Air Operations, Carolines

• More than 20 5th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack supply dumps and the airfield in the Woleai Atoll.
• 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.
• 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Ponape Island.
• In their only appearance in defense of the Woleai Atoll, an estimated 25 A6M Zeros attack 5th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s. 1 B-24 is fatally damaged, but gunners claim 17 Zeros destroyed.

Air Operations, CBI

• 21 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack port and rail facilities at Martaban and Moulmein.
• 8 10th Air Force B-25s, 51 A-31s, and 24 P-51s attack Thetkegyin, Japanese Army positions at Indaw, a bridge at Manipur, and road targets around Tiddim.
• 18 A-31s attack Japanese Army positions near Buthidaung.
• 12 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack the Kangaung airfield at Meiktila.
• 4 14th Air Force P-40s attack a motor pool at Lashio.
• 2 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 1 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter over the Kangaung airfield at Meiktila at 1530 hours.

• 14 14th Air Force P-40s attack Japanese Army cavalry at Kuan-fou-chiao and an artillery camp at Sienning.
• 2 P-40s attack a barracks near Tengchung.

• 2 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack barracks and a truck convoy near Chiengmai.

Air Operations, Europe

Sensitive to growing criticism of the heavy Allied bombing of Germany, Britain defends the raids as essential to the liberation of the peoples of western Europe.

• 114 aircraft are involved in mine-laying operations in 5 areas of the Baltic. In this total are 70 Halifaxes, 30 Stirlings and 14 Lancasters.
• 4 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling are lost.
• 25 Mosquitos carry out a harassing raid on Mannheim without a loss.
• 12 G-H Stirlings bomb a signals depot in Brussels without a loss.
• 10 aircraft are involved in Resistance operations, and there are 4 Serrate patrols, and 2 RCM and 6 OTU sorties with no losses.

• 17 359th Fighter Group P-47s, escorted by 17 other P-47s from their group, mount a dive-bombing attack against the Le Culot Airdrome.
• 361st Fighter Group P-47s dive-bomb the Chievres Airdrome.

• 307 IX Bomber Command B-26s and 57 A-20s attack V- weapons sites, gun emplacements, and marshalling yards in the Pas-de-Calais area and on both sides of the Franco-Belgian frontier.
• More than 1,000 9th Air Force P-47 and P-51 sorties are mounted against tactical targets in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
• 48 55th Fighter Group P-38s, led by a 'droopsnoot' model and escorted by 78th Fighter Group P-47s, attack an airdrome at Laon.
• 20th Fighter Group P-38s, let by 'droopsnoot' models and escorted by 352nd Fighter Group P-51s, attack the Tours and Chateaudun Airdromes.
• 2 P-38s are lost with their pilots
• 361st Fighter Group P-47s dive-bomb the Denain/Prouvy Airdrome.

• 353rd Fighter Group P-47s strafe targets of opportunity in northwestern Germany.
• 2 P-47s are lost with their pilots
• 356th Fighter Group P-47s glide-bomb and strafe the Haguenau Airdrome.
• 3 P-47s are lost with their pilots
• 357th Fighter Group P-51s conduct a dive-bombing attack against an unidentified airdrome, possibly Leningen.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack bridges and bridge approaches around Attigliano.
• 12th Air Force B-26s attack a marshalling yard and several viaducts.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack bridges and rail lines throughout central Italy.

• In the theater's largest heavy-bomber mission to date, 171 15th Air Force B-17s attack the Bf-109 assembly plant at Wiener-Neustadt.
• 33 B-24s attack the Wiener-Neustadt/Nord Airdrome.
• 107 B-24s attack the Bf-109 assembly plant and Luftwaffe base at Bad Voslau.
• 143 B-24s attack aircraft-industry factories at Schwechat.
• 2 B-17s and 11 B-24s are lost, many others damaged by flak and unremitting Luftwaffe fighter attacks
• Escort pilots of the 1st, 31st and 82nd Fighter Groups down 26 Luftwaffe fighters along the bomber route over Hungary and Austria between 1320 and 1545 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• More than 90 V Bomber Command B-24 sorties are mounted against the airfields at Boram and But, and the Dagua and Wewak areas.
• More than 80 B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s attack numerous targets in the Hansa Bay area.
• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in Australia attack airfields on Noemfoor Island.
• A-20s and V Fighter Command fighters and fighter-bombers mount numerous attacks at and around Cape Croisilles, Hansa Bay, Uligan, and Wewak.
• Task Group 78.1 carrier aircraft support US Army ground forces in the Hollandia area.
• Task Force 58 carrier aircraft continue to attack regional Japanese bases.
• As Japanese Army opposition mounts in some areas, US Army troops from the Hollandia invasion force capture Hollandia and overrun the uncompleted the Tadji West airfield at Hollandia. RAAF engineers begin rehabilitating Tadji West as soon as it is captured. They will work around the clock, using lights to facilitate work at night.
• A VF(N)-76 carrier-based F6F night-fighter downs 1 G4M 'Betty' bomber at sea at 1030 hours.
• During the night, a lone Japanese bomber attacks ground targets on Humboldt Bay.
• When a former Japanese bomb dump is set afire, detonations and secondary explosions kill 24 US Army troops and injure nearly a hundred, and a large proportion of supplies landed nearby are destroyed.

Burma

Units of the Chinese 38th Div replace the American units in the Manpin area, in the north of the country. The final attack on theis place is entrusted to the Chinese 22nd Div.

Eastern Front

The Germans counterattack southwest of Narva.

New Guinea

The US forces take Hollandia without a fight. They advance inland along a center-line Pim-Lake Sentani. The advance inland continues meeting its first check near the village of Sabron where they meet the first organized Japanese resistence. The American commander withdraws his regiment on Sabron. The only other problem is congestion on the beaches at Tanahmerah Bay. A convoy due the next day is redirected to Humboldt Bay. The subsidiary landing at Aitape is also going well. Tadji airfield is taken and the troops push on toward Hollandia to join up with the main body.

Occupied Greece

A Communist-inspired mutiny aboard 5 Greek warships at Alexandria, Egypt is suppressed by loyal Greek forces. There are 50 casualties.

Occupied Poland

After 5 days of systematic destruction, there is not one stone left on another in the Warsaw ghetto.

Pacific

• The Japanese destroyer Amagiri hits a mine and sinks in the Makassar Strait in the Netherlands East Indies area.
• The US submarine Seadragon (SS-194) attacks a Japanese convoy off Shionomisaki, Honshu, and sinks the merchant cargo ship Danju Maru (6888t).

United States, Planning

Plans for Operation FORAGER are completed. The naval force is composed of 14 battleships, 7 fleet carriers, 8 light carriers, and 14 escort carriers, supported by 136 destroyers. Land forces consist of two ampibious corps, composed of three marine and two army divisions and one marine brigade. On June 15, the first landings will begin on Saipan, followed by Tinian and Guam.

Images from April 23, 1944

View of Red Beach on D+1

Regimental Aid Post Truck

P-51B 43-6875 YF-A 'Helen II'