Air Operations, Carolines

41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Ponape Island.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack port and rail facilities at Moulmein. 4 B-24s sow mines at the mouth of the Tavoy River. 18 10th Air Force A-31s attack Japanese Army positions throughout the Arakan coastal region. 18 A-31s attack Japanese Army ground troops at Kangpoki (India) and Maungkan. Several 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and more than 100 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets at and around Kamaing, Kazu, Mogaung, and Myitkyina. Fighter-bombers support Allied ground troops near Kamaing. Several B-25s and nearly 40 fighter-bombers attack a bridge, Japanese Army ground troops and supplies, a fuel dump, artillery batteries, and targets of opportunity in the Katha area. 10 14th Air Force P-40s attack road traffic in the Wanling area.

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack two bridges, several buildings, and a rail line at Phu Dien Chau.

Air Operations, Europe

(4th?)6 RAF Mosquitos destroy the Central Population Registry building in The Hague which contained Gestapo records.

• Railways are the targets for a large effort by Bomber Command. 180 Lancasters of No. 5 Group are sent to Tours; 1 Lancaster is lost. 157 Halifaxes of No. 4 Group and 10 Pathfinder Mosquitos are sent to Tergnier; 10 Halifaxes are lost. 148 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos are sent to Laon; 1 Lancaster is lost. 132 Lancasters and 15 Pathfinder Mosquitos are sent to Aulnoye; 7 Lancasters are lost. 122 Halifaxes of No. 6 Group and 10 Pathfinder Mosquitos are sent to Ghent, Belgium; there are no losses. With the exception of the attack at Laon, all targets suffer heavy damage.

• 36 Mosquitos are sent to Hannover and 2 to Duisburg, 17 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No. 617 Squadron are sent to hit the St Cyr signals depot, 8 Stirlings lay mines off La Pallice, 46 aircraft are involved in Resistance operations, and there are 9 Serrate patrols, 8 RCM and 17 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Railway Yards at Tours after Attack

• 214 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack aircraft-industry targets at Brussels and Evere, and the Brussels/Melsbroek and Brussels/Evere Airdromes.
• 143 3rd Bomb Division B-17s that are unable to locate their assigned target in France, attack the airdromes at Beaumont-sur-Oise, France, Diest/Schaffen and Maldagem.

• 166 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack their primary targets, the Marquise/Mimoyecques V-weapons site, an aircraft factory at Bourges, and the Bourges Airdrome.
• 49 B-24s attack assigned secondary targets, the Orleans/Bricy and Romorantin/Prunieres Airdromes.
• Only 21 of 248 3rd Bomb Division B-17s dispatched attack their primary, the Courcelles-sur-Seine Airdrome, but 42 B-17s are able to attack the Florennes/Juzaine Airdrome in Belgium.
• In the first mission of its kind, 29 20th Fighter Group P-38s are dispatched to bomb the Florennes/Juzaine Airdrome while being led by a special 'droopsnoot' airplane, a P-38 with a nose modified to carry a bombardier and his bombsight. All bombs, however, are dropped in the English Channel after heavy clouds are encountered over the target.
• In the second such mission, 16 of 34 355th Fighter Group P-38s led by a 'droopsnoot' model divrt from the cloud-obscured primary target, the St.-Dizier/Robinson Airdrome, and drop 17 tons of bombs on the Coulommiers Airdrome.
• 2 P-38s and their pilots are lost in the attack.
• Escorting the 355th Fighter Group, P-47s strafe the Villoaroche Airdrome.
• USAAF pilots escorting the various 8th Air Force heavy-bomber formations down 15 Luftwaffe aircraft over Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.

• 27 20th Fighter Group P-38s, guided by a 'droopsnoot' P-38 and escorted by 46 359th Fighter Group P-47s, attack the Gutersloh Airdrome with 13 tons of bombs.
• 1 P-38 and its pilot are lost

• Unable to locate their primary target in Belgium, 20 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack Bergen Op Zoom.

• In their second mission of the day, 267 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack coastal defenses, V-weapons sites, marshalling yards, and airdromes at Charleroi/montignies, Coxyde, Namur, and Nieuport.

• During the morning, 258 IX Bomber Command B-26s and 41 A-20s attack coastal batteries and military installations around Le Havre.
• 9th Air Force P-47s dive-bomb the Evreux Airdrome.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack a marshalling yard at Orvieto and two bridges.
• 12th Air Force B-26s attack Poggibonsi, viaducts near Arezzo and at Bucine, and the rail line and rail bridges at Cecina.
• XII Air Support Command A-20s attack an ammo dump.
• XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers attack barracks and troop concentrations, rail bridges, rolling stock, and motor vehicles throughout central Italy.
• When 30 Luftwaffe bombers attack the Anzio beachhead during the night, 2 416th Night-Fighter Squadron Beaufighters are vectored to intercept them. The German aircraft are driven off by persistent attacks in which one bomber is probably destroyed and another is severely damaged.
• 1 Beaufighter crashes in flames with its crew, the other is damaged

Air Operations, Japan

3 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s complete an armed reconnaissance mission to Matusuwa and Onnetkotan islands in the Kurile Islands.

Air Operations, New Guinea

US destroyers and nearly 60 V Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields and anticraft batteries around Hansa Bay.

Battle of the Atlantic

Aircraft (VC-58) from the US escort carrier Guadalcanal sink the German submarine U-68 off Madeira Island.

U-68

Burma-India

Slim now feels that he has a complete picture of the situation and that an offensive is practical and necessary. The troops surrounded at Imphal and Kohima will continue to be supplied by air and particularly in the case of the Imphal garrison are to operate as offensively as possible. Stopford's XXXIII Corps is to break through and relieve Kohima.

Eastern Front

The 3rd Ukraine Front takes Odessa after a vicious battle. The Germans have managed to evacuate by sea 24,000 men, many wounded, as well as 55,000 tons of supplies. In the Crimea the initial German defense lines are being worn down. Armyansk is taken. The Rumanian troops holding the right of the line are in severe trouble. In Rumania itself 2nd Ukraine Front crosses the Siret and takes Radauti and Suceava.

Odessa falls, cutting one escape route for the German 17th Army. In the Crimea the XLIX Mountain Corps begins to give on the Perekop Isthmus as 2nd Guards Army bludgeons its way to the Ishun Narrows. Armyansk falls. On the Zivash sector the 10th Rumanian Division collapses after hart fighting with the 51st Army. The right flank of the XLIX Mountain Corps quickly crumbles, enabling the 51st Army to widen the penetration and threaten the rear of the Perekop defenses. Farther east V Corps is similarly overwhelmed and begins a slow withdrawal. Tolbukhin now launches his armor into the attack, smashing through the thin rearguards left by the XLIX and V Corps. Against the highly mechanized Soviet divisions the 17th Army is stranded, its infantry divisions having to fight their way back to Sevastopol.

Italy

German officers give up their plan for another attack on Anzio.

New Guinea

The embarkation of men and materials fo the operation against Hollandia begins.

United States, Planning

• The JCS informally approves Operation MATTERHORN, the plan for the strategic bombing of Japan, which had been approved in principle by President Roosevelt on November 10, 1943. The B-29 Superfortresses based in Calcuttal, India, and staging through advanced airfields in the area of Chengtu, China, will be assigned to the 58th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) of the XX Bomber Command. The XX Bomber Command in turn will be assigned to the newly activated 20th Air Force, operating under Gen Henry H. 'Hap' Arnold, who will serve as the executive agent for the JCS in determining missions and targets.
• MacArthur approves Alamo Force's plan for RECKLESS, the assault on Hollandia. MacArthur's confidence is high. 'It should win without question," he notes.

Images from April 10, 1944

Italian Peasants at Work

Strolling through a Typical Village

An Allied Anti-Aircraft Crew Keeps Watch

6 US Navy LSTs Loading Men and Equipment

Anti-aircraft Battery Area in Anzio

Anti-aircraft Gun at Anzio

40-mm Bofors Anti-aircraft Gun on Anzio Beachead

Bombing Rail Yards at Ghent, Belgium