Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- 9 B-25s of the 341st Medium Bomb Group attack rail facilities at Pyinmana.
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] Short Sunderland Mark I |
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Air Operations, Europe
US 8th AIR FORCENETHERLANDS:
- An attack 103 VIII Bomber Command heavy bombers is thwarted by heavy cloud cover over the target, but 33 B-17s drop a total of 99 tons of bombs on several shipyards. There is a collision between 2 B-17s of the 303rd Heavy Bomb Group while forming up for the mission results in the loss of both planes and 15 crewmen.
- 3 B-17s and 1 B-24 are lost, 4 B-17s and 1 B-24 are damaged; 1 crewman killed, 10 wounded, 10 missing
- 90th Heavy Bombardment Group B-24s attack Babo.
- 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Salamaua.
- B-24s mount individual attacks against the airfield at Lae, Finschhafen, and several other targets.
- NATAF A-20s, B-25s, and fighters attack La Fauconnerie Airdrome and numerous tactical targets throughout the shrinking Axis holdings in eastern Tunisia.
- IX Bomber Command B-25s and elements of the WDAF attack the Sfax/Rl Maou Airdrome.
- IX Fighter Command P-40s attack numerous ground targets of opportunity, especially motor vehicles along the highway north of Gabes.
- While supporting a late-afternoon ground-attack mission, 33rd Fighter Group P-40 pilots down 9 Bf-109s and 4 Ju-87s near El Guettar.
| ]Air Operations, Mediterranean
A large US bombing force consisting of about 100 B-17s attacks Cagliari, Sardinia, the relay post for Axis shipments to Tunisia and an important air base.
[ | ]Air Operations, New Guinea
| ]Air Operations, Sardinia
NASAF B-17s, including the combat debut of the 99th Heavy Bomb Group, attack the Decimomannu, Monserrato and Villacidro Airdromes and Cagiliari harbor.
[ | ]Air Operations, Solomons
XIII Fighter Command P-38s and P-40s attack targets on Santa Isabel.
[ | ]Air Operations, Tunisia
| ]Aleutian Islands
The American Pacific Command issues a directive for the invasion of the island of Attu. The operation is to take place on May 7 and will be directed by Adm Thomas Kinkaid, Commander of Task Force 16 of the Northern Pacific. Under him will be Rear-Adm Francis W. Rockwell, who will command the combined operations landing force, and Gen Albert E. Brown, heading the US 7th Div, an unexpected task for this division which has been trained for months in desert warfare.
[ | ]Axis Diplomacy
King Boris of Bulgaria meets with Hitler.
[ | ]CBI
Gen Stilwell's 124 transport aircraft in theater can deliver only about 4,000 tons of supplies a month to China. Gen Chennault's 10th Air Force uses 1,500 tons of these supplies. The Americans open training centers at Kunming for Chinese infantry and artillery officers, but at a far lower rate than Stilwell expects. Chennault claims that with more support, he will able to attack the Japanese home islands later in 1943. This outrageously optimistic proposal appeals to President Roosevelt, who raises the authorized supply tonnage to Chennault.
[ | ]Eastern Front
CENTRAL SECTORThe Kalinin and West Fronts conlude their Rzhev-Vyazma Operation. Of 876,000 men whe began the operation, some 38,862 have been killed or reported missing and 99,715 wounded.[MORE]
[ | ]Germany, Command
29-year-old Maj-Gen Dietrich Peltz, Stuka ace and tactician, is appointed Angriffsführer England ('Attack Leader England') in an attempt to revitalize the flagging Luftwaffe offensive against the UK.
[ | ] Jews from Bulgarian-occupied Macedonia and Thrace |
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Iran
The American air force takes over responsibility for a big factory at Abadan that assembles the aircraft supplied by the USA to the USSR.
[ | ]New Guinea
MacKechnie Force, consisting of the 1st Battalion of the US 162nd Inf and called after the name of the officer commanding the regiment Col Archibald MacKechnie, is taken by sea to the mouth of the Waria River to occupy that position and a neighboring airfield.
[ | ]North Africa
TUNISIACap Serrat in Tunisia is occupied by the British.
In the US II Corps area, the 16th and 26th Regimental Combat Teams of the 1st Div attempt unsuccessfully to clear the southeastern tip of Djebel el Mcheltat. The 9th Div makes little progess against the bypassed Hill 772 on Djebel Berda and Hill 369 on Djebel el Kreroua. Task Force Benson, 1st Armored Div, attacks about noon, passing through a lane cleared in a mine field, and secures most of the region from the road to the foothills to the north, but loses 9 tanks. 4 more tanks are salvaged.
Combat Command A begins a diversionary attack against Djebel Djebs, a hill mass north of Maknassy, and evokes a sharp enemy reaction. As a diversion for the 34th Div's attack on Fondouk Gap, Company C of the 751st Tank Battalion, Company A of 813th Tank Battalion, and a motorized company of the 109th Combat Engineers attack on the northwestern slopes of Djebel Touila, about 5 miles south of the infantry. During the next two nights the 34th Div assault force pulls back out of range of the enemy fire and establishes defensive positions, concluding the Fondouk Gap battle.
In the British 8th Army area, Gen Montgomery decides to await reinforcements and regroup upon learning from the X Corps commander that an immediate assault across Wadi Akarit would be costly. The XXX Corps, which is reinforced by the New Zealand Div, is to be responsible for securing a bridgehead.
In the British 1st Army area, the V Corps' 46th Div gains all its objectives on the northern flank of the corps, recovering El Aouana. The enemy pulls back from Cap Serrat. Preparations are begun for the next phase of the attack: the clearing of the Bédja-Medjez road and relieving pressure on Medjez. The French XIX Corps makes contact with the US 34th Div at El Ala, west of Fondouk.
Italian Prisoners Marching Back Through 8th Army Lines |
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| ]Solomons
Japanese aircraft carry out several raids on the Russell Islands.
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