April 1942

April

• 01

  • The Bucket BrigadeFrom 1 April 1942 ships off the US east coast sailed only by day, from anchorage to anchorage. Dönitz then moved his U-boats further south.
  • The Pacific War CouncilOn 1 April 1942 the Pacific War Council met at the White House. Roosevelt heard out the allies fighting Japan there, but decisions were taken elsewhere.
• 02

  • The Japanese on the north coast of New GuineaFrom 1 April 1942 the Japanese took the ports of Dutch New Guinea unopposed, from Fakfak and Babo to Hollandia. On 8 April they landed on Manus.
• 03

  • The final offensive on BataanOn Good Friday, 3 April 1942, Homma's 14th Army attacked on Bataan. Mount Samat fell on 5 April, and by 8 April the starving defenders' front had collapsed.
  • The bombing of MandalayOn Good Friday, 3 April 1942, Japanese bombers burned most of Mandalay. Accounts speak of some 2,000 dead, and the city emptied.
• 05

  • The Easter Sunday raid on ColomboOn Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942, Nagumo's carrier aircraft bombed Colombo, and in the afternoon sank the cruisers Cornwall and Dorsetshire at sea.
  • Directive No. 41On 5 April 1942 Hitler signed Directive No. 41. In the summer the Wehrmacht was to destroy the Red Army west of the Don and seize the oil of the Caucasus.
  • RAF raids on Cologne and HamburgOn the nights of 5/6 and 8/9 April 1942 Bomber Command sent its largest raids yet to Cologne and Hamburg. The bombing was scattered and the damage slight.
• 08

  • The end of Force KOn 8 April 1942 the splinter-riddled cruiser Penelope slipped out of Malta for Gibraltar – the last ship of Force K, once the terror of Axis convoys.
• 09

  • The attack on TrincomaleeOn 9 April 1942 Nagumo's aircraft bombed the base at Trincomalee, then sank the carrier Hermes and the destroyer HMAS Vampire off the coast of Ceylon.
  • Key eventThe fall of BataanOn 9 April 1942 General Edward King surrendered the forces on Bataan against orders. Some 75,000 men went into captivity; only Corregidor still held out.
  • The Bataan Death MarchAfter Bataan fell on 9 April 1942 the Japanese drove some 76,000 prisoners north on foot to Camp O'Donnell. Thousands of men died on the way.
• 10

  • The Japanese on CebuOn 10 April 1942 the Kawaguchi Detachment landed on Cebu. The defence collapsed in three days, and ships in port laden with food for Bataan fell to the enemy.
• 13

  • The execution of Anton SchmidOn 13 April 1942 in Wilno the Wehrmacht shot Feldwebel Anton Schmid, a Viennese who had rescued Jews from the ghetto and helped the Jewish underground.
• 14

  • Churchill presses AuchinleckOn 14 April 1942 Churchill cabled Cripps in Cairo that Eighth Army had stood too long at Gazala and that Rommel was growing stronger as Malta was neutralised.
  • The sinking of U-85On the night of 13–14 April 1942 the destroyer Roper sank U-85 off Nags Head. Four days later a dim-out was ordered on the US East Coast.
• 15

  • The George Cross for MaltaOn 15 April 1942 George VI awarded the George Cross to the whole of Malta, bombed and starving. It was the first collective award of the decoration.
  • The Battle of YenangyaungOn 15 April 1942 the British set the Yenangyaung oilfields ablaze. The Japanese encircled 1st Burma Division, which broke out of the pocket with Chinese help.
• 17

  • General Giraud's escapeOn 17 April 1942 General Henri Giraud climbed down a rope from Königstein fortress. By train and via Switzerland he reached the French free zone on 25 April.
• 18

  • Key eventThe Doolittle RaidOn 18 April 1942 sixteen B-25 bombers from the carrier Hornet bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities. The damage was slight; the consequences were immense.
• 20

  • Operation CalendarOn 20 April 1942, 47 Spitfires took off from USS Wasp for Malta. Within a few days the Germans had destroyed or damaged most of them.
• 23

  • The Baedeker raidsOn the night of 23/24 April 1942 the Luftwaffe bombed Exeter, opening a series of reprisal raids on historic English cities, among them Bath, Norwich and York.
• 24

  • RAF raids on RostockOver four nights from 23/24 to 26/27 April 1942 Bomber Command burned out most of old Rostock and struck the Heinkel works. More than 200 people died.
• 26

  • The last session of the ReichstagOn 26 April 1942 the Reichstag met for the last time. By acclamation it declared that Hitler was not bound by law and could remove anyone, judges included.
• 27

  • The Canadian conscription plebisciteOn 27 April 1942 Canadians released King's government from its pledge not to send conscripts overseas. About 64–66% voted yes; in Quebec about 72% said no.
  • The Amerikabomber projectOn 27 April 1942 a 33-page plan to bomb the USA from Europe via the Azores was completed. The “Amerikabomber” produced only a few prototypes.
• 28

  • The fleet sails for MadagascarOn 28 April 1942 a fast convoy of British assault troops left Durban for Vichy-held Madagascar. The slower ships had sailed three days earlier.
• 29

  • The Japanese take LashioOn 29 April 1942 the Japanese 56th Division took Lashio in Burma, the start of the Burma Road. China lost its last land link with the outside world.
  • The Hitler–Mussolini meeting at SalzburgOn 29–30 April 1942 Hitler received Mussolini at Klessheim Palace near Salzburg. They discussed the Caucasus offensive, Malta and Italian troops for Russia.