luftwaffe aircraft attacked the British naval base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, over the North Sea, 1 destroyed. No damage done. Over Scapa Flow, 1 German aircraft believed brought down by gunfire. 2 civilians and 1 soldier killed by shell-splinters. On the return flight Duncansby Head and Stroma lighthouses are struck by machine-gun bullets.

FRANCE: The 13e Demi-Brigade of French Legionnaires, with those from Algeria forming the 1st Battalion and Moroccans the 2nd, embark at Brest bound for Liverpool. They are commanded by Lt. Col. Magrin-Verneret (subsequently known as Monclar) (Gordon Angus Mackinlay)

NETHERLANDS: Border garrisons are put on full alert.

GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler orders that Operation WESERUBUNG, the invasion of Norway and Denmark, be carried out. The planned date is 9 April.

SWEDEN: The Swedish government receives vague reports of troops and ships being concentrated in north German ports.

CHINA: Wuyuan:

Chinese Nationalist troops have recaptured the north-western city of Wuyuan for the second time after ambushing a column of 3,000 Japanese troops. The city which first fell under Japanese control in February, was recaptured by the Nationalists two weeks ago. However, the Japanese sent in reinforcements a week ago as a result of which they once more took the city. Its successful retaking by the Nationalists will give heart to beleaguered Chinese forces in the south of the country.

U.S.A.: The U.S. Fleet departs the West Coast for manoeuvres in Hawaiian waters. Fleet Problem XXI is the last of the large pre-war fleet exercises that mark the culmination of the training year. Conducted in two phases, Parts II and VI of the annual fleet exercises, it takes place in the waters of the Pacific in the vicinity of Hawaii to the westward. Part II exercises two fleets (the augmented Battle Force vs. the augmented Scouting Force) of approximately equal strength, one side concentrated and the other widely dispersed, in scouting, screening, and conducting major fleet engagements.

Part VI exercises two fleets of approximately equal strength (the same opponents as in Part II), each dispersed, in scouting, screening, protecting convoys, seizing and defending advanced bases, and conducting major fleet engagements. The worsening world situation will prompt the cancellation of Fleet Problem XXII.

2 April 1941

April 2nd, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: In an attempt to entice fighters back from the Balkans daylight intruder operations are stepped up. 19 sorties are flown today, nine ships being attacked.

GERMANY: Marienehe: The Heinkel He 280 V1, the first turbojet-powered aircraft designed as a potential fighter, makes its first flight at Marienehe. The aircraft, carrying minimum fuel, circles the field once at a maximum height of 900 feet (274 meters) with the landing gear (undercarriage) down. The works test pilot, Fritz Schafer, is at the controls.

NETHERLANDS: The RAF drops 75,000 tea bags over the country bearing the words, “Holland will arise. Keep your courage up.”

YUGOSLAVIA: The British Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Sir John Dill, is in Belgrade meeting with the head of the government, General Dusan Simovic. Dill is attempting to reach an alliance with Yugoslav officials but they refuse.

Belgrade: Gerhard Feine, the Counsellor at the German Legation at Belgrade, reported that morale generally was low. People were having second thoughts about the coup d'état, and it seemed likely that the government would be willing to make concessions in order to avoid war, including adherence to the Tripartite Pact.

It is too late though. Feine is instructed by Berlin to reduce the size of the Legation to four or five men, destroy all secret files and warn friendly Legations in Belgrade, so that they could draw their own conclusions.

HUNGARY: Prime Minister Count Teleki Pál commits suicide because he does not wish to lead his country in collaboration with Germany. The regent, Admiral Horth, and the new prime minister, Laszlo Bardossy, continue to work with the Germans.

GREECE: The New Zealand Division under Major-General Sir Bernard Freyberg completes its concentration on a position stretching from the Aegean coast north of Katerini westwards along the south bank of the river Aliakmon.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: HMS Ark Royal brings Hurricanes to Malta.

LIBYA: Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel, commander of the Afrika Korps, orders the 5th Light Division to continue its advance and take Agedabia. The British then begin a withdrawal to Antelat, 35 miles (56 kilometres) northeast of Agedabia. After a number of unit engagements during the day, the British 2nd Armoured Division is ordered to withdraw to Antelat leaving the coast road to Benghazi open.

ERITREA: British troops advance from Asmara towards the seaport of Massawa on the Red Sea.

RED SEA: With the British advance on the seaport of Massawa, Eritrea, five Italian destroyers in port set sail for Port Sudan, Sudan. RAF reconnaissance aircraft spot the ships and they are attacked by torpedo carrying aircraft which sink four of them; the fifth is scuttled by her crew.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-boats attack convoy SC26 from North America. Over the next day they sink ten ships including the British armed merchant cruiser HMS WORCESTERSHIRE (11402 GRT). (Alex Gordon)

CHINA: The battle of Shanggao ends.
Shanghai: Rumours are afoot here that one of Germany's 26,000 ton battleships, either the Scharnhorst or the Gneisenau, is now in the Pacific. In the same dispatch it is announced that the 8,000-ton German merchantman Ramses, anchored in Shanghai since the start of the war has left and all US naval units in the Pacific have been instructed to watch this vessel closely.

2 April 1942

April 2nd, 1942 (THURSDAY)

EUROPE: For Jews, today is the first day of Passover, the festival of freedom and liberation from slavery. But this year there is nothing to celebrate. The German plan to destroy the Jews is getting into its stride.
The first of a new type of death camp at Belzec in Poland, has disposed of over 20,000 Jews since it opened on 16 March. Deportees arrive, up to 2,000 at a time, crammed into sealed goods wagons, at a railway siding in the camp. The hardship of the journey itself has already killed the weakest. The guards greet the survivors with dogs and whips. They confiscate the meagre belongings the Jews have brought with them. The healthiest hundred or so are picked out to live in the camp as forced labourers. The rest, including all the women and children must take a "shower".
Herded into what seems to be a shower block, the Jews strip. They only realise their fate when the "shower-room" door is locked shut and the deadly exhaust fumes fill the air.
The custom-built gas chambers and high-powered incinerators have a kill capacity of 15,000 people a day. Similar installations at Majdanek, Treblinka, Auschwitz and Sobibor are due to be completed later this month with a combined capacity to murder over 100,000 people a day. Efficiency is a watchword of the new system. If everything is working smoothly, the camps can process a human being into a handful of ashes within two hours of arrival.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The first women to be conscientious objectors since the order directing women into national service came into force have been tried by tribunal. One Salvation Army worker was allowed her appeal after telling the court that she worked in canteens and looked after air-raid shelters. "It would be difficult to find a job in which she would be more useful," said the judge. Several appeals were disallowed. The public gallery applauded when a women of 21 said she would rather go to prison than do war work.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill receives a letter from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stating that his foreign affairs advisor, Harry Hopkins, and General George S. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, will be travelling to London. Roosevelt also says that “They will submit to you a plan which I hope will be received with enthusiasm by Russia.” The plan is for a Second Front in Europe. The plan has been prepared by Major General Dwight D Eisenhower.
The USN’s Task Force Thirty Nine (TF 39) comprised of the battleship USS Washington (BB 56), the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7), heavy cruisers USS Tuscaloosa (CA-45) and Wichita and eight destroyers, arrives at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

FRANCE: RAF Bomber Command flies three missions during the night of the 2nd/3rd: (1) 40 Wellingtons and ten Stirlings are dispatched to bomb an armaments factory in the Paris suburb of Poissy; 44 aircraft bomb the target and one Wellington is lost: (2) 26 of 49 aircraft dispatched bomb the port area at Le Havre without loss; and (3) 23 Hampdens and seven Wellingtons lay mines in Quiberon Bay with the loss on a Hampden and a Wellington.

MALTA: Luftwaffe General Albert Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 commences massive bombing of Malta, to neutralize the British island. The heavy bombing depletes Malta-based bombers and submarines, enabling more supply convoys to reach Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.

INDIA: 10th Air Force B-17s are dispatched to attack Rangoon, Burma. The mission is aborted when 1 B-17 crashes on takeoff, killing the entire crew, and the other returns to base with mechanical troubles.

CHINA: Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek gives Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, a new executive officer, General Lo Cho-Ying, who is mature and experienced. Stilwell and Lo hurry back down to the disintegrating Burma front.

BURMA: Japan takes the port of Akyab, and the British Burma Corps abandons Prome.

INDIAN OCEAN: Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville, Commander of the British Eastern Fleet, changes course for Addu Atoll with the main part of his fleet. Two heavy cruisers are detached, (1) HMS Dorsetshire is sent to Colombo, Ceylon, to resume an interrupted refit and (2) HMS Cornwall is sent to escort convoy SU-4 bound for Aden. The aircraft carrier HMS Hermes with Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire is detached to return to Trincomalee, Ceylon.

Andaman Islands: USAAF B-17s bomb the Japanese fleet. The 10th Air Force flies its first combat mission; the mission is lead by Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General 10th Air Force. Two B-17 Flying Fortresses and an LB-30 Liberator attack shipping during the night of 2/3 April and claim hits on a cruiser and a transport; 2 B-17's are damaged by AA and fighters, but all return to base.

U.S.A.: The aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) and escorting vessels, sail from San Francisco, California, with 16 USAAF B-25 Mitchells of the Doolittle attack group on her deck; Hornet’s aircraft are in the hanger deck. That afternoon, Captain Marc Mitscher informs his men of their mission: a bombing raid on Japan.
The U.S. Army begins the mass evacuation of all people of Japanese ancestry from the Pacific Coast.
Glenn Miller and his orchestra record "American Patrol" for Victor Records. The jitterbug tune became one of Miller’s most requested hits.

The USAAF changes the designation of Observation Aircraft ("O") being delivered to Liaison Aircraft ("L") resulting in the following changes: Stinson O-49 Vigilant redesignated L-1; Taylorcraft O-57 Grasshopper redesignated L-2; Aeronca O-58 Grasshopper redesignated L-3; Piper O-59 Cub redesignated L-4; Stinson O-62 Sentinel redesignated L-5; and Interstate O-63 redesignated L-6.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two unarmed U.S. merchant ships are shelled by German submarines off the U.S. East Coast: (1) U-123 attacks a tanker about 55 miles (89 kilometres) southeast of Morehead City, North Carolina; a motor torpedo (PT) boat arrives forcing the sub to leave the area and the ship is towed to Morehead City; (2) U-552 shells a freighter about 30 miles (48 kilometres) off the coast of Virginia and 60 miles (97 kilometres) northeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia; only three of the 25 crew aboard the freighter survive .

2 April 1943

April 2nd, 1943 (SATURDAY)

U.S.S.R.: Moscow claims that 850,000 Germans have died in the winter campaign.

ITALY: During the night of 1/2 April, RAF Liberators, under the operational control of the Ninth Air Force, bomb the ferry terminal at Messina and the airfield at Crotone. During the day, 2 Ninth Air Force B-24s on a special mission bomb the ferry terminals at Messina and Villa San Giovanni; 27 B-24s sent against Naples find the target totally obscured by clouds; 9 bomb the area through overcast and 3 bomb Augusta and Crotone.

SICILY: 24 Ninth Air Force B-24s sent to attack Palermo abort because of heavy clouds over the target.

TUNISIA: Ninth Air Force P-40's fly 9 Armored reconnaissance and 6 fighter-bomber and escort missions. Northwest African Air Force B-25s and A-20s bomb the airfield at La Fauconnerie, Tunisia.

BURMA:8 Tenth Air Force B-25s bomb the Thazi railroad junction.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the airfields at Gasmata and Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: A USN submarine sinks a Japanese transport.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs attack the Kitchen Creek area and the Labiabi-Duali area while single B-24s attack Salamaua, Finschhafen and the bridge at Rempi.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force P-38s and P-40s attack and set fire to a small cargo vessel in Kokolope Bay.

U.S.A.: In the Aleutians, the Eleventh Air Force dispatches 18 B-24 Liberators bomb Kiska targets including North Head while 6 B-25 Mitchells, 16 P-38 Lightnings, and 24 P-40s in 6 missions from Amchitka to Kiska, bomb the Main Camp and submarine base areas. Four B-24s bomb the runway at Attu. All aircraft, including 2 B-25s colliding in the air, return safely.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The British corvettes HMS BLACK SWAN and HMS STONECROP sink the German submarine U-124 off Oporto, in position 41.02N, 15.39W. This U-boat was crewed by the former crew of U-64 which was sunk in a Norwegian fjord near Narvik in 1940 and rescued by Gebirgsjäger (mountain troops). As such U-124 wore the "Edelweiss" insignia. (199)(Russ Folsom)

2 April 1944

April 2nd, 1944 (SUNDAY)

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26 Marauders attack railroad bridges at Arezzo, Fano, Ficulle, Magra, north of Orvieto, and south of Poggibonsi, scoring some direct hits, hits on approaches, and several near misses; fighter-bombers hit trucks and the railroad station at Fara in Sabina and east and north of Anzio, attack the Formia tunnel, fly armed reconnaissance over the Atina and Arce areas, bomb a factory and buildings north of Cassino, the town of Pignataro Interamna and numerous bridges, dumps, gun positions and targets of opportunity in or around the battle areas.

YUGOSLAVIA: The Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 29 B-17s and 63 B-24s to attack three targets: 35 B-24s bomb the Bihac marshalling yard, 28 B-24s bomb an air depot at Mostar, and the B-17s bomb a marshalling yard at Brod.

The P-47 escorts shoot down three Bf-109s.

The Soviets enter ROMANIA across the Prat River near Chernovtsy

AUSTRIA: Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack targets at Steyr: 125 B-17s and 30 B-24s bomb the ball bearing plant and 168 B-24s hit the Daimler-Puch aircraft components factory and the depot at the Steyr Airfield. P-38s and P-47 Thunderbolts fly 150+ sorties in support of the bombers; hundreds of enemy fighters oppose the missions and fierce air battles result in 19 bombers shot down and several missing; the AAF shoots down 33 Luftwaffe aircraft against the loss of one P-38.

FINLAND: A Finnish Air Force Brewster Buffalo of Lentolaivue 24 shoots down a Soviet La-5. (Jason Long)

INDIA: The first operational XX Bomber Command B-29 Superfortress, piloted by Colonel Leonard F Harman, lands at Chakulia.

British troops advance between Kohima and Imphal.

BURMA:12 Tenth Air Force P-40s bomb Kamaing while 6 P-51 Mustangs over the Katha area hit trucks near Bhamo and a storage area at Indaw. Twelve RAF Vengeances attack Japanese troops near Buthidaung.

CHINA: 2 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s on a sea sweep from Hong Kong to Formosa bomb a 215-foot (66 meter) ship (reported sunk) and damage a large motor launch.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO:40+ Thirteenth Air Force fighter-bombers over Rabaul on New Britain Island, hit the south-eastern part of town, the Toboi wharf area, and northern section of town along the Malaguna road; and 7 B-25s hit Raluana Point while 23 pound Lakunai. Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Rambutyo Island.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-24s from Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands hit Truk Atoll during the night of 1/2 April. During the day, 31 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s fly a strike against Dublon Island, Truk Atoll, causing considerable damage to the warehouse and dock areas; the bombers claim 30+ fighters downed; 4 B-24s are lost.

Marshall Islands: Seventh Air Force B-25s bomb Jaluit and Maloelap Atolls.

The USN's Task Unit 57.10.9, composed of destroyer escort USS Sanders (DE-40), tank landing ship USS LST-127 and infantry landing craft LCI-346 and LCI-449 occupies Mejit Island. The small Japanese force that opposes the occupation is wiped out by gunfire support provided by the LCIs.

NETHERLANDS East Indies: Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Dili and Penfoei on Timor Island.

NEW GUINEA: 120+ Fifth Air Force bombers and fighters continue to hit targets in areas around Wewak, Hansa Bay, Madang, Bogadjim, and other points along the northeastern coastline.

2 April 1945

April 2nd, 1945 (MONDAY)

GERMANY: British 2nd Army advances north of Ruhr. Münster is taken. The Canadian 1st Army advances N. and E. between Nijmegan and Emmerith.

Cpl Edward Thomas Chapman (b.1920), Monmouthshire Regt., forced back to Germans with a Bren gun, and later halted an attack. He was wounded trying to rescue his officer. (Victoria Cross)

Ruhr: General Kurt Student was forced to postpone his planned counter-attack against the US Ninth Army in the Ruhr today because he has no fuel for his tanks. The shortage of fuel caused by Allied air attacks on synthetic fuel plants and the Red Army's occupation of the Romanian and Hungarian oil fields has crippled Germany's forces. The occupation by the Russians of Nagykanisza, the heart of the Hungarian oilfields, today shuts off the last tap.

Weather prevents operations by the 9th Bombardment Division and XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional). In Germany, the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands fly patrols and armed reconnaissance over wide expanses of the country claiming 17 airplanes downed and the IX Tactical Air Command supports the US 9th Armored Division at the Diemel River bridgehead near Warburg.

DENMARK: The Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions. Mission 922: 447 B-17s, 261 B-24s and 572 P-47s and P-51s are dispatched against 6 airfields but are recalled because of bad weather in the target area; a B-17 and a P-47 are lost.

Mission 923: During the night of 2/3 April, 9 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany without loss and 10 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to Denmark without loss.

AUSTRIA: Almost 600 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s, with fighter escorts, bomb communications targets including the marshalling yards at Graz, Sankt Polten, and Krems, and a railroad bridge on the Sulm River; 38 P-38s dive-bomb a railroad bridge at Wildon; 71 P-38s and 55 P-51s strafe Vienna-Munich, Germany and Wiener-Neustadt-Maribor, Yugoslavia rail traffic; others carry out photo and weather reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort flights.

ITALY: Cpl Thomas Peck Hunter (b.1923), Royal Marines, charged 200 yards to draw fire away from his men. He forced three gun crews to surrender or flee, pressing on until he was killed. (Victoria Cross)

Major General Benjamin W Chidlaw takes command of the Twelfth Air Force and will shortly take over command of the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) also.

Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26 Invaders continue intruder missions during the night of 1/2 April concentrating on Po River crossings and other Po Valley communications targets; B-25s bomb railroad bridges at Fornovo di Taro, Drauburg, San Michele all' Adige, Matrei am Brenner, Steinach, and Colle Isarco, and a railroad fill at Vo Sinistro; fighters and fighter-bombers again hit communications in the Po Valley but divert sizeable effort to attacks on methane plants in the central Po area; the P-47s are attacked by about 40 fighters during the day, 13 are claimed destroyed.

BORNEO: Far East Air Force B-24s hit the Sandakan shipyards and Tawau Airfield.

BURMA: Bad weather cancels all Tenth Air Force offensive missions; air supply missions continue with 469 sorties being flown to forward areas.

CHINA: 25 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s attack trucks, tanks, rivercraft, and targets of opportunity at Sichuan, Neihsiang, Sinyang, Mingkiang, Siangtan, Kweiping, Nanning, and Hengshan; 4 B-24s bomb the Kowloon Docks in Hong Kong and hit shipping at Bakli and Samah Bays on Hainan Island; 32 P-51s pound airfields in the Shanghai area; 140+ other fighter-bombers attack numerous targets scattered throughout southern and eastern China, including troops, trucks, horses, river shipping, bridges, gun positions, airfields, rail traffic, and town areas.

The Fifth Air Force dispatches 37 Fifth B-24s, escorted by fighters, to bomb the harbour at Hong Kong.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: 28 Tenth Air Force B-25s knock out a bridge southeast of That Khe, bomb the town area of Vinh, damage the bridge approaches at Kep, hit shipping and other targets of opportunity along the coast of the Gulf of Tonkin, and bomb the town area of Luc Nam.

Off the coast, the USN submarine USS Hardhead (SS-365) lays mines off Cape Camau.

PACIFIC OCEAN: RN and USN submarines sink four Japanese ships.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US 163rd Regiment lands at Tawitawi in the Sulu Archipelago.

This was the 163d Regimental Combat Team (Reinforced) which landed on Sanga Sanga Island (5.04N,119.46E) in the Sulu Archipelago, Philippine Islands. Filipino guerrillas had cleared the island in March so the 163d did not encounter any opposition. Three USN destroyers supported the landing.

US Army troops capture La Carolta and Talisay Airfields on Negros Island.

On Luzon, Far East Air Force B-25s and fighter-bombers attack the Bamban bridges, the Balete Pass-Baguio area and Penablanca. Japanese troops at Cebu City on Cebu Island and on Negros Island are bombed by B-25s and fighter bombers. B-24s bomb the Sarangani Bay area on Mindanao Island and also bomb Bongao Island.

Off Okinawa, 4 US transports are damaged by Kamikaze forces.

The four ships were the attack transports USS Henrico (APA-45) and USS Goodhue (APA-107), and the attack cargo ships USS Achernar (AKA-53 and USS Tyrrell (AKA-80). Two other ships damaged by kamikazes are the high-speed transport USS Dickerson (APD-21) and infantry landing craft (gunboat) USS LCI(G)-568. The attack transport USS Chilton (APA-38) is damaged by a near-miss of a kamikaze and attack cargo ship USS Lacerta (AKA-29) is damaged by friendly fire.

Other ships damaged off Okinawa today include:

The destroyer USS Franks (DD-554) which collides with the battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62).

The destroyer USS Borie (DD-704) which collides with the aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9).

The destroyer escort USS Foreman (DE-633) which is struck by a bomb.

JAPAN: 3 missions are flown by the XXI Bomber Command:

- Mission 51: 115 B-29s bomb the Nakajima aircraft factory at Tokyo; they claim 1-1-0 Japanese aircraft; 6 B-29s are lost.

- Mission 52: During the night of 1/2 April, 6 B-29s mine the harbour at Kure on Honshu Island between 0000 and 0400 hours local without loss.

- Mission 53: During the night of 2/3 April, 9 B-29s mine the harbour at Hiroshima on Honshu without loss.

In the North Pacific, 12 Guam-based Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb Marcus Island.

Off Okinawa, aircraft of Task Group 58.4 carriers sink three Japanese ships near Amami-Oshima.

Ryuji Nagataka. "I Was A Kamikaze"

Training

"In theory, our training would be completed in thirty days. However, delays due to shortages of fuel, and to American raids, meant it could last as long as two months. We were therefore given priority [for fuel], to the detriment of other pilots....

"There is a tendency to think that suicide attacks were simply a matter of crashing blindly and heedlessly into the target. As I have already said, it was not as easy as that.

"Taking off, for example, required the utmost caution. With a bomb weighing over 500 pounds, the Ki-43 [Nakajima Hayabusa] would stall if pulled up off the ground in the usual way, so our first day was devoted to take-off drill.

"A log weighing about 200 pounds was fastened under the planes in lieu of a bomb. Needing a longer runway than the Ki-45 [Kawasaki Toryu], we had to bring the nose up right at the end of the runway, at the level of the trees that bordered the field...."

U.S.A.: In the Aleutians, an Eleventh Air Force B-24 on weather reconnaissance returns early due to mechanical trouble; another B-24 investigates radar jamming on Kresta Point on Attu Island.

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