16 April 1939

April 16th, 1939 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Chessington in Surrey is officially opened by HM King George VI, as RAF No. 2 Barrage Balloon centre for the defence of London. More....

FRANCE: France beat Wales 16-10 in the Rugby Union European Championships in Bordeaux.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Union suggests a three-power military alliance with Great Britain and France.

ALBANIA: HM King Vittorio Emanuele III comes to the throne after his predecessor, King Zog I, flees the country.

16 April 1940

April 16th, 1940 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - Stavanger, Fornebu, Kjeller and Trondheim Airfields.

10 Sqn. Six aircraft to Stavanger. Only one bombed due to weather. Hits claimed causing fires. One aircraft to Fornebu and one aircraft to Kjeller. Both unable to locate targets due to weather.

77 Sqn. Four aircraft from Kinloss to Trondheim. All attacked. One crash landed on return after four crew abandoned aircraft.

2 Group: 107 Sqn ( Blenheim). 6 aircraft to Stavanger to bomb. Only one reaches target due to bad weather.

Westminster: The government issues a mobilization order for all men who turn 27 years old during April and May.

NORWAY: The submarine HMS Porpoise makes a torpedo attack on U-3 southwest of Stavanger in position 58.18N, 05.47E, U-3 is unharmed.

The British force which landed north of Narvik at Harstad is now in place to begin an attack on Dietl’s 4,600 strong occupation force which it has surrounded and cut off from the sea. But their commander, Major General Pierse J. Macksey, wants the weather just right before he attacks, and a series of blizzards has begun, filling the valleys with 8 foot deep snowdrifts. To pass the time, the Guards officers give ski lessons to their men. When there are not enough skis to go around, some of the men switch to tobogganing. To the guards who have never been on toboggans and might need them now for transport in a strange terrain, tobogganing was serious business, to the local Norwegians, it seems that they’re just playing in the snow.

(Mark Horan adds): At RNAS Hatston, Acting Captain C. L. Howe, RN decides that the Squadrons would fly small armed reconnaissance missions to Bergen. 803 Squadrons was selected, and dispatched two Skuas armed with a single 250 pound SAP bomb and 8 x 20 pound Cooper bombs with orders to proceed to Bergen and then separate and approach the fjords from the North and South.

The aircraft took off at 0500, separated at 0650, and crossed the coastline at 0705 at 4,000 feet. Each aircraft made a high-speed run, descending to below 1,000 feet as they reconnoitred the surrounding fjords. On the way in, one aircraft sighted, attacked, and badly damaged a small auxiliary vessel flying the German flag, the patrol vessel Tarantel N. B. 18. On the way out, the other sighted and attacked a U-58 that was proceeding up the fjord on the surface. It was believed that the submarine was damaged by the bombing as it did not attempt to dive thereafter. Both aircraft returned safely at 0925.

Off NORWAY: HMS Furious, now seriously short of fuel, was ordered to Tromsø to refuel, anchoring there at 0630. She was thereafter to report to Flag Officer Narvik. (Mark Horan)

GIBRALTAR/ATLANTIC OCEAN: As HMS Ark Royal departs Gibraltar at 1700 in company with the destroyers HMS Vortigern (local escort), HMS Westcott, and HMS Bulldog bound for the Clyde. HMS Glorious, in company with the destroyers HMS Velox and HMS Watchman continue towards the Clyde.

ICELAND: The government appeals to the US for aid and recognition. Iceland also declares its independence today.

16 April 1941

April 16th, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: 685 aircraft raid London in the biggest raid yet.

London: The last remaining tower of the Crystal Palace is demolished because it makes too clear a landmark.

London, Jermyn Street: Al Bowlly, a top dance-band singer, is killed in an air-raid.

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 107 Sqn straddle a submarine with bombs off Prestkjac in Norway.

110 Sqn bomb Heligoland, but lose one aircraft on take-off.

105 Sqn, attacked and hit a 5,000-ton vessel, but lost one aircraft to fighters.

All these crews are flying Bristol Blenheim Mk IVs.

YUGOSLAVIA: German forces enter Sarajevo and demolish the main synagogue.

The Wehrmacht High Command reports:

The remains of the Serbian army are disintegrating. German motorised troops have advanced to Sarajevo and occupied the city. Thousands of Serbians have laid down their arms. The toll of prisoners and captured material is growing by the hour.

ITALY: Rome: The Italian High Command reports:

In Yugoslavia, motorised columns of the Italian 2nd Army, after overcoming enemy resistance, have occupied Split 240 miles from their original positions.

On the Greek front our troops have advanced from the lake district to Vijosa. After violent fighting we occupied and overran Erseka (Albania).

In North Africa we are continuing operations at Sollum and the encirclement of the fortress of Tobruk, where the enemy, supported by naval forces, is resisting tenaciously.

GREECE: The New Zealand Anzacs battle the German 5th Panzer Division in a stopping action at the Platamon Ridge in Greece. The Germans have problems getting the panzers over the ridge. The cliffs jut out past the beach so that cliffs drop straight into the sea. The railway tunnel running through at the base of the cliffs in this area was sabotaged by the British but the explosion did not close the tunnel. The Germans sent a Panzer through the tunnel where on the other end it met the Anzacs who promptly disabled it at the tunnel exit They were forced to fight for the narrow elevated pass which at that time was the only way past this area. (Steve Stathros)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Action off Sfax, TUNISIA: Captain P. J. Mack with destroyers HMS Janus, HMS Jervis, HMS Mohawk and HMS Nubian from Malta intercept a German Afrika Korps convoy of five transports escorted by three Italian destroyers off Kerkenneh Islands, east of Tunisia. All Axis ships are sunk including the destroyers Baleno (foundered next day), Lampo (later salvaged) and Tarigo. In the fighting HMS Mohawk is torpedoed twice by Tarigo and capsizes. She is eventually sunk by gunfire from HMS Janus off Kerkenah Bank. There are 168 survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

EGYPT: Wavell stops the Polish Brigade and 7th Australian Division sailing for Greece.

He also orders those ships on the way to Greece to turn back, those in Greek ports not yet unloaded should return with their cargoes and those still loading to stop and unload.

JAPAN: Tokyo: An Associated Press dispatch quotes Ko Ishii (the spokesman for the cabinet board of information) as denying absolutely and flatly that "Japan intended to send an army or navy force against Singapore." Ishii added:

Premier Prince Konoye already stated that Japan's southward intentions are clearly and entirely peaceful and economic. This report (about Singapore) is entirely groundless and the propaganda of war mongers.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Elizalde writes MacArthur "> MacArthur that war is “60 to 90 days away”. (Marc Small)

U.S.A.: The heavy cruiser USS Vincennes (CA-44) arrives in New York from Simonstown, South Africa. The ship had taken on a large shipment of gold bullion in South Africa to pay for arms purchased in the U.S. by the U.K.

16 April 1942

April 16th, 1942 (THURSDAY)

FRANCE: Paris: School students stage a demonstration after their history teacher is arrested.

Vichy France: Under German pressure, Marshal Petain appoints Pierre Laval head of government and himself becomes a ceremonial head of state.

Admiral William D. Leahy, USN (Retired), Ambassador to France, receives a cable from Washington with information that his recall "for consultation" will be announced shortly after the formation of a new Vichy government.

GERMANY: Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, the veteran of the invasion of France and the USSR is appointed C-in-C of the Atlantic Wall defences.

MALTA :King George VI awards MALTA the George Cross for collective heroism in the face of the Axis air attacks. A message to the island's governor, Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie, read: "To honour her brave people I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta, to bear witness to a heroism and a devotion that will long be famous in history."

Since Hitler ordered that the island be "neutralized" in preparation for invasion four months ago, it has suffered 1,000 air-raids - an average of seven a day. The Maltese people have gone underground, burrowing deep into the soft limestone to build shelters, communications centres and first aid centres, racing for cover when the alert sounds and emerging into the sunlight to carry on a near normal life - given that many Maltese are on desperately short rations - when they hear the "all clear". The capital, Valetta, is devastated beyond recognition; the Grand Harbour, once the home of the British Mediterranean Fleet, is under such constant bombardment that submarines are forced to remain submerged during daylight.

The submarines are an essential part of the island's lifeline. They bring fuel for the few Spitfires and Hurricanes available to defend Malta from airfields which are bombed daily, with ground crews working round the clock to service the aircraft, often "cannibalizing" wrecked planes for spares.

HMS Welshman, one of the fastest ships in the navy, makes regular dashes from Gibraltar, bringing in food and ammunition to help the island resist a bombardment which - the Germans say - has become the "most accurate in the world."

BURMA: Yenangyaung: Britain's largest oil field in the Far East is a sheet of flame. The 500-foot high flames silhouette the men of "Burcorps", the remnants of the 17th Indian and 1st Burma Divisions, who have been fighting a delaying action up the Irrawaddy valley and trying to hold on to the oil field.

Three days ago they began to destroy the oil wells to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands. The oilfields here came under attack after the Japanese forces took Migyaungye on 12 April.

During the night of 16/17 April, 10th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses take off from Dum Dum Airfield near Calcutta, India to bomb Rangoon. 6 B-17's, guided by flares, bomb the target; numerous searchlights make it impossible to estimate the bombing results.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Japan invades the island of Panay with a 4,000-strong force.

The Japanese Kawamura Detachment (41st Infantry) lands unopposed at Iloilo and Capiz on Panay Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The submarine USS Tambor (SS-198) torpedoes and sinks a Japanese stores ship 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Kavieng, New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The unarmed U.S. freighter SS Alcoa Guide is shelled by German submarine U-123 (which expended her last torpedo on 12 April) east of North Carolina; Alcoa Guide tries to ram the U-boat without success. U-123 pauses to allow the crew to abandon ship and then sinks the freighter with gunfire once the merchant sailors (two of whom die of wounds suffered in action) have gotten away safely.

16 April 1943

April 16th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The Polish Government requests a Red Cross investigation of the Katyn Massacre.

FRANCE: The evacuation of all children and non-essential civilians from the Channel ports of Le Havre, Dieppe, Cherbourg, St Malo and Brest is announced.

The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission Number 51: 25 B-24s are dispatched against the Brest U-Boat base while 83 B-17's are dispatched against the Lorient U-Boat base. 19 B-24s drop 52 tons on Brest at 1337-1338 hours; the B-24s claim 2-3-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost. 59 B-17s bomb Lorient at 1412-1414 hours dropping 147 tons of bombs; they claim 9-4-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost. The attack is hindered by an effective smoke screen and strong fighter opposition.

ITALY: Sicily: Ninth Air Force B-24's attack a tanker in Catania harbour, scoring several hits on the target and in surrounding areas. Northwest African Air Force B-17s bomb the dock area at Palermo.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Destroyer HMS Pakenham in company with HMS Paladin encounter the Italian torpedo boats Cigno and Cassiopea. Pakenham sinks Cigno with gunfire and a torpedo, but not before Cigno has put a shell into her engine room which brings her to a stop. Paladin takes Pakenham in tow, but it is later decided to scuttle Pakenham since air attacks can be expected, and the destroyers are outside the envelope of air cover from Malta. Location 12 miles off Cape Granitola, Sicily at 37 26N 12 30E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

TUNISIA: The British Eighth Army abandons their attempts to force a German retreat from Enfidaville by quick jabs and prepares to launch a full-scale assault during the night of 19/20 April. Ninth Air Force fighters fly sea patrol.

Northwest African Air Force fighters strafe trucks during the night of 15/16 April and during the following day. A-20s and fighter-bombers bomb Djqobel el Raar and concentrations located in various wadis in the battle area. Aircraft maintain sea reconnaissance and patrols while B-25s and B-26s hit the Oudns landing ground and P-38s bomb vessels near Cape Zebib and at Cape el Ahmar.

CHINA: Fourteenth Air Force P-40's strafe a group of buildings east of Tenchung.

BURMA: Tenth Air Force P-40s, bombing a railroad bridge near Mogaung, score a direct hit on the target and blow up both approaches, leaving the bridge temporarily unserviceable. Later in the day the bridge near Pinbaw is demolished by direct hits. Eight B-24s hit the Rangoon Marshalling Yard, 9 B-25s bomb the Thazi rail junction, while 9 more, weathered out of Maymyo, hit rail targets in Mandalay.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: RAAF No. 18 (NEI) Squadron B-25s bomb Vila Salazar on Timor.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Kaimana, Wewak, Madang, and Lae. B-17s pound shipping at Wewak damaging the destroyer HIJMS Tachikaze.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: From his HQ at Rabaul on New Britain Island, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku orders that Operation I-GO against the Allied forces in the Solomons and New Guinea be halted. He mistakenly believes that the Japanese air offensive has severely destroyed Allied air and naval forces.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force B-17s bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Kiska Island is bombed and strafed 13 times. A total of 13 Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, 12 B-25 Mitchells, 32 P-40s, 29 P-38 and 2 F-5A Lightnings cover targets which include installations in the Holtz Bay area and gun positions on North Head.

U.S.A.: Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the effects of LSD. (William L. Howard)

MEXICO: Mexico City: Jacques Monard is sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for the murder of Leon Trotsky, including six-months for carrying an ice-pick.

16 April 1944

April 16th, 1944 (SUNDAY)

U.S.S.R.: Soviet General Eremenko's Independent Maritime Army has taken Yalta in the Crimea. This is the last port apart from Sevastopol through which the Germans can escape the Crimea. Sevastopol's airfield at Kacha has also been captured and, as fighting rages across the old battlefields of Balaklava and Inkerman, the position of Germany's 17th Army looks hopeless.

A terrible toll is being taken of the Germans as they try to escape. A German correspondent describes how "bombers, dive-bombers and fighters in endless procession are raining their bombs on our ships and riddling them with cannon fire." Sevastopol harbour is choked with sunken ships and the bodies of drowned men.

In the Ukraine, Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's troops cross the Dniester at Tiraspol.

ROMANIA AND YUGOSLAVIA: 432 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit targets in Romania and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb the industrial area at Belgrade, Yugoslavia and an aircraft plant at Brasov, Romania; B-24s hit marshalling yards at Brasov and Turnu Severin, Romania; 90+ fighters fly escort while 50+ others, failing to rendezvous with the bombers, strafe trains on the Craiova line east of Turnu Severin.

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb approaches to Ficulle and Todi railway bridges; A-20 Havocs hit fuel supplies; P-40s, P-47 Thunderbolts and A-36 Apaches hit the Capranica viaduct, town of Zagarolo, railway at Spigno Monferrato, marshalling yard at Orte-Terni, tunnel at Capranica and tracks, vehicles, railway cars, ammunition dump, bridge, and targets of opportunity at various points in central Italy.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 44 3:00 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Mahnyin, Burma. Bombed supply dump. (Chuck Baisden)

12 Tenth Air Force B-25s hit a bridge over the Mogaung River while 9 others, along with 12 P-51s, hit a warehouse and railroad station at Mohnyin; 9 P-38s destroy 3 medium bombers at Zayatkwin near Rangoon while 2 P-51s in the Mandalay area hit Anisakan Airfield, destroying 2 airplanes.

EAST INDIES: Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Koepang on Timor Island.

NEW GUINEA: 170+ Fifth Air Force B-24s, B-25s and A-20s bomb Hollandia town and airfield and numerous other targets in the area; P-39Airacobras hit a wooded area and communications targets along Hansa Bay and attack villages and supply dumps from Bogia to Uligan Harbor; P-38s hit the Madang area; B-24s and PB4Y Liberators and PBY Catalinas fly a light strike against Wakde Island; other aircraft, operating singly or in pairs, attack targets of opportunity on the northern coast of New Guinea and south-eastern coast of New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, from Abemama Island hit Maloelap and Mille Atolls, using Majuro Atoll as a rearming base between the strikes.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, 24 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s hit the Ratawul supply area and alternate target of Raluana; at Rabaul 30+ fighter-bombers attack area inland from Toboi wharf.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, staging through Eniwetok Atoll, strike Truk Atoll. 15 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the runway at Satawan Atoll.

RAAF Catalinas mine the principal entrances to Woleai Atoll to prevent the Japanese from using them during the projected Hollandia operations. The evolution is repeated on 18 and 19 April.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The submarine USS Paddle (SS-263) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks an army transport and a merchant cargo ship in the Ceram Sea.

The submarine USS Redfin (SS-272) continues to pursue the convoy attacked the previous day, sinking an army cargo ship in Moro Gulf, southwest of Mindanao, Philippine Islands.

The movement of Japanese convoy TAKE No.1, carrying elements of the Imperial Army's 32d and 35th Divisions to reinforce garrisons in the Halmaheras and in north-western New Guinea, gets underway as four transports, and escorts, depart Pusan, Korea.

U.S.A.: The U.S. Navy's last battleship, USS Wisconsin (BB-64), is commissioned at the US Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The armed U.S. tanker SS Pan Pennsylvania, in United Kingdom-bound convoy CU 1, is torpedoed by German submarine U-550 150 miles (241 km) east of Ambrose Light, New York. Later, destroyer escort USS Gandy (DE-764) is damaged when she intentionally rams U-550 off Nantucket Shoals, and teams with destroyer escorts USS Peterson (DE-152) and USS Joyce (DE-317) to sink the U-boat. Twelve of the 56-man U-boat crew survive. During the action, shells from the destroyer escorts set afire Pan Pennsylvania's abandoned wreck.

16 April 1945

April 16th, 1945 (MONDAY)

BELGIUM: RAF Meteor III jets make their first operational sortie on the Continent. (22)

FRANCE: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 951: 1,348 unescorted bombers are dispatched to visually attack strongpoints on the French Atlantic coast; the first two forces below make the sole operational employment of napalm bomb by the Eighth Air Force against German ground installations (pillboxes, gunpits, tank trenches, and heavy gun emplacements); the results are negligible and HQ recommends its discontinuance against this type of target:

- 492 B-17s hit four strongpoints and flak batteries in the Royan area without loss.

- 341 B-24s hit six strongpoints and flak batteries in the Royan area without loss.

- 442 B-17s hit 9 strongpoints and flak batteries in the Bordeaux/Royan, Pointe Grave and Pointe Courbre area without loss.

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 955: During the morning, 485 B-17s bomb the tank ditch defence line at Pointe de Grave on the south side of the Gironde estuary in the Bordeaux area in support of the ground assault in that area.

GERMANY: The final great offensive of the Red Army against Germany, the Berlin operation begins with Gen. G.K. Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front attacking west of the Oder near Kuestrin, and Gen. Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front attacking south across the Neisse to envelop Busse's 9th Army and drive on to the southern flanks of the doomed German capital. The Russians meet initial stiff resistance at the Seelow Heights, a fortified defensive position which dominates the flood-plain of the Oder (Oderbruch), and controls access to the main land route to Berlin.

At 4am today, Marshal G. K. Zhukov looked towards Berlin from his bunker in the Kustrin bridgehead over the Oder and ordered: "Now, comrades! Now!" Three red flares floated above the lines and, instantly, the German positions were lit up with the blinding light of 143 searchlights and thousands of tank and lorry headlights. Three green flares soared into the sky. This was the signal for thousands of big guns, wheel to wheel, to open the heaviest barrage of the whole of the war in the east. Villages were blown away. Forests burst into flames, burning fiercely out of control.

The Russians have assembled 2,500,000 men, 6,250 tanks, 41,600 guns and mortars, 3,255 rocket launchers and 7,500 aircraft in three front under Zhukov, Konev and Rokossovsky, for this final assault. It seemed this morning that nothing could stand against this awesome power. Much of that ground was empty, however, for General Heinrici, commanding Army Group Vistula with orders to save Berlin, had withdrawn his men to a second line of defence.

They are fighting now from well-entrenched positions on the Seelow Heights where Flak guns, moved from defending Berlin against Allied bombers have taken a terrible toll of Zhukov's tanks. He is held up, but Konev's First Ukrainian Front to the south has made rapid progress after crossing the Neisse. And Rokossovsky to the north has yet to join the battle.

Berlin: Eva Braun has arrived in Berlin from Berchtesgaden to join Hitler in his bunker to share the last days of the Third Reich with him. When the Führer told her that she should have stayed in Bavaria, she said that she had desire to live in a Germany without him. "It would not be fit for a true German," she says. Eva, the secret mistress of the Nazi leader for more than 12 years, has spent the war in Hitler's mountain retreat, swimming and skiing, reading cheap love stories and watching romantic movies.

Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments minister, has been horrified by the directive from the Führer that all military, transport and industrial installations must be destroyed in order to deny them to the enemy. He has protested vigorously, but Hitler remains adamant. If the war is lost, he told Speer, there will be no point in attempting to save the German people. Speer, however, is co-operating with army officers to frustrate the Führer's directive.

Hitler sees betrayal everywhere. Today he sacked the Reich public health commissioner, Karl Brandt, after learning that Brandt had sent his wife and child to Thuringia so that they could surrender to the Americans. And as the Red Army opens its final assault on Berlin, Hitler, in his bunker beneath the ruins of his Chancellery, issued an order of the day to his broken army: "He who gives the order to retreat is to be shot on the spot."

The US 7th Army reaches Nürnburg.

The Colditz POW camp is liberated by US troops, liberating 19,000 prisoners.

USAAF, 78th Fighter Group is awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions today destroying 135 aircraft on five airfields near Prague and Pilzen, Czechoslovakia.

RAF Mustang IV fighters of No. 611 Squadron are the first RAF aircraft to greet Russian aircraft over Berlin.

258 Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-26 Invaders bomb marshalling yards at Gunzburg and Ulm (primary targets) and several other targets including 3 marshalling yards; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d Armored Division near Dessau and across the Mulde River near Torten, the 9th Armored Division along the Mulde northwest of Borna, the VIII Corps along Weisse Elster River between Gera and Plauen, the XX Corps astride the Mulde NE of Chemnitz (where the 6th Armored Division awaits Red Army forces), and the 2d Armored Division on the Elbe River near Magdeburg.

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 954: In the afternoon, 1,252 bombers and 913 fighters are dispatched to attack rail targets; they claim 727-0-373 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 and 31 fighters are lost.

- 273 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Landshut; a B-24 is lost. Escorting are 299 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 228-0-109 aircraft on the ground; a P-47 and 16 P-51s are lost.

- 148 B-17s bomb the Regensburg marshalling yard, 72 bomb the Regensburg East rail bridge and 74 bomb the Regensburg West rail bridge; 77 hit the Platting marshalling yard; and 76 attack the rail bridge at Straubing. The escort is 240 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft in the air and 86-0-66 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost.

- 286 P-51s fly a freelance mission in support of the bombers attacking 40+ landing grounds in Germany and Czechoslovakia; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft in the air and 410-0-198 on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost.

About 450 Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26 Invaders and B-26s bomb the Zerbst communications centre, Gunzenhausen marshalling yard, Kempten ordnance depot, and Wittenberg marshalling yard and gun positions; the IX Tactical Air Command's fighters claim 25 air victories during the day as they escort the bombers, fly patrols, area cover, and armed reconnaissance, attack airfields and other targets, and support the US 3rd Armored Division southwest of Dessau, the 9th Armored Division in the Bennewitz-Colditz area along the Mulde River, the XX Corps which remains at the Zwickauer Mulde River bridgehead northeast of Chemnitz, the VIII Corps crossing the Weisse Elster River between Gera and Plauen, the 2d Armored Division on the Elbe River near Magdeburg, the XIX Corps east of Barby, and the V Corps near Leipzig.

36 Fifteenth Air Force P-51s sweep areas south of Munich; Pie, Czechoslovakia; and Linz, Austria, and 4 strafe an airfield east of Munich.

BALTIC SEA: The Goya (5,200 ton GRT transport formerly of the Hamburg-Amerika line), another German ship similar to the Wilhelm Gustloff (see January 30, 1945), is sunk in the Baltic by the Soviet submarine L-3 commanded by Captain Vladimir Konovalov, taking with it 6,220 refugees, making these two ships the worst naval disasters of all time. Captain Konovalov is later awarded the order of "Hero of the Soviet Union" for this.

The GOYA put out from the Hela Peninsula (Danzig-Gotenhafen) on April 16, 1945 packed with c. 6000 evacuees of wounded soldiers and refugee civilians when it was suddenly torpedoed with two direct hits amidships which broke it in two, and it sank in an estimated 4 minutes in the cold dark seas of the Baltic. Only 183 passengers were rescued from this disaster, many of which later died from exposure. The sinking of the GOYA is the second greatest maritime disaster in history. The first of course, by numbers alone, is the Wilhelm Gustloff. On February 10, 1945, the GENERAL VON STEUBEN, another transport of wounded and refugees was also sunk (in seven minutes) by the same Soviet sub (S13) which sank the GUSTLOFF -- some 3000 souls were lost in that event. (Russell Folsom)

The RAF sink the LUTZOW, Germany's last pocket battleship.

ITALY: During the night of 14/15 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s concentrate on communications targets in the Po Valley, particularly the Po River crossings, the towns of Vignola, Zoeca and Sass, and several targets of opportunity; during the day B-25s and B-26s and fighter-bombers concentrate on direct support of the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies drives, hitting troop concentrations south of Portomaggiore, guns, strongpoints, and a variety of targets in areas south of Bologna, around Medicina and Sasso Marconi and at other points in battle areas.

830 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, in support of the US Fifth Army, blast gun positions, supply dumps, troop concentrations, maintenance installations, and German HQ along highways leading from Bologna; 145 P-38s furnish escort; another force of 312 B-17s and B-24s bomb rail diversion bridges at Nervesa della Battaglia, Ponte di Piave, and Casarsa della Delizia, and an ammunition factory and stores at Ghedi; 191 P-51s provide escort. Today's effort is the largest of World War II by the Fifteenth Air Force (most fighters and bombers dispatched and attacking, and the largest bomb tonnage dropped) during a 24-hour period; 1,142 heavy bombers bomb targets.

98 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s, escorted by 102 P-51s, bomb positions southwest of Bologna; almost 700 B-24s and B-17s abort due to bad weather.

CENTRAL EUROPE: The Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 36 P-38s and 36 P-51s strafe rail communications in the area bounded by Munich, Germany, Salzburg and Linz, Austria, Plzen, Czechoslovakia, and Regensburg, Germany; 12 of the P-38s skipbomb rail targets in the Salzburg-Linz, Austria area, including the Vocklabruck marshalling yard; 8 P-38s furnish top cover for the strafing missions.

CHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s knock out the Pa-Ching pontoon bridge, 7 attack a storage depot at Fang-cheng, 4 bomb Tunganhsien, and 3 hit Paoching; 1 B-24 bombs the Canton docks; almost 200 fighter-bombers ranging over all of southern China and up into the northern China plain hit numerous targets including bridges, river shipping, town areas, trucks, railroad traffic, gun positions, storage areas, and general targets of opportunity; the Paoching, Hengyang, Yungfengshih, and Hsihhsiassuchi areas are especially hard hit.

18 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s pound a storage area at Linfen; 3 bomb targets of opportunity in the Bakli Bay, Hainan Island and Canton areas; 10 B-25s bomb Yungfengshih, Kweilin, and Shanhsien, knocking out a bridge and hitting buildings, river shipping, and rail traffic. About 120 fighter-bombers over southern and eastern China hit river, road, and rail traffic, town areas, troops, and general targets of opportunity at many scattered locations.

BURMA: Allied advances are continuing in Burma, with the capital, Rangoon, now firmly in General Slim's sights. Today it was the turn of Taungup, in the Arakan peninsula, to fall to XV Corps, while inland IV Corps is chasing General Honda's 33rd Japanese Army down the Sittang valley towards Pyinmanna. The Japanese forces are also in retreat along the Irrawaddy, where XXXIII Corps is driving south to oil-rich Yenangyaung.

62 Tenth Air Force) P-38s and P-47s attack troop concentrations and supply areas at Loi-Mwe, Lawksawk, Thongdan, and near Laihka; 312 transport sorties are flown to forward areas.

22 Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers attack troop concentrations in the Ke-hsi Mansam vicinity; 19 others attack road bridges behind enemy lines, claiming a bridge destroyed; air transport operations to forward areas continue on steady basis.

FORMOSA: Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Toyohara, Shinchiku, and Shinshoshi Airfields and B-25s hit the Shoka rail yards.

Far East Air Forces B-25s hit Taien Airfield, while B-24s and P-51s bomb Giran and Matsuyama Airfields and nearby areas. During the night of 15/16 April, B-24s bomb Taihoku.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Ft. Frank, a "concrete battleship", in Manila Bay is attacked with fuel oil and allowed to burn. Ft. Drum had been similarly attacked on the 14th. This completes the capture of Japanese positions in Manila Bay.

US forces invade Carabao after two days of intensive shelling, only to find that the Japanese are long gone.

A battalion of the 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, lands on Carabao Island at the entrance to Manila Bay; landing is preceded by cruiser/destroyer and aircraft bombardment.

Far East Air Forces B-24s and fighter-bombers bomb island fortifications in Manila Bay, fighter-bombers hit bivouacs and other targets in northern Luzon and support ground forces east of Manila and on Carabao Island. Fighter bombers and B-24s fly support missions for ground forces on Negros and Cebu Islands. On Mindanao Island, B-24s bomb the Davao area and B-25s join USMC F4U Corsairs and SBD Dauntlesses in hitting highways and vehicles.

The 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, makes an unopposed landing on Carabao Island in Manila Bay. The landing had been supported by the light cruiser USS Phoenix (CL-46), two destroyers and two infantry landing craft (rocket) [LCI(R)s]. The Phoenix had blown a hole in the seawall and the only thing encountered by the soldiers was "one badly shaken pig."

JAPAN: The U.S. Army's 77th Infantry Division, less the 307th Infantry Regiment, lands on the south and southwest coast of Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands. The island of Ie Shima is located off the northwest coast of Okinawa at 26.43N, 127.47E.

RYUKYU ISLANDS: Off Okinawa, kamikazes sink destroyer USS Pringle (DD-477); and damage battleship USS Missouri (BB-63); aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11); destroyer USS Bryant (DD-665); destroyer escort USS Bowers (DE-637); high speed minesweepers USS Hobson (DMS-26) and USS Harding (DMS-28); and oiler USS Taluga (AO-62).

Aircraft of fast carrier task force (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) attack airfields and aircraft on the ground in southern Kyushu Island; the strike is repeated on 16 April.

During the night of 15/16 April, the Twentieth Air Force flies two missions: (1) Mission 68: 194 B-29 Superfortresses bomb the Kawasaki urban area while 8 others hit targets of opportunity; 12 B-29s are lost. (2) Mission 69: 109 B-29s hit the urban area of Tokyo; 1 B-29 is lost.

In the Kurile Islands, Eleventh Air Force B-25s abort a mission to bomb Hayakegawa because of weather front; 6 B-24s radar bomb the Kataoka naval base on Shimushu Island; another B-24 flies a radar-ferret sortie.

The VII Fighter Command flies Mission 3: In the first very long range fighter operation from Iwo Jima, P-51s with XXI Bomber Command B-29 Superfortress navigational escorts, strafe and bomb targets at Kanoya Airfield on Kyushu Island; 4 P-51s are lost; B-29s continue to furnish navigational escort in all subsequent VII Fighter Command strikes (through 14 August) on Japan from Iwo Jima.

BORNEO: Far East Air Force P-38s attack the Lingkas Tank Farm and other targets at Tarakan.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine USS Charr (SS-328) lays mines off the Malay Peninsula. Two Japanese ships are sunk. (1) A guardboat is sunk by U.S. aircraft off Chezhudo, Korea and (2) a mine laid by USAAF B-29 Superfortresses sinks a cargo ship southeast of Hesaki Light, Japan.

18 Guam-based Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb Marcus Island in the North Pacific.

Japanese ships sunk at sea:

- Submarine USS Sea Dog (SS-401) sinks a merchant cargo ship off Mikura Jima.

- Submarine USS Sunfish (SS-281) attacks a convoy emerging from Yamado harbour, Honshu, and sinks a coast defence vessel and a transport.

MARIANA ISLANDS: 2 Seventh Air Force P-61 Black Widows from Saipan bomb and strafe Pagan Island.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Iwo Jima is declared secure.

Centre Field (Motoyama Airfield No. 2 to the Japanese) is declared operational. The airfield will be used by damaged B-29s returning from missions to Japan.

U.S.A.:

In his first speech to Congress, President Harry S. Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Tony Giuliani)

Top popular hits on the music charts are "My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time" by The Pied Pipers; "I'm Beginning to See the Light" by Harry James and his Orchestra with vocal by Kitty Kallen; "Candy" by Johnny Mercer and Jo Stafford; and "Smoke on the Water" by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.

The federal government tacked another year on to the term of one of Roosevelt's key pieces of wartime legislation, the Lend-Lease Act. All told, the U.S. funnelled US$50.6 billion (US$496 in year 2001 dollars) worth of Lend-Lease aid to the Allies during the war, the majority of which went to Britain and the USSR.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-1235 is sunk in the North Atlantic by destroyer escorts USS Frost (DE-144) and USS Stanton (DE-247). All 57 crewmen on the U-boat are lost.

German submarine U-880 is sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the destroyer escorts USS Frost (DE-144) and USS Stanton (DE-247). All 49 crewmen on the U-boat are lost.

Minesweeper HMCS Esquimalt is attacked and sunk by U-190 (Oberleutnant Hans-Edwin Reith) off Halifax, Nova Scotia at 44 28N 63 10W. There are 44 casualties.

Frigate HMS Ekins strikes a mine at 2115 which causes her boiler room to flood, and she lies dead in the water. At 2140 she drifts onto another mine and this causes further flooding. The ship’s company are able to get the ship moving again, and she returns to the Medway under her own power, but after survey is paid off and not repaired. Location: 24 miles NW Ostend. (Alex Gordon)(108)

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