Air Operations, Carolines

• Task Force 58 carrier aircraft continue to mount devastating attacks against the Truk Atoll, but only 3 small ships are sunk in the two-day attack. They are all that can be found in the once-teeming anchorage. 1 Japanese fleet submarine is sunk 20 miles south of Truk Lagoon by aircraft from Light Carrier Air Group 30 (USS Monterey) and 3 US destroyers.
• The largest attack against Task Force 58 the Japanese are able to muster is made by 8 aircraft at 0815 hours. 7 of the attackers are downed and only 1 bomb is dropped, without effect.
• Beginning at 1532 hours, US cruisers open a two-hour bombardment against the airfield on Satawan.
• In summary, as a result of nearly 2,200 effective US Navy combat sorties, 65 Japanese Navy aircraft (of 90 claimed) are destroyed on the ground at Truk during the two-day action. US Navy losses are 26 aircraft in combat, 9 in operational accidents, and 19 airmen. The submarine USS Tang alone rescues 22 downed airmen with a mighty assist from cruiser-based OS2U crews who ferry many downed airmen from near-shore crash sites to deeper water.
• VF-30 F6Fs down 2 A6M Zeros at sea 25 miles from Task Force 58 at 0915 hours. VF-5 F6Fs down 2 Japanese fighters over Truk at 1045 hours. When the day�s missions are completed, the bulk of Task Force 58 retires to the Majuro Atoll to replenish.
• 23 5th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Woleai Atoll.
• 8 41st Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack Ponape Island.

Air Operations, CBI

• 31 10th Air Force B-25s attack targets in the Chindwin River area.
• 4 B-25s attack a bridge near Yamethin.

• 14th Air Force P-40s attack a bridge and rail targets near Dong Mo.

Air Operations, Central Pacific

41 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Wake Island.

Air Operations, Europe

• 143 aircraft are sent to Somain, southeast of Lille. Included in the total are 114 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos. 6 and 8 Groups.
• The initial Oboe marking is not accurate and the Master Bomber orders the main force to wait. Most of the Halifaxes making up the main force either do not hear or ignore his order. As a result, their bombs miss the target. Some damage is caused to the railway yards by those planes that waited.
• 1 Halifax is lost.
• 128 aircraft attack the railway yards at Achére near Paris. In this total are 107 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups.
• A report from the mayor of this small town says that the railway yards are completely destroyed, but there are no civilian casualties. He attributes this to the bombers flying at a low level.
• There are no losses.
• 118 Lancasters of No. 1 Group are sent to Maintenon to attack the largest bomb and ammo dump in northern France. The No. 1 Group Marking Flight out of Binbrook provides the marking for this raid. The raid is entirely successful and a spectacular series of explosions are seen on the ground. Nearby French houses are not hit.

• 28 Mosquitos are sent to Saarbrücken, 5 to Düren, 48 Halifaxes lay mines off the French coast, 36 aircraft are on Resistance flights, and there are 14 RCM sorties, 9 Serrate and 5 Intruder patrols.
• There are no losses.

• 114 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack the Lyon/Bron Airdrome.
• 52 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack V-weapons sites at St.-Pol/Siracourt.
• 118 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack the Clermont-Ferrand/Aulnat Airdrome.
• 1 B-17 is lost
• Escort for the 8th Air Force heavy bombers is provided by 644 USAAF fighters. 18 Luftwaffe fighters are downed by USAAF fighters over France between 0920 hours and noon.
• 5 USAAF fighters are lost with 4 pilots
• 22 20th Fighter Group P-38s, led by a 'droopsnoot' model and escorted by 364th Fighter Group P-38s, attack the Orleans?Bricy Airdrome from high altitude with nearly 7 tons of fragmentation bombs.
• 21 353rd Fighter Group P-47s dive-bomb the Orleans/Rricy Airdrome, and 5 353rd Fighter Group P-47s dive-bomb a V-weapons site after becoming separated from the main force.

• More than 300 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack V-weapons sites, construction sites, and marshalling yards.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack marshalling yards at Alessandria and Milan.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack the airdrome at Reggio Emilia and aircraft-industry targets at Milan and Varese.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in Australia mount a light attack against Noemfoor Island.
• More than 40 V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack Wewak and the Wewak area.
• Throughout the day, V Fighter Command P-47s and P-39s mount more than 80 sorties against Japanese Army ground troops and supply dumps in the Hansa Bay area.
• V Fighter Command P-70s attack targets of opportunity around Hansa Bay.

Arctic

The US freighter William S. Thayer (7176t), in Convoy RA-29, is torpedoed by U-711 50 miles south of Bear Island. 23 of the 41-man crew, 7 of the 28-man Armed Guard and 20 of the 165 Soviet Navy passenger are lost in the attack. The US freighter Robert Eden and the British destroyer Whitehall rescue the survivors. [ | ]

Britain, Home Front

The ABSIE (American Broadcasting Station in Europe) is on the air.

Burma-India

The Chinese-American advance on Myitkyina, in upper Burma, continues.

On the Indian front the 20th Indian Div contains the Japanese in front of Palel, a village south of Imphal, while the 5th and 23rd Indian Divs push northwards toward Ukhrul. In the continuing battle for Imphal the Japanese attacks are being gradually worn down, especially as the food shortage becomes serious. The defense of 20th Div on the Shenam Ridge is particularly stout.

Carolines

Adm Jesse Oldendorf leads 9 cruisers and 8 destroyers to shell targets on Satawan Island, southeast of the main Truk base.

CBI

H Force, following K Force, begins the attack toward Myitkyina.

14th Air Force has about 400 operational aircraft out of a total of 500. Gen Chennault is receiving about 6,000 tons of supplies a month to keep his aircraft operational.

Chiang Kai-shek demands that the stockpile of supplies for the B-29 strategic bombers at Chengtu be diverted to 14th Air Force to stop the Japanese offensive. Stilwell, backed by President Roosevelt, refuses.

Eastern Front

While Tolbukhin still exerts pressure on Sevastopol, local Russian offensives are reported in the area of Ostrov, south of Pskov, near the Lithuanian border.

The Stavka implements a number of command and formation changes. Meretskov is appointed to command the Karelian Front (7th and 32nd Armies west and north of Lake Onega). North of Leningrad the 21st Army has joined the Leningrad Front alongside the 23rd Army. The Leningrad Front forces south of the city, facing the German 18th Army, are redesignated Operational Group Narva (2nd Shock and 8th Armies). South of Lake Peipus is the new 3rd Baltic Front under Gen Maslennikov, with Eremenko's 2nd Baltic Front to its left and Bagramyan's 1st Baltic Front on the southern flank.

New 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts are raised north of the 1st Belorussian in the place of the now defunct West Front. Sokolovsky commands the 3rd Belorussian and Gen Zakharov the 2nd. Rokossovsky retains command of the 1st on the long southern flank from Bobruisk to Kovel.

During April the Germans have committed 1 SS panzer grenadier and 1 infantry division to the line but loses 1 panzer, 3 infantry and 1 Luftwaffe division from their order of battle, leaving the Ostheer with 22 panzer, 10 panzer grenadier and 137 infantry divisions.

In the far north, Dietl's 20th Mountain Army, fighting in the Arctic Circle, has 85,000 men, while in Finland there are 350,000 Finnish soldiers, 180,000 of whom are in the combat line. Despite its heavy defeat before Leningrad in the early months of 1944, Army Group North still deploys 350,000 men while Army Group Center has around 580,000. In the Ukraine, Army Group North Ukraine deploys 423,000 men while South Ukraine has 360,000. Fighting the partisans in Yugoslavia and Greece the Germans have another 163,000 men.

Pacific

• The US submarine Bang (SS-285) continues its attack on the convoy encountered the previous day and sinks the Japanese merchant tanker Nittatsu Maru (2859t) off the northwest coast of Luzon.
• The US submarine Flasher (SS-249) sinks the French gunboat Tagure in the South China Sea off Cape Varella, French Indochina. The French cargo ship Song Giang, damaged the previous day by Flasher, sinks.

Secret War

Gen Karl Kreipe is captured in Crete and taken to Alexandria.

Soviet Union, Home Front

For the first time Stalin himself public acknowledges that the Soviet Union is receiving American and British aid.

The death of Alexei Novikoy-Priboy, author of 'Tsushima', at age 66 is reported.

Images from April 30, 1944

Watching for Planes Returning from a Mission

A Bomb Dump with Camouflage Netting