Air Operations, Europe

• 32 aircraft lay mines off the Biscay ports and there are 5 OTU sorties.
• 1 Lancaster and 1 Wellington are lost in the mine-laying operation.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

6 giant Me-323 transports are shot down over the Gulf of Tunis by RAF and SAAF Spitfires and Kittyhawks.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack targets around Nassau Bay.
• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s mount individual attacks at Dobo and Nubia.

Air Operations, South Pacific

At 0330 hours Japanese aircraft bomb the airfield on Funafuti in the Ellice Islands. 2 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 1 VMF-441 F4F are destroyed, and 5 B-24s and 8 F4Fs are damaged.

North Africa

Montgomery is ordered to stop his attacks along the coast and he suspends the 8th Army's attack on the Enfidaville line. At the same time the British 1st Army under Gen Sir Kenneth Anderson launches a series of Allied attacks on the various German hill positions. The US II Corps, now led by Bradley, attacks Hill 609 in 'Mousetrap Valley', intending to advance to Mateur. The British V Corps attacks 'Longstop Hill' and 'Peter's Corner' which dominate the valley of the Medjerda River, intending to advance on Tunis by way of Massicault. The British IX Corps also attacks between Goubellat and Bou Arada. Another German air supply effort is decimated - 30 transports are shot down.

Recounting Air Victories

South African pilots at Kairouan North/Temmar, Tunisia, recount the events of 22 April 1943, when Curtiss Kittyhawks of No. 7 South African Wing, and Supermarine Spitfires of No. 1 Squadron SAAF, intercepted and shot down a large formation of Messerschmitt Me 323 transport aircraft and their fighter escorts, which was attempting to reinforce the beleaguered Axis forces in North Africa, off Cap Bon, Tunisia. They are, (left to right): Major J D W Human (Sweep leader of No. 7 Wing), Major J E Parsonson (Officer Commanding No. 5 Squadron SAAF, credited with shooting down two Me 323s), Lieutenant R W Humphrey and Lieutenant F A Weingartz (both No. 5 Squadron SAAF, each of whom was credited with two Me 323s).

The British 1st Army begins the final phase of the Tunisian campaign. The V Corps, making the main effort astride the Medjerda, attacks the enemy positions north and south of Medjez el Bat. The 78th Div attacks to seize the rest of Djebel Tanngouche on the left and on the right begins a northeastward drive along Djebel el Ahmera (Longstop) ridge. To the south, the 1st and 4th Divs attack astride the Medjez el Bab-Tunis highway. The 1st Div clears the hamlet of Grich el Oued, and the 4th Div, Goubellat. The IX Corps attacks on the Goubellat plain, between Medjez el Bab and Bou Arada, in an effort to destroy the enemy's armored reserve and to support the V Corps to the north. The 46th Div advances steadily in the region north of Sebkret el Kourzia but is hampered southwest of these salt marshes by enemy defenses and mines. The 6th Armored Div is committed late in the afternoon and after attacking through the infantry is strongly opposed by enemy armor.

Priest 105mm self-propelled gun of 11th Royal Horse Artillery (Honourable Artillery Company), 1st Armoured Division, 22 April 1943.

Priest Self-Propelled Gun

A CMP truck and motorcycle of 11th Royal Horse Artillery (Honourable Artillery Company), 1st Armoured Division, Tunisia, 22 April 1943.

Vehicles of 11th Royal Horse Artillery

Occupied Poland

In the Warsaw Ghetto, the SS destroy fortified factory buildings with point-blank artillery fire and explosives.

Fires Set to Drive Out Jews

On April 22, 1943, Stroop reported: 'At night, the fire we had set forced the Jews to come out of residential buildings in order to avoid the flames. Until then, they had remained hidden in cellars, apartments, attics and other places which our searches had not revealed. In great numbers, whole families of Jews, engulfed in flames, jumped from windows or lowered themselves on sheets tied together. Efforts were made to liquidate all of them immediately.” The account of a ghetto fighter: “The situation in the bunkers is tragic and hopeless. Air, water and food are in short supply. Days pass. Ten days after the beginning of the Aktion [here: the outbreak of the uprising], the ghetto is burned. There are charred remains everywhere. In the streets, courtyards, cellars - people buried alive.'

Pacific

After being damaged by an enemy air attack, the US submarine Grenadier (SS-210) is scuttled in the Straits of Malacca.