April 14, 1942: Demyansk Breakout Attempt

Tuesday 14 April 1942

Finnish ski patrol on the move. Petsamo, Kukkesjaur. April 14, 1942 (original color photograph, SA-Kuva).

Battle of the Pacific: The Bataan Death March continues on 14 April 1942. The march to the San Fernando railhead takes six days and new groups of POWs are just starting out, so the roads north from Mariveles and Bagac are full of shambling, mistreated men. The two separate columns, one from each starting point, merge at Pilar, Bataan, into one massive wave of bodies moving north. The Japanese guards are walking alongside the prisoners and also feeling mistreated, plus they look down upon prisoners as cowards who should have fought and died rather than surrender. Thus, the Japanese are becoming increasingly angry and resentful and the mistreatment of the Allied prisoners increases every day. Men who fall behind or stop at the roadside for any reason are often executed on the spot, with their bodies left as examples for those following.

The Doolittle raiders in Admiral "Bull" Halsey's Task Force 16 continue heading west toward Japan. The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet carries 16 B-25 bombers for a raid on Tokyo. The Japanese have an inkling that something is happening because of intercepted radio signals, but await word from their picket ships stationed about 600 miles east of Japan. Back in Washington, D.C., Admiral Ernest King visits President Roosevelt at the White House to give the President a detailed summary of the planned raid and its progress.

Royal Navy ratings at rifle training at Formby, Lancashire, 14 April 1942. © IWM  A 8326.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Japanese offensive in the Irrawaddy River valley north toward the Yenangyaung oil fields continues to make steady progress while the Allies pull back. The Japanese 214th Regiment, accompanied by artillery, bypasses the British Burma Division to take possession of a critical ford of the Pin Chaung River, north of Yenangyaung. This unexpected success has the potential to block the British escape route and places the entire British position in jeopardy. Lieutenant General William Slim, commander of Burma Corps, realizes his command may have to fight its way out of a developing trap.

Finnish troops in action during the battle of Pertjärvi on 14 April 1942 (Koukinsky, SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: Korpsgruppe Zorn begins Operation Fallreep, a breakout from the Demyansk pocket toward the Lovat River at Ramushevo. General Seydlitz's relief force is still struggling north on the road to Ramushevo, so this is a gamble that Seydlitz will actually get to Ramushevo so the two columns can meet across the river from each other. The Soviets are defending tenaciously and Seydlitz's men already have taken 10,000 casualties, so there are no guarantees of success.

Hitler refuses to authorize abandonment of the Demyansk and Kholm pockets, so the weary 95,000 men within the Demyansk pocket must both hold the perimeter and extend a hand to Seydlitz. This is a daunting task for under-supplied troops who have been isolated for months in the dead of winter. Time is of the essence because the spring thaw ("Raputitsa") is beginning and soon will make all movement difficult. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

General Eric von Manstein, commander of 11th Army in the Crimea, flies to Fuhrer Headquarters in Rastenburg for the evening Fuhrer Conference. He submits plans for an artillery assault on Sevastopol, where Soviet troops continue to hold out behind the German front on the Parpach Narrows. No decisions are made, but Manstein wants to attack in force on the Parpach Narrows to drive the Soviets from the Kerch peninsula before making a set-piece assault on Sevastopol. On the Soviet side, Stalin still has hopes of relieving Sevastopol by piercing Manstein's line along the narrows, so the situation remains in flux.

The deck gun of U-85 which sank off the North Carolina coast on 14 April 1942 (Courtesy of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary).

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends a dozen Boston bombers to bomb the Mondeville power station without loss. After dark, RAF Bomber Command raids a new target, Dortmund, with 208 aircraft (142 Wellingtons, 34 Hampdens, 20 Stirlings, 8 Halifaxes, 4 Manchesters). Five Wellingtons and 4 Hampdens fail to return. As with the recently completed series of raids on Essen, bombing accuracy is poor and bombs strike all along a 40-mile stretch of the Ruhr River. In Dortmund, an industrial building and a military post are destroyed, along with four homes. Four other homes are damages with four deaths and 27 injured. In other operations, the RAF sends 23 bombers to Le Havre (which the bombers completely miss), five Blenheim intruders to Soesterberg airfield, and one Stirling on a minelaying mission off Heligoland. One bomber fails to return from the Le Havre mission.

The RAF loss ratio continues to be poor. In 237 sorties, the RAF loses ten aircraft for a loss ratio of 4.2%. Anything around 5% means the average flight crew required to fly 20 missions will likely not last his entire tour of duty.

The Luftwaffe has been strained ever since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, which has given Great Britain relief from major air attacks. However, the German public has begun to notice the sting of RAF Bomber Command raids, particularly the destruction of the historic seaport of Lubeck on 28 March 1942. Hitler, always sensitive to public opinion although he rarely lets it interfere with his own plans, directs Hermann Goering's planes to retaliate. These missions become known as the "Baedecker Blitz" after the famous guidebook. as they pinpoint small British towns that typically appear in it.

Men lining up to buy tickets at Union Station in Los Angeles, 14 April 1942 (Paul Calvert / Los Angeles Times).

In any event, there have been very few, if any, major raids against England for almost a year, but that is about to change. The Luftwaffe Operations Staff announces:

The Fuehrer has ordered that air warfare against England is to be given a more aggressive stamp. Accordingly, when targets are being selected, preference is to be given to those where attacks are likely to have the greatest possible effect on civilian life. Besides raids on ports and industry, terror attacks of a retaliatory nature [Vergeltungsangriffe] are to be carried out against towns other than London. Minelaying is to be scaled down in favor of these attacks.

This operation is notable for the first use in the German high command of the word "Vergeltungsangriffe," or "Vengeance," whose use will become much more common as the war progresses.

The Luftwaffe assigns the task to Luftflotte 3. The bomber squadron Erg. U. Lehr Kdo 100 will use its Heinkel He 111 bombers as pathfinders for a larger bomber force. About 80 bombers of II and III./KG 2 and II./KG 40, equipped with Dornier Do-217 and other models, compose the main strike force. KuFlGr 106 will use its Junkers Ju 88 bombers and I./KG 2 with around 25 Do-217s will also participate.

Attacks are to begin in strength later in April. The main targets will include York, Norwich, Canterbury, Bath, and Exeter - all towns roughly of the same size and importance to England as Lubeck was to the Reich. A representative of the German Foreign Office, Gustav Braun von Stumm, offhandedly claims (without authorization) that "We shall go out and bomb every building in Britain marked with three stars in the Baedeker Guide." This, however, is not how the German leadership wishes to characterize the raids, which are intended to be solely retaliatory and not targeting any specific cultural areas.

USS Roper, which sank U-85 on 14 April 1942 (Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command).

Battle of the Atlantic: It is a bad day for submarine crews, with two German (in the Atlantic) and one British submarine (in the Mediterranean) sunk. World War II submarine work is extremely hazardous with a high percentage of submarine sailors perishing during the war.

U-85 (Oblt. Eberhard Greger), on its fourth patrol out of St. Nazaire, is caught on the surface off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, by US Navy destroyer USS Roper. The crew of the Roper makes quick work of U-85 with gunfire because for some reason Greger remains on the surface throughout the engagement. All 46 crewmen of U-85 perish, many when Roper drops depth charges that kill swimming U-85 crewmen who had abandoned the sinking U-boat. This is the first U-boat sunk off the North American coast. U-85, which finishes its career with three ships sunk of 15,060 tons, sits in about 110 feet (34 m) of water 14 miles (23 km) east of Oregon Inlet along the Outer Banks between Wimble Shoals and Cape Hatteras. It is a popular dive site despite tricky currents. Incidentally, 29 bodies from U-85 were recovered and are buried under cover of darkness at Hampton National Cemetery.

U-252 (Kptlt. Kai Lerchen), on its first patrol out of Helgoland, is sunk at 22:30 by depth charges from escorts of Convoy OG-82. Royal Navy sloop HMS Stork and corvette Vetch take credit for the sinking southwest of Iceland. U-252, which had just landed German agent Ib Riis in Iceland, finishes its career with one sinking of 1355 tons.

U-85, sunk by USS Roper on 14 April 1942 (Courtesy of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary).

U-203 (Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg), on its sixth patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 6160-ton British tanker Empire Thrush about 8 miles north of Diamond Shoals near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. All 55 men aboard survive, picked up quickly by US Navy Q-ship USS Asterion (AK 100), which witnessed the attack from a distance.

U-66 (KrvKpt. Richard Zapp), on its fifth patrol out of Lorient, gets its first victory of what turns out to be a very successful patrol in the Caribbean, 2116-ton Greek freighter Korthion. It hits Korthion with one torpedo south of Barbados and the ship sinks quickly. There are 14 dead and 9 survivors.

U-571 (Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann), on its fourth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks 3352-ton US sugar freighter Margaret about 45 miles east of Cape Hatteras. The ship sinks within five minutes after a boiler explodes. All 29 men on board perish.

German 5032-ton freighter Kellerwald hits a mine and sinks off Helgoland. The RAF has been expending a great deal of effort recently in dropping mines in the German Bight.

The Luftwaffe attacks Murmansk, sinking the 5172-ton British freighter Lancaster Castle. There are ten dead, mostly Indian sailors.

Convoy TC-14 departs from the UK for Halifax. This is a special convoy that carries 10 tons of Russian gold that had been transferred from Archangel to the UK by light cruiser Kenya in Convoy QP-3.

Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn, lost at sea on 14 April 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder (Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn) disappears on or about this date. There are no survivors of Upholder's 32-man crew, so the exact circumstances and location of her loss are unknown. There are several theories, including depth charges from Italian torpedo boat Pegaso north of Tripoli or hitting a mine. The Admiralty report of her loss - ending with "The ship and her company are gone but the example and inspiration remain" - has an enduring place in Royal Navy history, with that phrase repeated verbatim after another loss during the Falklands War in 1982. Upholder ends its career having sunk 97,000 tons of enemy shipping, one destroyer, and three U-boats. Wanklyn is considered one of the top Royal Navy heroes of World War II.

Royal Navy submarine Turbulence (Cdr. J.W. Linton) uses its deck gun to sink 73-ton Italian sailing ship Franco about 10 miles south of Sebenico, Croatia. There is no record of the fate of the crew of three.

The air offensive against Malta continues, with constant air raids throughout daylight hours. The Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3, Hptm. Karl-Heinz Krahl, an Experten (ace) with 24 victories, is shot down and killed over Malta near Luqa Aerodrome. Major Kurt Brandle replaces him as Gruppenkommandeur.

The Enigma machine from U-85, recovered by divers in 2001. This is the type of machine used to encode messages by the Germans that the British Ultra program intercepted and decoded in real-time (The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources).

The RAF theater command in Cairo assembles a special strike force to attack Italian convoys known to be crossing from Sicily to Benghazi. This information is based on Ultra intercepts, though very, very few people know this. They build up a strike force within RAF No. 39 Squadron (along with elements of No. 22 Squadron, which happens to be passing through on its way to Ceylon) at Sidi Bu Amud, Libya. This is to be a shuttle mission, with the planes taking off in Egypt, attacking the convoy, and landing in Malta. At least, that's the plan.

The ships are known to be passing within 100 miles of Malta due to the German belief that the Luftwaffe air offensive has incapacitated the island. Basically, they are sailing on the shortest route south from Naples without any worry about attacks from Malta - normally, they would route around Sicily via Palermo. Nine RAF Beauforts and four Beaufighters set out (one Beaufort aborts early), but they have difficulties locating the convoy and then, when they do find it, run into unexpected Luftwaffe air cover. The mission makes no hits on the convoy and it turns into an RAF disaster,  Only three Beauforts make it back to base, two badly damaged, with seventeen of the aircrew lost. The mission effectively ends this strike force and deprives Ceylon of some air reinforcement. The lone serviceable plane flies back to Egypt.

"Sunset picture [on 14 April 1942] at Freetown Harbour showing a convoy at anchor. On the left is HMS DEVONSHIRE and on the extreme right is AMC ALCANTARA." This photo was taken from HMS Adamant. © IWM A 9225.

Battle of the Black Sea: Several Soviet ships supplying the troops on the Kerch peninsula of the Crimea sink after hitting mines. These sorts of mine strikes by multiple ships within a short time often happen right after mines are dropped by air in a new spot before ships can be routed around them.

Soviet troop transport Anton Chekhov hits a mine and sinks near Kerch. The mine likely was dropped by the Luftwaffe, which is being built up into an overpowering force in support of General Manstein's 11th Army. There are 200 deaths and 50 wounded men.

Soviet minesweeper KT-608, Soviet transport SS Kommunar, and submarine chaser SKA-042 also hit mines off Kerch. Eight men on the SKA-042 perish and 72 on the Kommunar.

Map of the encounter between USS Roper and U-85 on 14 April 1942.

Anglo/US Relations: The British quickly agree to a framework by Harry Hopkins and General George C. Marshall, who are in England for talks, for "Operation Bolero." This is the buildup of US forces in the British Isles which eventually leads to Operation Overlord, the Normandy Invasion. However, many details remain to be worked out that will be the province of a combined committee of American and British logistical officers. This committee begins to take shape quickly. At this time, there are only vague plans for a cross-Channel invasion in late 1942 at the earliest or more likely in mid-1943.

Australian/US Relations: The Australian government approves the 30 March directive in which General Douglas MacArthur was named Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). This effectively places an American in charge of the Australian military for the duration of the conflict, though, when pressed, the Australian government generally gets its way on the commitment of the Australian military.

British Military: Vice-Admiral W.T.R. Ford succeeds Vice-Admiral Sir Gordon Ramsey as Commander in Chief, Rosyth.

French Government: Premier Philippe Petain invites Pierre Laval to return to his former position leading the Vichy French government under Petain's nominal supervision. The Germans (meaning, Hitler) greatly prefer arch-collaborationist Laval to nationalist Petain and have demanded the change. After this, Petain becomes a figurehead. The decision is announced publicly on 15 April and Laval assumes office on 18 April.

Laval's appointment causes a crisis in relations with the United States, which still maintains diplomatic relations with Vichy France. Admiral William Leahy, the US Ambassador to France, cables the State Department about the news. It quickly replies that Leahy will be recalled once Laval assumes power.

The big news of the day in the Lima, Ohio, News is the return to power of Pierre Laval.

British Government: It is Budget Day in the UK, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kingsley Wood delivers the bad news. Taxes must be doubled, to 66%, on a wide variety of non-essential goods such as alcohol, tobacco, cosmetics, and theater tickets. Government expenditures for the year ending 31 March 1942 totaled £4 billion, £285 million above projections, while the current budget year is projected at £5.286 billion. Without Lend-lease, of course, the expenditures and deficits would be dramatically higher. Kingsley calls this the "sacrifices for the victory" budget. The standard income tax remains 50%.

Soviet Homefront: Premier Joseph Stalin, perhaps impressed by the successful US War Bond drive, opens his own war loan subscription. The goal is to raise 10 Billion Rubles.

American Homefront: Attorney General Francis Biddle writes a letter to Postmaster General Frank Walker suggesting that "Social Justice," Father Charles Coughlin's periodical, be banned from the United States mails by for violating the Espionage Act of 1917. The publication has been parroting German propaganda since before the German invasion of Poland. Biddle also considers indicting Father Coughlin himself for his political activities.

Biddle's letter sets in motion a chain of events that leads to the cessation of publication of Social Justice. With a hearing set for 4 May 1942, Coughlin's superior in the Church, Bishop Edward Aloysius Mooney, orders Coughlin to end all political activities. Coughlin complies, ends his involvement with Social Justice (which continues publication for a short time available only on newsstands and hereafter confines his activities solely to those of a local parish priest. This ends Coughlin's political career, and he quietly serves as pastor of his church, Shrine of the Little Flower, until 1966.

Future History: Valentin Vitalyevich Lebedev is born in Moscow, Russia. He becomes a cosmonaut who makes two flights into space, including spending 211 days in space aboard Space Station Salyut 7 in 1982. He is a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union and as of 2020 remains active in Russian scientific circles.

New Masses magazine, dated 14 April 1942, showing the disembodied heads of Father Coughlin (lower left) and Gerald L.K. Smith, both considered fascist sympathizers in the United States. This Marxist magazine featured an expose of Father Coughlin. Perhaps this is what caught the eye of Francis Biddle and caused him to shut down Coughlin's "Social Justice."

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 9, 1942: US Defeat in Bataan

Thursday 9 April 1942

HMS Hermes sinks on 9 April 1942 in this photo taken by Japanese aircrew, perhaps Mitsuo Fuchida.

Battle of the Pacific: The senior US commander on Bataan, the Philippines, Major General Edward P. King, meets with Japanese commander Major General Kameichiro Nagano on the morning of 9 April 1942 to surrender. As negotiations proceed, the US Navy destroyer its facilities at Mariveles and scuttle (or the Japanese destroy with shelling) any remaining ships there, including submarine tender USS Canopus, minesweeper Bittern, and tugs Napa, Yu Sang, and Henry Keswick (later refloated and repaired by the Japanese). A few ships manage to get away with a small number of evacuees to Corregidor, including three ferry launches (San Felipe, Camia, and Dap Dap) and some motor launches.  

The surrender begins a horrifying ordeal for the roughly 75,000 captured Allied (American and Filipino) soldiers, who from the beginning are mistreated and brutalized by their Japanese captors. Many of them do not survive the war. About 10-12,000 Allied troops either avoid capture or escape from the Japanese during the infamous Bataan Death March, which actually begins on 10 April.

The 9 April 1942 Sweetwater, Texas, Reporters paints the US surrender in Bataan as an "epic." This is the same tactic used by the German after the defeat at Stalingrad.

There remains one pocket of Allied resistance in the vicinity. Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright leads a small number of US forces in Malinta Tunnel on the island of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay. Wainright makes a public broadcast from the tunnel during the evening of 9 April 1942, saying in part:

Bataan has fallen. The Philippine-American troops on this war-ravaged and bloodstained peninsula have laid down their arms. With heads bloody but unbowed, they have yielded to the superior force and numbers of the enemy.

The Japanese quickly bring their artillery forward to bombard Corregidor. Fortunately for the island's defenders, it is heavily fortified. Malinta Tunnel includes 13 lateral tunnels branching off from the main shaft on the north side and 11 lateral tunnels on the south side. This provides shelter from the artillery and air pounding that the island soon receives. Ironically, the cement used to build the tunnels was purchased from the Japanese. US Navy submarine USS Snapper delivers some supplies to Corregidor, which is subject to a Japanese blockade.

HMS Hermes sinks off the coast of Ceylon, 9 April 1942.

There are some naval skirmishes offshore. Two US torpedo boats, PT-34 and PT-41, harass Japanese light cruiser HIJMS Kuma and torpedo boat Kiji without causing much damage off Cape Tanon, Cebu Island. The Japanese retaliate later in the day by using floatplanes flying from Japanese seaplane carrier HIJMS Sanuki Maruand to bomb and strafe PT-34, which is beached off Cauit Island (two dead and four survivors, with two or three wounded).

The events of April 9, 1942, deeply permeate the Philippines psyche. April 9th becomes a national holiday, the "Day of Valor" (Araw ng Kagitingan). A "Shrine of Valor" (Dambana ng Kagitingan) and memorial cross are built atop Mount Samat in Pilar, Bataan, the point of the Japanese breakthrough that led to the fall of Bataan.

Far to the east, half of the US Navy's carrier force in the Pacific is sailing almost due west toward Japan. Admiral Bull Halsey leads Task Force 16 in a sprint to catch up with a smaller group led by the aircraft carrier USS Hornet that is carrying B-25s that normally do not fly from carriers. The Japanese remain completely unaware of this approaching menace for the time being. The two groups plan to rendezvous at sea on 13 April.

HMAS Vampire under attack prior to sinking, 9 April 1942. This photo appears to show the bomb striking that breaks it in half.

Battle of the Indian Ocean:  The Japanese Indian Ocean Raid reaches its climax with renewed attacks against Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and British naval forces. At dawn, Admiral Nagumo sends over 100 planes to attack the port of Trincomalee. They are met by 22 defending RAF fighters that are brushed aside. The Japanese wreak devastation on the harbor facilities, including badly damaging/sinking 7953-ton British freighter Sagaing (3 deaths), but do not succeed in locating their real target, the Royal Navy Eastern Fleet. Incidentally, the Sagaing was raised and moved to a different location by the Sri Lanka navy in 2018 to open up the harbor.

However, the Japanese get lucky. Hearing about the Japanese raid, Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes (Captain R.F.J. Onslow), which had left Trincomalee to avoid the raid, turns around to help out. This turns out to be a big mistake. Japanese scout planes quickly locate Hermes and vector in bombers from aircraft carriers Hiryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku. They arrive over Hermes quickly before the dwindling shore-based RAF fighters can arrive, and hit it with over 40 bombs in about ten minutes, sinking it. There are about 600 survivors of Hermes and over 307 deaths. The accompanying destroyer HMAS Vampire (nine dead) also is hit, breaks in half, and sinks. Not far away, Royal Navy corvette Hollyhock (49 dead) and tankers Athelstane (5571 tons) and British Sergeant (5868 tons) also are sunk, with Hollyhock sinking in less than a minute. Japanese bombers from Akagi sink 2924-ton Norwegian freighter Norviken (four dead, 42 survivors).

B5N2 "Kate" coded EII-330 of the Zuikaku carrier during the Indian Ocean Raid on Trincomalee, April 9, 1942.

The British retaliate by sending nine Bristol Blenheim bombers of RAF No. 11 Squadron to attack Nagumo's fleet. Somehow, the bombers evade the fleet's combat air patrol, perhaps misidentified as fellow Japanese planes. The bombers make it intact over Nagumo's carriers and drop their bombs from 11,000 feet (3353 m), but achieve no hits. The defending Japanese fighters then shoot down four of the bombers at the cost of two Zeros (the planes returning from sinking the Hermes account for one of the bombers and one of the lost Zeros).

Overall, the raid on Trincomalee is another Japanese victory and caps off a very successful raid in the Indian Ocean. The British have lost a carrier, two cruisers, 23 merchant ships of 112,312 tons, and numerous planes. Royal Navy port facilities at Colombo and Trincomalee have been devastated. However, Nagumo has failed at his real goal of engaging and destroying the greatly inferior British Eastern Fleet. Sinking the Hermes is a feather in Nagumo's cap, but it was an old World War I carrier that had been converted into a training ship between the wars and not a true modern carrier. This is not meant to denigrate the Japanese victory, but assembling a five-carrier fleet and sending it on such a long mission consumed a lot of resources. The returns for the Indian Ocean raid were good, but insufficient to wrest control of the region from the British as hoped. In a way, it becomes a tactical victory but a strategic defeat for the Japanese.

Two B5N2 "Kate" bombers from aircraft carrier Zuikaku depart from Trincomalee Habor, which can be seen blazing in the background, on 9 April 1942.

Eastern Front: Soviet General Kozlov, commander of all forces in the Crimea, launches his fourth offensive against General Manstein's forces defending the Parpach Narrows. Stavka representative Lev Mekhlis, who reflects Stalin's thinking, changes the strategy from previous attacks to mass tanks for a breakthrough rather than distributing them throughout infantry formations. Manstein's 11th Army, however, has received many Luftwaffe reinforcements and the 28th Light Infantry Division. Kozlov also has received reinforcements, but not the best new Soviet tanks such as the T-34.

Kozlov's men already have suffered heavy losses in his previous three offenses and one launched by Manstein. However, Kozlov still commands half a dozen rifle divisions, which could be considered arguably adequate for the job. Massing the tanks also is an effective strategy under the right circumstances, but these turn out not to be the right circumstances.

This Soviet offensive fares no better than earlier offensives and only gains undefendable (marshy, barren) ground. The German 28th Light Division has the new 2.8 cm sPzB 41 light anti-tank gun, and this proves perfect for taking on the advancing Soviet tanks. One Wehrmacht soldier, Obergefreiter Emanuel Czernik, knocks out seven T26 and one BT tank on the first day. The Soviet attack achieves nothing except piling up more Soviet casualties and depleting Kozlov's reserves. The offensive quickly peters out.

The 9 April 1942 NY Times goes to press before news of the fall of Bataan. The big news otherwise is the arrival of US envoys in London to discuss the arrival of masses of US troops.

European Air Operations: It is a cloudy day, so not much happens on the Channel Front. Seven Wellington bombers attempt to raid Essen, but six turn back and the seventh bombs a village north of the city. There are no losses.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-123 (Kptlt. Reinhard Hardegen), on its eighth patrol out of Lorient, continues very successful operations off the east coast of the United States. It torpedoes and sinks 3365-ton US refrigerated freighter Esparta about 14 miles south of Brunswick, Georgia. The torpedo hit releases ammonia gas used in the refrigeration system, causing men to quickly leap overboard (one dies). It takes two hours for the ship to sink completely in the shallow water. There are 39 survivors and only one death.

U-160 (Oblt. Georg Lassen), on its first patrol out of Helgoland, is operating slightly north of U-123 and also scores a success. It torpedoes and sinks 3516-ton US freighter Malchace about 25-50 miles off Cape Lookout. The U-boat then surfaces, circles the slowly sinking ship, and allows most of the crew to abandon ship in good order before finishing the ship off with another torpedo. There is one dead and 28 survivors.

USS California entering No. 2 Dry Dock at Pearl Harbor on 9 April 1942. The battleship was hit by two torpedoes and one bomb during the 7 December 1942 Pearl Harbor raid, sank, and was raised from the mud on the harbor bottom on 4 April 1942. Source: U.S.S. California Torpedo and Bomb Damage confidential report.

U-552 (Kptlt. Erich Topp),  on its eighth patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 7137-ton US tanker Atlas near where U-160 sank the Malchace. The Atlas crew abandoned ship in good order before the U-boat fired a second torpedo that ignited the fuel cargo. However, the flames spread across the water as fuel spilled out of the tanker, engulfing a lifeboat and killing two crewmen. There are two dead and 32 survivors.

U-252 (Kptlt. Kai Lerchen), on its first and only patrol of the war out of Helgoland, torpedoes and sinks 1355-ton Norwegian freighter Fanefjeld off the northwest tip of Iceland. All 24 crewmen perish, though some debris and a body are found. The U-boat is in this unusual location because it has just landed espionage agent Ib Arnason Riis in northern Iceland on 6 April 1942.

Retired baseball star Babe Ruth signs a baseball for starlet Jane Withers in the 9 April 1942 The Sporting News. Jane Withers is still alive in 2020. You may remember her as "Josephine the Plumber" in television commercials for Comet cleanser. It is reported elsewhere on this day that the Babe is critically ill but responding to treatment.

Soviet submarine ShCh 421 (Lt. Cdr Vidyaev) hits a mine in German Minefield Ursula and is badly damaged off Svaerholthavet (Porsanger Fjord) in northern Norway. The crew abandons ship to another Soviet submarine, K-22, which torpedoes and sinks it. Another Soviet submarine, M-174, attacks a German convoy off Varangerfjord, Norway, without success.

US Navy torpedo boat PT-59 accidentally torpedoes freighter USS Capella (AK-13) in upper Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, while on maneuvers. The freighter is only damaged and does not sink.

It is a bad night for collisions. The US Coast Guard is trying to implement a convoy system off the east coast, but in blackout conditions, the situation remains chaotic. Norwegian 3931-ton freighter Benwood collides with tanker Robert C. Tuttle northeast of Molasses Reef, Florida. The Benwood is beached on Alligator Reef but later sinks in shallow water, where it becomes a destination for sport divers. In another collision, 2349-ton Argentinian steel freighter Brazil hits the Smith Point Light in the Chesapeake Bay and sinks.

This 500-kg Luftwaffe bomb penetrated through the rotunda of the 1833 Mosta, Malta, church on 9 April 1942. The bomb did not explode and was immediately carted away.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Thrasher torpedoes and sinks Italian freighter Gala off Benghazi, Libya. At Malta, the Axis air offensive continues and sinks Royal Navy destroyer Lance.

Royal Navy submarine Torbay uses its deck gun to sink Italian auxiliary patrol boat/schooner R-113 (Avanguardista) about nine miles off the Greek island of Antipaxos.

US Military: The US Army Air Force 8th Air Force is destined to head to the United Kingdom, but it remains in the United States. Today, it transfers its headquarters to Bolling Field in southern Washington, D.C.

The Onion satirical newspaper published this send-up of homefront news. Purporting to be from April 9, 1942, the page notes that internment camps have been set up for 32 million German-Americans, "including FDR himself."

American Homefront: The national New York Times Best Sellers List begins in the New York Times Book Review (Sundays). The national list debuts a supplement to regular New York City lists published by the paper and is derived from "reports from leading booksellers in 22 cities." The city lists eventually disappear, leaving only the national list.

Future History: President Donald J. Trump designates 9 April 2017 as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day. The proclamation states in part:

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Bataan Death March. After the surrender of the Bataan peninsula in the Philippines on April 9, 1942, Filipino and American soldiers were rounded up and forced to march 60 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando. An estimated 500 Americans died during the march, as they were starved, beaten, and tortured to death. Those who reached San Fernando were taken in cramped boxcars to POW camps, where thousands more Americans died of disease and starvation.

An annual Bataan Memorial Death March is held at White Sands Missle Range, New Mexico each April 9th. There as still survivors of the Bataan Death March as of 2020.

Brandon deWilde is born in Brooklyn, New York. He becomes a child actor and debuts on Broadway at the age of 7. He goes on to a stellar acting career, being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Shane" (1953). However, as he leaves his teens, good film roles become scarce, so he turns more to television roles. Brandon deWilde perishes in a car crash on 7 July 1972 in Colorado. 

Hayward, California, newspapers of April 9, 1942, displayed at a newsstand at a corner drugstore in a Japanese-American neighborhood, recording Bataan's fall. 9 April 1942 (Library of Congress 96509399).

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 6, 1942: Japanese Devastation In Bay of Bengal

Monday 6 April 1942

M4A1 tanks on parade for Army Day, 6 April 1942, in front of the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Japanese Indian Ocean raid, Operation C, continues on 6 April 1942. The Japanese Kido Butai strike group wreaks devastation throughout the Bay of Bengal, sinking freighter and tankers left and right, most of whom are probably completely oblivious to the presence of the most powerful enemy fleet in existence nearby. The ships sunk are listed below.

However, despite clearing the seas of enemy shipping, the Japanese have a problem. While he does not realize it, Japanese Admiral Nagumo is sailing away from the British Eastern Fleet that it is his mission to destroy. On the British side, Admiral James Somerville now realizes that the Japanese fleet includes four aircraft carriers and three battleships and that this force is superior to his own forces. Thus, he does not get overly aggressive. During the day, the British reinforce their Force A with Force B and they advance to the vicinity of where the Japanese recently sank cruisers heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and Dorsetshire. There, the British rescue 1122 survivors. However, Somerville does not know where the Japanese are and thus is operating in the dark.

The Clarksville, Tennessee, Leaf-Chronicle accurately sums up the war situation on 6 April 1942.

The massive Japanese fleet, meanwhile, after withdrawing to the southwest after their attack on Colombo, has circled around again to the northeast roughly toward Ceylon (Sri Lanka). During the day, heavy cruisers Kumano and Suzuya along with destroyer Shirakumo of the Northern Group under rear Admiral Kurita Takeo encounter and sink British freighters Silksworth, Autolycus, Malda, and Shinkuang and the American ship Exmoor. The Central Group also sinks a freighter, while the Southern Group sinks three freighters.

To give some perspective, let's look at the damage going on in the Bay of Bengal on 6 April 1942. Ships sunk and damaged today in the Bay of Bengal include:

• Dutch freighter Van Der Capellen (damaged by planes from aircraft carrier Ryujo)
• British freighter Taksang (sunk by cruisers Yura and Yugiri)
• British freighter Silksworth (sunk by cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, and Shirakumo, 50 survivors)
• British freighter Shinkuang (sunk by cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, and Shirakumo)
• British freighter Shinkiang (sunk by planes from Ryujo)
• US freighter Selma City (sunk by floatplanes from cruiser Chokai)
• British freighter Malda (sunk by cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, and Shirakumo)
• British freighter Indora (sunk by cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, and Shirakumo
• Norwegian freighter Hermod (sunk by two cruisers, all 36 men survive)
• British freighter Ganges (sunk by floatplanes from cruiser Chokai)
• British freighter Gandara (sunk by cruisers Mikuma, Mogami, and Amagiri)
• US freighter Exmoor (sunk by cruisers Kumano and Suzuya)
• Norwegian tanker Elsa (sunk by two cruisers, 1 of 30 crew dead)
• Norwegian freighter Dagfred (sunk by two cruisers (all 40 men survive)
• US freighter Bienville (sunk by planes from Ryujo and cruiser Chokai with 24 dead)
• Dutch freighter Batavia (sunk by cruisers Yura and Yugiri)
• Dutch freighter Banjoewangi (sunk by cruisers Uyra and Yugiri)
• British freighter Autolycus (sunk by cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, and Shirakumo).

No matter how you look at it, that's a lot of sunk and damaged ships. The only "silver lining" for the Allies is that they manage to avoid losing any major warships today. However, they've already lost two cruisers and other naval vessels during the Indian Ocean raid - and, without giving anything away, they're about to lose more, too.

Nagumo's next target to draw out the British fleet is Trincomalee on Ceylon, but this will take a couple of days to set up. In the interim, his overpowering might will continue to clear the seas of Allied shipping.

Twin Falls, Idaho, Times News, 6 April 1942.

Separately, Japanese submarine HIJMS I-5 catches and sinks a US freighter about 216 miles northwest of the Maldive Islands. I-4 also sinks a US freighter at the entrance to Eight Degree Channel, the Washingtonian. The 42-man crew makes it to the Maldive Islands. Japanese bombers also sink Indian sloop HMIS Indus at Akyab, Burma, with ten crewmen wounded.

While the British Eastern Fleet is occupied with the Kido Butai strike group, the Japanese land troops at Rangoon. General Chiang Kai-Shek decides to send another division to help the Burma I Corps and directs the Chinese 200th and 96th Divisions in Burma to hold Pyinmana and Taungdwingyi, Burma.

The Japanese Air Force also creates problems for the Allies by conducting their first bombing raid on India. They attack Coconada and Madras. 

Honolulu, Hawaii, Advertiser, 6 April 1942. This copy was sent by a US Army Private to his mother in Kansas.

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese continue occupying areas that the Allies have abandoned. They send a small force from Truk Atoll in the Caroline Islands to the Lorengau on the eastern shore of Manus Island in the Bismarck Archipelago. Also on the Bismarck Archipelago, the US Army Air Force bombs Gasmata, New Britain Island. 

Lieutenant Colonel Jame H. Doolittle remains at sea aboard the USS Hornet en route to Japan. This is a complex operation, and today the Assam-Burma-China Ferry Command begins hauling 30,000 gallons of aviation fuel and 500 gallons of lubricants from Calcutta to Asansol in West Bengal, India, for his bombers. Of course, the Doolittle bombers will need to survive the mission and make it to India via China to be able to use these supplies.

On the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, the situation does not improve for the Allies. A counterattack by II Corps (eastern end of the line) runs head-on into a Japanese attack and is forced back. A separate counterattack a little further east by US 31st Infantry and the Filipino 21st Division to close the breach at Mount Samat also fails. Another counterattack toward Mount Samat from a little to the west is smashed, with the Filipino 33rd Infantry surrounded and presumed lost. The situation at II Corps is in chaos, while the I Corps holding the western end of the line is doing only a little better. The Allied troops in the west withdraw to the San Vicente River. Two river gunboats, USS Mindanao and Oahu intercept the Japanese landing craft and claim four sunk, but later in the day, the Mindanao is damaged in another firefight.

Military police on a watchtower overlooking the Santa Anita Assembly Center in California, 6 April 1942 (Photographer Clem Albers. National Archives Ctrl.#: NWDNS-210-G-B389; NARA ARC#: 537020).

Eastern Front: The five divisions of German General Seydlitz are making very slow progress along the Staraya Russa - Demyansk road. While the Germans only have six miles to reach the Lovat River and a total of 20 miles to relieve the Demyansk pocket, the Soviets have brought in heavy reinforcements and the going is very slow. There is some question about whether the roughly 100,000 Germans trapped in Demyansk (and the much smaller force at Kholm) can hold out much longer, so the Luftwaffe comes to their rescue. It flies 360 sorties today to and from the pockets, escorted by fighters of JG 51 and 53. The Germans are fortunate that the Soviets have been unable to bring up heavy anti-aircraft units in the 20 miles between the lines, but the flights are still somewhat hazardous due to ground fire. The German Ju 52s fly at treetop level to minimize the danger and drop many of their supply pallets by parachute, some of which drift into Soviet hands or into no-man's land, causing firefights to break out.

The Luftwaffe continues its air offensive against the Soviet fleet at the naval base on Kronstadt island just outside of Leningrad. Soviet battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and cruiser Maksim Gorki are hit and badly damaged by Heinkel He 111 medium bombers of Kampfgeschwader 4, but no ships are sunk.

RAF aerial reconnaissance photo of the Kriegsmarine base at Swinemünde (Świnoujście), 6 April 1942. Number 1 is cruiser Emden, No. 2 is cruiser Leipzig (Naval History and Heritage Command NH 80497).

European Air Operations: Tonight's main target for RAF Bomber Command is Essen, a frequent objective. The RAF sends 157 bombers, but they encounter terrible weather conditions including cloud cover of the target. While 49 bomber crews claim to have reached and bombed the target, few bombs actually fall in Essen and there are no casualties and light damage. The RAF loses five bombers (2 Hampdens and one apiece of Manchesters, Stirlings, and Wellingtons) on this failed raid.

In other attacks, one RAF bomber attacks Schipol Airfield and another the port area at Ostend.

Norwegian tanker Koll, sunk by U-571 on 6 April 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-160 (Oblt. Georg Lassen), on its first patrol out of Helgoland, scores its fourth victory at 08:07 when it damages 6837-ton US tanker Bidwell about 50 miles southeast of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. Showered with burning oil, the second mate jumps overboard and is drowned, but that is the only casualty. The tanker continues to steam forward, but the steering gear is damaged so it just steams in a circle (like the Bismarck in May 1941). Two US destroyers arrive within two hours, and the ship's steering issues are repaired sufficiently for it to make port in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

U-571 (Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann), on its fourth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks 10,044-ton Norwegian tanker Koll east of Cape Hatteras. When it doesn't sink right away, the U-boat surfaces to give the men in the boats some crackers and uses its deck gun to fire 30 rounds and finish off the tanker. There are three dead and 33 survivors. Two lifeboats from Koll are at sea until the 14th before being picked up by passing freighters.

U-754 (Kptlt. Hans Oestermann), on its second patrol out of Brest, winds up a very successful patrol (its best of the war) by torpedoing and sinking 9858-ton Norwegian tanker Kollskegg about 350 miles northwest of Bermuda. There are 4 dead and 38 survivors. This incident is unusual in that the men in the Kollskegg boats spot the lifeboats from the Koll, also sunk today as mentioned above, though they are later separated.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy destroyer HMS Havock runs aground at Kelibia on the Cap Bon peninsula, Tunisia. Havock is wrecked (later finished off with a torpedo from Italian submarine Aradam) and one crewman perishes, with 150 crewmen and 100 soldier passengers rescued. The Vichy French control Tunisia, and they follow the rules of war by interning the British crew and passengers (released in November 1942 due to Operation Torch). 

Axis bombers attack Alexandria and continue their air offensive against Malta. Among the victims today is the Royal Navy tugboat HMS West Cocker.

Japanese internment evacuation at Van Ness in the Fillmore neighborhood of San Francisco, 6 April 1942 (Bancroft Library).

Partisans: Operation Bamberg, a German antipartisan military attack on known partisan hideouts in the area of Bobruysk in the Belorussian region of the German-occupied western USSR, concludes. Bamberg is the prototype for future German antipartisan operations. Mounted by the reinforced 707th Division, a Slovak infantry regiment, and the 315th Schutzpolizeibataillon, Operation Bamberg involved drawing a "noose" around the partisan area and then moving inward to flush out the partisans. This strategy comports with the recent Fuhrer Directive No. 41 order to "mop up" behind the front.

While closely followed by the German high command (including Adolf Hitler via the OKH) which placed high hopes in it, Bamberg turns out at best to be a mixed success. On the positive side, any actual partisan bases are torched and active partisan operations in the area are stopped, at least for the time being. However, there are many questionable results. The Germans find that identifying actual partisans is difficult, as they purposefully blend in with local inhabitants. Many people identified as partisans may or may not be so, so any numbers on partisans eliminated (the Germans claim 3600) are suspect. One of the German tactics is to destroy villages and farms in the "hot zone" at the center of the target area, which earns the Germans enmity in the region and probably just creates more partisans. However, despite its failings, Operation Bamberg becomes the template for future antipartisan operations, of which there are many to come.

Spy Stuff: U-252 (Kptlt. Kai Lerchen) lands spy Ib Arnason Riis in northern Iceland on the remote Langanes Peninsula. Riis is half-Iceland and half-Danish and a reluctant Abwehr recruit. After being dropped off in poor weather, Riis walks for 17 hours through rain and snow until he finds a farmhouse where he gives himself up. After being interrogated in Reykjavik, Riis leads army officers back to Langanes where he digs up his buried radio and other equipment. He becomes a double agent, feeding the Germans false information under the supervision of a British naval officer. The Germans are completely unaware of his treachery and award him the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class - making Ib Riis the only Icelander to receive those awards.

Japanese/Soviet Relations: After riding the Trans-Siberian Railway, Naotake Satō, the new Japanese Ambassador to the USSR, presents his credentials to Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov. In the confusing politics of the era, Japan is at war with several of the Soviet Union's main allies but is not at war with the Soviet Union. Satō will serve as the Japanese ambassador to the Soviet Union for the remainder of World War II and be involved in murky negotiations with Molotov regarding possible peace deals with the Allies that never pan out.

A Coca Cola ad, 6 April 1942 Life magazine.

US Military: US troops continue to flow into Australia. Today, the 41st Infantry Division, the 163d Infantry, the 167th Field Artillery Battalion, and other units arrive in Melbourne, Victoria. They become part of General Douglas MacArthur's Army Forces in Australia.

The USAAF Fifth Air Force sends the 11th and 12th Bombardment Squadrons, 7th Bomber Group (Heavy) sans equipment back to the United States to re-equip. The units will proceed to Columbia, South Carolina, to receive B-25 bombers.

Canadian Military: The First Canadian Army forms in the United Kingdom. Its commander is Lieutenant General Andrew McNaughton.

Life magazine, 6 April 1942.

American Homefront: In Proclamation 2542 of 20 March 1942, President Roosevelt proclaimed April 6, 1942, as Army Day. In that Proclamation, FDR wrote:

Army Day becomes, therefore, in fact a total-war day. It becomes a day when all of our citizens in civil pursuits can rally to the support of our armed forces, for only in the united effort of all of our forces—Army, Navy, and civilians—can we find the strength to defeat our enemies.

The Axis powers have not yet adopted the phrase "Total War" to describe their war effort. The Reich will not do that until after Stalingrad, in another year.

Future History: Barry Levinson is born in Baltimore, Maryland. After starting out as a television writer, Levinson becomes a prominent filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional actor. His major breakthrough is with "Diner" (1982), set in his native Baltimore. His extensive list of films written, directed, or produced includes "High Anxiety" (1977), "Tin Men" (1987), and "Good Morning, Vietnam" (1987). Barry Levinson remains active in the film industry as of 2020.

Time magazine, 6 April 1942, with Ezequiel Padilla (Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs) on the cover (cover credit Ernest Hamlin Baker).

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