April 13th, 1944 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: General Dwight D Eisenhower formally assumes direction of air operations out of the UK at 0000 hours (though he began informal exercise of this authority in late March 2944). This assumption of authority gives Eisenhower direction over the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) consisting of the RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force and the USAAF Ninth Air Force; RAF Bomber Command; and US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF) consisting of the USAAF Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces (the Fifteenth Air Force retains some degree of independence) along with the US 1st Army Group, British 21 Army Group, and Allied Naval Forces.
BELGIUM AND FRANCE: The Ninth Air Force dispatches 121 B-26s and 37 A-20s to attack a marshalling yard, coastal batteries, airfields and V-weapon sites at Namur, Chievres and Nieuport, Belgium; Le Havre, France; and along the northern coast of France in general; nearly 175 other aircraft abort missions mainly because of weather; and 48 P-47s also dive-bomb V-weapon sites.
THE NETHERLANDS: During Eighth Air Force Mission 302, 4 B-17s drop 800,000 leaflets on Amsterdam, The Hague and Eindhoven at 2235-2252 hours without loss.
GERMANY: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 301: 626 bombers and 871 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; the bombers claim 22-13-34 Luftwaffe aircraft and the fighters claim 42-8-10 in the air and 35-0-21 on the ground; 38 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; the bombers also drop 5.2 million leaflets on Germany; this mission is flown in conjunction with a raid on Hungary by 500+ Fifteenth Air Force bombers.
- 154 B-17s hit the industrial area at Schweinfurt and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 14 B-17s are lost.
- 207 B-17s bomb aviation industry targets at Augsburg and 20 hit the city of Augsburg; 18 B-17s are lost.
- 93 B-24s hit Lechfeld Airfield; 60 bomb aviation industry targets at Oberpfaffenhofen; 29 hit Lauffern and 2 hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-24s are lost.
Escort is provided by 134 P-38s, 504 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 233 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 3 P-38s, 2 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost.
SWEDEN: Stockholm: Britain and American demand that Sweden stop exporting ball bearings to Germany.
HUNGARY: 535 Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers (largest bomber mission to date) bomb targets in Hungary; 163 B-17s bomb an aircraft plant and depot at Gyor while 324 B-24s bomb an aircraft factory at Budapest and air depots at Budapest, Tokol and Vecses; fighter opposition and AA account for 14 US bombers and 1 fighter shot down; 40 enemy fighters are claimed shot down and 120+ aircraft destroyed on the ground.
The Hungarian fighters include sixteen Hungarian-made Me-210Cs, but these failed to shoot down any American aircraft, but lost several of their number including at least one to Hungarian anti-aircraft fire, which knocked out one of its engines.
Casualties amount to 1,073 killed and about 500 injured, prompting a mass evacuation of 100,000 people from the city (mostly children, elderly and pregnant women). (Jack McKillop and Mike Yaklich)
U.S.S.R.: The Red Army captures Simferopol.
ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack Terni and a bridge at Marsciano while B-26s bomb Ancona marshalling yard and a nearby railroad bridge; fighter-bombers again strike mainly at communications, the town of Itri, Cesano station, a factory at Fontana Liri, a railroad overpass at Fara in Sabina, Anguillara, and bridges, trucks and other targets at points throughout central Italy.
CHINA: 28 Fourteenth Air Force fighters attempt to intercept but fail to make contact with 13 Japanese airplanes which bomb Namyung, China.
BURMA: 90+ Tenth Air Force P-40s, P-51 Mustangs and A-36 Apaches and a few B-25s carry out ground support missions near Kamaing and hit assorted targets throughout the Mogaung Valley; 12 B-25s and 11 P-51s support ground forces at Mawlu.
JAPAN: 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s fly armed reconnaissance and bombing runs over the airfield on Matsuwa Island and installations on Onnekotan Island in the Kurile Islands.
NEW GUINEA: Australian troops retake Bogodijm.
80+ Fifth Air Force B-24s and A-20s pound the airfields at Dagua and But on the north coast of New Guinea; 33 A-20s hit Aitape; P-39Airacobras, B-25s, and B-24s fly light strikes against a variety of targets along Hansa Bay, on Wakde Island, at Uligan, and several other points along the coast.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: There are two attacks on targets in Truk Atoll. During the early morning 23 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb and later in the day, Seventh Air Force B-24s from Eniwetok Atoll attack.
MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s from Tarawa Atoll bomb Jaluit Atoll, rearm at Majuro Atoll and hit Maloelap Atoll.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine USS Harder (SS-257) sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Ikazuchi 180 miles (290 km) south-southwest of Guam.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Thirteenth Air Force aircraft attack targets on New Britain Island. 24 B-25s bomb the Talili Bay and Ratawul supply areas and the town of Rabaul; 40+ fighter-bombers strike the Malaguna area northwest of Rabaul; 17 fighter-bombers hit personnel and supply areas at Mosigetta, Mawareka, Meive, and Maririei.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress" opens in Hollywood, California. Directed by William Wyler, this film documents the 25th and final mission of the crew of the Eighth Air Force's B-17F-10-BO "Memphis Belle."