This day in the war in the Pacific 65 years ago.

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AUSTRALIA: On the day after General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia, the USAAF operational strength consists of about 213 combat aircraft, i.e., 12 B-17 Flying Fortresses, 27 A-24 Dauntless dive bombers, several miscellaneous light and medium bombers, 33 P-39 and 52 P-400 Airacobras, 92 P-40s and miscellaneous transport and other noncombat aircraft. Approximately 100 additional aircraft are being repaired or assembled. Very few of the fighter pilots are experienced or well trained and most of the bomber crews are exhausted and have low morale.

In the morning, General Douglas MacArthur sends his staff
officers by plane south from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, while he orders up a special train for himself and his family. Jean MacArthur will have no more flying. The MacArthurs board a three-car wooden train drawn by a steam locomotive, that scuttles down a narrow-gauge line. The train chugs off on a 70-hour journey down 1,028 miles of track to Adelaide, South Australia. (Jack McKillop)

BURMA: Pilots of the 3d Fighter Squadron, AVG attack a Japanese airfield near Moulmein at 0755 hours destroying three bombers, two transports and 11 fighters on the ground.

CHINA: USN river gunboat Tutuila (PR-4), decommissioned at Chungking, China, on 18 January, is leased to the Chinese government for the duration of the war.

NEW HEBRIDES: U.S. Army troops, two companies of the 182d Infantry and an engineer company, arrive on Efate Island to build an airfield.

U.K.: Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Queen Victoria's
grandson, is named Chief of Combined Operations.

U.S.: The government creates the War Relocation Authority to "Take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war." As a result, 120,000 men, women, and children
were rounded up on the West Coast. Three categories of internees were created: Nisei (native U.S. citizens of Japanese immigrant parents), Issei (Japanese immigrants), and Kibei (native U.S. citizens educated largely in Japan). The internees were transported to one of ten relocation
centers in California, Utah, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming. One Japanese American, Gordon Hirabayashi, fought internment all the way to the Supreme Court. He argued that the Army, responsible for effecting the relocations, had violated his rights as a U.S. citizen. The court ruled against him, citing the nation's right to protect itself against sabotage and invasion as sufficient justification for curtailing his and other Japanese Americans' constitutional rights.

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ALASKA: Military Intelligence warns that a Japanese seizure of the Aleutian Islands, or a raid on Alaska, could be expected at any time. It is believed that the attack would be to prevent the U.S. from invading Japan from the north, or to obstruct Soviet/American communications.

AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur and his party endure traveling in a tiny railroad coach with two hard wooden seats running lengthwise. The second car is a diner with a long wooden table, washtubs full of ice, and an Australian army stove. Two Australian sergeants and an army nurse do the housekeeping. To switch from diner to passenger car, the train has to stop, and passengers have to get out of one car and walk along the ground to the other. MacArthur and his families sit in the car, besieged by flies. MacArthur goes to sleep. At one point, the engineer stops the train, surrounded by sheep ranchers. The general thinks they want a speech from the war hero but actually they want a doctor to assist one of the ranchers; after the surgery, the train leaves.


BURMA: Lieutenant General William J. Slim, former General Officer Commanding 10th Indian Division in Syria, arrives in Burma to take command
of Imperial troops, now formed into the Burma I Corps. In the Sittang
Valley, Japanese troops attack Toungoo, the original training base of the
American Volunteer Group. General Slim aims to hold the Japanese on the Prome-Toungoo line, blocking two roads. Between the roads is 80 miles of jungle and hills, with no connecting roads. Two Chinese armies move to Toungoo to block that route. While Chinese divisions are the strength of British brigades, they are good troops with years of experience in fighting the
Japanese.
However, their top leader, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, more concerned with fighting rival Communist leader Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung), is
reluctant to commit his troops. And communications between Slim and the
American commanding the Chinese troops, Lieutenant General Jospeh Stilwell, are slow and complicated. British forces are in poor shape, too, demoralized and in retreat. The 17th Division has been on the run, and 1st Burmese is untested. Slim's HQ's radio batteries have to be recharged by operating a pedal-driven generator. Slim has one trump card, though, the 7th Armoured Brigade, superior to the tankless Japanese.

FIJI ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a Yokosuka
E14Y1,"Glen" to reconnoiter Suva on Vitu Levu Island.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Philippine President Manuel Quezon and 13 members
of his party are transported from Dumaguete, Negros Island, to Oroquito, Mindanao Island, after a 240-mile voyage in motor torpedo boat PT-41.

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AUSTRALIA: Japanese Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers (later
assigned the Allied Code Name Betty), attack the Broome Airfield, Western Australia, at high altitude. There are a number of craters off the end of the strip and in the tidal flats; one aboriginal is killed by a bomb splinter but no other casualties or damage was caused.

BURMA: Japanese troops, reinforced by the 18th and 56th Division which had arrived by sea at Rangoon a few days earlier, attack the Chinese 6th Army near Toungoo.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Major General Jonathan Wainwright learns that he has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and that Washington has placed him in command of all U.S. Forces in the Philippines
(USFIP).

U.S.: The South Dakota Class battleship, USS South Dakota (BB-57), is
commissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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AUSTRALIA: Late in the afternoon, General Douglas MacArthur's train reaches Kooringa, 80 miles (129 kilometers) north of Adelaide, South Australia. One of his staff officers, Colonel Dick Marshall, who had been sent on ahead, boards the train and tells the general that there are fewer than 32,000 Allied troops, American, British, and Australian, in the whole country, most of them service forces. There is not a single tank in the nation and the only combat-ready force is one brigade of the Australian 6th Division. If the Japanese land, the Australians intend to withdraw to the "Brisbane Line," holding the settled southern and eastern coasts, abandoning the northern ports to the Japanese.
Supply lines to the rest of the Allied world, committed to defeating Germany
first, are long. "God have mercy on us," MacArthur whispers. It is, he writes,
his greatest shock and surprise of the whole war. In Adelaide, MacArthur swaps his little train for a luxurious private car provided by Australia's commissioner of railways. The press is there to greet him and seek a statement. MacArthur scrawls on the back of an envelope, "The President of the United States ordered me to break through the Japanese lines ...for the purpose, as I understand it, of organizing the American offensive against Japan, a primary object of which is the relief of the Philippines. I came through and I shall return."
A single Mitsubishi Ki-15, Army Type 97 Command Reconnaissance Plane (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Babs") takes off from Koepang, Timor, to reconnoiter the defenses of Darwin, Northern Territory, in readiness for a larger strike force of Mitsubishi G4M, Navy "Betty" bombers. Coast watchers
on Bathurst Island notify Darwin of the approaching reconnaissance aircraft at about 1200 hours and it is shot down by USAAF P-40 pilots of the 9th Pursuit Squadron. As anticipated, the Japanese bombers make a raid that same day but not on Darwin. They fly 200 miles further southeast and bomb Katherine, Northern Territory. They presumably were hoping to find Allied bombers at the Katherine Airfield but none were there and damage at the airfield is minimal.

BURMA: The Burma 1st Division, upon being relieved on the Toungoo front
by the Chinese 200th Division, Chinese 5th Army, begins a movement to the Irrawaddy front, leaving a large area south of Toungoo undefended.
Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, now
in Burma, issues orders for Chinese participation in the defense of the
line Toungoo-Prome. The Chinese 5th Army is charged with the defense
of Toungoo; its 200th Division is reinforced by attachment of the Temporary 55th Division (T-55th ) of the Chinese 6th Army, which is to move to Pyawbwe. In army reserve, the Chinese 22d Division is directed to
Taungdwingyi, where it is to be prepared to assist the British in the Prome
area while the Chinese 96th Division is to move to Mandalay.
Japanese bombers and fighters open as 24-hour operation against Magwe Airdrome. Pilots of the 3d Fighter Squadron, AVG shoot down two "Nate's" at
1430 hours. The Japanese attack the airfield and destroy nine RAF Blenheim
Mk. IV bombers and three AVG P-40s on the ground and three RAF Hurricane
Mk. IIs in the air.

INDIA: The Assam-Burma-China Ferry Command is activated. It consists of
25 Pan-American World Airways DC-3 transports, which are soon diverted
from mission of taking supplies to China in order to supply forces withdrawing from Burma.

JAPAN: In THE JAPAN TIMES newspaper, Rear Admiral SOSA Tanetsuga warns
the Japanese people of American bases in Alaska and the Aleutians that
could threaten the Homeland.

NEW GUINEA: The first four Curtiss Kittyhawks Mk. IAs of RAAF No. 75 Squadron arrive at Seven Mile Airdrome at Port Moresby. As they fly over the airdrome, they are fired on by anti-aircraft which damages three of the four aircraft; one never flies again. The remainder of the squadron arrives two hours later.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright, as commander of U.S. Forces in the Philippines (USFIP), which supersedes U.S. Army Forces, Far East (USAFFE), establishes headquarters on Corregidor Island and appoints Major General Lewis Beebe his chief of staff. Major General Edward P. King, Jr., is named commander of Luzon Force.


U.S.: The United States agrees to provide US$500 million in aid to China. (With inflation, US$500 million in 1942 is equal to US$5.5 trillion in year 2002 dollars.)

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Army aviation engineers begin work on the secret Otter Point Airfield on the 675 square mile Umnak Island separated from Unalaska Island, site of NavalOperating Base Dutch Harbor and Fort Mears, by Unmak Pass. By the end of the month, a 100 by 5,000 foot (30 by 1524 meter) runway has been completed using Marston matting.

ANDAMAN ISLANDS: The Japanese invade these islands in the eastern part of the Bay of Bengal without opposition.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Bataan, American and Filipino troops dig in for the next round. The I Corps fields 32,000 men and 50 guns on the west, while II Corps has 28,000 men and about 100 guns on the east, including 31 naval guns up to 3-inch. Troops have been trained in jungle warfare, trenches and dugouts built, mines laid, and a 12-foot (3,7 meter) palisade of bamboo erected across the front. The Japanese are having ration trouble, too, as the 14th Army has cut rations from 62 ounces to 23 (1,76 kilogram to 652 grams); about 13,000 Japanese troops are in the hospital. But General HOMMA Masaharu, commanding the Japanese 14th Army, enjoys an edge: two Army bomber regiments comprising 60 heavy bombers, plus naval air force units. Homma plans to seize the dominant Mount Samat, centerpiece of the American line, then drive southeast to Limay, ringing the mountains to turn west towards Mariveles, the peninsula's base. The attack will be led by the newly-arrived 4th Division and the 65th Brigade. Meanwhile, Japanese aircraft drop beer cans tied with ribbons, asking Wainwright to surrender. The appeal is ignored.

U.S.: In California, the first 1,000 Japanese-Americans arrive at
the Manzanar Relocation Camp For Ethnic Japanese. The camp is located in
the Owens Valley on the west side of U.S. Highway 395 about 50 miles (80
kilometers) south of Bishop and 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of
Lone Pine. Today, this is a National Historic Site.

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BURMA: In a surprise attack on Kyungon Airfield, north of
Toungoo, the Japanese rout the defenders (troops of Chinese 200th Division and rear elements of the Burma 1st Division) and cut the rail line and road, thus partially surrounding Toungoo. The Chinese fall back on Toungoo, while the Burmese succeed in withdrawing to the Irrawaddy front.

CHINA: British General Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding Burma Army, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek meet to discuss plans for the cooperation of Chinese and British Forces.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese begin an intense air and artillery bombardment of Bataan. Luzon-based Japanese Army and Navy aircraft begin a thorough bombardment of Corregidor, continuing through the end of
March. During this period night air attacks are conducted for the first time. A Filipino patrol on Bataan kills a Japanese officer who brought his documents with him to the front. They include orders for a reconnaissance in force on Mount Samat, followed by an attack on 26 March so the Americans dig trenches on Mount Samat.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, now menaced by the Japanese, Australian coastwatcher Don McFarland heads for the isolated west coast community of Lavor with Martin Clemens and Ken Hay to set up a new observation post.

THAILAND: Ten P-40s of the 1st Fighter Squadron, AVG, based at Kunming Airdrome, China, and staging through Loiwing and Namsang, Burma, strafe Chiengmai Airdrome between 0710 and 0725 hours. Fifteen Japanese Army bombers are destroyed on the ground but two AVG P-40s are shot down by ground fire; one pilot is killed and the second is taken prisoner after evading capture for 28 days.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, 7th Air Force): 23d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th BG, transfers from Hickam Field to Mokuleia, Territory of Hawaii with B-17's and continues flying patrols.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): Air echelon of 91st Bombardment Squadron, 27th BG, ceases operating from Brisbane, Australia and begins moving to Charters Towers with A-24s. Ground echelon is on Bataan.

U .S.: The Pacific Theater of Operations is established as an area of U.S. responsibility by the Combined Chiefs of Staff.

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AUSTRALIA: An advanced flight echelon of B-26s assigned to the 22d Bombardment Group (Medium) arrives at Archerfield Airdrome, Brisbane via the Pacific ferry route.

General Douglas MacArthur finally consents to see Lt. General George Brett who commands all Allied air units in Australia. Brett later recalls, "MacArthur went into a dissertation on the air forces. It was evident that he had nothing but contempt and criticism for them. `They lack discipline, organization, purposeful intent,' he said." Brett's assessment is that the key to MacArthur's speech is that the Philippine campaign had been lost-but "through no
fault of his."
Jean MacArthur goes shopping in Melbourne, Victoria, to buy clothes, and finds out that most Australians have no idea of what they've been through. The Myer Emporium salesgirl looks her over, shakes her head sadly, and says, "SSW. Well, I don't know whether we've got anything." What does SSW mean? "Small-sized woman. They're
hard to fit." Another shopper recognizes Mrs. MacArthur, and says, sympathetically, "Won't your clothes soon be arriving from Manila?"
An advance air echelon of the USAAF 22d Bombardment Group (Medium) equipped with B-26 Marauders arrives at Archefield Airdrome near Brisbane, Queensland, via the South Pacific ferry route. These are the first B-26s to reach an active war zone. The ground echelon has been in Australia for a month.

NEW GUINEA: On 21 March, RAAF No. 75 Squadron arrived at Seven Mile Aerodrome at Port Moresby with 17 Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk. IA (= USAAF P-40E) fighters. Today, only seven of the original aircraft are operational.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): 16th and 17th Bombardment Squadrons , 27th Bombardment Group, cease operating from Brisbane with A-24s and begin moving to Charters Towers.

PACIFIC: Three Japanese merchant ships are sunk by U.S. submarines:
(1) USS Drum (SS-22 sinks a cargo ship about 120 miles south southwest of Tokyo, Japan;
(2) USS Pompano (SS-181) sinks a tanker about 70 miles NW of Naha, Okinawa; and
(3) USS Tautog (SS-199) sinks a transport about 460 miles SE of Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands.

SOCIETY ISLANDS: The U.S. 162d Infantry of the 41st Infantry Division, arrives at the 14 square mile (36 square kilometer) Bora Bora Island in French Polynesia. Bora Bora Island is about 2,650 miles SSE of Honolulu, Territory of
Hawaii.

BURMA: The Chinese 200th Division is virtually besieged in Toungoo. Elements of the Temporary 55th Division (T-55th) of the Chinese 6th Army, arrive north of the town but do not attack. The Burma I Corps is ordered to concentrate in the Prome-Allanmyo area.

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a E14Y1, "Glen" , to reconnoiter Kiska and Amchitka Islands.

CANADA: British Columbia Security Commission initiates scheme of forcing men to road camps and women and children to "ghost town" detention camps.

MIDWAY ISLANDS: Light cruiser USS St. Louis (CL-49) arrives and disembarks Companies "C" and "D," 2d Marine Raider Battalion, and a 37 mm gun battery of the 3d Defense Battalion.

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AUSTRALIA: At a meeting with the Australian Advisory War Council, General Douglas MacArthur gives his views on the situation in Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific. He doubts that the Japanese are able to undertake an invasion of Australia, and believes that it would be a great blunder on their part if they attempted it. However, he believes
that the Japanese "might try to overrun Australia in order to demonstrate their superiority over the white races." He suggests that the main danger is from isolated raids and attempts to secure air bases in the country and therefore, the first step is to make Australia secure
General Douglas MacArthur receives the citation for his Medal of Honor at a formal dinner in Melbourne, Victoria. He tells the audience, "I have come as a soldier in a great crusade of personal liberty as opposed to perpetual slavery. My faith in our ultimate victory is invincible, and I bring you tonight the unbreakable spirit of the free man's military code in support of our joint cause." The Australians are delighted. MacArthur continues, that the medal is not "intended so much for me personally as it is a recognition of the indomitable courage of the gallant army which it was my honor to command."
Three USAAF 3 B-17s evacuate Philippine President Manual L Quezon and his family to Australia.

BURMA: Continuing pressure against the Chinese in Toungoo, the Japanese seize the town as far as the railroad line. The Chinese 22d Division, which has previously been ordered to the Pyinmana-Yedashe area, north of Toungoo, to counterattack in support of the Chinese 200th Division,
arrives in position but fails to take the offensive.

EAST INDIES: A Japanese carrier force leaves the naval base at Kendari on Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies, for the Indian Ocean.

U.S.: Admiral Ernest J. King relieves Admiral Harold R. Stark as Chief of Naval Operations and thus becomes Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations; Vice Admiral Frederick J. Horne (Vice
Chief of Naval Operations) and Vice Admiral Russell Willson (COMINCH Chief of Staff) are his principal assistants.

The presidents of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) promise to do all they can to curb the rash of strikes that has slowed industrial production. They oppose strikes for the duration.

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AUSTRALIA: Elements of the Australian 6th Division arrive in Perth, Western Australia, from the Middle East. General Sir Thomas Blamey is named Commander-in-Chief of Australian Military Forces.
Philippine President Manuel Quezon and members of his cabinet, recently evacuated from Corregidor by the submarine USS Swordfish (SS-193), arrive at Fremantle, Western Australia,. He subsequently goes to the U.S. and forms a government in exile but could do no more than try to boost the morale of the people he left behind. While in the U.S., Quezon serves as a member of the Pacific War Council. He dies of tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, New York, U.S.A., on 1 August 1944, 18 days short of his 64th birthday.
The air echelon of the USAAF 30th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) transfers from Melbourne, Victoria, to Cloncurry, Queensland, with B-17 Flying Fortresses; the ground echelon is on Bataan and Mindanao, Philippine Islands.

BURMA: The Chinese 200th Division continues to resist the Japanese
onslaughts against Toungoo. On the Irrawaddy River front, the
Japanese are massing forces south of Prome.

INDIA: RAF planes withdraw from Akyab Airfield as a result of heavy
enemy bombing.

PACIFIC: Submarine USS Gudgeon (SS-211) sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship in the East China Sea about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west northwest of Sasebo, Japan. A Japanese collier is sunk by Dutch aircraft off Koepang,
Timor, Netherlands East Indies.

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AUSTRALIA: P-40 pilots of the USAAF 9th Pursuit Squadron based at Darwin, Northern Territory, shoot down three Japanese twin-engine bombers over Darwin at 1310 hours.
The air echelon of the USAAF 28th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) transfers from Melbourne, Victoria, to Cloncurry, Queensland, with B-17 Flying Fortresses; a detachment begins operating from Perth, Western Australia; the ground echelon is in the Philippine Islands.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): HQ 43d Bombardment Group and 63d and 65th Bombardment Squadrons arrive at Sydney, Australia from the US with B-17's; first mission is 14 Aug and 12 Nov respectively.

28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group (Heavy), transfers from Melbourne to Cloncurry with B-17's; a detachment begins operating from Perth; ground echelon is on Bataan on Mindanao.

80th Pursuit Squadron, 8th Pursuit Group, transfers from Brisbane to Lowood, Australia with P-39's; first mission is 22 Jul.





BURMA: General Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding Burma
Army, at the request of Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding
General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, agrees to attack on the Irrawaddy River front.
Reconnaissance elements of the Burma I Corps clash with the Japanese at Paungde, southeast of Prome.

HAWAII: U. S. Navy codebreakers at Pearl Harbor decipher a message that reveals the Japanese plan a major offensive north of Australia in early May.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese, moving into position for all-out offensive against Bataan, feint against I Corps and push in the outpost line of Sector D on the II Corps front. Increasingly heavy air and arty bombardment of Bataan is lowering efficiency of defense force as well as destroying badly needed materiel. Efforts to run the blockade and supply the garrison with necessary items have virtually failed, and supply situation is growing steadily worse.

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AUSTRALIA: General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander-in-Chief of Australian Military Forces, meets General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General
U.S. Army Forces, Far East, for the first time in MacArthurâs rooms in the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne, Victoria.

SWPA, 5th Air Force: 19th Bombardment Squadron, 22d BG (Medium), transfers from Ipswich to Townsville with B-26's; first mission is 6 Apr. 93d Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy), transfers from Melbourne to Cloncurry, Australia with B-17's; ground echelon is on Bataan and Mindanao; first mission is 23 Jul.

BURMA: Going on the offensive to relieve pressure on the Chinese at Toungoo and restore communications, a task force of the Burma I Corps attacks and clears Paungde, but its situation becomes precarious as the Japanese establish themselves a few miles north at Patigon and on the east back of the Irrawaddy River at Shwedaung.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The Marines 4th Defense Battalion (reinforced) and the forward echelon of Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF-212) arrive at Vila on Efate Island. The troops of VMF-212 are to construct an air strip from which the squadron initiates operations in the New Hebrides on 27 May.

U.K.: The text of the "Draft Declaration of Discussion, with Indian Leaders," taken to India by Sir Stafford Cripps is published simultaneously in India and Great Britain. The British Government had decided to lay down in clear terms the steps to be taken for the earliest possible realization of self-government in India. "The object is the creation of a new Indian union which shall constitute a Dominion, associated with the United Kingdom and the other Dominions by a common allegiance to the Crown but equal to them in every respect, in no way subordinate in any aspect of its domestic or external affairs"

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BURMA: The Chinese 200th Division withdraws from Toungoo under
pressure and fails to destroy the bridge over the Sittang River thus leaving
the way to the Chinese border wide open for the Japanese. On the
Irrawaddy River front, the Burma I Corps task force falls back to Prome from
the Paungde area, leaving vehicles behind at Shwedaung. During the night
30th/31st, the Japanese attack the Indian 63d Brigade at Prome and soon breach their defenses, exposing the right flank of the Indian 17th
Division.

CHRISTMAS ISLAND: Nine hundred Japanese troops land on the British
controlled, 52 square mile Christmas Island located about 225 miles south of the western end of Java, Netherlands East Indies. The island is rich in phosphates.

NEW GUINEA: Reinforcements for the RAAF’s No. 75 Squadron operating from Seven Mile Aerodrome at Port Moresby arrive in the form of five Kittyhawk Mk. IAs (= USAAF P-40E).

PACIFIC: Submarine USS Sturgeon (SS-187) sinks a Japanese transport
33 miles southwest of Makassar City, Celebes, Netherland East Indies.

U.S.: Directives are drafted designating General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), and Admiral Chester Nimitz as Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Area (CINCPOA), for submission to the Allied governments concerned. SWPA is to include Australia, the Philippines, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomons, and most of the Netherlands East Indies.
As Supreme Commander of SWPA, General MacArthur is to maintain positions in the Philippines and bases in Australia; guard approaches to SWPA; halt the Japanese advance on Australia; protect communications within the theater; support POA forces; and be prepared to take the offensive. POA comprises the North Pacific Area (north of 42N), Central Pacific Area (between 42N and the equator) and South Pacific Area (south of the equator between the eastern boundary of the SWPA and 110W), all under overall command of Admiral Nimitz, and the first two under his direct command. As CINCPOA, Admiral Nimitz, who also remains Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, is to maintain communications between the U.S. and SWPA; support operations in the SWPA; and be prepared to take offensive action. In addition to SWPA
and POA, Pacific Theater is to include the Southeast Pacific Area, i.e., the ocean stretches west of Central and South America.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the creation of The Pacific War Council in Washington, D.C. The Council membership consists of the President, Rooseveltâs unofficial advisor on foreign affairs Harry Hopkins, and political representatives of the U.K., China, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Canada. Representatives of India and the Philippines are added later.
The Inter-American Defense Board holds its first meeting in Washington, D.C. The Board was created to study and recommend measures for the defense of the hemisphere.
The War Production Board bans the production of certain electric appliances, notably toasters, stoves and razors.

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BURMA: The Chinese 200th Division makes contact with the Chinese 22d Division north of Toungoo and withdraws north of Pyinmana as a reserve. With the loss of Toungoo, the road to Mawchi is left undefended and the Japanese, during the next few days, overrun the small Chinese
garrison at Mawchi and then continue east, forcing elements of the Chinese Temporary 55th Division (T-55th ) of the Chinese 6th Army back to Bawlake.

CEYLON: The British Eastern Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville consisting of the aircraft carriers HMS Formidable, Hermes and Indomitable; five old battleships; six British and two Dutch cruisers; and 15 destroyers, sail from Colombo after being warned of the approach of a Japanese fleet. The Japanese force under Vice Admiral KONDO Nobutake consists of the battleships HIJMS Haruna, Hiei, Kirishima and Kongo; the aircraft carriers HIJMS Akagai, Hiryu, Shokaku, Soryu and Zuikaku; heavy cruisers HIJMS Chikuma and Tone; light cruiser HIJMS Abukuma; and nine destroyers.

EAST INDIES: Four RAAF Hudsons of Nos. 2 and 13 Squadrons operating from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, bomb Penfui Airfield on Dutch West Timor Island. The Australians destroy at least six aircraft on the ground and four flying boats in the harbor.

INDIA: The Congress Party demands immediate independence.

NEW GUINEA: The 8th Bombardment Squadron (Light) transfers from Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia to Port Moresby, New Guinea, with six A-24 Dauntlesses; they fly their first mission tomorrow.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): 8th Bombardment Squadron, 3d BG, transfers from Charters Towers to Port Moresby with A-20's; first mission is 1 Apr.

NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand now has 61,368 servicemen overseas, 52,712 of them in the Army. Home Guard strength is 100,000.

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BRITISH SOLOMON ISLANDS: In the Solomon Islands, Japanese forces occupy Buka Island off the north coast of Bougainville Island.

USA: US goverment begins the relocation of Japanese-Americans to interment camps in the United States.

(SWPA, 5th Air Force): During Apr, HQ 16th, 17th and 91st Bombardment Squadrons , 27th Bombardment Group, are established at Charters Towers, Australia; ground echelon remains on Bataan.

BURMA: General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief India, visiting the front, agrees to the immediate withdrawal of Burma I Corps to the Allanmyo area, north of Prome. The Japanese continue to press in on Prome. Wavell sends a message to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stating that the Japanese command of the air is setting the Allied command in Burma an extremely difficult task. Lieutenant General William J Slim, General Officer Commanding Burma Corps, and Lieutenant General
Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, meet for the first time and are impressed with each other.

CHINA: After meeting with British General William J Slim in Burma, Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell flies to Chungking to meet with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. The meeting is stormy. Stilwell tells Chiang he will resign because the Chinese generals won't obey his orders. "What a gag," Stilwell writes. "I have to tell Chiang Kai Shek with a straight face that his subordinates are not carrying out his orders, when in all probability they are doing just what he tells them. In justice to all of them, however, it is expecting a great deal to have them turn over a couple of armies in a vital area to a foreigner."

EAST INDIES: During the night of 31 March/1st, the Japanese land on Ceram Island, Netherlands East Indies. The 1st Detachment occupies the town of Fakfak and the small Dutch garrison surrenders without a fight. RAAF Hudsons of Nos. 2 and 13 Squadrons operating from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, bomb Penfui Airfield on Dutch West Timor Island. The Australians destroy six and damage six aircraft on the ground.

JAPAN: Japanese Combined Fleet Headquarters submits a draft of an operational plan for the Second Phase of operations, in which the Aleutian Operation (AL-GO) will be followed by a Midway Operation.

NEW GUINEA: Japanese troops from the Netherlands East Indies land at a number of points on the Dutch New Guinea coast, from Sorong on the northwestern tip to Hollandia, during the period 1-20 April; the landings are virtually unopposed.
Six USAAF A-24 Dauntlesses based at Port Moresby attack the Japanese at Lae.

PACIFIC: Submarine USS Seawolf (SS-197) torpedoes Japanese light cruiser HIJMS Naka 50 miles northwest of Christmas Island south of Java. British submarine HMS Truant sinks two Japanese merchant cargo ships in Malacca Strait, 60 miles off the coast of Sumatra.

PHILIIPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese Army resumes major attacks against the US and Filipino forces on Bataan. The 24,000 men there are on ¼ rations.

U.S.: The Pacific War Council holds its first meeting at Washington, D.C. Presided over by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and attended by representatives of Australia, Canada, China, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines and the U.K., this is the first of more than 30 meetings held during the war.
The USAAF's Air Corps Proving Ground is redesignated Proving Ground Command, with its main base at Eglin Field, Valpariso, Florida. The command performs operational tests and studies of aircraft and aircraft equipment.
Transport Squadron Two (VR-2), the first Naval Air Transportation Service (NATS) squadron for Pacific operations, is established at NAS Alameda, California.

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BURMA: The British Burma Corps retreats from Prome.
In the Andaman Islands off the south coast of Burma, the 10th Air Force flies its first combat mission; the mission is lead by Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General 10th Air Force. Two B-17 Flying Fortresses and an LB-30 Liberator attack shipping during the night of 2/3 April and claim hits on a cruiser and a transport; 2 B-17's are damaged by AA and fighters, but all return to base.

CHINA: Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek gives Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, a new executive officer, General Lo Cho-Ying, who is mature and experienced. Stilwell and Lo hurry back down to the disintegrating Burma front.

INDIA: In India, US 10th Air Force B-17s are dispatched to attack Rangoon, Burma. The mission is aborted when 1 B-17 crashes on takeoff, killing the entire crew, and the other returns to base with mechanical troubles.

INDIAN OCEAN: Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville, Commander of the British Eastern Fleet, changes course for Addu Atoll with the main part of his fleet. Two heavy cruisers are detached,
(1) HMS Dorsetshire is sent to Colombo, Ceylon, to resume an interrupted refit and
(2) HMS Cornwall is sent to escort convoy SU-4 bound for Aden. The aircraft
carrier HMS Hermes with Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire is detached to
return to Trincomalee, Ceylon.

U.S.: The USAAF changes the designation of Observation Aircraft ("O") being delivered to Liaison Aircraft ("L") resulting in the following changes: