April 16th, 1943 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The Polish Government requests a Red Cross investigation of the Katyn Massacre.
FRANCE: The evacuation of all children and non-essential civilians from the Channel ports of Le Havre, Dieppe, Cherbourg, St Malo and Brest is announced.
The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission Number 51: 25 B-24s are dispatched against the Brest U-Boat base while 83 B-17's are dispatched against the Lorient U-Boat base. 19 B-24s drop 52 tons on Brest at 1337-1338 hours; the B-24s claim 2-3-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost. 59 B-17s bomb Lorient at 1412-1414 hours dropping 147 tons of bombs; they claim 9-4-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost. The attack is hindered by an effective smoke screen and strong fighter opposition.
ITALY: Sicily: Ninth Air Force B-24's attack a tanker in Catania harbour, scoring several hits on the target and in surrounding areas. Northwest African Air Force B-17s bomb the dock area at Palermo.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Destroyer HMS
Pakenham in company with HMS Paladin encounter the Italian torpedo boats Cigno
and Cassiopea. Pakenham sinks Cigno with gunfire and a torpedo, but not before
Cigno has put a shell into her engine room which brings her to a stop. Paladin
takes Pakenham in tow, but it is later decided to scuttle Pakenham since air
attacks can be expected, and the destroyers are outside the envelope of air
cover from Malta. Location 12 miles off Cape Granitola, Sicily at 37 26N 12 30E.
(Alex Gordon)(108)
TUNISIA: The British Eighth Army abandons their attempts to force a German retreat from Enfidaville by quick jabs and prepares to launch a full-scale assault during the night of 19/20 April. Ninth Air Force fighters fly sea patrol.
Northwest African Air Force fighters strafe trucks during the night of 15/16 April and during the following day. A-20s and fighter-bombers bomb Djqobel el Raar and concentrations located in various wadis in the battle area. Aircraft maintain sea reconnaissance and patrols while B-25s and B-26s hit the Oudns landing ground and P-38s bomb vessels near Cape Zebib and at Cape el Ahmar.
CHINA: Fourteenth Air Force P-40's strafe a group of buildings east of Tenchung.
BURMA: Tenth Air Force P-40s, bombing a railroad bridge near Mogaung, score a direct hit on the target and blow up both approaches, leaving the bridge temporarily unserviceable. Later in the day the bridge near Pinbaw is demolished by direct hits. Eight B-24s hit the Rangoon Marshalling Yard, 9 B-25s bomb the Thazi rail junction, while 9 more, weathered out of Maymyo, hit rail targets in Mandalay.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: RAAF No. 18 (NEI) Squadron B-25s bomb Vila Salazar on Timor.
NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Kaimana, Wewak, Madang, and Lae. B-17s pound shipping at Wewak damaging the destroyer HIJMS Tachikaze.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: From his HQ at Rabaul on New Britain Island, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku orders that Operation I-GO against the Allied forces in the Solomons and New Guinea be halted. He mistakenly believes that the Japanese air offensive has severely destroyed Allied air and naval forces.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force B-17s bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Kiska Island is bombed and strafed 13 times. A total of 13 Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, 12 B-25 Mitchells, 32 P-40s, 29 P-38 and 2 F-5A Lightnings cover targets which include installations in the Holtz Bay area and gun positions on North Head.
U.S.A.: Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the effects of LSD. (William L. Howard)
MEXICO: Mexico City: Jacques Monard is sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for the murder of Leon Trotsky, including six-months for carrying an ice-pick.