- March 4
- In Canada, Orders-in-council authorizing relocation of Japanese Canadians on west coast goes into effect. [5.161]
- March 5
- Japanese aircraft sink 17 ships at Tjilatjap and destroy harbor. [830.853]
- March 6
- Adolf Hitler gives approval for battleship Tirpitz and three destroyers to intercept Arctic convoy PQ-12 of sixteen ships headed to Russia. [212.27]
- Acting Commander of Canadian Corp, Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, and Brigadier-General (Staff) Guy Simonds discuss arrangements to create a Canadian Commando force of about 200 men, to be known as the Viking Force, for European coastal raids. [126.28]
- March 7
- British forces evacuate Rangoon, Burma. [166.354]
- March 8
- British Bomber Command sends Boston bombers against Matford factories at Poissy, France. [84.343]
- The Dutch East Indies government decides to surrender unconditionally to the Japanese. [830.849]
vvv advertisement vvv
^^^ advertisement ^^^
- (evening) British Bomber Command begins an intense three-night attack on Essen, Germany, using the "Gee" aircraft navigation equipment for the first time in active duty. On this first night, 211 bombers attack. The raid begins with flare-dropping, then target-marking with incendiaries, followed by bombers with high explosives. Only one of every 20 bombs fall within 5 miles of the town. [10.19] [84.119,343] [831.817]
- Rangoon, Burma, falls to Japanese forces. [41.31] [127.20] [522.1989]
- (1300 hours) Japanese and Netherlands begin talks, agree to Dutch unconditional surrender. [830.853]
- March 9
- (1200 hours) Dutch colonial authorities surrender the islands of the Netherlands East Indies. All Allied forces in the Netherlands East Indies surrender unconditionally to Japan. [166.317] [219.130] [830.853]
- (evening) 187 British bombers attack Essen. [84.119]
- March 10
- (evening) 126 British bombers attack Essen. After three nights of bombing, the armament works of Krupps remains essentially undamaged. This is also the first bombing operation using the four-engined Avro Lancaster bomber. [84.79,119,343]
- March 11
- American General Douglas MacArthur leaves the Philippines, with his wife, son, and a nurse. (They land next day at 9AM at Darwin, Australia.) [221.70] (March 12 [166.317] [830.862])
- March 12
- Allied forces surrender in Java. [439.278]
- The Canadian Chiefs of Staff Committee recommends adopting draft plans for a "scorched earth" policy, in the event of enemy invasion on either coast of Canada. [6.40]
- March 13
- (evening) 135 British aircraft attack Cologne, Germany, starting 237 fires, destroying or damaging several factories and over 1500 houses. [84.119]
- March 15
- Adolf Hitler predicts a German victory over Russia by the end of Summer. [416.E5]
- Submarine U-161 torpedoes and sinks Canadian merchant ship Sarniadoc in the Caribbean. There are no survivors. [27.19]
- March
- Bombers and fighters from US carrier Enterprise attack Marcus Island. No planes are lost. [87.81]
- In Suffield, Alberta, Canada, 280 oil drums containing 95 tons of phosgene are detonated in an experiment to test gas masks. The $200,000 explosion creates a cloud that travels for 17 miles. A large American delegation is impressed. [51.69]
- The Canadian War Cabinet Committee agrees to adopt draft plans for a scorched earth policy in the event of enemy invasion. [6.40]
- March 17
- In Australia, American General Douglas MacArthur issues a message to the Filipino people: "I have come through, and I shall return.". [219.131] [221.74]
- Several ships in Göteborg, Sweden, loaded with special steels for Britain, are declared by the Swedish Supreme Court free to leave. [29.113]
- March 18
- The British Admiralty instructs the Eastern Fleet not to engage its fleet against any superior Japanese fleet that might attack Ceylon. The loss of Ceylon is considered preferable to the loss of the fleet for communication to the Middle East and India. [439.277]
- March 22
- In the first nine months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, German casualties total over one million. [741.11]
- March 23
- Adolf Hitler issues Directive 40, ordering that Atlantic coast defences be built and manned such that any invasion attempt would be stopped at landing or shortly thereafter. [54.36] [149.171]
- British Royal Air Force units withdraw from Burma into India. [522.1989]
- March 24
- Japanese forces begin plane bombing and artillery shelling of Corregidor, Philippines. [830.865]
- March 25
- At Falmouth, England, a force of 100 men under Lieutenant-Colonel A.C. Newman assembles. Their objective is to disable the Normandie Dock at Saint Nazaire, France, to prevent its use by the German battleship Tirpitz. Code name of the operation is Chariot. The total force of men involved is 611. [830.842]
- March 26
- (1400 hours) Operation Chariot sails from Falmouth, England for Saint Nazaire, France. [830.843]
- March 27
- In Canada, an order-in-council is issued giving the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property the power to sell confiscated property. [7.100]
- March 28
- A British commando raid by 18 naval craft and 611 men is staged on Saint Nazaire, France. The Normandie dry dock gate is destroyed by HMS Campbeltown, the only dock capable of servicing German battleships on the Atlantic. Only two vessels return to England. 169 British men and over 400 Germans die. [149.186] [376.138] [508.1785] [830.844]
- (0030 hours) Lieutenant-Colonel A.C. Newman's force of Operation Chariot enters the Loire estuary, approaching Saint Nazaire, France. [830.844]
- (0128 hours) German forces near Saint Nazaire, France, spot enemy approach, and open fire. British return fire. [830.844]
- (0134 hours) HMS Campbeltown rams the outer gate of the Saint Nazaire dock, France. [830.844]
- (evening) 234 British aircraft attack Lübeck, Germany. 12 planes are shot down. One-third of the area is burned, leaving 16,000 homeless. The central power station and several factories are destroyed. This raid is the first to have a major impact on the German homeland. The port is closed for three weeks. (A week later Joseph Goebbels writes in his diary: "The damage is enormous. It is horrible." British Deputy Chief of Air Staff Arthur Harris writes of the attack, ". . . the first German city went up in flames".) [84.119,343] [831.817] [834.6]
- March 30
- Japanese forces capture Toungoo, Burma. [522.1989]
- March 31
- (0200 hours) Operation Performance begins. Ten British-chartered Norwegian ships begin leaving Göteborg, Sweden, for Britain, loaded with special steels vital to the British war effort. Only two ships make it through the German blockade to Leith, Scotland, but deliver a valuable 5,000 tons of cargo. [29.113] [38.137]
- March (month)
- Total world-wide Allied and neutral shipping losses to all causes during the month: 840,000 tons. [83.60] [219.130]
- During the month, Axis submarines sink 28 merchant vessels on the eastern US coast. [101.24]
- April 1
- Canadian merchant ship Robert W. Pomeroy hits a mine and sinks, off Cromer, Norfolk, in the North Sea. One man dies. [27.19]
- April
- Aircraft carrier USS Hornet leaves Seattle, Washington with 16 B-25B Mitchell bombers tied down to the flight deck, destined for an attack on Tokyo, Japan. [87.84]
- April 2
- (about 0100 hours) German submarine U-123 repeatedly fires shells on American oil tanker SS Liebre. As it submerges to fire a finishing torpedo, it is scared off by sighting Canadian motor torpedo boat MTB-332. [101.24]
- April
- British Combined Operations begins work on Operation Rutter, an amphibious assault on Dieppe, France. [484.10]
- April 3
- Japanese begin offensive on Bataan, lasting 5 hours. [830.863]
- April 4
- Japanese forces make another attack on Bataan. [830.863]
- In a PBY-5 Catalina flying boat, Canadian Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall radios a warning to Ceylon that the Japanese fleet is closing in on the island. The warning helps Allied forces prepare for the coming attack. Ships in harbor scatter, and Admiral James Somerville move five battleships and three aircraft carriers 600 miles southwest to Addu Atoll. Birchall's plane is shot down, killing three of his crew. (His actions win him the Distinguished Flying Cross, and Order of the British Empire for his service to fellow prisoners in Japan.) [26.83] [447.29] [552.36]
- April 5
- Adolf Hitler issues Directive 41, giving direction to the war against Russia when the weather improves. Armies in the central sector are to hold positions, while the northern armies captures Leningrad and the southern armies advance into the Caucausus. [149.178]
- The Japanese Combined Fleet of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo attacks Colombo, Ceylon, with 91 bomber and 36 fighter aircraft. They sink armed merchant cruiser Hector and destroyer Tenedos in the harbor. They damage the submarine depot vessel Lucia and merchant ship Benledi. Nineteen Hawker Hurricanes, six Fairey Swordfish, one Fairey Albacore, and one Consolidated Catalina are destroyed. The Japanese force loses six Aichi D3A1 dive bombers, and one Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero fighter. Fifteen other aircraft are damaged. [146.6] [552.36] [798.40]
- (1340 hours) Near Colombo, Ceylon, 53 D3A1 planes from Japanese carriers Akagi, Soryu, and Hiryu attack British heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and Dorsetshire, sinking both in fifteen minutes, with loss of 424 crew. HMS Beaver minesweeper is sunk by unknown cause. [146.6] [798.40]
- April
- In the Philippines, the Japanese army makes major attacks toward Bataan. [87.43]
- April 8
- (0755 hours) A floatplane from the Japanese battleship Haruna reports ships of the British Far Eastern Fleet dispersing 65 miles south of Ceylon. [146.6]
- (1055 hours) 85 D3A planes of the Japanese naval force off Ceylon (one light carrier and several other ships) attack and sink the British light carrier Hermes. This is the first sinking of an aircraft carrier by ship-based planes. [146.6]
- (1102 hours) Japanese planes of a naval force off Ceylon sink the Australian destroyer Vampire. [146.6]
- April 9
- American General Jonathan Wainwright's American and Filipino forces on Bataan, Philippines, surrender to the Japanese. 78,000 men are forced to march 65 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando. [87.92] [166.354] [219.130] [830.863]
- April 10
- (evening) British Bomber Command drops its first 8,000-pound bombs, on Essen, Germany. [84.343]
- April 12
- (evening) On the eighth British bomber raid on Essen since March 8, bombs finally hit the Krupps armament works, causing a large fire. [84.119]
- April 13
- American destroyer USS Roper sinks German submarine U-85 off Nags Head, North Carolina. This is the first American surface ship to sunk a submarine. [127.6]
- April 15
- The British George Cross is awarded to the Island Fortress of Malta for their endurance and defiance against enemy forces. [212.23] [519.1943]
- April
- The American Army proposes to President Franklin Roosevelt a three-part plan for a cross-Channel attack on Europe. Part one, code-named Bolero, would build up American forces in the British Isles. Part two, code-named Roundup, would be a large invasion of France in the spring of 1943. Part three, code-named Sledgehammer, would be an emergency landing in France in 1942, in the event of a sudden German collapse or a crisis on the Russian front. [382.11]
- Canadian Industries Limited begins construction of two mustard gas plants in Windsor, Ontario. [51.68]
- The Canadian government approves implementing of a scorched earth policy in the event of enemy invasion. [6.40]
- In Germany, a factory begins producing the nerve gas tabun. [51.181]
- A small Allied raid is attempted near Boulogne, France. [1.12]
- (month unknown)
- Britain's nuclear research team is moved to Canada, operating under the National Research Council. [51.146]
- April 17
- (1500 hours) Twelve British Lancaster bombers set off on a 1250 mile round trip to attack a diesel engine manufacturing complex at Augsburg in Bavaria. Twelve 1,000 pound bombs hit the target. Only five planes return, all badly damaged. [84.121,343]
- April 18
- Pierre Laval becomes head of France Vichy Government. [389.16] (April 17 [968.37])
- Japanese patrol boat The Nitto Maru spots US task force with aircraft carrier Hornet carrying bombers for mission over Japan. The boat is sunk, but is assumed to have alerted Japan of the location of the ships. [807.12]
- The United States Army imposes a blackout of city lights on American east coast cities, to help protect ships from being seen by enemy submarines. [81.85] [127.6]
- (about 1215 hours) Sixteen American B-25 bombers lead by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle bomb Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kobe, Japan. The planes were launched from the carrier Hornet 668 miles off Tokyo. 73 of the 80 crew survive as the planes land and crash in China. [87.84] [91.18] [124.15] [148] [215.290] [362.15] [525.7] [734.55] [807.12]
- April 20
- Submarine U-154 torpedoes and shells Canadian merchant ship Vineland in the Caribbean. One man dies. [27.19]
- April 23
- (evening) British Bomber Command launches a heavy attack on Rostock, Germany, the first of several nights of concentrated attacks. [84.123,343]
- April 24
- (evening) British Bomber Command launches a second attack on Rostock, Germany. [84.123]
- April 25
- (evening) British Bomber Command launches a third attack on Rostock, Germany. [84.123]
- April 26
- British General Harold Alexander decides Burma is lost, that forces must withdraw to ensure the defence of India. [522.1990]
- (evening) British Bomber Command launches a fourth and final attack on Rostock, Germany. Over the past four nights of attacks, 70% of the city is destroyed. Of 521 sorties in total, only 11 planes are shot down. The Heinkel aircraft factory is hit, but is back in production in a few weeks. Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler agree to retaliatory attacks on British cultural, resort, and civilization centers, to "bring the English to their senses". Goebbels writes in his diary: "They belong to a class of being to whom you can talk only after you have first knocked out their teeth." [84.123]
- April 27
- In Canada, a national vote is taken on the subject of conscription of soldiers for overseas duty. The response is 64% in favor of conscription, though in Quebec province 76% vote against. The Prime Minister decides that to keep Canada united, he would postpone conscription as long as possible. [5.84,161] [50.86] [101.16]
- (evening) 43 British Halifax and Lancaster bombers attack the German Tirpitz battleship in Aalsfjord, near Trondheim, Norway. The ship is not hit, and five planes are shot down. [84.124]
|