Yesterday           Tomorrow

April 10th, 1939 (MONDAY)

U.S.A.: The Glenn Miller orchestra with Ray Eberle records "Wishing (Will Make It So)" for the film "Love Affair". More...

Top of Page

Yesterday                 Tomorrow

Home

Yesterday     Tomorrow

April 10th, 1940 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: U-50 on patrol off the Shetlands in support of the Norwegian invasion, sunk by destroyer HMS Hero.

T class submarine HMS Tarpon is sunk in the Norwegian Sea at 57 43N 06 33E by depth charges dropped by decoy Schiff 40. As such it is the RN submarine to be sunk by decoy. (Alex Gordon)(108)

The events in Norway have suddenly forced the Admiralty to prioritise its operations. Clearly, if the Allies are to have any chance in the upcoming campaign, they will have to challenge the German mastery of the air. With no airfields available in Norway itself, the only plausible solution lies with the Royal Navy aircraft carriers and their Fleet Air Arm squadrons. Unfortunately, while HMS Furious is in home waters, the Royal Navy's other two fleet carriers, HMS Ark Royal (Flag of Vice-Admiral Aircraft Carriers, Lionel Victor Wells, CB, DSO, RN) and HMS Glorious are in far off Alexandria. Thus, the Admiralty immediately orders both to return to the UK forthwith. (Mark Horan)

RNAS Hatston:

In early evening, German aircraft were identified in the area of Scapa Flow which prompted the dispatch of all three sections of 804 Squadron, Sub-Lieutenant M. F. Fell, RN leading Yellow, Lieutenant R. H. P. Carver, RN leading Red, and Lieutenant R. M. Smeeton, RN leading Blue. In the dusk air battle, Yellow section claimed the probable destruction of a Do-17, Red section claimed a He-111">He-111 damaged, and Blue section claimed to have probably downed another. In actuality, while two of the KGr 100 He-111">He-111s were badly damaged, but both managed to return to base. (Mark Horan)

NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN.

First Battle of Narvik: The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (Capt. Warburton-Lee with HMS's Hardy, Havock, Hostile, Hotspur and Hunter) enters Ofotfjord to attack the German ships assigned to the occupation of Narvik. These include 10 large destroyers. Several transports are sunk together with 'Anton Schmitt' and 'Wilhelm Heidkamp'. Others are damaged, but as 2nd Flotilla retires, H class destroyer HMS Hardy is sunk at 68 23N, 17 06E by gunfire and H class destroyer HMS Hunter is sunk by gunfire and collision at 68 20N, 17 04E, and HMS Hotspur is badly damaged. Capt. Bernard Armitage Warburton-Lee (b. 1895) RN is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Remaining German ships are GEORGE THIELE, HANS LUDERMANN, HERMANN KUNNE, DIETHER VON RODER, WOLFGANG ZENKER, ERIC GIESE, ERICH KOELLNER and BERND VON ARNIM. Ammunition ship RAUENFELS sunk. (Peter Beeston)

The Norwegian Government and Royal Family leave Oslo. Vidkin Quisling declares himself as head of a German sponsored puppet government.

The stocks of arms at various mobilization centres around Norway are now in German hands, due to the rapid German success. This decreases any chance of Norwegian success at resistance.

Home Fleet is now reinforced by battleship HMS Warspite and carrier HMS Furious.

T class submarine HMS Thistle  is torpedoed and sunk by U-4 off Skudesnes, in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. Thistle had made an unsuccessful attack on U-4, and remained in the area hoping for another sighting, however it was U4 that made the next sighting and the subsequent attack: despite surfacing to look for survivors, Kapt-leut Hans-Peter Hinsch found nothing but oil on the surface. U4 remained in continuous commission throughout WW2.

6,000 ton Cruiser Königsberg, damaged by shore batteries in the landings at Bergen is sunk at her moorings by FAA Skuas of 800 and 803 Squadrons flying from the Orkneys. This is the first major warship to be sunk by air attack. All but one Skua return to base after the 330 mile night crossing of the North Sea.

The Attack on Bergen:

(Mark Horan adds): At the time of the German invasion of Norway, all four of the Fleet Air Arm's Skua fighter-dive bomber squadrons were based in the UK. The two most experienced, 800 and 803 Squadron, were based at Royal Navy Air Station Hatston, in the Orkneys. As events unfolded on the 9th, one RAF sighting report placed one German cruiser in Bergen Harbour tied up at the main docks.

Determining that this prime target was just within the range of his aircraft, Lt. William Paulet Lucy, RN, Commanding Officer of 803 Squadron, approached the station commander, Commander C. L. Howe, and proposed that he take the all the available Skuas over to Bergen and make a dawn attack on the target. The operation was approved. It was to be the first attack on an major warship by aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm.

The aircraft were each armed with a single 500 pound Semi-Armour Piercing (SAP) bomb and a half load of .303 calibre ammunition. The pilots received their final briefing at 0415, the first aircraft took off at 0500, and the 16 plane formation departed at 0515 in two waves. 

The first wave consisted of (nine Skuas of 803 Squadron under Lt. Lucy, while the second wave consisted of five Skuas of 800 Squadron and two of 803 Squadron, led by the Officer Commanding 800 Squadron, Captain Richard Thomas Partridge, RM. Acting Lt. Edward Winchester Tollemache Taylour, RN of 800 Squadron lost touch on the way across the North Sea and attacked separately.

Landfall was made at 0655, and the formation, now at 12,000 feet, turned to approach Bergen from the Southeast (up sun). The target was sighted at 0715, the aircraft commenced there approach dives while forming into line-astern formation. At 0720, Lt. Lucy pushed over from 9,000 feet and began the attack, the rest following over the course of 10 minutes. 

Anti-aircraft opposition was moderate, mostly consisting of "pom-pom" type (37 mm). The results of this, the first dive bombing attack by the Fleet Air Arm were, to say the least, spectacular. Three hits and a very near miss were obtained. Even before the attackers departed, KMS Konigsberg had begun to sink. Gutted by the hits, with several serious fires blazing, and with a large part of her side plating stove in by the near miss, damage control efforts were ineffective, and she rolled over and capsized. The action reports indicate that the first wave scored two hits ( Lt. Alexander Beaufort Fraser-Harris, RN the third to dive, Lt. Cecil Howard Filmer, RN, eighth to dive) and the second wave one (Lt. Kenneth Vyvyan Vincent Spurway, RN), all of 803 Squadron. 

Notable in the reports are the actions of two of the other pilots. Lt.(A) William Coutenay Antwiss Church, RN, of 803 Squadron, found himself out of position in the dive and pulled off climbed back to altitude over the city, and made another solitary attack after every one else departed. Lt. Taylor, of 800 Squadron, having become separated in route, arrived alone just after the main attacked ended, and also attacked alone.

The attackers suffered no losses during the attack. In fact, only two Skuas were even hit, both receiving but a single "pom-pom" type round through the main plane. However, as events transpired, one Skua was lost on the way home. About 50 miles Southwest of Bergen, the formation encountered a large cloud formation and elected to climb though it. While doing so, Skua L2923:A8P went into a spin and crashed into the North Sea. 803 Squadron's Red section leader, Lt. Bryan John Smeeton, RN and his observer, Mid.(A) Fred Watkinson, RN were both killed. This was the  first of 30 Skuas that would be lost through various causes during the subsequent campaign.

Luftwaffe: 41 bombers of KG 26 in company with Ju88s of KG30 attack Royal Naval units, damaging cruisers HMS Devonshire, Glasgow and Southampton and sinking the destroyer HMS Gurkha.

The Nazi newspaper 'Volkischer Beobachter' carried this descriptive account of German airborne landings in Norway.

After a smooth trip - reports Obergefreiter [Airman 2nd class] Dambeck - we reached Trondheim airbase. Everyone was keyed up and on the alert.

We started north to Narvik. An uncanny land-scape sailed past beneath us. Nothing but mountains, snow and ice. It was bitter cold. After several hours of flight we finally reached our drop point.

"Get ready!" Out I go! I made a smooth landing, set down on a moss-covered expanse of free snow. Then it was on to the so-called Base Two with a Norwegian bearer column. Once up on the mountain, we were surprised and no exactly pleased to learn that we had still farther to go, that we were supposed to occupy Hill 698 with our trench mortar train. The Swedish border ran along 150 yards from our new position. So, we had to take charge of the right flank of the German front at Narvik.

 

DENMARK: 24 hours after it began the German occupation of Denmark is complete. Danish ports and airfields are now available to the Germans as forward bases for their attack on Norway.

ICELAND: The Alþingi (Icelandic parliament) takes control of its foreign affairs, transferring 'royal prerogatives' to the Alþingi. Sveinn Björnsson, who later became Iceland's first president was the provisional governor. Britain offered Iceland assistance as a "as a belligerent and an ally", Iceland responded with a reiteration of its position of neutrality. Currently there are some 60 German sailors interned in Iceland. (Dave Hornford)

U.S.A.: The US Pacific Fleet arrives in Pearl Harbor from San Diego. (Marc Small)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, acting under the Neutrality Act of 1939, issues a proclamation extending the combat zone to include the north-western part of the USSR on a line to the southern point of Svalbard, a Norwegian possession, to the north-western tip of the combat zone issued in the President's proclamation of 4 November 1939.

The US also freezes Norwegian and Danish dollar assets and gold to prevent German control. FDR's Executive Order No. 8839 rested upon his powers under Section 5(b) of the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act, the only part of that acts which remains in force. (Edward S. Miller)

Top of Page

Yesterday     Tomorrow

Home

Yesterday    Tomorrow

April 10th, 1941 (THURSDAY)

GERMANY: Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief:

Next the Minister calls our attention to reports about Belgrade. Expression like "The city is one single heap of rubble, its streets covered with corpses of women and children" are naturally to be omitted before publication.

YUGOSLAVIA: Zagreb falls to the German 2nd Army.
Also, Croatia declares independence and proclaims the "Independent State of Croatia" (Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska - NDH). One week later Croatia declares war on Britain and thereby joins the Axis.

GREECE: The Germans attack the Florina gap, held by a force known as the Amynteion Detachment and including the 27th New Zealand Machine Gun Battalion (less two companies), the 64th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, and the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment along with units of the 6th Australian Division.

The attack is halted by artillery fire and the RAF bombing the enemy columns on the roads.

At Vevi the German and British guns exchange fire in the valley and Mackay is ordered to hold until the night of 12 April before withdrawing. Mackay's infantry is commanded by Brigadier Vasey who has 3 battalions spread across ten miles of front much of which is covered with snow; the 2/8th Australian Battalion on the east, the 1st Rangers in the centre and the 2/4th Australian Battalion on the hills to the west. 

The 16th Australian Brigade, having established itself on the Veria Pass, is ordered to march back through the snow covered mountains to fill a gap on the New Zealand front west of Servia. (Anthony Staunton)

MAP

LIBYA: Rommel lays siege to the Australian 9th Division, which has retreated to Tobruk.

MALTA: A striking force of four destroyers under Captain Mack in HMS Jervis are sent to Malta to operate against Rommel's convoys.

U.S.A.: Ickes repeats his request to Roosevelt to be placed in charge of Philippine defense. (Marc Small)
The actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr has been commissioned as a junior-grade lieutenant in the US Navy.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizes the transfer of ten Lake-Class US Coast Guard cutters to the Royal Navy. Coast Guardsmen will train the RN crews in the waters off Long Island, New York.

Washington:

All ships of alien flags are to be commandeered for purveying war materials to Great Britain and the Suez Canal.

The USN's heavy cruisers USS Chicago (CA-29) and USS Portland (CA-33) and destroyers USS Clark (DD-361), USS Conyngham (DD-371), USS Reid (DD-369), USS Cassin (DD-372) and USS Downes (DD-375) arrive at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, thus winding up the Australia-New Zealand good-will cruise.

President Roosevelt orders 10 Coast Guard cutters transferred to the Royal Navy.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Germany and the US have their first military encounter when the US destroyer USS Niblack engages a U-boat.
In March 1941, Hitler declared that Iceland and surrounding waters were to be considered as war zones. Admiral Stark received orders from Roosevelt to 'reconnoitre' the approaches to this strategic island. USS Niblack (DD-424) was dispatched for this mission.
Approaching Iceland on April 10, Niblack sighted three lifeboats of survivors from a torpedoed Dutch merchantman. As the crew of the DD completed this rescue, sonar contact was made on an approaching submarine.
LtCdr E. Durgin called for General Quarters and a depth charge salvo was ordered by Commander D.L.Ryan (ComDesDiv 13). The attack sent the submarine scurrying away and USS Niblack continued on to Iceland. (55)

Top of Page

Yesterday     Tomorrow

Home

Yesterday                 Tomorrow

April 10th, 1942 (FRIDAY)

GERMANY: An RAF Halifax drops the first 2 ton or 8,000-pound bombs over Essen.

NORWAY: Bishop Berggrav of Oslo is sent to Bredvedt concentration camp.

INDIAN OCEAN: The British Far East Fleet withdraws from Ceylon, in the face of the Japanese Forces. As the British move west, the Japanese force moves east.

BURMA: Pilots of the American Volunteer Group's 2d and 3d Fighter Squadrons shoot down 4 Japanese aircraft over Loiwing at 1545 hours local.

JAPAN: The submarine USS Thresher (SS-200) torpedoes and sinks a Japanese (ex-Portuguese) merchant cargo ship 6 miles (9,6 km) north of Oshima, near the entrance to Tokyo Bay, Honshu.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The submarine USS Snapper (SS-185) evacuates military personnel from Corregidor.

The minesweeper USS Finch (AM-9) is sunk by aerial bombs off Luzon.

The Japanese Army lands 12,000 soldiers on Cebu.

The crews of the river gunboats USS Oahu (PR-6) and USS Mindanao (PR-8) are transferred ashore to man the guns at Fort Hughes in Manila Bay.

U.S.A.: A headline in a Hollywood trade paper states that "Bogart Replaces Reagan as Lead in "Casablanca"."

It's an urban legend that Reagan was in the running for the role of Rick in "Casablanca." As Aljean Harmetz points out in her book on the making of the movie, "Round Up the Usual Suspects," it was common practice among actors' agents to plant items stating that their clients were being considered for this or that role, whether true or not. In this case, Reagan was never in the running. (Matt Clark)

The Pacific Fleet is reorganized into type commands: Battleships (Rear Admiral Walter S. Anderson); Aircraft Carriers (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.); Cruisers (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher); Destroyers (Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald); Service Force (Vice Admiral William L. Calhoun); Amphibious Force (Vice Admiral Wilson Brown, Jr.); Submarine Force (Rear Admiral Thomas Withers); and Patrol Wings (Rear Admiral John S. McCain). The old titles Battle Force and Scouting Force are abolished.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: US tanker SS Gulfamerica is sunk by the German submarine U-123. The tanker had been silhouetted by the lights of Jacksonville, Florida making her an easy target. Seventeen of the 41-man crew die along with two of the seven-man Armed Guard detachment.

Top of Page

Yesterday        Tomorrow

Home

Yesterday                 Tomorrow

April 10th, 1943 (SATURDAY)

GERMANY: Goebbels tours Essen and is shocked by the bomb damage.

AUSTRIA: Salzburg: The appearance of the two great European dictators meeting at the railway station three days ago has surprised and shocked even their most ardent supporters. Benito Mussolini came for a pep talk from his senior partner; and although he is only 59, Il Duce looked almost senile in appearance, hunched and grey faced.

Hitler, too, is showing signs of strain following the successive defeats of his armies on the eastern front and North Africa. He has developed a nervous tic. He, too, looks much older than 53 years, although his eyes have lost none of their mesmeric fury.

It was the Führer who took command at the meeting here. Il Duce knows that he has lost whatever backing he once had from his own people. Like Hitler's other ally, Antonescu in Romania, Mussolini is urging peace talks, but Hitler will have none of it.

With growing fervour, he has told the Duce of secret weapons, the Vergeltungswaffen - weapons of reprisal - which he is certain will bring the Allies to their knees, and the Schnorkel - device which will enable U-boats to stay at sea for far longer periods. "By putting every ounce of energy into the effort, I succeeded in pushing Mussolini back on the rails," Hitler told Goebbels later. "When he got out of the train I thought he looked a broken old man; when he left, he was in high fettle, ready for any deed."

FINLAND: On 20 March Robert McClintock, the chief American diplomat in Finland, had offered his good services to mediate peace between Finland and Soviet Union. Four days later the Finnish Foreign Minister Henrik Ramsay answered and asked for more information to substantiate whether there is a real basis for a negotiated peace.

The American answer is received today. McClintock states that the offer concerns only arranging a direct contact between Finland and Soviet Union, not any offer to act as an intermediary. After receiving the American statement, President Risto Ryti empowers Ramsay to give the Finnish answer. Finland does not think it possible to start negotiations in the present circumstances. One reason is that the Soviets are unwilling to state their terms for starting the negotiations (Molotov has in fact informed the Americans what their minimum demands are, but has also forbidden to inform the Finns of these). The Germans are also applying heavy pressure on Finland; ambassador Wipert von Blücher has already left Finland for an undetermined period of time. The Germans also demand Finland to conclude a formal alliance with Germany, but this is refused.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine K-3 of the Northern Fleet is sunk off Batsfjord, Norway. (Mike Yared)(146 and 147)

ITALY: US 12th Army Air Force B-17s raid Italian fleet units at La Maddalena in Sardinia sinking the Italian cruiser TRIESTE and two motor torpedo boats and badly damaging the cruiser GORIZIA.

Ninth Air Force B-24s bomb the harbour at Naples.

SICILY: RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, hit Palermo.

TUNISIA: The British 8th Army enters Sfax and continues north to La Hencha. The British IX Corps breaks out of Fondouk Pass to late to cut off the retreat of the Axis forces.

During the night of 9/10 April Northwest African Air Force Wellingtons bomb troops and transport on roads in the area surrounding Enfidaville. The following day, B-26 Marauders follow up the Wellingtons with raids on roads and military concentrations near Enfidaville. Fighter-bombers also hit ground targets in the Enfidaville areas. Fighters escort bombers, carry out reconnaissance, and fly sweeps over the battle area from Medjez el Rah to Sousse.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: A lone Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress bombs the airfield at Arawe on New Britain Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force B-24s continue to fly harassing strikes as 3 of the heavy bombers hit Kahili Airfield on Bougainville.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb the town and dock area of Wewak. Some of the B-17s also bomb Cape Boram and Kairiru Island while some of the B-24s hit Alexishafen and shipping off Wewak. B-25's pound the harbours at Bobia and Uligan. A lone B-17 strafes barges southeast of Bogia and trucks at Cape Croisilles.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force weather reconnaissance B-24 Liberator observes 4 unidentified aircraft near Segula Island. Three B-25 Mitchells, 17 P-40s, and 6 P-38 Lightnings fly 5 attack missions to Kiska, and negative searches for the unidentified airplanes at Segula. The last mission finds Kiska closed in and returns with bombs.

Top of Page

Yesterday        Tomorrow

Home

Yesterday                 Tomorrow

April 10th, 1944 (MONDAY)

BELGIUM AND FRANCE: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 295: 729 bombers and 496 fighters are dispatched to hit aviation industry targets and airfields in Belgium and France; 3 bombers and 2 fighters are lost.

- 123 B-17s bomb the aviation industry and airfield at Evere, 52 hit Melsbroek Airfield at Brussels, 39 hit aviation industry targets at Brussels, and 20 hit Bergen op Zoom; 1 B-17 is lost.

- In Belgium, 62 B-17s hit Maldagem Airfield, 60 hit Schaffen Airfield at Diest and 42 hit Juzaine Airfield at Florennes; in France, 21 B-17s hit Courcelles and 21 hit Beaumont sur Oise Airfield; they claim 0-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost.

- In Belgium, 151 B-24s hit the airfield and aviation industry at Bourges; in France, 28 hit Bricy Airfield Orleans, 21 hit Romarantin Airfield and 15 hit V-weapon sites at Marquise/Mimoyecques; they claim 6-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 is lost.

Escort is provided by 51 P-38s, 295 P-47s and 150 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s: P-38s have no claims or losses; P-47s claim 12-0-7 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-47 is lost; P-51s claim 40-0-16 aircraft, 1 P-51 is lost.

258 Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and 41 A-20s, including 12 aircraft dropping Window, attack coastal batteries at Le Harve/Le Grand Hameau, France, and military installation nearby. In Belgium during the afternoon 267 B-26s and A-20s bomb the marshalling yard, airfield, coastal defences, and NOBALL targets at Charleroi/Montignies, Namur, Coxyde, Nieuport and other points on the northern coast of Western Europe. 47 P-47s dive-bomb the airfield at Evreux, France.

NORWAY: The Royal Navy's X-craft, the midget four-man submarines which disabled the TIRPITZ battleship last September, scored another devastating success today. And this time there was no loss of life. X-24, commanded by Lieutenant M H Shean, managed to get in and out of the heavily-protected Bergen harbour without being detected.

Shean guided his midget submarine underneath the 7,500-ton merchant ship BARENFELS, placed his charges and escaped, undetected from the harbour before they went off. The explosion sank the BARENFELS but did not harm a dock which was also targeted. The puzzled Germans have assumed that the attack was sabotage.

U.S.S.R.: Russian forces take Odessa. The 2nd Ukrainian Front crosses the River Siret in Romania.

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force A-20s hit an ammunition dump at Gallicano near Lazio; B-25s bomb the Orvieto marshalling yard and 2 bridges; B-26s hit Poggibonsi and Cecina railroad bridges and tracks, and viaducts at Bucine and west of Arezzo; fighter-bombers operating over wide areas of central Italy and in the battle zones hit railroad bridges, railroad cars, motor transport, barracks, and troop concentrations with good effect.

INDIA: British troops at Imphal and Kohima will be supplied by air and begin offensive operations.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0.42 3:00 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Banmauk, Burma. Bombed Japanese supply dumps. (Chuck Baisden)

About 100 Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers and a few B-25s pound numerous targets, including an encampment southwest of Mogaung, positions near Kazu, a railroad and truck park at Myitkyina, a supply area south of Myitkyina, and a bivouac area and supplies at Kamaing; some of the fighter-bombers carry out support of ground forces northeast of Kamaing; 40+ fighter-bombers and B-25s over the Katha area hit a bridge at Thityabin, troops and supplies at Shwegu, gun positions and troops south of Mawlu, and targets of opportunity including a fuel dump; and 9 B-24s bomb the railroad station and jetty area at Moulmein while 4 others mine the mouth of the Tavoy River. 

Ten Fourteenth Air Force P-40s pound roads north and south of Wanling.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s damage 2 bridges at Phu Dien Chau and destroy several buildings and some railroad track.

JAPAN: 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s fly armed reconnaissance over Matsuwa and Onnekotan Islands in the Kurile Islands.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Thirteenth Air Force aircraft attack New Britain Island. 22 B-25s bomb the Ratawul supply area and 40+ fighter-bombers hit the runway at Tobera, both strikes causing considerable damage; night harassment of the Rabaul area continues.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-24s, staging through Eniwetok Atoll, bomb Truk Atoll (1 hits Ponape Island) while B-25s, based on Abemama Island, strike Ponape.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, flying a shuttle mission between Tarawa and Majuro Atolls, pound Maloelap and Jaluit Atolls.

NEW GUINEA: About 60 Fifth Air Force B-24s, teaming with US destroyers offshore, bombard the Hansa Bay area, concentrating on AA positions guarding airfields.

U.S.A.: The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) informally approve Operation MATTERHORN, the plan for the bombing of Japan by B-29 Superfortresses based in the Calcutta, India, area and staging through advanced fields in the Chengtu, China, area, which had been approved in principle by President Franklin D Roosevelt on 10 November 43. The operational vehicle is to be the 58th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) (4 bombardment groups) of the XX Bomber Command, soon to be assigned to the newly activated Twentieth Air Force, operating under General Henry H "Hap" Arnold as executive agent for the JCS.

US Marine Corps, V Amphibious Corps is split to form HQ, V Amphibious Corps and Marine Admin Command, V Amphibious Corps. (Gordon Rottman)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Jim Verdolini notes in his diary: (Jim is 17-years-old and on his first ship. Some of the information was inserted post-war after conversations with his old Skipper, ComOfficer, Engineering Officer  and shipmates).

Dawn April 10, 1944.

Our planes caught another sub, on the surface. The lookout crew on the deck of the sub, never had a chance. Our planes came in from the dark side.

I can just imagine the lookouts, watching the coming sunrise, and getting ready to slip beneath the waters, to safety. Our planes strafed and dropped depth charges. It went down immediately with all hands below deck, gone, to the same fate, they had given to merchant sailors, they had sunk. 

Our planes circled and detected much debris, oil, and three bobbing heads.

They dropped rubber boats to the three survivors. But when we arrived, very shortly thereafter, only two men were in the water, and one young man was holding his buddie, with one hand, and holding on to the raft with the other. The other man was dead, and the other was badly wounded. 

His sub was U-68. We're doing pretty good. Hope no U boat gets us. He survived because he was on lookout, and was able to go over the side. 

Seems we are in the middle of a real U boat passageway to the convoy lanes. I felt funny about the sailors who went down with their sub. At what level does the boat crush? Are the crew drowned, or trapped ? As they taught us in Boot Camp, "Kill, or be killed." Still feel funny though. 

On the other hand, how many Allied lives have we saved. We found out that between the two U boats we sank on this cruise, they had sunk 55 Allied ships, and a total tonnage of 250,000 tons. How many of our men died? 

( A footnote here: We had fished a German torpedo out of the water. I did not know about it. But a year later while in the Pacific, I received a piece of the torpedo with the inscription. " U 68 sunk 10th April 1944". I guess that Boot Camp slogan, "Kill or be killed" made sense. )

The German submarine U-68 is sunk off Madeira by depth charges and rockets from FM-2 Wildcats and TBM Avengers of Composite Squadron 58 (VC-58) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60).

Top of Page

Yesterday        Tomorrow

Home

Yesterday                 Tomorrow

April 10th, 1945 (MONDAY)

GERMANY: Private John M. Galione, US 104th 'Timberwolf' Infantry Division, discovers the entrance to Mittelbau Dora, a huge Nazi concentration camp and manufacturing plant, after a 5 day scouting mission. More... (Mary Galione-Nahas)

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 938: 1,315 bombers and 905 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields known or suspected to be used by jet aircraft; about 60 jets and a few conventional fighters attack the formations; 19 bombers and 8 fighters are lost; the AAF claims 328-4-249 Luftwaffe aircraft. They are attacked by surface to air missiles. More...

- 278 B-17s bomb the Army HQ munitions depot and another 139 bomb the airfield at Oranienburg; 11 hit Rechlin Airfield, the secondary; they claim 7-1-8 aircraft; 9 B-17s are lost. Escorting are 273 P-51s; they claim 11.5-0-8 aircraft in the air and 56-0-32 on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost.

- 132 B-17s hit Neuruppin Airfield; 9 others hit the marshalling yard at Stendal, the secondary; 1 B-17 is lost . The escort of 112 P-51s claims 128-0-94 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost.

- 138 B-17s bomb the Briest Airfield at Brandenburg, 75 hit Zerbst Airfield and 147 attack Burg-Bei-Magdeburg Airfield; they claim 10-3-4 aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost. 172 P-51s escort; they claim 6-0-2 aircraft in the air and 84-0-43 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost.

- 159 B-24s hit Rechlin Airfield, 103 bomb Larz Airfield at Rechlin (103) and 32 hit Parchim Airfield; 9 others hit the marshalling yard at Wittenberge, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost. The escort is 207 P-51s; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft in the air and 20-0-21 on the ground.

423 Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26 Invaders, and B-26s strike oil storage and ordnance depots, rail bridge and viaduct (all primary targets) and several other targets including a marshalling yard and an industrial area; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, rail cutting operations, and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 13th Armored Division crossing the Sieg River near Siegburg, the 3d Armored Division approaching Nordhausen, the 9th Armored Division in the Hain area, the XII Corps near Coburg, the XX Corps west of Weimar and the Saale River, the 2d and 5th Armored Divisions crossing the Oker River in the Ahnsen and Schladen areas, and the XVI Corps along the Ruhr River in the Essen area.

AUSTRIA: 152 Fifteenth Air Force P-38s dive-bomb bridges, a tunnel and marshalling yards at Seefeld and Worgl.

ITALY: First came 234 US medium bombers, which dropped 24,000 20-pound incendiary bombs. Next, 740 fighter-bombers of the US Tactical Air Force swooped down on enemy gun and mortar sites. And then 825 heavies dropped 1,692 tons around Lugo.

No sooner had the dazed German defenders pulled themselves together than the artillery - 1,500 guns - opened up for 42 minutes. The Germans braced themselves for the infantry assault. But it did not come. Four more "false-alarm" barrages were to follow before the infantry, advancing behind flame-throwing tanks, crossed the river Senio. Four months of intensive training are paying a rich dividend. By dawn this morning the Allies were crossing the river in strength over three Bailey bridges erected during the night by the Royal Engineers. As bombers and artillery began a new barrage, Punjabis of the 8th Indian Division were preparing to cross the Santerno river. On the right flank, Fantails - tracked amphibious vehicles - of the 9th Armoured Brigade and 56th Infantry Division have been struggling through the shallow waters of Lake Comacchio to land behind the German lines and threaten Argenta and the Reno river.

The Allies are enjoying almost total domination of the air. Their navigators have a new card index of reconnaissance photographs to help identify individual targets, and observers on the ground can call up fighter-bombers from a "cab-rank" above.

During the night of 9/10 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s hit guns and other close support targets along the British Eighth Army front (which stretches from west of Imola to Comacchio Lagoon and the coast) and also hit several Po River crossings and attack the Brenner line bridges at Lavis, Rovereto, and San Michele all'Adige; during the day B-25s and XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers continue pounding support targets along the battlefront; fighter-bombers also attack bridges on the Brenner line and communications and other targets in the Po Valley. 

648 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s, in support of British Eighth Army forces, blast artillery positions, machine gun nests, and infantry defences along the Santerno River; this effort represents the largest number of Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers attacking targets in a single day as of this date; 88 P-51s fly target cover.

BURMA: About 30 Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers attack troop concentrations at Tonglau, at points along the Zawgyi River, and at other locations in the central Burma battle area; 455 transport sorties are flown to forward areas.

CHINA: A Japanese merchant cargo vessel is sunk by mine laid by USAAF B-29 Superfortresses on 4 and 28 March on the Yangtze River. 

23 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s pound storage areas at Yungcheng; 50+ B-25s and 180+ fighter-bombers (operating in small flights) attack numerous targets throughout southern and eastern China; targets hit are mainly troops, horses, town areas, storage areas, and river, road, and rail traffic.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: US troops capture Jolo, in the Sulu archipelago, and reach Lamon Bay on Luzon.

Far East Air Forces A-20s and fighter-bombers again support ground forces in south-western Luzon and in the Balete Pass, Baguio, and Solvec Cove areas, and pound the Legaspi area. B-24s and fighter-bombers support ground forces on central Cebu Island.

EAST INDIES: Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Liang Airfield on Ambon island in the Moluccas Islands, and Bingkalapa Airfield on Celebes Island.

FORMOSA: 23 Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the town of Koshun.

JAPAN: In coordinated operations with USN aircraft, seven Eleventh Air Force B-24s napalm-bomb Kataoka naval base on Shimushu Island, Kurile Islands; four B-25s attempt to hit radar installations on Minami Cape on Paramushiru Island, the primary air warning station in the Kuriles, but fail to release bombs due to an approach error; three other B-25s deck level bomb a Masugawa River cannery; and a B-24 investigates ice floes along the Kurile Islands.

Okinawa: The US Army's 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division, lands on Tsuken Shima off the east coast.

BONIN ISLANDS: During the night of 10/11 April, Iwo Jima-based P-61 Black Widows of the VII Fighter Command, flying individual strikes, bomb and strafe Chichi, Muko, Ani, and Haha Jima Islands.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The Dutch submarine HNLMS O-19 sinks a Japanese merchant tanker as the enemy ship proceeds from Balikpapan, Borneo to Batavia on Java.

U.S.A.: Freeman Field, army air force base, Indiana. Following the incident of the 5th the following occurs:

After investigating the incidents of April 5 and 6, Colonel Torgils C. Wold, Air Inspector of the First Air Force, recommended dropping the charges against all of the officers except Lieutenant Terry and two others arrested with him. After consulting General Hunter, Colonel Selway accepted the recommendation and released the 58. Since the Air Inspector's recommendation was based on uncertainty about whether the order segregating the clubs had been properly drafted and published, Colonel Selway drafted a new order, Base Regulation 85-2, that he thought would meet all technical legal requirements.

To make sure that none of the African-American officers could deny knowledge of the new regulation, Colonel Selway had his deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel John B. Pattison, assemble the trainees on April 10 and read them the regulation. After doing so, Colonel Pattison gave each officer a copy of the regulation and told them to sign a statement certifying that they had read it and fully understood it. No one signed. A subsequent effort by Captain Anthony A. Chiappe, commander of Squadron E, to coax 14 officers into signing produced only three signers. Finally, on the advice of Air Inspector Wold and a representative of the First Air Force Judge Advocate, Colonel Selway set up a board consisting of two black officers and two white officers to interview the non-signers individually and present them with the following options:

a.. sign the certification;

b.. write and sign their own individual certificates in which they did not have to acknowledge that they understood the regulation; or

c.. face arrest under the 64th Article of War for disobeying a direct order by a superior officer in time of war, an offense that technically could be punished by death. See Uniform Code of Military Justice, §890, Article 90, Assaulting or wilfully disobeying superior commissioned officer.

The board carried out the interviews on April 11. One hundred one officers refused to sign and were placed under arrest in quarters.

(William L. Howard)

Top of Page

Yesterday        Tomorrow

Home