Air Operations, Aleutians

13 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 12 B-25s, 39 343rd Fighter Group P-38s, 32 P-40s, and 2 F-5s mount 13 attacks against Kiska.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the marshalling yards at Rangoon.
• 9 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the rail junction at Thazi.
• 9 B-25s unable to reach Maymyo because of bad weather divert against rail yards at Mandalay.
• 51st Fighter Group P-40s attack a rail bridge near Mogaung and a bridge at Pinbaw.

• 23rd Fighter Group P-40s strafe buildings near Tengchung.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Vila Salazar, Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 25 Venturas bomb a chemical works at Ostend and the railway yards at Haarlem without a loss.

• 327 aircraft including 197 Lancasters and 130 Halifaxes are sent to bomb the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.
• This raid takes place in the light of a full moon, but is not a success. The Main Force is ordered to locate the Skoda factory visually using the Pathfinder markings as guides only. The Skoda factory is not hit and photographs indicate the nearest bomb loads to the factory may have been 3 miles away. It is believed that some of the bomb loads are dropped near a lunatic asylum at Dobrany, Czechoslovakia.
• 18 Halifaxes and 18 Lancasters are lost.
• In another major effort, Mannheim is the target of 271 aircraft including 159 Wellingtons, 95 Stirlings and 17 Halifaxes.
• The Pathfinders accurately mark the target and an effecive raid follows.
• 9 Wellingtons, 7 Stirlins and 2 Halifaxes are lost.

• 11 OTU planes make leaflet flights over France.

Captured German Aircraft

This captured German aircraft landed at RAF West Malling on April 16, 1943, flown by Uzz. Otto Bechtolder, short of fuel and pilot disorientated. It was converted for use by the Royal Air Force as PE882. On a test flight from Collyweston air field it caught fire in the air and crashed, killing RAF pilot F/Lt Ernest Richards Lewenden on Oct. 13, 1944. The plane was damaged beyond repair. Ernest Lewenden is buried in Aperthorpe (St Leonards) Churchyard.

30 FW-190s are sent to London in the first night raid by German fighter-bombers. Only 2 bombs are on target. 4 confused pilots mistake West Malling airfield in Kent for their home base. 1 crashes and 3 are captured on landing.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

Palermo and Catania, in Sicily, are again heavily bombed by US planes.

Lunch in the gun bucket of twin 40-mm guns aboard the US escort carrier Independence (CVL-22).

Lunch Aboard an Escort Carrier

Busy gun buckets and catwalk of the Independence (CVL-22). Note one 40-mm in recoil.

Busy Gun Buckets of the Independence

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Kaimana, Lae, Madang, and Wewak.
• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack shipping at Wewak.

Air Operations, Solomons

• During the night 15 XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 8 VT-26 and VC-28 TBFs attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainvill.
• In the first attack of its kind in the region, 2 VC-27 TBFs accompanying the larger force conduct a mast-high bombing attack against Japanese ships in nearby New Georgia Sound.

China

The Japanese 11th Army concentrates in readiness for an offensive in the western province of Hupeh, with the object of extending Japanese control to the upper Yangtze.

Mediterranean

The British destroyer Pakenham is badly damaged off Sicily after an engagement with 2 Italian torpedo boats, the Cassiopaea and the Cigno. The British destroyer Paladin takes her in tow, but attacks by enemy aircraft makes the passage unsafe and Paladin scuttles her. The Cigno is also lost during the action.

North Africa

The Western Desert Air Force, including the US 9th Air Force, begins operating from airfields near Kairouan and Sousse.

The 18th Army Group issues instructions for the coming offensive to capture Tunis and Bizerte. The US II Corps moves its headquarters from Gafsa to a region 2 miles northwest of Bédja. The 1st Armored Div starts a move to the British V Corps zone, with the artillery being the first unit to go.

The British 8th Army abandons its attempts to force the enemy, by quick jabs, from his Enfidaville position and prepares to make a large-scale effort on the night of the 19th.

In the British 1st Army's V Corps area, the 78th Div's offensive has gained a depth of 10 miles on a 10-mile front and has freed Medjez el Bab from the enemy threat. The US 1st Div begins the relief of the 4th Div northeast of Bédja.

Troops of 4th Indian Division in their foxholes, Tunisia, April 1943.

Indian Troops in Tunisia

Vichy France

The government announces the evacuation of children and 'non-essential' persons from several major Channel ports, namely, Brest, Cherbourg, Dieppe, St Malo and Le Havre.

War Crimes

(17th?)The Polish government-in-exile in London issues a statement on the Katyn 'Massacre' asking for Red Cross investigation. The request is withdrawn April 30 under British and Soviet diplomatic pressure.