April 21, 1943
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

WEDNESDAY, 21 APRIL 1943

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eleventh Air Force) Commander North Pacific Forces (NORPACFOR) places all Army and Navy Air Forces [Task Group (TG) 16.1] under Brigadier General William O. Butler, Commanding General Eleventh Air Force. The Army Air Striking Unit (Eleventh Air Force) is designated Task Unit 16.1.1 (TU 16.1.1) and the Naval Air Search Unit (Patrol Wing Four) is designated TU l6.l.2. Two P-38's take off for Kiska but abort the mission.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 8 B-25's bomb the railroad yards at Maymyo, and 9 more bomb the area around the Myitnge bridge. In Thailand, 16 B-24's are dispatched to bomb the Bangsue Arsenal and other targets in Bangkok, but only 4 reach the target area and loose bombs over the city.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, B-25's bomb Kaimana and Laga. Single B-17's attack coastal villages in NE New Guinea and hit Ubili and Gasmata. Lost is P-38G 43-2205 pilot Lt. Homer F. Harrington (survived) crashed on take off from 3 Mile Drome (Kila) near Port Moresby and crashed into two trucks and killed Pfc Zane W Hill an armorer from the 3rd Bombardment Group, 89th Bombardment Squadron.

USMC: Marine Aircraft, South Pacific, was established on a tentative basis to coordinate the administrative and logistical workload of the 1st Marine Air Wing (1st MAW) and 2nd Marine Air Wing (2nd MAW).

USN: Admiral Kinkaid issues Operation Order 1-43, providing the over-all plan for capture of Attu.

USS Grenadier SS 210 is damaged by Japanese plane from 936 Kokutai near Straits of Malacca and will be scuttled April 22.

USS Stingray (SS-186) mines waters off Wenchow, China.

IJN: Admiral Mineichi Koga is appointed Commander in Chief (CinC) of the Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet after Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto died April 18, 1943. His appointment will not be made public until May 1943.

Indian Ocean: SS John Drayton is torpedoed by Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci off the coast of South Africa, 34°00'S, 34°40'E, and abandoned. Leonardo da Vinci then surfaces, finishes off the freighter with gunfire, and temporarily detains a member of the crew on board for questioning before returning him to his shipmates (see April 23 and April 27 and May 21).