This day in military history..

April 7th

1940: Units of the Kriegsmarine carrying troops and equipment set sail from German ports to begin Operation Weserübung (Weser Exercise), the invasion of Denmark and Norway.
1941: Great Britain severs diplomatic relations with Hungary. German troops capture Skopje in Macedonia. In Libya, the Afrikakorps captures Derna.
1944: In the East, the Red Army breaks through the German lines at Kerch in the eastern Crimea.
1945: Preceded by a tremendous artillery and air bombardment, the 3rd Belorussian Front begins its final assault against Königsberg. In the West, the US Ninth Army captures Hameln and Eisenach on the road to Leipzig.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1939: Italy invades Albania
source: http://www.tnl.net/when/4/7

1916:Australians reach the Western Front - Australians were introduced to fighting on the Western Front in what was called the 'nursery sector' in the relatively quiet area around Armentieres, France.
1918:Lieutenant P.V. Storkey, VC - Lieutenant Storkey, 19th Battalion, originally from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, wins the Victoria Cross at Bois de Hangard
1967:Major P.J. Badcoe, VC - Badcoe, Australian Army Training Team, Vietnam, originally from Adelaide, South Australia, was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for a series of actions in South Vietnam between February and April 1967.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh ends - Union Army under GeneralUlysses S. Grant defeat the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.
1945 - World War II: The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk 200 miles north of Okinawa while in-route to a suicide mission.
1967 - Six-Day War: Israeli fighters shoot down seven SyrianMIG-21s.
2003 - US troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's regime falls two days later.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_7

1776: U.S. Navy captures first British warship - Navy Captain John Barry, commander of the American warship Lexington, makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward and its cargo turned Captain Barry into a national hero and boosted the morale of the Continental forces.
1975: North Vietnamese forces begin preparations for final offensive - North Vietnamese forces prepare to launch the "Ho Chi Minh Campaign," designed to set the conditions for a final communist victory in South Vietnam. By this time, well over two-thirds of South Vietnam was under communist control as South Vietnamese forces had fallen back in panic when the North Vietnamese pressed the attack.
source:

1776 - Continental brig Lexington captures British Edward
1917 - Navy takes control of all wireless radio stations in the U.S.
1942 - Navy accepts African Americans for general service
1945 - First two Navy flight nurses land on an active battlefield (Iwo Jima): ENS Jane Kendeigh, USNR, and LTJG Ann Purvis, USN
1945 - Carrier aircraft defeat last Japanese Navy sortie (Battle of East China Sea); Yamato, world's largest battleship, and five other ships sunk
1979 - Launching of first Trident submarine, USS Ohio (SSBN-726) at Groton, CT
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1941: Derna is captured the 5th Light Division along with Generals Neame and O'Connor later in the day. Great Britain severs diplomatic relations with Hungary. German troops capture Skopje in Macedonia forcing the Yugoslav forces to withdraw in the south of the country, which exposes the Greek flank. British promise allegiance to Yugoslavia. Germans pushed towards Salonika.
1942: After 4 days of desperate fighting on Bataan, the Japanese have managed to penetrate 4 miles in to the US-Filipino lines, bringing General Wainwright's forces to the brink of collapse.
1943: The Japanese air force begins a 10-day, round-the-clock bombing offensive against US shipping in the Solomon's. Eighth Army joins up with the U.S. 2nd Corps in central Tunisia, while the British First Army makes progress in the North. Hitler spends the better part of four days at Klessheim Castle near Salzburg (which has recently been refurbished as a Nazi Party conference center and spa) alternately browbeating and cajoling Mussolini to keep Italy in the war. Concerned by Mussolini's evaporating morale, Hitler spends the rest of April summoning to Klessheim the leaders Vichy France, Norway, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Croatia for a series of pep talks. With the war's tide clearly turning against the Axis, the Fuhrer has limited success.
1944: Two Jewish inmates escape from Auschwitz-Birkenau and make it safely to Czechoslovakia. One of them, Rudolf Vrba, submits a report to the Papal Nuncio in Slovakia which is forwarded to the Vatican. Goebbels takes overall control of Berlin.
1945: The first land-based U.S. fighters from Iwo Jima overfly Japan. The battle of East China Sea begins as U.S. aircraft from Task Force 58 sink the Japanese super-battleship Yamato in a three-hour battle, 60 miles to the Southeast of Japan. Japanese casualties are reported as 2,488 sailors killed, four destroyers sunk, 58 aircraft destroyed. Army Group Centre under General Schörner continues with its attacks against the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian front. In Yugoslavia, German Army Group E under General Löhr evacuates it remaining troops from Sarajevo. The U.S. First Army takes Göttingen, 25 miles Northeast of Kassel. The US Ninth Army captures Hameln and Eisenach.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

2003: U.S. troops in more than 100 U.S. armored vehicles rumbled through downtown Baghdad and seized one of Saddam Hussein's opulent palaces.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080407.html

:rambo:
 
April 8th

1940: British naval vessels lay mines in Norwegian waters in preparation for landings by British and French forces at Namsos, Narvik and Andalsnes.
1943: Units of the British Eighth Army (Montgomery) capture Sfax in Tunisia.
1944: Troops of Heeresgruppe Ukraine (von Manstein) encircled at Kamenets-Podolsk break out to their own lines.
1945: Heavy fighting in the center of Vienna. The Red Air Force drops 1,500 tons of bombs on Königsberg. In the West, the British Second Army reaches Hildesheim, while the US Seventh Army (Patch) captures Pforzheim near the upper Rhine.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1917:Captain J.E. Newland, VC. (8 April & 15 April 1917) - Newland, 12th Battalion, originally from Geelong, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Lagnicourt
1917: Sergeant J.W.Whittle, VC. (8 April & 15 April 1917) - Whittle, 2nd Battalion, originally from Huon Island, Tasmania, wins the Victoria Cross for actions at Boursies and Lagnicourt.
1918: Repatriation Department established - Once soldiers were demobilised all tasks aimed at their rehabilitation and return to civilian life became the responsibility of the Repatriation Department.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1940: British submarines torpedo three German ships. Destroyer Glowworm is sunk after reporting German fleet movements and ramming cruiser Hipper. British naval vessels lay mines in Norwegian waters in preparation for landings by British and French forces at Namsos, Narvik and Andalsnes. The Polish submarine ‘Orzel’ sinks the German transport ship ‘Rio de Janeiro’ at 11:50. The Norwegians rescue several German soldiers who claim they are on their way to help the Norwegians against the British.
1941: The British 'Northern Force' captures Massawa, the last Italian stronghold in Eritrea. This removes any remaining threat to British convoys sailing through the Red Sea. After a temporary lull, the Luftwaffe launches a heavy attack against Coventry.
1942: The badly damaged cruiser HMS Penelope, limps in to Gibraltar.
1944: The Russians reach the Slovakian border. They also continue their advance into Romania. The final Russian offensive to destroy the German 17th Army in Crimea begins.
1945: The 2nd Ukrainian front continues its advance into northern Czechoslovakia and establishes a bridgehead across the rivers Morava and Donau (East and Northeast of Vienna). Heavy fighting in the centre of Vienna. The Red Air Force drops 1,500 tons of bombs on Königsberg. A British SAS Brigade paratroops into eastern Holland, to clear the way for Canadians troops who are moving North. The British Second Army reaches Hildesheim, while the US Seventh Army captures Pforzheim near the upper Rhine.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1832 - Black Hawk War: Around 300 United States 6th Infantry troops leave Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis to fight the SaukNative Americans.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield - UnionGeneralNathaniel Banks' Red River Campaign is thwarted by ConfederateGeneralRichard Taylor's forces at Mansfield, Louisiana.
1942 - World War II: Siege of Leningrad - Soviet Union forces open a much-needed railway link to Leningrad.
1945 - At the POW camp at Flossenbürg, pastor and theologianDietrich Bonhoeffer is hanged.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_8

1925 - First planned night landings on a carrier, USS Langley, by VF-1
1950 - Unarmed Navy patrol aircraft shot down over Baltic Sea by USSR
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1944: RCAF dive bombers start attacks on French railway yards to damage supply routes prior to D-Day.
1945: Germany - Lt. Gen. Henry Duncan Graham Crerar 1888-1965 now commanding five Canadian divisions and two tank brigades.Zutphen Netherlands - Canadians capture Zutphen; final offensive in Holland.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Apr&day=08

1972: North Vietnamese forces open a third front - North Vietnamese 2nd Division troops drive out of Laos and Cambodia to open a third front of their offensive in the Central Highlands, attacking at Kontum and Pleiku in attempt to cut South Vietnam in two. If successful, this would give North Vietnam control of the northern half of South Vietnam.
1981: General Omar Bradley, commander of the 12th Army Group who ensured Allied victory over Germany, dies on this day in 1981. Born on February 12, 1893, Bradley was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (Dwight Eisenhower was a classmate). During the opening days of World War II, he commanded the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was later placed at the head of the II Corps for the North African campaign, proving instrumental in the fall of Tunisia and the surrender of over 250,000 Axis soldiers. He led forces in the invasion and capture of Sicily and joined his troops in the Normandy invasion, which culminated in the symbolic liberation of Paris by Bradley's troops. He was promoted to commander of the U.S. 12th Army Group, the largest force ever placed under an American group commander, and led successful operations in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1981: Omar N. Bradley, a World War II general and the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died at age 88.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080408.html

:salute:
 
April 9th

1940: With no opposition, German forces occupy Denmark, while other seaborne and parachute troops are landed at Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim, Bergen and Narvik in Norway. During these operations, the Kriegsmarine loses the cruisers Blücher (sunk by Norwegian coastal batteries), Königsberg and Karlsruhe to British naval action.
1941: German forces occupy Nish in Yugoslavia and Salonika in Greece. In Libya, the Afrikakorps captures Bardia.
1945: In the East, the fortress city of Königsberg falls to the Red Army. In Italy, the US fifth Army (Clark) begins an offensive toward Bologna and the Po river valley.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1917: Private T.J.B. Kenny VC _ Kenny, 2nd Battalion, originally from Paddington, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross at Hermies, France.
1942: The destroyer, HMAS Vampire and the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes were sunk by Japanese bombers off Colombo in the Bay of Bengal.
1968: HMAS Sydney arrived at Vung Tau: 1 RAR disembarked, 7RAR embarked. - The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment disembarked, the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment embarked. HMAS Sydney made 21 voyages to Vietnam during the war.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1241 - Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeats the Polish and German armies.
1865 - Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
1916 - Battle of Verdun - German forces launch their third offensive of the battle.
1917 - Battle of Arras - The battle begins with Canadian forces executing a massive assault on the Vimy Ridge.
1942 - Battle of Bataan/Bataan Death March - United States forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula. 78,000 troops are captured, including 12,000 Americans, but 2,000 escape to Corregidor. This is the largest capitulation in US History. Japanese Navy launches air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
1945 - The German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer is sunk.
2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad, Iraq falls to American forces.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_9

1917: Vimy France - Arthur William Currie 1875-1933 leads all four divisions of the Canadian Corps. fighting as a unit for the first time, with one British brigade under Lt.-Gen. Julian Byng, to Easter Monday victory at Vimy Ridge. Using 1,000 guns and a masterful artillery barrage technique developed by Currie and his gunners, they take the German stronghold where the French and British had earlier failed; 4,000 Canadians killed, 6,000 wounded. From that day onward, Germany is on the defensive.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Apr&day=09

1861 - Second relief convoy for Fort Sumter left New York
1941 - Commissioning of USS North Carolina, which carried 9 16-inch guns
1943 - Re-establishment of Commodore rank
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1918: Battle of the Lys begins - German troops launch “Operation Georgette,” the second phase of their final, last-ditch spring offensive, against Allied positions in Armentieres, France, on the River Lys.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?

1941: German forces capture Nis and Monastir in Yugoslavia. German tanks enter Thessalonika, trapping the Greek 2nd Army in the Metaxas line, forcing them to surrender. The RAF attack Kiel in an attempt to knock out the port facilities.
1942: The Germans make some limited advances towards their surrounded units at Kholm-Staraya, Russa. Russian troops attack furiously at Kerch in the Crimea, but there have no success because of the stubborn German defense.
1943: Exterminations at Chelmno cease. The camp will be reactivated in the spring of 1944 to liquidate ghettos. In all, Chelmno will total 300,000 deaths.
1944: Fierce fighting across the District Commissioner’s tennis court at Kohima. The Japanese renew their struggle with the 17th Indian Division, South West of Imphal. The remains of the 1st Panzer Army regain the German lines after a 150-mile forced march. The Red Army breaks through the German lines at Kerch in the eastern Crimea.
1945: The British Eighth Army launches its final offensive in Italy with a 1,800-plane and 1,500-gun bombardment of the German positions East of Bologna. The U.S. Fifth Army begins its offensive toward Bologna and the Po river valley. Army Group E is now completely isolated from the main German forces, but continues its struggle against Titos partisan forces in Yugoslavia.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

:sniper:
 
April 10th

1941: German troops capture Zagreb in Yugoslavia. Ante Pavelic, Croatian Fascist leader, returns from Italian exile and proclaims the independent state of Croatia, with him as Poglavnik (leader).
1944: German forces of Heeresgruppe Ukraine evacuate Odessa on the Black Sea and withdraw to the west bank of the Dnestr river. In the West, Us and British air forces begin an offensive against German airfields and communications in France and Belgium.
1945: The US Ninth Army (Simpson) captures Essen in the Ruhr. In another heavy attack against Kiel, the RAF sinks the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer. The US 8th Air Force launches its heaviest raid to date (1,232 bombers) against Berlin.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1941: 6th Division engage the Germans in Greece - The Greek campaign, involving forces from Greece, Britain, New Zealand and Australia, resulted in heavy losses to the 6th Australian Division and ultimately an evacuation of Allied forces from beaches in southern Creece.
1941: Siege of Tobruk, Libya, begins - Tobruk was surrounded on three sides by the German Afrika Korps in April and remained besieged, but able to be re-supplied by sea, until December. Most Australian, however, left Tobruk between August and October.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1741 - War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia defeats Austria in the Battle of Mollwitz.
1865 - A day after his surrender to Union forces, ConfederateGeneralRobert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
1941 - The Axis Powers in Europe establish the Independent State of Croatia from occupied Yugoslavia with Ante Pavelić'sUstase fascist insurgents in power.
1944 - Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escape from Auschwitz II death camp.
1972 - Vietnam War: For the first time since November1967AmericanB-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_10

1941 - USS Niblack, while rescuing survivors of torpedoed ship, depth charged German submarine; first action of WW II between U.S. and German navies
1963 - During diving tests, USS Thresher lost with all hands (112 crew and 12 civilians) east of Cape Cod, MA
1966 - River Patrol Boats of River Patrol Force commenced operations on inland waters of South Vietnam
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1862: Union forces begin the bombardment of Fort Pulaski in Georgia along the Tybee River.
1865: At Appomattox Court, Va, General Robert E. Lee issues his last orders to the Army of Northern Virginia.
1941: U.S. troops occupy Greenland to prevent Nazi infiltration.
1945: In their second attempt to take the Seelow Heights, near Berlin, the Red Army launches numerous attacks against the defending Germans. The Soviets gain one mile at the cost of 3,000 men killed and 368 tanks destroyed. Allied troops liberate the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald north of Weiner, Germany.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

:tank:
 
April 11th

1945: Continuing bitter fighting in the center of Vienna, as well as in Breslau. In the West, the US Ninth Army captures Bochum in the Ruhr and Goslar in the Harz Mountains.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1917: First battle of Bullecourt, Western Front - The 4th Australian Division and 62nd English Division attempted to penetrate the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt where they were unsuccessfully supported by tanks. Over 1,000 Australians became prisoners of war, the largest number in a single action in the First World War. 3,000 became casualties.
1951: General MacArthur dismissed from command in Korea - MacArthur was dismissed from his command in Korea for the perception in Washington that he was too intemperate and likely to escalate the war.
1970: HMAS Vendetta returns to Sydney - HMAS Vendetta was the only one of three Australian Daring class destroyers to serve on the gunline in Vietnamese waters. The ship served one tour.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1241 - Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Muhi.
1512 - War of the League of Cambrai: French forces led by Gaston de Foix was victorious in the Battle of Ravenna.
1713 - War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War): Treaty of Utrecht.
1945 - World War II: United States forces liberate Buchenwaldconcentration camp.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_11

1814: Former French leader Napoleon Bonaparte exiled to the island of Elba
1898: President McKinley asks for Spanish-American War declaration
1899: Treaty of Paris ratified. Spain cedes Puerto Rico to US.
1941: Belgrade, in Yugoslavia, occupied by German forces during World War 2
1945: At the end of World War 2, the Red army enters the Austrian city of Vienna
source: http://www.tnl.net/when/4/11

1940: Royal Navy submarine Spearfish puts pocket battleship Lutzow out of action for a year. RAF raid Stavanger airfield on Norway’s west coast. King Haakon VII of Norway appeals to all Norwegians to fight. The first British troop's sets sail for Norway, although they have been mistakenly embarked without much of their heavy equipment.
1941: Rommel makes an attempt to capture Tobruk off the march. However, the 9th Australian Division repulses the attack, forcing the Germans to think again. By now the Germans are pretty exhausted after 3 weeks of continuous action and their vehicles in serious need of an overhaul. Bristol is bombed by the Luftwaffe. Italian forces begin their effort to push down the Yugoslav coast in order to link up with their forces in Albania.
1942: Progress continues as German relief forces push nearer the surrounded Kholm garrison. The Russians try to land troops near Eupatoria in the Crimea, but are stopped dead by the Germans.
1943: The British First Army takes Kalrouan, 100 miles South of Tunis.
1944: The majority of New Britain is now held by the Allies. An RAF Mosquito raid, hits the Gestapo HQ in the Hague. Russian troops capture Kerch in the Crimea. While units of the 4th Ukrainian Front liberate Dsjankoi.
1945: The Russians now reaches the centre of Vienna, capturing the parliament and town hall buildings. The U.S. Third Army takes the historic town of Weimar. The British Second Army takes Celle, 30 miles Northeast of Hanover, cutting the road to Hamburg. The U.S. Ninth Army capture Essen, Bochum and Goslar in the Harz Mountains. The U.S. Seventh Army reaches Schweinfurt, 80 miles to the East of Frankfurt.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1783 - Congress declares end of war with Great Britain
1900 - Navy accepted its first submarine, USS Holland
1970 - Launch of Apollo 13, commanded by CAPT James A. Lovell, Jr., USN. Former naval aviator Fred W. Haise, Jr. was the Lunar Module Pilot. While 200,000 miles from Earth there was an explosion on board which forced Apollo 13 to circle the moon without landing. Mission duration was 5 days, 22 hours, and 54 minutes. Recovery was by HS-4 helicopters from USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2).
1991 - U.N. ceasefire ends Persian Gulf War
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1945: American soldiers liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.
2003: American troops took the northern Iraqi city of Mosul without a fight.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080411.html

:army:
 
April 12th

1941: Geran troops enter Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia. In Libya, the Afrikakorps approaches Tobruk.
1943: German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) evacuate Vjasma. The British Eighth Army captures Sousse in Tunisia.
1944: German forces in the Crimea withdraw to Sevastopol.
1945: President Roosevelt dies at Warm Springs, Georgia, Vice President Truman is sworn in as the new President. In the West, the US First Army (Hodges) reaches the Elbe near Magdeburg; the British Second Army captures Celle 60 miles S of Hamburg.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1918: Battle of Hazebrouck, Western Front - Hazebrouck, a crucial rail centre, 30 kilometres west of Armentieres, was threatened by a renewel of the German offensive. The 1st Australian Division were able to hold the town against several German attacks.
1941: ANZAC Corps reformed in Greece by General Blamey - Australian and New Zealand troops fought alongside soldiers from Greece and Britain in the ill-fated Greek campaign. Blamey, however, conducted a skillful evacuation of the ANZAC Corps from southern Greece at the end of the campaign.
source:http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1861 - American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
1864 - American Civil War: Fort Pillow massacre -- Confederate forces under GeneralNathan Bedford Forrest kill most of the African American soldiers who had surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
1865 - American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
1975 - Khmer Rouge troops capture Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_12

1204: Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople Or was it Instanbul?
source: http://www.tnl.net/when/4/12

1917: Canadians capture Vimy Ridge - After three days of fierce combat and over 10,000 casualties suffered, the Canadian Corps seizes the previously German-held Vimy Ridge in northern France. Many historians have pointed to the victory at Vimy Ridge during World War I as a moment of greatness for Canada, when it emerged from Britain’s shadow to attain its own measure of military achievement. As a result of the victory, earned despite the failure of the larger Allied offensive of which it was a part, Canadian forces earned a reputation for efficiency and strength on the battlefield. 1975: U.S. Embassy in Cambodia evacuated - U.S. ambassador and his staff leave Phnom Penh when the U.S. Navy conducts its evacuation effort, Operation Eagle. On April 3, 1975, as the communist Khmer Rouge forces closed in for the final assault on the capital city, U.S. forces were put on alert for the impending embassy evacuation. An 11-man Marine element flew into the city to prepare for the arrival of the U.S. evacuation helicopters. On April 10, U.S. Ambassador Gunther Dean asked Washington that the evacuation begin no later than April 12.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?

1940: Norway announces German control of Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen and Trondheim in the south, Narvik in the north.
1941: German armoured units complete the encirclement of Tobruk and push on up the coast road towards the Egyptian frontier. The Yugoslav capital Belgrade, surrenders. Greek and British forces fall back to the Mount Olympus line in Greece.
1942: Japanese troops capture Migyaungye in Burma, which exposes the western flank of 1st Burma Corps at put the oilfields at Yenangyuang under threat. Both German and Russian forces pause for breath after an extremely difficult winter (temperatures dropped to a nippy Minus 30C). The Russians have outrun their supply lines and exhausted their supply store of tanks and guns, which has allowed the initiative to slip back to the Germans. However, the Germans are aware that they can no longer take Moscow with a knockout blow and so choose another alternative. They intend to drive southward as part of a "grand pincer" movement through the Caucasus to link up with Rommel's Afrika Corps, which will solve their oil problems, disable the Russian economy, and menace the Middle East.
1943: The Eighth Army take Sousse, to the East of Kairan and claim that 20,000 axis prisoners have been taken in Tunisia since the 20th March. German radio announces that 4,150 Polish officers that were deported by the Russian authorities in 1940 have been found in mass graves near Smolensk.
1944: Finland rejects the heavy Russian demands for the ending of the war. Hitler authorises a withdrawal of 230,000 German and Romanian troops to the fortress of Sevastopol. However, this is four days too late and the delay results in many unnecessary losses.
1945: A German war communiqué confesses that Königsberg did surrender and announces the death penalty for the fortresses commander, General Lasch. In Yugoslavia the Germans evacuate Zenica. The U.S. Ninth Army crosses the Elbe, taking Brunswick. The U.S. Third Army takes Erfurt. French troops take Baden-Baden on the southern flank. The U.S. 6th Armoured Division overruns Buchenwald concentration camp. The British Second Army captures Celle 60 miles to the South of Hamburg.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1861 - Civil War begins when Confederates fire on Fort Sumter, SC
1911 - LT Theodore Ellyson qualifies as first naval aviator
1962 - U.S. Navy demonstrates new landing craft with retractable hydrofoils, LCVP (H)
1975 - Operation Eagle Pull evacuation from Cambodia
1993 - Aircraft from USS Theodore Roosevelt and NATO forces begin enforcing the no-fly zone over the Bosnia in Operation Deny Flight
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1945: Canadian troops liberate the Nazi concentration camp at Westerbork.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Apr&day=12

1782: The British navy wins its only naval engagement against the colonists in the American Revolution at the Battle of Saints, off Dominica.
1916: American cavalrymen and Mexican bandit troops clash at Parrel, Mexico.
1944: The U.S. Twentieth Air Force is activated to begin the strategic bombing of Japan.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

:army:
 
April 13th

1940: A fierce engagement between German and British naval forces in Jössing Fjord near Narvik results in the sinking of 10 German destroyers whose surviving crews join Gebirgsjäger units defending isolated Narvik.
1941: In Greece, German forces launch an attack against Greek and British positions near Mt. Olympus. In Libya, the Afrikakorps captures Sollum.
1945: Vienna falls to the Red Army. In the West, the US Third Army (Patton) captures Erfurt and Weimar.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1847 - Naval Forces begin 5 day battle to capture several towns in Mexico
1861 - Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces
1960 - Navy's navigation satellite, Transit, placed into orbit from Cape Canaveral, FL and demonstrates ability to launch another satellite
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1916: Jifjafa - A squadron of the 9th Light Horse regiment captured this Turkish outpost in the Sinai, about 60 kilometres from the Suez. The encounter, the first engagement for the Light Horse in the Sinai, demonstrated their potential for fighting in the Middle East.
1941: Corporal J.H. Edmondson, VC - Corporal J.H. Edmondson, 2/17 Battalion,originally from Wagga Wagga, wins the Victoria Cross at Tobruk. It was a Posthumous award.
1983: Dedication of the Rats of Tobruk Memorial - The Memorial, on ANZAC Parade, was dedicated by the Governor-General, the Right Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen. The Memorial commemorates the Australian and Allied servicemen who died during the siege of Tobruk in 1941.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1942: RCAF's 417 Fighter Squadron heads for Egypt to join Desert Air Force.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Apr&day=13

1861 - American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.
1868 - Abyssinian War ends as British and Indian troops capture Magdala.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_13

1865: Sherman's march through Georgia begins Southerners start promising that the South will rise again
1912: The British Royal Flying Corps (RAF) was created by Royal Charter
source: http://www.tnl.net/when/4/13

1990: The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, a massacre the Soviets had previously blamed on the Nazis.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080413.html

:rambo:
 
April 14th

1940: British and French troops are landed near Namsos and Narvik in Norway.
1941: The Greek Army of Epirus withdraws from Albania. In Libya, an attack by the Afrikakorps to capture Tobruk fails.
1945: The British Second Army reaches the outskirts of Bremen, while the US Third Army captures Gera and Bayreuth. The Canadian First Army assumes military control of the Netherlands where German forces are now trapped in the Atlantikwall fortifications along the coastline.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1898 - Commissioning of first Post Civil War hospital ship, USS Solace
1969 - North Korean aircraft shoots down Navy EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft from VQ-1 over the Sea of Japan.
1988 - USS Samuel B. Roberts struck Iranian mine off Qatar.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1941: Second attack against Tobruk by Afrika Korps fails. Tobruk held out against German attacks until December 1941 when the siege was lifted.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1341 - Sack of Saluzzo (Italy) by Italian-Angevine troops under Manfred V of Saluzzo
1864 - Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.
1940 - Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway, occupying key points, preparatory to a larger force arriving two days later.
1941 - The Ustashe, a Croatianfar-right organization that pursued Nazi and fascist policies, is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers after the April 6 invasion of Yugoslavia during Operation 25.
2003 - Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit falls to U.S.-led forces with unexpectedly light resistance.
2003 - U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the Achille Lauro in 1985.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_14

1945: Arnhem Netherlands - Canadian Army occupies Arnhem, completes liberation of the low countries.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Apr&day=14

1916: The Battle of Lake Naroch, an offensive on the Eastern Front by the Russian army during World War I, ends after achieving little success against German positions.
1965 : The 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived in Vietnam in May and was the first major U.S. Army ground combat unit committed to the war. In 1967, the brigade fought a major battle with North Vietnamese Army forces in the Central Highlands, winning the Presidential Union Citation for bravery in action. After more than six years in South Vietnam, the 173rd was withdrawn in August 1971 as part of President Nixon's troop withdrawal program. During combat service in Vietnam, 12 troopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade won the Medal of Honor for conspicuous bravery; 1,606 were killed in action; and 8,435 were wounded in action.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do

1940: The German Minesweeper M6, sinks Royal Navy submarine Tarpon.
1941: Germans break through the new Greek frontline. The Greek Army of Epirus withdraws from Albania.
1943: The Russian 14th Army repulses a German attack to the Southeast of Leningrad.
1945: Yamethin falls to the British 4th Corps in the ‘Race for Rangoon’. The British Eighth Army captures Bastia bridge intact, while Hitler rejects an appeal for a German withdrawal to the Po river. The French launch a final assault on the trapped German garrison at Bordeaux.source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1999: NATO mistakenly bombed a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees; Yugoslav officials said 75 people were killed.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080414.html

1471: Battle of Barnet took place in the Wars of the Roses. Yorkist forces defeated the Lancastrians, leading to the restoration of Edward IV.
source: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/onthisday.asp

:m1:
 
April 15th

1941: German troops occupy Sarajevo in Yugoslavia.
1944: The Red Army recaptures Tarnopol in the southern Ukraine.
1945: The Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front begins an offensive against the industrial area of Mührisch-Ostrau in Moravia defended by Heeresgruppe Mitte. In the West, the US First Army captures Leuna and Merseburg in Saxony, while the French First Army captures Kehl and Offenburg on the upper Rhine.
SOURCE: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1885 - Naval forces land at Panama to protect American interests during revolution
1912 - USS Chester and USS Salem sailed from MA to assist RMS Titanic survivors
1918 - First Marine Aviation Force formed at Marine Flying Field, Miami, FL
1961 - Launching of first nuclear-powered frigate, USS Bainbridge, at Quincy, MA
1962 - USS Princeton brought first Marine helicopters to Vietnam. This was first Marine advisory unit to arrive in South Vietnam.
1986 - Operation Eldorado Canyon, Navy aircraft from USS America (CV-66) and USS Coral Sea (CV-43) attack Libya in conjunction with USAF aircraft after Libya linked to terrorist bombing of West Berlin discotheque which killed 1 American and injured 78 people.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1917: Lieutenant C. Pope, VC - 11th Battalion AIF, originally from London, wins the Victoria Cross at Louveral, France. It was a Posthumous award.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1814: Kingston Ontario -Kingston Navy Dockyard launches two warships, the Prince Regent and the Princess Charlotte; under Commodore Sir James Yeo, they will blockade the American fleet in Sackett's Harbour and capture Oswego, restoring Canadian control of Lake Ontario in the War of 1812 and ending the threat of US invasion.
1941: France - No. 402 Fighter Squadron makes RCAF's first attack over enemy territory.
1945: Bergen-Belsen Germany - Canadian and British troops liberate the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Apr&day=15

1918: With the Germans, in the throes of a major spring offensive on the Western Front, hammering their positions in Flanders, France, British forces evacuate Passchendaele Ridge, won by the Allies at such a terrible cost just five months earlier.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1940: British troops land at Harstad in the Lofoten Islands, opposite Narvik. Quisling government resigns in Oslo and a 'Administrative Council’ takes control.
1942: The British begin to destroy the oil wells at Yenangyuang. The 1st Burma Division with the help of the 38th Chinese Division, manages to extricate itself from a pocket south of Yenangyuang, before being completely surrounded.
1945: The 3rd Ukrainian front occupies Radkesburg during its offensive against the industrial area of Mührisch-Ostrau in Moravia. The 2nd Ukrainian front attacks towards Brno in Czechoslovakia. The Canadian First Army reaches the coast in northern Holland and captures Arnhem in the South.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

:m16:
 
April 16th

1945: In the West, the Canadian First Army occupies Leeuwarden and Groningen in northern Holland. The US First Army captures Solingen and Wuppertal. In the East, the 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov) and the 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev), from their Oder bridgeheads N and S of Frankfurt, launch their final great offensive against Berlin. In the Baltic off Hela, the German liner Goya is torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing 6,500 wounded soldiers and refugees.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1967:Operation Sea Dragon - HMAS Hobart begins involvement in Operation Sea Dragon.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1945: Groningen Netherlands - Canadians take Groningen after four-day battle. Halifax Nova Scotia - German U-Boat torpedoes Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper HMCS Esquimalt off Halifax.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Apr&day=16

1863 - Union gunboats pass Confederate batteries at Vicksburg
1947 - Act of Congress gives Navy Nurse Corps members commissioned rank
1959 - Helicopters from USS Edisto begin rescue operations in Montevideo, Uruguay. By 26 April they had carried 277 flood victims to safety.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1395: Azzo X d'Este is defeated at the Battle of Castelmaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops.
1799: Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
1862: American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
1941: World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
1945:The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin. The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War campOflag IVc .
1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_16

1951 The British submarine Affray sank in the English Channel with the loss of 75 lives.
source: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/onthisday.asp

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We crossed! Empire Ken had just brought me back from the canal zone, one of very last Battalions to leave. The locals lined the streets to cheer and flag our parade to the ship in our full no. 1 battle-dress, kilts and all, pipes and drums. Ah - The Tunes of Glory - works every time!

After we left, Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal.

Did you get stopped in your tracks by the politicians ?
 
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Ahhhhhhhhhhh the Empire Ken what a boat, two speeds slow and stop, we did in deed get stop by our political masters. I often wonder what would have happened if we had finished the job, and if there would have been so much rouble in the Middle East these days
 
The night we left, with our whole battalion on board, City of Glasgow Regiment, national service days, there was a great deal of drinking in the bars. The battalion orderly sergeant was a bit concerned that he would not be able to close down, so our provost corporal a notoriously hard man at all times said he would be happy to do so. As he entered someone behind the doors hit him over head with a stool and the crew turned fast and stopped a group from throwing him over the side, reputedly. I was on duty and happened to be in the clinic when they brought him to patch him up. I asked him what he was up to and he said he just going back up to sort them out. Which is what he did as far as I know. Just a little skirmish I guess - high spirits and drink. He never had a problem again. And I know he survived very well for a great many years in my town, where his reputation was maintained.

As far as your action was concerned, I heard recently that you were only a few miles from success and needed very little more time. I hate to hear that referred to as a defeat.
 
April 17th

1941: The Yugoslav Army capitulates, the Wehrmacht taking 345,000 prisoners.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1961: Bay of Pig invasion The US try to start a people's revolution to overthrow Fidel Castro. They fail.
source: http://www.tnl.net/when/4/17

1917: Second battle of Gaza - This was the second failure to capture the Turkish coastal strongpoint at Gaza. Reinforced and prepared for an attack the Turks repulsed General Sir Archibald Murray's assault inflicting over 6,000 casualties on the attackers.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1945: Apeldoorn Netherlands - Canadians clear the Germans out of Apeldoorn.
1970: Yellowknife NWT - National Defence to make Yellowknife permanent headquarters for the Canadian military in the North.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Apr&day=17

1864: Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina, in an attempt to recapture ports lost to the Union two years before. The four-day battle ended with the fall of Plymouth, but the Yankees kept the city bottled up with a flotilla on nearby Albemarle Sound.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih

1778 - Sloop-in-war Ranger captures British brig
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm\

1895 - The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtienprovince, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
1986 - Treaty signed, ending Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly. (Editorial comment: Now that's really carrying a grudge!)
2002 - Four Canadian Forces soldiers are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. Air ForceF-16s, the first deaths in a combat zone for Canada since the Korean War.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_17

:army:
 
April 18th

1945: The British Second Army captures Ülzen and Lüneburg. The US Third Army captures Nürnberg and advances into Bohemia. In the East, the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front captures Forst on the Neisse river. North of Frankfurt, the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front continues its attack to take the Seelow Heights, gradually wearing down the outnumbered German defenders.

1941:Tempe (or Pinios) Gorge, Greece - The 2/2nd and 2/3rd Battalions AIF and New Zealand 21st Battalion stemmed a German advance in a rearguard action that enabled the main Allied force in Greece to establish a new defensive line across the Thermopylae Peninsula.
1942:General Blamey appointed to command Allied land forces in the South West Pacific - In reality General MacArthur kept Blamey from having control over United States land forces in the Pacific during the Second World War.

1775: Revere and Dawes warn of British attack - British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Minutemen.
1915: Germans shoot down French pilot Roland Garros - A member of the German Bahnschutzwache, or Railway Protection Guard, shoots down the well-known French airman Roland Garros in his flight over German positions in Flanders, France, on a bombing raid.
1942: Doolittle leads air raid on Tokyo - 16 American B-25 bombers, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet 650 miles east of Japan and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, attack the Japanese mainland. The now-famous Tokyo Raid did little real damage to Japan (wartime Premier Hideki Tojo was inspecting military bases during the raid; one B-25 came so close, Tojo could see the pilot, though the American bomber never fired a shot)--but it did hurt the Japanese government's prestige.
1945: Ernie Pyle killed at Okinawa - Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire on the island of Ie Shima off the coast of Okinawa. Extremely popular, especially with the average GI, whose life and death he reported on (American infantrymen braved enemy fire to recover Pyle's body), Pyle had been at the London Blitz of 1941 and saw action in North Africa, Italy, France, and the Pacific. A monument exists to him to this day on Ie Shima, describing him simply as "a buddy."

1797 - Battle of Neuwied resulted in the victory of French under GeneralLouis Lazare Hoche against Austrians under GeneralWermecek.
1945 - World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany, leaving nothing standing.
1988 - U.S. launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in retaliation for the April 14mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58 in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. The one-day action is the world's largest naval battle since World War II.

1848 - U.S. Navy expedition to explore the Dead Sea and the River Jordan, commanded by LT William F. Lynch, reaches the Dead Sea.
1906 - Navy assists in relief operations during San Francisco earthquake and fire
1942 - USS Hornet launches Doolittle's Army bombers for first attack on Japan
1988 - Navy destroys 2 Iranian surveillance platforms, sinks one frigate and one patrol ships, and severely damages a second frigate in retaliation for attack on USS Samuel B. Roberts
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1940: British submarine Starlet sunk off Norway. Germans advance further north of Oslo. More British troops are landed at Aandalesnes in Norway with the plan of co-operating with the British and French troops already at Namsos to surround and then retake Trondheim. However, the Norwegian commander, General Ruge persuaded the Aandalesnes force, to move south in order to give support to his troops still holding out at Lillehammer.
1941: The German 12th Army forces a crossing of the river Aliakmon between the Greek First Army and the British forces. Athens is placed under martial law. Greek Prime Minister, Alexandros Korizis commits suicide.
1942: The entire US eastern seaboard is ordered to black-out its lights at night, in an attempt to reduce the success of the U-boats at night.
1943: US fighter aircraft in a planned raid, intercept Admiral Yamamoto’s plane over Bougainville and shoot it down, killing the Admiral. The German 17th Army begins its attacks to eliminate the Russian beachhead at Novorossiysk, but fails and gives up on the 23rd April.
1944: The first reinforcements for the British garrison at Kohima begin to arrive. Japanese forces launch a new offensive in central China. The Russians take Balaclava.
1945: The British Fourteenth Army in central Burma captures the Chaulk oil centre on the Irrawaddy. Between Stettin and Schwedt the 2nd Belorussian front breaks through the Oder defenses, pressuring Army Group Weichsel even more. The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Forst on the Neisse river. North of Frankfurt, while the 1st Belorussian Front continues its attack to take the Seelow Heights, gradually wearing down the vastly outnumbered German defenders. The Ruhr pocket is finally annihilated, with 317,000 Germans being captured, including 29 generals. The U.S. Ninth Army takes Magdeburg. The U.S. First Army enters Düsseldorf. General De Lattre’s French troops link up at Freudenstadt behind the Black Forest. The British Second Army captures Ülzen and Lüneburg. The US Third Army captures Nürnberg advancing units across the German/Czechoslovakian frontier.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

:rambo:
 
April 19th

1945: The US Ninth Army captures Leipzig. In the East, the Red Army breaks through the German defenses both N and S of Frankfurt, and despite heavy losses in men and tanks (over 400 in two days), continues to advance toward Berlin. On the eve of Hitler's 56th birthday, Dr. Goebbels exhorts the nation and predicts that in spite of all misfortunes Germany will yet prevail, that the "perverse coalition between Bolshevism and Plutocracy" is about to break up, and that it is Adolf Hitler ("Our Hitler!") who will still turn back the tide and save Europe, as he has thus far, from falling into the clutches of the Kremlin.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1587: English captain Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbour
1775: Minutemen Capt John Parker orders not to fire unless fired upon. A shot is fired and the American revolution begins at the Lexington Common. That was the "shot heard round the world"
source: http://www.tnl.net/when/4/19

1968: Dedication of the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial - The Memorial, on ANZAC Parade, was dedicated by Prime Minister John Gorton. The Memorial is a copy of the original unveiled at Port Said, Egypt by former Prime Minister William Morris Hughes in 1932.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1967: Over North Vietnam, Air Force Maj. Leo K. Thorsness, from the 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, and his electronic warfare officer, Capt. Harold E. Johnson, destroy two enemy surface-to-air missile sites, and then shoot down a MiG-17 before escorting search-and-rescue helicopters to a downed aircrew. Although his F-105 fighter-bomber was very low on fuel, Major Thorsness attacked four more MiG-17s in an effort to draw the enemy aircraft away from the downed aircrew. Awarded the Medal of Honor for his courageous action, Major Thorsness did not receive his medal until 1973--on April 30, 1967, he was shot down over North Vietnam and spent the next six years as a prisoner of war.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1783 - George Washington proclaims end of hostilities
1861 - President Lincoln orders blockade of Southern ports from SC to Texas
1955 - USS Albany and USS William Wood begin to provide disaster relief to citizens of Volos, Greece, ending 21 April
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1809 - The army of Austria attacks and is defeated by the forces of the Duchy of Warsaw in the Battle of Raszyn, part of the struggles of the Fifth Coalition.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_19

:m16:
 
April 20th

1941: British forces in Greece retreat from Mt. Olympus.
1945: From its Oder bridgeheads S of Stettin, the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front (Rokossovsky) launches an offensive toward Neubrandenburg, Stralsund and Rostock, while Soviet heavy artillery begins a continuous bombardment of Berlin. But the cost of victory is high: In the battle for Berlin, Soviet tank losses between April 1 and 19 amount to 2,807. During the same period, the Allies in the West lose 1,079 tanks.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/april.html

1915:First half-flight, Australian Flying Corps, sailed for the Baghdad expedition - This was the first use of Australian aircraft and aircrew in war. 1941: ANZAC Corps withdraw to Thermopylae Line, Greece - The Greek campaign ended in disaster for the Allies. Unable to hold out against superior and better organised German forces, the Allies were forced to evacuate their troops from Greece in late April 1941.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1910: Parliament passes a Bill setting up the Royal Canadian Navy.
1918: Government calls up men from ages of 20 to 22 for military service.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Apr&day=20

1796 - Congress authorizes completion of 3 frigates
1861 - Norfolk Navy Yard abandoned and burned by Union forces.
1914 - In first call to action of naval aviators, detachment on USS Birmingham sailed to Tampico, Mexico.
1915 - First Navy contract for lighter-than-air craft awarded.
1942 - USS Wasp (CV-7) launches 47 British aircraft to reinforce Malta
1947 - CAPT L.O. Fox, USN, supported by 80 Marines, accepted the surrender of LT Yamaguchi and 26 Japanese soldiers and sailors, two and one half years after the occupation of Peleliu and nearly 20 months after the surrender of Japan.
1953 - USS New Jersey shells Wonsan, Korea from inside the harbor.
1964 - USS Henry Clay (SSBN-625) launches a Polaris A-2 missile from the surface in first demonstration that Polaris submarines could launch missiles from the surface as well as from beneath the ocean. 30 minutes later the submarine launched another Polaris missile while submerged.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesapr.htm

1775 - American Revolutionary War: the siege of Boston begins, which followed the first battles at Lexington and Concord.
1792 - France declares war on Austria, the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars.
1918 - Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims marking his final victories before his death the following day.
1945 - World War II: U.S. B-29 bombers destroy the Musashi Aircraft plants, halting production of the Nakajima Ki-84 fighter planes.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_20

1918: Ottawa Ontario - Government calls up men from ages of 20 to 22 for military service.
1910: Ottawa Ontario - Parliament passes a Bill setting up the Royal Canadian Navy.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Apr&day=20

1657: The Spanish fleet at Santa Cruz was destroyed by the English under Admiral Blake.
source: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/onthisday.asp

:m16:
 
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