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• » 4 Apr 1943

• No. 254 Squadron of Coastal Command achieved its first success against enemy shipping using torpedo carrying Beaufighter aircraft. ww2dbase [Beaufighter | AC]
• The final elements of US Marine Aircraft Group 21 arrived at Banika Island, Russell Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Pollack damaged a Japanese freighter in the Marshall Islands and Gilbert Islands area with two of two torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Pollack | CPC]
• Soviet troops launched the Taman Offensive Operation in an attempt to push the Germans out of the Taman Peninsula in the Caucasus region of southern Russia. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | CPC]
• Unable to do it himself, George Patton ordered Omar Bradley to fire Orlando Ward for Ward's failures at Kasserine Pass, Tunisia. ww2dbase [Omar Bradley | George Patton | CPC]

• I-168 transferred men from Kiska to Attu in the Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [I-68/I-168 | Kiska | CPC]

• USS Grayback arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Grayback | Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• Isoroku Yamamoto and Ryunosuke Kusaka met at Rabaul, New Britain to discuss the details of the I-Go offensive. ww2dbase [Isoroku Yamamoto | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• US Marine Corps squadron VMF-124, equipped with F4U fighters, was assigned to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Henderson Field | Lunga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the Renault armament factories southeast of Paris, France. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | Billancourt | DS]

• RAF bombers conducted a raid on Kiel, Germany during the night. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | CPC]

• Satoru Anabuki, flying Ki-43 fighter "Fubuki", shot down two Hurricane fighters over Dohazari, India (now Bangladesh), increasing his score to 31. ww2dbase [Satoru Anabuki | Dohazari | CPC]

• USS Tunny set sail for McLaughlin Bank, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Tunny | CPC]

• The only large-scale prisoner of war escape of the Pacific War took place at the Davao Penal Colony, Mindanao, Philippines. It was led by US Army Air Forces Captain William Dyess. ww2dbase [The Davao Escape | Davao Penal Colony | Ed Dyess | Panabo, Davao | CPC]

• The German SS Central Construction Office reported to Auschwitz Concentration Camp that Crematorium V had been completed in Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and its administration was now turned over to the camp administration. According to the firm that built the crematorium, J. A. Topf und Söhne, it had the capacity to cremate 768 bodies each day. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Submarine Cero was launched at Groton, Connecticut, United States, sponsored by Mrs. D. E. Barbey. ww2dbase [Cero | Electric Boat Company | Groton, Connecticut | CPC]
• USS S-44 arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. ww2dbase [Philadelphia Navy Yard | S-44 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | CPC]
• Song Meiling spoke at Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California, United States. ww2dbase [Song Meiling | Los Angeles, California | CPC]

• US Navy 50th Construction Battalion arrived at Midway Atoll to relieve the 5th Construction Battalion. It was to continue the work to lengthen the airstrips and to build oil storage tanks on Sand Island. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]

4 Apr 1943 Interactive Map