March 31st, 1942 (TUESDAY)
GERMANY: During the
day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Hampdens and six
Wellingtons on a cloud cover raids
to Germany; six aircraft find targets to bomb.
During the night of the 31st/1 April, four RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons,
with selected crews using Gee, are dispatched to Essen but only one bombs; a
second aircraft bombs Hamborn.
U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day:
Shch-210 Black Sea Fleet off Shabler Cape (sunk by German aircraft off Crimea) (Mike Yared)
INDIA: The Congress Party demands immediate independence.
CEYLON: The British
Eastern Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville consisting
of the aircraft carriers HMS Formidable, Hermes and Indomitable; five old
battleships; six British and two Dutch cruisers; and 15 destroyers, sail from
Colombo after being warned of the approach of a Japanese fleet. The Japanese
force under Vice Admiral KONDO Nobutake consists of the battleships HIJMS Haruna,
Hiei, Kirishima and Kongo; the aircraft carriers HIJMS Akagai, Hiryu, Shokaku,
Soryu and Zuikaku; heavy cruisers HIJMS Chikuma and Tone; light cruiser HIJMS
Abukuma; and nine destroyers.
BURMA: After a fierce ten-day battle, Japan takes Toungoo from the Chinese expeditionary force. The Chinese 200th Division makes contact with the Chinese 22d Division north of Toungoo and withdraws north of Pyinmana as a reserve. With the loss of Toungoo, the road to Mawchi is left undefended and the Japanese, during the next few days, overrun the small Chinese garrison at Mawchi and then continue east, forcing elements of the Chinese Temporary 55th Division (T-55th) of the Chinese 6th Army back to Bawlake.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Four RAAF Hudsons of Nos. 2 and 13 Squadrons operating from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, bomb Penfui Airfield on Dutch West Timor Island. The Australians destroy at least six aircraft on the ground and four flying boats in the harbor.
NEW GUINEA:
The 8th Bombardment Squadron (Light) transfers from Charters Towers, Queensland,
Australia to Port Moresby, New Guinea, with six A-24 Dauntlesses; they fly their
first mission tomorrow.
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand now has 61,368 servicemen
overseas, 52,712 of them in the Army. Home Guard strength is 100,000.
TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Major General F. L. Martin, Commanding General Hawaiian Air Force, and Rear Admiral PNL Bellinger, Commander Naval Base defence Air Force, prepare a joint estimate covering Joint Army and Navy air action in the event of sudden hostile action against Oahu or Fleet Units in the Hawaiian area. Part III “Possible enemy action” states that “a declaration of war might be preceded by: (1) a surprise submarine attack on-ships in the operating area, (2) a surprise attack on Oahu including ships and installations in Pearl Harbor, or (3) a combination of these two.” The conclusion is that “it appears that the most likely and dangerous form of attack on Oahu would be an air attack. It is believed that at present such an attack would most likely be launched from one or more carriers which would probably approach inside of 300 miles (483 kilometres).”
U.S.A.: In Washington, Major General
Carl Spaatz suggests that the now "task-less HQ 8th Air Force" be shipped to the
U.K. to assume operational control of the units assigned to Army Air Forces in
Britain (AAFIB).
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German
submarine U-754 sinks two U.S.
merchant ships off the U.S. East Coast near Norfolk, Virginia. (1) Unarmed tug
Menominee and the barges that she is towing, Allegheny, Barnegat, and Ontario,
are shelled by U-754 about 53 miles northeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia; the
tug and barges Allegheny and Barnegat sink but barge Ontario, with its dunnage
cargo, remains afloat and provides a life preserver for the three men who had
been on board each barge. Only two of the 18-man tug boat crew and the nine men
on the barges survive. (2) Later in the day, the sub torpedoes an unarmed tanker
as the ship, en route to Norfolk, Virginia, waits to embark a pilot. One crewman
dies in the initial explosion.
An unarmed U.S. tanker en route to Caripito, Venezuela from Buenos Aires,
Argentina, is shelled, torpedoed, and sunk by Italian submarine Pietro Calvi
about 513 miles east northeast of Cayenne, French Guiana; 2 crewmen on the
tanker are lost.