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1933:     FRANCE: French air minister Pierre Cot signs documents creating an independent air force, the L'Arme de l'Air. The Army loses control of the air units and the Army, Navy and Air Force are put on an equal footing. 

April 1st, 1939 (SATURDAY)

GERMANY: The Gerhard Fiesler Werke GmbH is created from the old Fieseler Flugzeugbau by Gerhard Fieseler. (21)

At Wilhelmshaven, Erich Raeder is promoted to Grand Admiral aboard the Scharnhorst and the battleship Tirpitz is launched. (Navy News)

JAPAN:  The prototype Mitsubishi A6M1, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter (assigned the Allied Code Name "Zeke" in 1942) makes its first flight at Kagamigahara. A total of 10,449 aircraft will be build during the war. 

CANADA:  Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA) begins transcontinental airline service today with a flight from Montreal, Quebec, to Vancouver, British Columbia. TCA operates 10-passenger Lockheed Model 14-H2 Super Electras and 14-passenger Lockheed Model 18-10 Lodestars. 

U.S.A.: William Patrick Hitler, nephew of the Führer, arrived yesterday in New York aboard the French liner Normandie. Hitler takes a room at the Buckingham Hotel, Sixth Avenue and 57th Street. (New York Herald Tribune and Cris Wetton)

The government recognizes the Franco government in Spain following the end of the Spanish civil war. 

Hawaii: The US Navy holds the largest war games to date. (Denis Peck)

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