April 3rd, 1944 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: England: Because of a combat crew shortage which has caused abolition of the 50-mission limit tour of duty and resulted in fatigue and morale problems, IX Bomber Command establishes a new operational leave policy. Maximum leaves for bomber crews are set at 1 week between the 25th and 30th missions and 2 weeks between the 40th and 50th missions.
NORWAY: OPERATION TUNGSTEN. Germany's one surviving battleship, the TIRPITZ, has been disabled again by a daring navy attack. Repairs on the Tirpitz following the midget submarine attack last September had just been completed. The Royal Navy learnt from Ultra codebreaking that she was ready to sail and sent two carriers to Altenfjord. HMS Victorious and HMS FURIOUS sailed as near as they dared and launched their 41 Fairey Barracuda bombers at 4.15 this morning. The conditions were between snow storms and thus ideal for flying. They scored six direct hits and three probables on the Tirpitz. The bombs did not pierce the ship's heavy armour, but floods and fires on the ships upper decks mean the Tirpitz will not sail again for three months.
One of the pilots was Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant David Clarabut RNVR(A) (1923-2011). His Barracuda was carrying a 1,600lb bomb in the first strike wave of 21 aircraft of 827 and 830 Naval Air Squadrons.
At 0529, the first Wildcats and Hellcats flew in over the mountains to surprise the German flak positions with machine-gun fire, while Corsairs gave air cover. The Barracudas took station in line ahead and dived through the clear skies from 10,000 feet.
The mountains had hidden Tirpitz from view until a few seconds before the dive, and the battleship put up two dense box barrages, one at 8,000 ft and the other at 3,000 ft, where bombs were meant to be released. The aircraft of 830 Squadron were led lower, and Clarabut dived lowest of all until, at 1,200 ft and at a 45 degree angle, he dropped his deadly cargo. A dense column of smoke rose higher than his aircraft, and Clarabut could only fly through this and hope to pull out of his dive before hitting the mountainside. As he emerged, there was the bright flash of an explosion between Tirpitz's bridge and B turret.
Those killed included Tirpitz's captain and she drifted
out of control until she ran aground. One Barracuda was shot down and its crew
of three lost during the attack, which had lasted barely a minute. (Daily
Telegraph)
ITALY: Naples: Mount Vesuvius erupts sending clouds of dust and rock falling onto Allied merchant ships in the Bay of Naples. Tom Stainton and his ship are forced to move out to sea to avoid damage.
Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack railway bridges at Orvieto, cutting approaches to a bridge to the north of town; other medium bomber attacks on bridges abort because of weather but light bombers successfully bomb an ammunition dump; A-36 Apaches attack the railway at Attigliano and bomb an underpass in the area, while P-40s hit Sesti Bagni railroad station, a supply dump southeast of Frosinone, the town of Itri, a bivouac area northwest of Velletri and several trucks; and P-47 Thunderbolts successfully bomb Pignataro Interamna and nearby road junction.
FINLAND: The German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop orders all deliveries of food supplies to Finland to cease. This is in retaliation to the Finnish peace-probes, which the Germans have discovered, apparently from their spies in the Swedish airport which the Finnish envoys used in their trip. This embargo puts Finland in a very hard position; because of the wartime, the majority of Finnish supplies come from Germany or countries allied to it.
Already on 28 March the German representative at the Finnish GHQ, General der Infanterie Waldemar Erfurth, had threatened the Finnish Chief of General Staff, General of Infantry Erik Heinrichs, that Finland will suffer the same fate as Hungary, which Germany recently occupied, if she tries to make peace with the Soviet Union. Heinrichs answers that Finland is not a German ally like Hungary, but the threat is taken very seriously by the Finnish military leadership.
Eastern Europe: 450+ Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb targets in Hungary and Yugoslavia; the B-17s hit an aircraft factory in Budapest, Hungary and a marshalling yard at Brod, Yugoslavia; the B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Budapest; 137 fighters escort the B-17s (B-24s miss the rendezvous) to Budapest; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 24 enemy aircraft shot down.
Seven Heja II fighters of the Hungarian Air Force stationed on a field near Budapest manage to get airborne, and thereby only proved their inadequacy against modern aircraft. Still underpowered and lacking an oxygen supply, t hey had difficulty operating above 15,000 feet, which was still several thousand feet below the altitude preferred by the bomber formations. (Jack McKillop and Mike Yaklich)
CHINA: 4 rocket-firing Fourteenth Air Force P-40s, with 8 other as top cover, damage 2 large river boats between Hengyang and Ichang.
BURMA:4 Tenth Air Force B-25s damage the Tangon bridge while 6 P-51 Mustangs hit Anisakan airstrip in the Mandalay area; 20+ fighter-bombers and 6 B-25s hit targets of opportunity south of Mupaw Ga and west of Mogaung, troops near Bhamo, and knock out a bridge near Mogaung; during the night of 3/4 April 16 B-24s bomb oil and power facilities at Yenangyaung, Chauk, and Lanywa while 8 P-38 Lightnings hit Meiktila Airfield.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 4 Fourteenth Air Force P-40s flying a Red River sweep from Vinh Yen to Dong Cuong sink 4 small boats, damage 3 more, and strafe 50-100 persons at a loading point on the river; and 3 B-24s lay mines in the Haiphong area.
NETHERLANDS East Indies: Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Langgoer and B-25s bomb the Babo area and Penfoei on Timor Island.
NEW GUINEA: 300+ Fifth Air Force B-24s, B-25s, A-20 Havocs, and P-38s blast airfields at Hollandia; most of the remaining Japanese airplanes there are destroyed; of 60 intercepting Japanese fighters, 26 are claimed shot down; air opposition from Hollandia is very light hereafter; 50+ P-40s, P-47s, and P-39 Airacobras hit villages, communications, AA positions, and other targets in areas around Wewak, Hansa Bay, Bogia and Madang.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO:23 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s bomb the northeastern section of Rabaul on New Britain Island; this strike follows a larger than usual (6 B-25s) heckling raid during the night of 2/3 April. In other raids, 50+ fighter-bombers blast fuel stores at Keravia Bay on New Britain.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-24s, staging through Eniwetok Atoll during the night of 2/3 April, bomb Truk Atoll. B-25s from Abemama Island follow with a daytime attack on Ponape Island.
MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s from Abemama and Tarawa Atoll hit Maloelap and Jaluit Atolls.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force USAAF and USN fighters strafe the Numa Numa trail area on Bougainville and maintain patrols.
PACIFIC OCEAN: US submarine USS Pollack (SS-180) sinks an Japanese Army cargo ship south of Japan.