April 11th, 1944 (TUESDAY)
NETHERLANDS: The Hague: Six RAF Mosquitoes of No. 613 Squadron precision-bomb the Gestapo offices in the Kleizkamp Art Galleries, destroying files on the resistance and Dutch people earmarked for deportation. (22)
BELGIUM: 229 Ninth Air Force B-26s and 36 A-20s, including 3 dropping Window, attack Montignies Airfield at Charleroi, military installations on the coast, and Chievres Airfield.
FRANCE: During the Eighth Air Force's Mission 299: 5 B-17s drop 2 million leaflets on Paris, Rouen, Le Mans, Rennes, Vichy, Lyon, Limoges and Toulouse between 2301 and 0055 hours local without loss.
90+ Ninth Air Force P-47s dive-bomb a military installation and Gael Airfield, France.
GERMANY: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 298: 917 bombers and 819 fighters are dispatched in 3 separate forces to bomb production centres (primarily fighter aircraft factories) and targets of opportunity in northern Germany; 64 bombers are lost, one of the heaviest single-day losses of World War II. The bombers also drop 2.4 million leaflets:
- 108 B-17s hit aviation industry targets at Sorau and 17 bomb Cottbus; 127 hit Stettin, 20 hit Trechel, 16 hit Dobberphel and 23 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 12-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 B-17s are lost.
- 172 B-17s hit Rostock, 52 hit Politz, 35 hit the industrial area at Arnimswalde and 15 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 34-20-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 33 B-17s are lost.
- 121 B-24s hit aviation industry targets at Oschersleben and 99 bomb Bernburg; 9 bomb aviation industry targets at Halberstadt, 9 bomb Eisleben and 5 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 27-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 B-24s are lost.
Escort is provided by 124 P-38s, 454 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 241 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; the fighters claim 51-5-25 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 65-0-67 on the grounds: 7 P-47s and 9 P-51s are lost.
One of the B-24s lost was 42-7522, that crashed 2km north of Bernburg. There are three survivors of the crash. (Byron Blake)
U.S.S.R.: Kerda falls to the Soviets. They also take Kerch, in the Crimea, forcing a German retreat to Sevastopol.
ITALY: Increased German aerial mining activities are noted off Anzio.
Twelfth Air Force B-25s hit the Montalto di Castro railroad bridge, while B-26s hit marshalling yards at Ancona and Siena; fighter-bombers concentrate on attacks against railroad targets northeast of Rome and buildings inland from the east coast; tracks are hit hard in the Arezzo-Pontassieve area as are stations at Maccarese and Cesano; an overpass, bridges, railroad cars and dumps throughout central Italy are attacked, as is the town of Gaeta.
BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 43 2:30 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Naumgkan, Burma. Bombed ground troops and strafed village. (Chuck Baisden)
17 Tenth Air Force P-51s and B-25s fly ground support missions and bomb a road near Maungkan; Mogaung Valley targets are attacked by 50+ fighter-bombers and 2 B-25s; targets include HQ and stores at Sahmaw, HQ and ammunition dump southwest of Mogaung, troops at Myitkyina, and targets of opportunity to the south, a gun position south of Kamaing, and HQ at Waingmaw.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s hit railroad targets of opportunity north of Vinh and seriously damage a bridge south of Thanh Hoa.
JAPAN: Of 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s attempting to fly a photographic and bombing run over Matsuwa Island, Kurile Islands installations, 2 must turn back; the third bombs the runway area.
NEW GUINEA: 80+ Fifth Air Force A-20s and B-25s, supported by 30 P-47s and P-40s, blast AA positions, stores, dumps and personnel areas at Hollandia; 50+ B-24s bomb barges, AA guns, and other targets along Hansa Bay which is also hit by 12 B-25s. 12 other B-25s bomb targets on Karkar Island.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese warships are sunk:
- AUSNPB4Y-1 Liberator of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Eight (VB-108) based on Eniwetok attacks an enemy submarine while on patrol, claiming a sinking. This was undoubtedly HIJMS I-174, which departed on 3 April 1944 from the Inland Sea of Japan for the Marshall Islands. It failed to answer when called on 11 April 1944.
- The submarine USS Redfin (SS-272) sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Akigumo in the eastern entrance to Basilan Strait in the Philippines.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville Island, 20+ Thirteenth Air Force fighter-bombers are dispatched against coastal gun positions but fail to locate their objective; 12 of the fighter-bombers bomb Aitara while 2 claim destruction of a bridge near Mawareka.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: About 40 Thirteenth Air Force fighter-bombers hit the eastern section of Rabaul on New Britain Island while 12 others strike Talili Bay ammunition dump; 24 B-25s blast supply areas at Ratawul.
CENTRAL PACIFIC: Seventh Air Force B-25s from the Gilbert Islands hit Ponape Island in the Caroline Islands, rearm at Majuro Atoll, and carry out a shuttle mission against Jaluit and Maloelap Atolls in the Marshall Islands.