Air Operations, Carolines

• 5th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Woleai Atoll.
• 21 30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the airfield at Satawan.
• 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Ponape Island.
• During the night,
• RAAF Catalinas mine the waters in and around the Woleai Atoll.
• VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 10th Air Force B-25s and 8 P-51s attack Japanese Army ground troops and dumps near Banmauk.
• More than 50 A-31s attack Japanese Army positions and dumps near Buthidaung.
• 40 A-31s attack Japanese Army ground troops in the battle area on both sides of the Burma�India frontier.
• 10 459th Fighter Squadron P-38 fighter-bombers attack an airfield near Meiktila.
• 5 P-51s attack a bridge at Shweli and Japanese Army positions at Mawlu.
• 4 14th Air Force P-40s attack an occupied villge and a ferry.

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge, rail lines, and buildings at Thanh Moi.

Air Operations, East Indies

• Beginning at 0700 hours, following several weeks of joint training, 44 US Navy and Royal Navy carrier bombers and 37 carrier fighters from the British Far Eastern Fleet�s Task Force 66 (HMS Illustrious) and the USS Saratoga (Fleet Carrier Air Group 12) attack Sabang, Sumatra. Several oil-storage tanks are demolished, as are an estimated 21 parked airplanes. One US Navy F6F is downed, but the pilot is rescued by an RN lifeguard submarine.
• As the combined task force withdraws toward Ceylon, VF-12 F6Fs down 3 B5N 'Kate' torpedo bombers at sea between 1035 and 1059 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

The RAF drops mines in the Danube River.

• 27 93rd and 448th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack V-weapons sites at Watten in a test of pathfinding equipment.
• Escort is provided by 47 P-47s of the IX Fighter Command's 405th Fighter Group.

• 213 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack aircraft-industry targets at Kassel.
• 53 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack the Eschwege Airdrome.
• 62 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack the Gutersloh Airdrome.
• 117 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack the Paderborn Airdrome.
• 51 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack various secondary targets and targets of opportunity.
• 245 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack the Lippstadt and Werl Airdromes.
• 5 1st Bomb Division B-17s are lost
• Escort for the heavy bombers is provided by 697 USAAF fighters, and more than 500 other USAAF fighters undertake sweeps throughout northwestern Europe. 16 of approximately 100 Luftwaffe fighters encountered along the bomber routes are downed between 1015 and 1045 hours.
• 2 USAAF fighters are lost with their pilots

• More than 350 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack city areas and marshalling yards at Donauworth, Gunzburg, New-Ulm, Schelklingen, and Ulm.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack a marshalling yard at Piombino.
• 12 Air Force B-26s attack a marshalling yard at Ancona and a rail bridge at Cecina.
• XII TAC P-47s attack numerous rail targets.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in Australia attack the airfield at Manokwari Airdrome.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Urarom.
• B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighters and fighter-bombers attack targets at and around Aitape, Bogia, Bunabun, Cape Croisilles, Madang, and Uligan.

Battle of the Atlantic

The Norwegian submarine Ula is on an anti-shipping patrol off Hangesund when spotting the conning tower of U-974 only a few hundred yards away. Four torpedoes are fired with the second scoring a hit.

U-974

China

2 Japanese divisions launch a southward thrust along the Peking-Hankow railroad in Hunan Province.

Eastern Front

Although the battle for Sevastopol continues, elsewhere on the front activity begins to die down. The recent Russian advances have stretched their supply lines and they need time to prepare their next moves. For their part the Germans and their allies have been so weakened as to welcome the respite.

Indian Ocean

Adm Sir James Somerville's Eastern Fleet, reinforced for the occasion by the USS Saratoga and 3 US destroyers as well as the Free French battleship Richelieu, sends the carrier aircraft to attack Sabang, north of Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies, and the nearby airfields. Only one of the attacking planes is lost and 27 Japanese are shot down. This is an alarm signal for the Japanese Imperial Headquarters, which thought it had eliminated the Allied naval presence from the Indian Ocean.

Occupied Poland

The Germans commence the destruction of the ghetto in Warsaw, one of the most horrific episodes in the whole war. In 5 days its Jewish inhabitants are exterminated.

Pacific

The US submarine Finback (SS-230) sinks the Japanese sampan Ryoho Maru south of Nomwin Atoll, Hall Islands.

United States, Home Front

Lend-Lease legislation is extended by the House of Representatives. The Senate concurs on May 8.

Images from April 19, 1944

Sd.Kfz. 303a. 'Goliath'

A North American Mitchell II of No 98 Squadron

BA4 #14a 42-72954 Crash Landed at Hollandia

B-24H-15-FO Liberator Crash Landed at Attlebridge