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• First men of US 41st Division arrived at Melbourne, Australia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Japanese troops landed on Bougainville, Solomon Islands and Lorengau, Admiralty Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]
• German submarine U-160 damaged US tanker Bidwell 50 kilometers east of Wilmington, North Carolina, United States at 0807 hours, killing 1 of 33 aboard; her crew would manage to repair and bring her back to port for repairs. At 1700 hours, U-571 sank Norwegian tanker Koll 250 miles northwest of Bermuda; 2 were killed, 33 survived (1 of whom would later die of exposure before being rescued). ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Japanese submarine I-4 sank US freighter Washingtonian off the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean at 1600 hours. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyer HMS Havock ran aground off Cape Bon, Tunisia and was scuttled by her crew. ww2dbase [CPC]

• At 0200 hours, B-17 bombers of US 22nd Bomb Group were launched from Seven Mile airfield near Port Moresby, Australian Papua. One hour later, the faster B-26 bombers were launched. Flying toward Rabaul, New Britain, this was the first B-17 combat mission against that location as well as the first B-26 combat mission. The B-17 bombers struck first (despite the fact that the two were supposed to be attacking at the same time), causing no damage. By the time the B-26 bombers arrived, 7 Japanese A5M fighters were already in the air, although they failed to close in on the B-26 bombers. The B-26 bombers caused very little damage. ww2dbase [Rabaul, New Britain | AC, CPC]

• Japanese troops captured Mandalay, Burma. Off Akyab on the western coast of Burma, Japanese aircraft sank Indian sloop HMIS Indus. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]
• Japanese Army bombers sank the Royal Indian Navy's sloop Indus at Akyab, Arakan (now Sittwe, Rakhine), Burma. ww2dbase [Akyab, Arakan | AC]

• Naka completed her temporary repairs at Bantam Bay, Java, Dutch East Indies and departed for Singapore. ww2dbase [Naka | Java | CPC]

• 157 British bombers (110 Wellington, 19 Stirling, 18 Hampden, and 10 Manchester aircraft) attacked Essen, Germany; most of them were turned back by a storm. 5 aircraft were lost in this mission. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Essen | CPC]

• Japanese warships sank 13 freighters southeast of India, while carrier aircraft from Ryujo conducted raids against ports Vizagapatam and Cocanada on the eastern coast of India, sinking 3 ships. ww2dbase [Raids into the Indian Ocean | CPC]
• Kurita's Northern Group attacked and sank seven merchant ships totaling 41,000 tons along India's northeastern coast south of Calcutta (Kolkata). ww2dbase [Takeo Kurita | Kumano | Suzuya | Raids into the Indian Ocean | DS]
• Sakiyama's Southern Group of Mogami, Mikuma and destroyer Amagiri sank four merchantmen totaling 19,000 tons with two of them finished off with torpedoes from Amagiri. ww2dbase [Raids into the Indian Ocean | Mogami | Mikuma | Amagiri | DS]

• British tug HMS West Cocker was destroyed by Axis aircraft at Malta. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

• Japanese aircraft continued to attack American and Filipino targets at Bataan, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | Bataan | CPC]

• German Luftwaffe group II./KG 27 flew a supply operation for the German troops trapped in Kholm, Russia. Three He 111 aircraft failed to return; one of which was forced to land within the pocket due to heavy damage. The crew of the downed He 111 aircraft removed the aircraft's radio and used it to help direct further supply runs. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | Kholm, Novgorod | CPC]

• HMS Edinburgh departed Scapa Flow, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Scapa Flow | Edinburgh | Scapa Flow, Scotland | CPC]

6 Apr 1942 Interactive Map