April 3rd, 1945 (TUESDAY)
AUSTRIA: Wiener Neustadt falls to
the Soviets.
The Fifteenth Air Force, the strategic air force in Italy, dispatches 95 P-38s
to dive-bomb the Tainach-Stein railroad bridge in Austria; other P-38s and P-51s
fly reconnaissance and escort missions; bad weather prevents bomber operations.
GERMANY
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions:
Mission 924: 752 B-17s and 569 P-51s are dispatched to hit U-boat yards at Kiel; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 bombers and 4 fighters are lost; three German submarines, U-1221, U-2542 and U-3505 are destroyed.
1. 693 of 752 B-17s hit the Deutsche U-boat yard and 24 hit the Howardts U-boat yard; 2 B-17s hit Flensburg Airfield a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 121 damaged. Escorting are 517 of 569 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft.
2. 98 of 100 P-51s fly a sweep of the Kiel area.
3. 4 P-51s escort an1 F-5 on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
4. 17 of 18 P-51s fly a scouting mission; 2 P-51s are lost.
Mission 925: 1 B-17 and 10 B-24s are dispatched to drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
The US Ninth Air Force, the tactical air force supporting US ground troops, dispatches about 230 B-26s, A-20s and A-26s to attack the Holzminden and Hameln marshalling yards, the town of Gottingen, 2 targets of opportunity, and fly a leaflet mission; fighters fly escort, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, support the US 9th Armored Division in the Warburg area, the XX Corps E of the Werra River toward Muhlhausen and in the Kassel area, the XII Corps in the Gotha and Suhl areas, and the 2d and 8th Armored Divisions in the Teutoburger Forest and Neuhaus.
Capt Ian Oswald Liddell (b.1919), Coldstream Guards, scaled a road block and, in full view and under fire, disconnected the bombs planted on a bridge. He was killed on 21 April. (Victoria Cross)
The US 76th Division reassembles at Homberg to mop up German rearguard resistance. (Skip Guidry)(116)
ITALY: During the night of 2/3 April, the Twelfth Air Force, the tactical unit, sends A-20s to bomb the marshalling yard at Mantua, several Po River crossings and other communications targets in the Po Valley; weather hampers operations during the day; medium bombers cancel most missions, but manage to bomb the Po Valley bridges at Camposanto, Usigliano, and Modena; the XXII Tactical Air Command [including Brazilian and South African Air Force (SAAF) units] blast communications, fuel dumps, methane plants, trains, motor transport at numerous points in northern Italy (mainly in the Po Valley), including Parma, Modena, Fidenza, Lodi, Bergamo, Reggio Emilia, and Piacenza.
CHINA: 37 Fifth Air Force B-24s again attack the Hong Kong docks sinking two cargo ships and damaging an escort vessel; other B-24s and B-25s hit the airfield, butanol plant, and railroad yards at Kagi, Formosa while A-20s sweep other rail targets. B-25s attack N Hainan Island.
17 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s bomb the Pinglo railroad yards and 60+ fighter-bombers knock out bridges at Hsitu and between Chuting and Hengyang, destroy pontoon bridges in the Kanchou area, hit Yangtong airfield, and the Tayu, Hankow, Kanchou, Yoyang, and Ishan-Hwaiyuanchen areas.
BURMA: Bad weather again causes cancellation of most scheduled strikes; a few Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers hit a Japanese-held wooded area near Kenglong; transports complete 383 sorties to forward areas.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 28 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s attack the Ninh Binh railroad yards, knock out a bridge at Thinh Duc, and damage bridges at Gian Khau and Mon Cay. Fighter-bombers pound the Hai Duong railroad yards, and hit river traffic and other targets of opportunity at several locations including Hongay, and Cao Bang.
JAPAN: Off Okinawa,
Kamikazes damage 1
CVE and other ships of the supporting naval forces.
There are a number of attacks on USN ships off Okinawa today.
1. The escort aircraft carrier USS Wake Island (CVE-65) and high-speed minesweeper USS Hambleton (DMS-20) are damaged by kamikaze near-misses.
2. Attack transport USS Telfair (APA-210) and tank landing ship USS LST-599 are damaged by kamikazes.
3. Destroyer USS Prichett (DD-561) is damaged by a bomb.
JAPAN: The Twentieth Air Force flies four missions during the night of 3/4 April.
Mission 54: 9 B-29s mine the waters off Hiroshima, Japan without loss.
Mission 55: In the early morning, 48 of 49 B-29s hit the aircraft plant at Shizuoka, Japan without loss.
Mission 56: 43 of 78 B-29s attack the Koizumi aircraft factory and 18 hit the urban areas in Tokyo as a target of opportunity; they claim 1-0-0 Japanese aircraft.
Mission 57: 61 of 115 B-29s strike the aircraft plant at Tachikawa and 49 hit the urban area of Kawasaki as a target of opportunity; 1 B-29 is lost.
USN escort aircraft carrier USS Wake Island (CVE-65) is attacked by two kamikazes. At 1744 hours, a Japanese single-engine plane plunged at the ship from a high angle and missed the port forward corner of the flight deck, exploding in the water abreast the forecastle. Thirty seconds later, a second similar plane whistled down on the starboard side at tremendous speed, narrowly missing the bridge structure and plunging into the water about 10 feet (3 meters) from the hull. The plane exploded after impact, ripping a hole in the ship’s side below the waterline, about 45 feet (13.72 meters) long and about 18 feet (5.49 meters) from top to bottom and making many shrapnel holes. Parts of the plane were thrown onto the forecastle and into the gun sponsons. Various compartments were flooded, and the shell plating cracked between the first and second decks. Other shell plating buckled, and the main condensers were flooded with salt water, contaminating some 30,000 US gallons (24,980 Imperial gallons or 113,562 litres) of fresh water and 70,000 US gallons (58,287 Imperial gallons or 264,979 litres) of fuel oil. At 1824 hours, salting made it necessary to secure the forward engine, and the ship proceeded on one propeller. Remarkably, there were no injuries; and, by 2140 hours, corrective measures had been taken, and the ship was again steaming on both engines. The next day, the ship steamed to Kerama Retto anchorage with destroyer escorts USS Dennis (DE-405) and USS Goss (DE-444) for inspection and temporary repairs. The ship sailed for Guam on 6 April.
Other ships damaged by kamikazes include the high speed minesweeper USS Hambleton (DMS-20) and the tank landing ships USS LST-599.
FORMOSA: Fifth Air Force B-24s and B-25s hit the airfield, butanol plant, and railroad yards at Kagi, Formosa while A-20s sweep other rail targets.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Part of the US 40th Division lands at Masbate to assist the guerrillas.
On Luzon Island, Far East Air Force fighter-bombers and A-20s hit the Balete Pass- Baguio-Naguilian area north of the Cagayan Valley supply targets, the Laguna de Bay area, and Infanta, also, Miri Airfield in Borneo, troops in the Cebu City area on Cebu Island, and targets on Tarakan Island, Borneo are bombed.
The US 108th Infantry Regiment of the 40th Infantry Division lands on Masbate Island, located west of Leyte, to assist the guerrillas fighting the Japanese.
U.S.A.: Washington: General MacArthur has been appointed C-in-C of all US Pacific ground forces, and Admiral Nimitz will command all US naval units. The old geographic boundaries of "South-West Pacific" and "Pacific Ocean Areas" are to be discarded in favour of this new command structure in preparation for the coming invasion of Japan. The joint chiefs of staff in Washington have retained direct control of the US Twentieth Army Air Force and will exercise strategic command in the Pacific theatre.