2-8 April
Sea War, Far East
Japan’s First Air Fleet attacks British air and sea bases in Trincomalee and Colombo, Ceylon. It fails to hit the main fleet, though, which is at sea. A British air attack against the Japanese force fails. Over several days, Japanese aircraft destroy the carrier Hermes, two heavy cruisers, an Australian destroyer, and several merchant ships.
3-9 April
Pacific, Philippines
Japan launches its final offensive on Bataan, beginning with air and artillery bombardments. The US line is penetrated on the 4th. Major General Jonathan Wainright, commanding the US and Filipino forces, cannot mount an effective counterattack with his decimated units. Following the surrender on the 9th, some 78,000 US and Filipino troops are forced to make a 65-mile (104-km) march without sustenance, and are constantly beaten. Many die along the way. Wainright escapes with 2000 men to Corregidor Island off Bataan.
10-23 April
Far East, Burma
Japan begins an offensive after reinforcements arrive. Lieutenant General William Slim fails to prevent the Japanese advancing on the oil fields at Yenangyaung in the south and sets large amounts of crude oil ablaze. The Chinese Sixty-fifth Army enters Burma to bolster the faltering defense against the Japanese. Around the central towns of Loikaw and Taunggyi, the Japanese 56th Division overwhelms the Chinese Sixth Army by the 23rd.
17 April
Air War, Germany
The RAF launch one of the war’s most hazardous bomber raids, attacking a diesel engine factory in Augsburg. Seven of the 12 Lancaster bombers assigned to the daylight attack are lost and the other five sustain damage.
18 April
Politics, Vichy France
Pierre Laval returns to head the government; Henri-Philippe Pétain continues as head of state. Laval is eager to enhance Franco-German relations and undermines the more hesitant approach advocated by Pétain.
Air War, Japan
Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle leads 16 B-25 bombers, launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet, on a daring mission to strike targets in Japan, including the capital Tokyo.The damage inflicted by the daylight raid is secondary to the impact on Japan’s leaders, who are alarmed that US aircraft can strike at the heart of their homeland. This reinforces a decision to seek a decisive engagement to destroy US naval power in the Pacific.
23 April
Sea War, Atlantic
The first ‘milch cow’ submarine (U-459) delivers fuel and supplies to Germany’s U-boats. This supply vessel doubles the operational range of the U-boats, which are no longer restricted by having to return to base for refueling.
24 April
Air War, Britain
Germany bombs Exeter at the start of an air campaign against historic towns and cities, following the British attack on Lübeck. Hitler has ordered raids against every English city featured in the famous Baedeker tourist books.
29 April
Far East, Burma
The Japanese cut the Burma Road after seizing the town of Lashio, where the route ends. Chinese Nationalists are now almost wholly dependent on supply by air. The Japanese, being reinforced through the port at Rangoon, are advancing up the river valleys and plan to encircle the Allies in the Mandalay area. The Allies will then have to fight with their backs to the Irrawaddy River. The Burma Corps aims to fall back to India, whose defense is the main priority. Rapid Japanese advances, however, force the British to make a hurried (and potentially disastrous) retreat rather than an organized withdrawal.
30 April
Politics, Soviet Union
Premier Joseph Stalin declares that the USSR has no territorial ambitions except to wrest its own lost lands from Nazi control.