April 22, 1942: Gasoline Rationing in the US

Wednesday 22 April 1942

Japanese light cruiser Naka at the Seletar Naval Base, Singapore, 22 April 1942. It is showing battle damage amidships and listing after being torpedoed by US Navy submarine USS Seawolf off Christmas Island on 1 April 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: To defend northeast Australia, which is wide open to a Japanese invasion, General Douglas MacArthur's South West Pacific Area command on 22 April 1942 creates Task Force 44 from the ANZAC Squadron. The first commander is Rear Admiral John Gregory Crace (Royal Australian Navy). Task Force 44 becomes instrumental in the defense of Port Moresby in the Australian Territory of New Guinea.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: While the British have slipped out of some traps recently in Burma, the Japanese 15th Army remains in hot pursuit. They advance toward Lashio, the eastern terminus of the Burma Road, with the intention of stopping Lend-Lease supplies to the Chinese Nationalists. The growing threat forces the new US 10th Air Force to begin evacuating military and civilian personnel and their supplies from Burma to India.

A US Army Air Force Douglas A-20A on 22 April 1942 engaged in the first static test run of liquid-fuel jet units. They are installed in the nacelles for Jet-assisted Takeoff (JATO) (US Air Force).

Eastern Front: The Germans, having hacked a tenuous corridor through to the Demyansk pocket at Ramushevo in Operation Brückenschlag ("Bridge-building"), begin moving the first supplies to the 100,000 or so German troops there. The Soviets, shocked at this brilliant German success, are slow to react. They slowly begin preparing an offensive against the corridor which will not be ready before May. General Franz Halder makes a cursory reference to this in his war diary, noting "the gap between X [the relieving troops] and II Corps [the trapped troops] has been closed, but the link needs more strengthening."

Halder next turns to the situation on the Volkhov, where the situation is reversed and the Soviets are trapped in a pocket. He writes that "the many enemy penetrations have again been eliminated. Volkhov river covered with floating ice." This bodes ill for the trapped Soviet forces, which include Soviet Second Shock Army and its promising young commander, General Vlasov.

In Crimea, Soviet General Kozlov now is under new orders from Premier Joseph Stalin to prepare yet another offensive - which would be the fifth - to break through to the trapped forces at Sevastopol. However, while the Soviets have three armies - the 51st in the north, the 44th in the south, and the 47th in reserve - and outnumber the Germans 2-1, the Soviet fighting troops have been decimated during the fighting and are in no position to attack. Stalin's orders, though, help to prevent the institution of a defense-in-depth orientation that would secure the Soviet hold on the territory that they still hold. German General Manstein, for his part, is busy preparing his own offensive, Operation Trappenjagd ("Bustard Hunt"), to eliminate the Soviets from the Kerch region. He is getting help from a massive Luftwaffe buildup within Fliegerkorps VIII under the command of Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, a very competent air strategist.

Red, white, and blue balloons are released in Times Square, New York, to publicize the U.S.O. military service organization on 22 April 1942 (Photo courtesy of The New York Times).

European Air Operations: Ending a lull in operations, British Bomber command sends 64 Wellington and 5 Stirling bombers to bomb Cologne, Germany. The bombers are guided by the Gee direction-finding apparatus and the crews are ordered as a test to rely on that equipment rather than visual observations. The results are typical, with some bombs dropped over the target while others are dropped as far as ten miles away. There are four deaths and eight injured in the city with minor damage to industrial targets. The RAF loses two Wellington bombers. In other operations, 23 bombers attack Le Havre, 63 aircraft lay mines off of Germany and Denmark, and there is one leaflet flight over France. Two of these bombers, a Wellington on the Le Havre raid and a Hampden laying mines, are lost.

"WU Direct BAD/DN Transmitting and Receiving Teleprinters in operation at the Admiralty." © IWM A 9269.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-201 (Kptlt. Adalbert Schnee), on its sixth patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 7217-ton British freighter Derryheen southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, US. All 51 men aboard survive, rescued by UK freighter Lobos.

U-201 also torpedoes, shells, and sinks 6609-ton US passenger ship San Jacinto southeast of Cape Hatteras. There are 14 deaths and 169 survivors. Destroyer USS Rowan rescues the survivors on the 23rd.

Soviet submarine M-173 (Lt. Cdr Terekhin) sinks 3323-ton German freighter Blandenese (formerly French ship Ange Schiaffino) in the Barents Sea off Kirkenes, Norway. There are 45 survivors and one death.

A big part of the Battle of the Atlantic is rescuing survivors of sunk ships. There are multiple rescue operations underway today. US destroyer Bristol (DD-453) rescues all 35 survivors of US freighter West Imboden (sunk by U-752 on 20 April), destroyer Rowan (DD-405) rescues 18 survivors from US freighter Steel Maker (sunk by U-136 on 19 April), and British freighter Tropic Star rescues the survivors of US freighter Pipestone County (sunk by U-576 on 21 April). While this may seem like the "small change" of the war compared to tales of sinkings and bombings, it's hugely important to operations and the men involved.

A closeup of the tail of the Bf 109F of Luftwaffe ace Herbert Ihlefeld after he scored his 100th confirmed victory in the Soviet Union for Stab I.JG77 on 22 April 1942. This milestone will lead to Ihlefeld's award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 24 April 1942.   

Battle of the Mediterranean: U-81 shells and sinks 122-ton Egyptian sailing vessel El Saadiah off Palestine.

On Malta, the Luftwaffe already has destroyed almost all of the Spitfire fighters ferried to the island recently. There are at most only 7 of the 46 fighters still operational. Luftwaffe raids occur throughout the day and the Spitfires rise in defense of their own airfields, with two of the fighters crashing on landing (pilots safe). This period of time is known as "Malta's darkest hour."

Battle of the Black Sea: A German tugboat hits a mine and sinks in Odessa Harbor.

"Men of No. 4 Commando after returning from a raid on the French coast near Boulogne, 22 April 1942." © IWM H 18957.

Special Forces: Operation Abercrombie, a two-hour Commando landing near Boulogne, ends without incident. The main objective, a searchlight array, is not reached, but there is only one casualty (a commando shot through the ankles by a beachhead sentry). All Germans encountered scatter quickly and, apparently, they suffer no casualties. The main advantage of this sort of inconclusive operation is that it gives the Allies experience in landings and training for the troops.

Partisans: The first phase of Operation Trio, the Axis anti-partisans advance to the Drina in Yugoslavia, continues with some success. However, the main effect of the operation is that it is having the unintended effect of revealing cracks within partisan unity that greatly helps the Axis forces. The monarchist Chetnik forces have little in common with the other partisan units, many of whom are communists. This fault line explodes as the disparate Axis forces display much more unity.

Chetniks, under attack from the Ustaše Black Legion, avoid combat with German units and allows them free passage to attack partisans further back. The partisan main detachments likewise avoid fighting the Black Legion and instead attack the Chetniks, who supposedly are on their side. Some Chetnik troops sign on as Italian auxiliaries to the 5th Alpine Division "Pusteria" and help the advance toward Čajniče. There is brewing pro-Chetnik sentiment within the main partisan detachments that is causing some defections, such as within the Romanija Partisan Detachment. The fighting increasingly becomes a murky political stew that descends to a primal tribal level which transcends the overarching concept of "Allies" and "Axis." While the partisans can be very effective when they work together, every partisan unit is out for itself and has an agenda based on ancient grievances, and many partisan units themselves are rent with internal conflicts due to widely varying allegiances.

"Naval Torpedo Station, Firing Pier, North end of Gould Island in Narragansett Bay, Newport, Newport County, RI." This newly built complex is used for testing torpedoes, with the firing pier at the extreme right. The US Navy badly needs this facility because there are increasing reports during the first year of World War II of defective torpedoes. These issues are not fixed until mid-1943 (Library of Congress).

American Homefront: Gasoline rationing picks up steam. The Office of Price Administration (OPA) limits motorists in 17 eastern states to no more than 21.4 US gallons (17.8 Imperial gallons or 81 liters) of gasoline per week beginning 15 May. This is partly a consequence of huge losses of tankers off the east coast of the United States during the Kriegsmarine's Operation Paukenschlag ("Drumbeat").

There is some lingering pro-German sentiment in the tristate area. State and federal authorities raid gathering spots in Union City, Hoboken, and other New Jersey localities that celebrated Hitler's 20 April birthday.

Universal Pictures releases "Saboteur," an Alfred Hitchcock thriller starring Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane, Otto Kruger, and Norman Lloyd. David O. Selznick, the producer of "Gone With The Wind," gets the project in motion but it eventually winds up at Universal for various creative/financial reasons. Priscilla Lane is borrowed from Warner Bros. and has to finish "Arsenic and Old Lace" before filming her scenes for this film. The film, which began filming in December 1941, includes one famous scene showing the capsized French liner "Normandie" in New York Harbor with a clear implication that its February 1942 sinking was due to sabotage. The climax set in the Statue of Liberty becomes one of Hitchock's most famous monumental settings, which later include Mount Rushmore and the United Nations, among others. "Saboteur" is a financial and critical success and is often considered a precursor to Hitchcock's more famous "North by Northwest" (1959).

Draft orders, such as these in the Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, Valparaiso, Indiana of 22 April 1942, are going out all across the United States.

April 1942

April 1, 1942: Convoys Come to the USA 
April 2, 1942: Doolittle Raiders Leave Port
April 3, 1942: Japanese Attack in Bataan
April 4, 1942: Luftwaffe Attacks Kronstadt
April 5, 1942: Japanese Easter Sunday Raid on Ceylon
April 6, 1942: Japanese Devastation In Bay of Bengal
April 7, 1942: Valletta, Malta, Destroyed
April 8, 1942: US Bataan Defenses Collapse
April 9, 1942: US Defeat in Bataan
April 10, 1942: The Bataan Death March
April 11, 1942: The Sea War Heats Up
April 12, 1942: Essen Raids Conclude Dismally
April 13, 1942: Convoy QP-10 Destruction
April 14, 1942: Demyansk Breakout Attempt
April 15, 1942: Sobibor Extermination Camp Opens
April 16, 1942: Oil Field Ablaze in Burma
April 17, 1942: The Disastrous Augsburg Raid
April 18, 1942: The Doolittle Raid bombs Japan
April 19, 1942: British in Burma Escape
April 20, 1942: The Operation Calendar Disaster
April 21, 1942: Germans Relieve Demyansk

April 22, 1942: Gasoline Rationing in the US

April 23, 1942: The Mystery of Plane 8

April 24, 1942: When Will Help Arrive?

April 25, 1942: Bath Devastated in Baedeker Blitz

April 26, 1942: Hitler Expands His Powers

April 27, 1942: Luftwaffe Bombs Norwich

April 28, 1942: Brewing Clash in the Arctic

April 29, 1942: Japanese Preparing Operation Mo

April 30, 1942: U-Boats Attack!

2021

April 21, 1942: Germans Relieve Demyansk

Tuesday 21 April 1942

A Soviet soldier sets up a loudspeaker to broadcast propaganda to German soldiers somewhere in Russia, 21 April 1942 (AP Photo).

Battle of the Pacific: From a safe house in Chuchow (Quzhou), China, Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle manages to get a message out to Washington, D.C. on 21 April 1942. In the message, he tells his superior officer, General "Hap" Arnold, that:

[The] mission to bomb Tokyo has been accomplished. On entering China, we ran into bad weather and it is feared that all planes crashed. Up to the present five fliers are safe.

Hap Arnold himself is receiving other information that indicates that most of the other Doolittle crewmen are safe, but that the Japanese also had captured a few. Doolittle himself is apprehensive that he faces a court-martial when he returns to the States due to the likely loss of all of the bombers in the mission (only one survives intact but is interred in the Soviet Union near Vladivostok).

President Roosevelt finally addresses the press today about the Doolittle raid. He confirms that US planes indeed had bombed Japan but for national security reasons gives few details. When a reporter asks Roosevelt what "base" the bombers had flown out of, Roosevelt takes the advice of an aide (Samuel Rosenman) and replies, "They came from our new secret base at Shangri-La." Of course, everyone at the time realizes that this was the fictional location in James Hilton's recent best-selling novel "Lost Horizon." Doolittle himself is not mentioned and the public is not given any more details about the raid until April 1943.

In China, the Japanese occupation forces carry out a retaliatory action for the Doolittle Raid known as the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign. This leads to the deaths of an estimated 250,000 Chinese people over the course of the next month.

Chinese civilians helping downed airmen of the Doolittle raid ca. 21 April 1942. The Japanese occupation authorities were not pleased with this sort of assistance and launched a retaliatory campaign that led to many Chinese deaths (AP Photo/US Army Air Force).

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Japanese advance in Burma continues as the Allies slowly retreat northwest toward India. Kyidaunggan on the road to Mandalay falls to the Japanese 18th Infantry Division.

Eastern Front: A German relief force under General Seydlitz (Operation Brückenschlag) manages to push through fading Soviet resistance in Ramushevo and reach the Lovat River. This creates a corridor (over the river) to the besieged garrison of almost 100,000 troops in the Demyansk pocket for the first time in ten weeks. The men of SS "Totenkopf" trapped in the pocket have battled their way to the river through the deepening spring thaw ("Rasputitsa") that makes any troop movement through the woods extremely difficult. This is a major German victory that deepens Adolf Hitler's belief that surrounded troops can always be rescued given sufficient will within leadership to do so.

General Franz Halder, not yet informed of the success at Demyansk, notes blandly in his war diary, "On the whole quiet, except for new attacks on the Volkhov."

In Crimea, the enhanced Luftwaffe forces remain very active. General Wolfram von Richhtofen has built the air force's Fliegerkorps VIII presence there up to the standards of an entire air fleet as planes and pilots return from the Reich after being restored to top service over the winter. Planes of KG 55 today damage the Soviet minesweeper Komintern and sink 4156-ton transport ship Kalinin at Novorossiysk. These raids are greatly interfering with Soviet General Kozlov's attempts to supply and reinforce his troops on the Kerch peninsula.

U-571 and U-459 at sea, with a supply submarine refueling another submarine using a fuel hose (which the crew is grabbing with a hook), 21 April 1942 (Jostling, Federal Archive Fig. 101II-MW-4835-12).

In a rare display of independence, the Soviet Stavka (military high command) notes the obvious trends in Crimea and asks Stalin to consider evacuating the Kerch position. Stalin refuses and today orders preparations for yet another offensive against the German 11th Army units holding the Parpach Narrows to break through to Sevastopol. Stalin also refuses to send any more reinforcements, considering the forces he already has allocated to Crimea to be adequate for the mission. General Kozlov now is placed in an impossible position, with inadequate forces for an offensive, no hope of getting any more, and orders to put his forces into an attack orientation that will make them vulnerable to an attack. German General Manstein is planning exactly such an attack for the earliest time after the Rasputitsa subsides.

The Wehrmacht requests Italian naval forces for an unusual mission that will go under the code name Operation Hobgoblin. This is an attempt to interdict Soviet naval traffic across Lake Ladoga that is keeping Leningrad from surrendering. The Soviets are believed to have a large force of 6 gunboats, 2 large and 5 small torpedo boats, 32 armed minesweepers, 9 armed transport ships, 17 armed tugboats, and one submarine, plus another 25 other boats on the lake. The Italians are renowned for their small-boat force and immediately agree to supply four torpedo boats (MAS 526 to 529) of the 12th MAS Flotilla, commanded by Capitano di Corvetta (Lt-Commander) Bianchini. He has four officers, 19 NCO's, and 63 other ranks. These forces will be supplemented by Kriegsmarine Siebel ferries once the ice on the lake melts.

Commander-in-Chief Western Approaches Admiral Sir Percy Noble's personal aircraft, photographed on 21 April 1942. "The Admiral's plane, An Airspeed AS 6J Envoy III (P5629). Note the Admiral's flag on the nose." Note the overcast skies and rainwater on the airstrip, foul weather that day on the Channel Front (© IWM A 8386).

European Air Operations: For the second day in a row, there are no operations due to ground haze and light rain.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-576 (Kptlt. Hans-Dieter Heinicke), on its fourth patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 5102-ton US freighter Pipestone County about 475 (880 km) miles east of Cape Henry, Virginia. The U-boat stops and gives provisions to one of the four lifeboats after questioning the survivors. All 46 aboard survive, rescued by USCGC Calypso, fishing vessel Irene and May, and Norwegian freighter Tropic Star.

U-201 (Kptlt. Adalbert Schnee), on its sixth patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 2027-ton Norwegian freighter Bris about 475 miles southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina. There are 4 deaths and 21 survivors.

U-84 (Oblt. Horst Uphoff), on its fourth patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 3014-ton Panamanian freighter Chenango about 60 nautical miles (110 km) southeast of Cape Henry, Virginia. There are 31 deaths and one survivor who is picked up by a Consolidated PBY Catalina of the US Coast Guard.

"The Duke of Gloucester inspects the Royal Marine Guard of Honour onboard HMS CLEOPATRA." Alexandria, Egypt, 21 April 1942 (© IWM A 8773).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Heavy Luftwaffe attacks on Malta continue. Of the 47 Spitfire fighters flown to the island from USS Wasp (CV-7) in Operation Calendar on the 20th, already about 30 have been destroyed and many others damaged. The Axis planes also sink 392-ton Royal Navy trawler HMT Jade in Grand Harbor, Malta.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, noting Malta's crumbling defenses, asks Hitler to take the island using paratroopers (Fallschirmjaeger). This is something that Luftwaffe General Albert Kesselring has been urging as well. Hitler, however, refuses to use paratroopers in an offensive role due to the heavy losses on Crete. This may be a wise decision because the British intelligence services could prepare a hot welcome for paratroopers dropping on British-controlled territory just as they did on Crete due to the secret Enigma codebreaking team.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay shells and sinks 170-ton Kriegsmarine patrol boat 13V2 Delpa II off Cape Drepano near the Corinth Canal.

Assembly line for the M4A1(75) at Pacific Car & Foundry of Renton, Washington, 21 April 1942. The completed tanks first rolled off the line in May of 1942, and the tank nearest to the camera was the pilot tank. PCF was the only West Coast manufacturer of Sherman tanks, with many used for training purposes in California and others sent overseas to fight the Japanese.

Special Forces: No. 4 Commando, in conjunction with 50 men from the Canadian Carleton and York Regiment, (2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade) and some Royal Engineers conduct Operation Abercrombie. This is an overnight reconnaissance in force begun after dark on 21 April 1942 in the vicinity of the French coastal village of Hardelot. Continuing a pattern of widely varying results of these commando raids, the raid accomplishes very little after a great deal of effort and planning. Among other issues, the Canadian contingent loses its way in the night and has to completely abort its participation in the mission. 

While no meaningful opposition is encountered, the Commandos lack time to accomplish minimal mission objectives such as destroying a nearby searchlight array. There are no casualties on either side. The raid is most notable for being the first time that the new LCS (Landing Craft Support) is used, providing valuable experience for future missions.

Partisans: The German authorities in France shoot 20 French hostages in retaliation ("complicity") for the successful British Commando raid on St. Nazaire in March 1942. Shooting hostages for attacks on German soldiers already has become an established practice by the occupation authorities.

A British Royal Navy Grumman Martlet IV (Grumman F4F-4B) at Naval Air Station, Anacostia, Washington D.C. (USA), on 21 April 1942, after application of British markings. Official U.S. Navy photo NH 89676 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command.

POWs: French General Henri Giraud reaches the presumed safety of Switzerland after a daring escape from the high-security POW camp at Königstein Castle near Dresden. Giraud accomplished his escape by using bedsheets and other articles to make a 150-foot (46 m) rope to lower himself down from his prison cell. Giraud had the advantage that many other POWs did not of having established a simple code in his letters home to inform his family of his plans. A Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer then met him and escorted him to Switzerland.

Giraud is stopped at the border by two Swiss border guards. At times these guards are known to have returned POWs to the German authorities, but these guards take this prize prisoner to Basel instead. News of Giraud's escape creates a sensation in France. Giraud then becomes a murky figure in murky French politics, remaining loyal to Pétain and the Vichy government but refusing to cooperate with the German authorities. Heinrich Himmler eventually tries to have the Gestapo assassinate Giraud but fails. Giraud refuses Pierre Laval's attempts to force him to cooperate with the Germans, but Laval does not turn Giraud over to the Gestapo when he has the chance. The Allies give Giraud the codename Kingpin and plan to make use of him when they invade French North Africa. After a long series of important appointments and politically charged events, they find out that Giraud is a loose cannon and cut their ties with him.

President Roosevelt awards Lieutenant (j.g.) Edward H. O'Hare the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony, 21 April 1942. In the background are Secretary of the Navy William Franklin Knox, Admiral Ernest J. King, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations, and Mrs. O’Hare (US Navy).

US Military: US Navy aviator Lt. Edward "Butch" O'Hare becomes the first naval recipient of the Medal of Honor. O'Hare receives the award for exploits on 20 February 1942 that his commanding officers, including Vice Admiral Wilson Brown (commander of Task Force 11) and Captain Frederick C. Sherman, believed may have saved his aircraft carrier USS Lexington from destruction. O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois, is named after Lt. O'Hare, who later went missing near the Gilbert Islands on 26 November 1943 and was declared dead exactly one year later.

US Government: President Roosevelt orders the seizure of all patents owned or controlled by enemy nations. This action is mainly directed against Germany, which has close ties to several important US industries.

The Roosevelt administration okays the "Big Inch" pipeline from Texas to New York. This is in response to the recent loss of many oil tankers off the US east coast during German Operation Drumroll (Paukenschlag).

The wife of the last US ambassador to Vichy France, Louise Leahy, passes away unexpectedly of an embolism. Admiral Leahy already has been ordered to return to the United States at the end of the month and this is a crushing experience to him. He will leave France at the beginning of May 1942.

Japanese American evacuees, Camp Harmony (Puyallup Assembly Center), 1942 Photo by Howard Clifford, Courtesy UW Special Collections (UW526).

American Homefront: In Seattle, Washington, evacuation announcements are posted on telephone poles, bulletin boards, and other highly visible public places. These direct Japanese-American to leave the city in three groups on the following Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The Japanese population of Seattle is around 7,000 people, with about another 7,000 living in the remainder of Washington State. Of these 14,000, a total of 12,892 persons of Japanese ancestry wind up in internment camps, first in the Puyallup assembly center and then to Minidoka in Idaho. The FBI already is arresting members of this community.

The San Francisco News on 21 April 1942 prints a report by Harry Ferguson of United Press giving an eyewitness account of the Manzanar internment camp. Ferguson reports that newcomers "found comfortable wooden buildings covered with tar paper, bathhouses and showers and plenty of wholesome food." He quotes an internee who calls Manzanar a "Nice place to live" that is "better than Hollywood." However, "Those whose sympathies lie with Japan are keeping quiet about it."

In another article in the San Francisco News today, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is reported as suggesting "rehabilitation" of "Little Tokio." This "rehabilitation" actually means obliterating it. The article states:

All parties concerned have endorsed the idea of slum clearance programs for the section, but there have been differences over whether Federal or private money should be used.

The article suggests that there is some urgency to the matter as other minorities are quickly moving into the areas abandoned by the Japanese-Americans.

Look magazine, 21 April 1942.

April 1942

April 1, 1942: Convoys Come to the USA 
April 2, 1942: Doolittle Raiders Leave Port
April 3, 1942: Japanese Attack in Bataan
April 4, 1942: Luftwaffe Attacks Kronstadt
April 5, 1942: Japanese Easter Sunday Raid on Ceylon
April 6, 1942: Japanese Devastation In Bay of Bengal
April 7, 1942: Valletta, Malta, Destroyed
April 8, 1942: US Bataan Defenses Collapse
April 9, 1942: US Defeat in Bataan
April 10, 1942: The Bataan Death March
April 11, 1942: The Sea War Heats Up
April 12, 1942: Essen Raids Conclude Dismally
April 13, 1942: Convoy QP-10 Destruction
April 14, 1942: Demyansk Breakout Attempt
April 15, 1942: Sobibor Extermination Camp Opens
April 16, 1942: Oil Field Ablaze in Burma
April 17, 1942: The Disastrous Augsburg Raid
April 18, 1942: The Doolittle Raid bombs Japan
April 19, 1942: British in Burma Escape
April 20, 1942: The Operation Calendar Disaster
April 21, 1942: Germans Relieve Demyansk

April 22, 1942: Gasoline Rationing in the US

April 23, 1942: The Mystery of Plane 8

April 24, 1942: When Will Help Arrive?

April 25, 1942: Bath Devastated in Baedeker Blitz

April 26, 1942: Hitler Expands His Powers

April 27, 1942: Luftwaffe Bombs Norwich

April 28, 1942: Brewing Clash in the Arctic

April 29, 1942: Japanese Preparing Operation Mo

April 30, 1942: U-Boats Attack!

2021

April 4, 1942: Luftwaffe Attacks Kronstadt

Saturday 4 April 1942

"Senussi Arab with rifle, Libya, 4 April 1942." That appears to be a captured Italian Carcano rifle (© IWM E 10186).

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The massive Kido Butai Japanese strike force that attacked Pearl Harbor now is operating in the Indian Ocean. So far, it has proceeded unobserved to a spot south of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). During the afternoon of 4 April 1942, a Catalina flying boat of RCAF Squadron No. 413 spots and reports Admiral Nagumo's large force 310 nautical miles (580 km) southeast of Ceylon. The Japanese quickly shoot the observation plane down before it can clarify the size of the fleet. The fleet's commander, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, is secure in the belief that his ships have superiority over the British. So, he ignores the fact that the British have spotted his fleet and continues along his intended course. Nagumo does not even bother sending aerial reconnaissance ahead of the fleet. His plan is to attack the port of Colombo at dawn on 5 April.

The British, on the other hand, change plans immediately. Admiral James Somerville has withdrawn his fleet to Addu Atoll in the Maldive Islands. He now sends his Force A eastward in the general direction of the Japanese while Force B refuels. Admiral Geoffrey Layton, in command in Ceylon, directs heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and Dorsetshire (which have just reached Colombo for maintenance and port defense) to turn around at 22:00 and rejoin Force A. Layton also orders old aircraft carrier Hermes to leave the port of Trincomalee and seek refuge to the northeast. The stage is set for a major confrontation, depending upon how aggressive Admiral Somerville chooses to be.

There is a preliminary action when two Japanese cruisers spot and sink Norwegian freighter Dagfred. The 40 Norwegian crew all survive after the Japanese allow them to take to the boats.

USS Hornet, accompanied by Task Force 18, continues sailing from San Francisco toward Japan. Its plan is to rendezvous with Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey's Task Force 16 and then proceed to a spot where it can launch the 16 B-25 bombers it is carrying to attack Tokyo. The US task force is following the reverse path of that followed by Kido Butai in December 1941 prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

U.S. Navy non-rigid airship L-8 delivers spare parts for Doolittle’s B-25 bombers to USS Hornet (CV-8). Somewhere in the Pacific on the way to Tokyo. L-8 was the former Goodyear commercial blimp, Ranger. The pilot was Lieutenant Ernest DeWitt Cody, U.S.N. (U.S. Navy).

Battle of the Pacific: Japanese bombers attack Darwin, Australia again between 13:30 and 14:05. Previous daylight raids have not cost the Japanese much in terms of lost planes and pilots, but the Allies have been transferring units to northern Australia. This is beginning to pay off. The 9th Pursuit Squadron of the US Army Air Force shoots down seven "Nell" bombers and two Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters.

In the Philippines, a critical section of the Allied Main Line of Resistance held by II Corps (eastern side of the line) collapses under assault by the Japanese 4th Division and 65th Brigade. The 21st and 41st Divisions of the Filipino Army are forced back again, as on the 3rd, and try to dig in around Mount Samat. This breach in the line causes flank problems for nearby Allied formations. To try to contain the breach, Luzon Force sends the US 31st and 45th Infantry to support II Corps. The Japanese attack is going better than planned, perhaps because the Allied troops are undernourished and inadequately armed after months of the Japanese blockade.

US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet and Task Force 18 continue sailing west from San Francisco Bay bound for an attack on Japan. At noon, the Hornet rendezvouses with Navy blimp L-8 which lowers parts to complete modifications for the mission to the Hornet's flight deck. This is another step toward the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.

A StuG III (right) of the Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 202 gets pulled out of the snow by a Panzer III (left, going in reverse). Eastern Front, 1942.

Eastern Front: Operation Bruckenschlag ("Bridge-building") resumes on 4 April 1942 after a short period to regroup and reorient its line of attack toward the Demyansk Pocket. The first objective of General Seydlitz's men is the Lovat River, which is only six miles away but which is heavily guarded by reinforced Soviet troops. Today begins a brutal slog toward the river through worsening weather conditions as the spring thaw ("Rasputitsa") accelerates. There is no subtlety to the German advance, it is straight down the road on the most direct route possible.

The Luftwaffe launches heavy air attacks in the Murmansk area in northern Russia. The III/KG 30 attacks Zyp Navolok and sinks 1130-ton Russian Trawler RT-103. It also attacks Iokanka and damages Russian minesweepers T-58/RT-94/Zhadanov, T-4/RT-84/Golfstrem, T-60/RT-410/Pelikan, and patrol boat SKR-78/RT-57/Smela. Meanwhile, at Murmansk, emergency repairs are being completed to destroyer HMS Eclipse.

"OKTYABRSKAYA REVOLUTSIYA (Soviet battleship, 1911-1956). Photographed in the Baltic during 1946. Note anti-aircraft guns on forecastle and turret roofs, added during World War II." Naval History and Heritage Command NH 78290.

Battle of the Baltic: Operation Eisstoß (Ice Assault) begins. This is a Luftwaffe operation by Generaloberst Alfred Keller's Luftlotte I against the Soviet fleet at Kronstadt, a fortified island near St. Petersburg. This is one of a series of such attacks against Vitse Admiral Vladimir F. Tributs’s Baltic Fleet. Like the others, this operation accomplishes little. The Luftwaffe sends 62 Stuka dive bombers and 70 medium bombers (33 Junkers Ju 88s and 37 Heinkel He 111s), escorted by 59 Bf 109 fighters of Oberstleutnant Hannes Trautloft’s Jagdgeschwader 54. The plan is for the Heinkels to bomb the anti-aircraft defenses while the Stukas and Junkers attack the ships. 

After dark, a smaller force of 31 He 111s return. In the two attacks, the Germans score hits on 13 warships but do not sink any. Battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya (formerly Gangut) takes four hits, the cruiser Maksim Gorky is hit seven times, the cruisers Kirov and Petropavlovsk and destroyer Silnyi each suffers one serious hit each, and the destroyer Grozyashchiy, minelayer Marti and training ship Svir each takes less serious hits. Assorted smaller vessels also are hit.

This operation and the subsequent "Götz von Berlichingen" and "Froschlaich" continue throughout April without meaningful results. Overall, the Luftwaffe flies 590 sorties at the loss of 29 aircraft, a fairly high loss rate. Hitler is worried that the Soviet fleet will steam out when the ice melts and "make a fool of me," but it has no plans to leave port.

SB2U Vindicator code 72-S-4 of VS-72 England April 1942. This plane probably came over on USS Wasp, which arrived in Great Britain on 4 April 1942. The Wasp pilots then flew their planes to Hatson in Orkney (UK).

European Air Operations: The weather is poor for flying operations, but the RAF tries a few missions anyway. All this accomplishes is showing that bombing success depends on the weather. Out of 21 Hampdens sent to lay mines in the Frisian Islands, only two manage to complete the mission while the rest return to base.

RAF Bomber Command also sends a dozen Boston bombers and 4 Wellingtons to attack the railway yards at St. Omer. The mission is a nullity because the bombs drop in open fields and there are no losses or destruction on either side.

The RAF sends 4 Wellington bombers to bomb different German targets, but low cloud cover forces three of them to abort their missions. The fourth bomber turns south when it finds its primary target of Emdem covered with clouds, but it later finds a target of opportunity in the Essen region.

Rear Admiral S S Bonham Carter, Commanding 18th Cruiser Squadron, aboard his flagship HMS Edinburgh, 3 or 4 April 1942. He has welcomed the arrival of powerful US naval forces to Great Britain (© IWM A 9241). 

Battle of the Atlantic: US Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp leads a large fleet of warships to join the British Home Fleet. Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen, flying his flag in the heavy cruiser Wichita, assumes command of TF 39. The American ships were met at sea by a Royal Navy force including the light cruiser HMS Edinburgh on 3 April. Those British ships have escorted the American ships to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

U-505 (Kptlt. Axel-Olaf Loewe), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5759-ton Dutch freighter Alphacca 154 miles south of Cape Palmas, Ivory Coast. There are 15 deaths and 52 survivors.

U-154 (KrvKpt. Walther Kölle), on its second patrol out of Lorient,  torpedoes and sinks 5034-ton US tanker Comol Rico about 225 miles (417 km) north of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The tanker sinks within seven minutes after being hit with a second torpedo. The 39 survivors (against three deaths) spend two days at sea before being picked up by US destroyer USS Sturtevant (DD 240). This is the first victory for U-154.

HMS Stonehenge (P232), shown, is laid down on 4 April 1942. It will be launched on 23 March 1943, commissioned on 15 June 1943, and presumed sunk on or about 15 March 1944.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Luftwaffe General Albert Kesselring's II Fliegerkorps sustained air offensive against Malta continues wreaking massive damage all across the island. The planes today sink Greek Hellenic Navy submarine Glavkos (two dead) and Royal Navy Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA Plumbleaf. The Plumleaf, next to Parlatorio Wharf in Grand Harbor, is raised after the war and scrapped in Sicily. Damaged in the attacks are cruiser Penelope and destroyer Lance.

The air attacks take a heavy toll today on land, too. Around Grand Harbour, numerous buildings are destroyed. A bomb lands on the north end of Coronado Tunnel, which is being used as a shelter. It kills 16 men and injures 50 others, including eight men from HMS Kingston.

British 4782-ton tanker SS Turbo, a ship heavily damaged by Italian bombers on 20 August 1941, is being towed to Karachi when its old damage suddenly causes it to break in two. The forepart is shelled and sunk about 15 miles north of Ras Banas, while the stern section just drifts off, never to be seen again.

"An Italian stretcher case being carried up the gangway of the LLANDOVERY CASTLE at Alexandria." Italian prisoners in Alexandria boarding a transport for an exchange for British prisoners, 4 April 1942 (© IWM A 8715).

POWs:  The British begin an exchange of 917 seriously wounded Italian prisoners for 129 British prisoners by loading the Italians on a ship. Hospital ship Llandovery Castle is used to make the prisoner exchange at Smyrna. This operation has been very difficult to transact because the Italians prefer a "one-for-one" exchange to preserve their dignity.

US/ French Relations: The United States grants official recognition to the Free French government in Equatorial Africa. It sends a Consul General to Brazzaville.

US/South African Relations: The South African government permits the Unites States Army Air Force to use the airfield at Point Noire, Congo. In exchange, the United States gives South Africa eight Lockheed Hudson bombers.

Japanese Military: The High Command has plans to invade both Midway and the Aleutian Islands. Neither is particularly strategically important but would expand the defense perimeter further away from Japan. The preliminary plan has been to invade them in sequence. Today, after a hearty debate, the Chief of the Navy, General Staff, Admiral Nagano, agrees to combine them. This will require a complex series of fleet movements and a full naval commitment.

US Military: The 5th Air Force USAAF transfers the 36th Pursuit Squadron, 8th Pursuit Group, from Lowood to Townsville, Australia. It is equipped with P-39s and P40s.

Winnipeg Free Press, 4 April 1942. Note the article at the lower left, "Hitler is Goaded by Need for Oil."

American Homefront: Warner Bros. releases "I Was Framed," a remake of the 1939 James Cagney crime drama "Each Dawn I Die." It stars Tod Andrews, Julie Bishop, and Regis Toomey. "I Was Framed" is a typical programmer for wartime audiences eager for any distraction. It clocks in at a brisk 61 minutes, also typical, and is only designed to make money, not be subtle or pretend to be high art.

Future History: James Louis Fregosi is born in San Francisco, California. He becomes a Major League Baseball shortstop in 1961 and later a well-traveled manager. Fregosi is notable for having been the most popular player of the California Angels franchise early in its history and still holds the franchise record with 70 career triples. Fregosi also is notorious in some circles for having been involved in the famous 1971 trade that sent Nolan Ryan from the New York Mets to the Angels. Jim Fregosi passes away on 14 February 2014 in Miami, Florida.

Saturday Evening Post, 4 April 1942.

April 1942

April 1, 1942: Convoys Come to the USA 
April 2, 1942: Doolittle Raiders Leave Port
April 3, 1942: Japanese Attack in Bataan
April 4, 1942: Luftwaffe Attacks Kronstadt
April 5, 1942: Japanese Easter Sunday Raid on Ceylon
April 6, 1942: Japanese Devastation In Bay of Bengal
April 7, 1942: Valletta, Malta, Destroyed
April 8, 1942: US Bataan Defenses Collapse
April 9, 1942: US Defeat in Bataan
April 10, 1942: The Bataan Death March
April 11, 1942: The Sea War Heats Up
April 12, 1942: Essen Raids Conclude Dismally
April 13, 1942: Convoy QP-10 Destruction
April 14, 1942: Demyansk Breakout Attempt
April 15, 1942: Sobibor Extermination Camp Opens
April 16, 1942: Oil Field Ablaze in Burma
April 17, 1942: The Disastrous Augsburg Raid
April 18, 1942: The Doolittle Raid bombs Japan
April 19, 1942: British in Burma Escape
April 20, 1942: The Operation Calendar Disaster
April 21, 1942: Germans Relieve Demyansk

April 22, 1942: Gasoline Rationing in the US

April 23, 1942: The Mystery of Plane 8

April 24, 1942: When Will Help Arrive?

April 25, 1942: Bath Devastated in Baedeker Blitz

April 26, 1942: Hitler Expands His Powers

April 27, 1942: Luftwaffe Bombs Norwich

April 28, 1942: Brewing Clash in the Arctic

April 29, 1942: Japanese Preparing Operation Mo

April 30, 1942: U-Boats Attack!

2021