29 Apr in WW2 History | World War II Database

29 Apr 1885

Frank Fletcher was born.
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29 Apr 1901

Prince Hirohito was born.
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29 Apr 1921

USS Arizona arrived at New York City, New York, United States.
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29 Apr 1924

Sendai was commissioned into service.
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29 Apr 1932

General Yoshinori Shirakawa was injured by a bomb set by a Korean resistance fighter in Shanghai, China; Shirakawa would die of his wounds a month later.

29 Apr 1934

Kuniaki Koiso was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st Class and the Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd Class.
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29 Apr 1935

The US Marine Corps' Fleet Marine Force units on the west coast of the United States began their participation in the landing operations of US Fleet Problem XVI and in the establishment of a base at Midway.

29 Apr 1938

Tetsuzo Iwamoto shot down several Chinese fighters in combat.
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Japanese aircraft attacked Wuhan, Hubei, China; Chinese fighters shot down 21 Japanese aircraft at cost of only 12 aircraft lost.
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29 Apr 1939

Admiral Hipper was commissioned into German Navy service.
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USS Astoria arrived at Shanghai, China.
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29 Apr 1940

King Haakon VII and the Norwegian government evacuated to Tromsø, Norway via British cruiser HMS Glasgow.
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British submarine HMS Unity collided with Norwegian freighter Atle Jarl in the harbor of Blyth, England in foggy weather at 1730 hours. Unity sank within 5 minutes, killing 4. Lieutenant John Low and Able Seaman Henry Miller were posthumously awarded the George Cross for their self-sacrifice while helping fellow comrades in their escape.
Troops of the German 196th Division marched out of the Gudbrandsdal Valley in Norway and linked up with German troops near Trondheim, threatening to surround the British 15th Brigade. In the United Kingdom, British destroyers HMS Kelly, HMS Maori, and HMS Imperial and French destroyer Bison departed Scapa Flow, Scotland to evacuate British troops at Namsos, Norway; they were escorted by cruisers and other destroyers.
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The US Department of State ended its investigation on the 5 Sep 1939 incident during which British personnel forcefully boarded Filipino Don Isidro at Port Said, Egypt and removed German engineers. Although the Americans did not receive a satisfactory explanation from the British, they assumed that "similar instances will not be permitted to occur in the future."

29 Apr 1941

Allied resistance on mainland Greece ended at 0530 hours when 8,000 British, New Zealand, Australian, Greek, and Yugoslavian troops surrendered at Kalamata, Greece. On the same day, British intelligence picked up positive information about the German invasion of Crete; in response, most British troopships at Suda Bay in Crete were dispatched to Alexandria, Egypt to prevent being attacked by German aircraft.
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Charles Lindbergh resigned from the US Army reserves.
Overnight, German bombers attacked Plymouth, England, United Kingdom, damaging cruiser HMS Trinidad and sinking auxiliary patrol vessel Pessac.
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German submarine U-75 hit British passenger liner City of Nagpur 500 miles west of Ireland with 4 torpedoes between 0230 and 0600 hours, ultimately sinking her and killing 16; 452 survivors were picked up by destroyer HMS Hurricane. 10 miles off the coast of England, United Kingdom in the North Sea, German motor torpedo boats sank British ship Ambrose Fleming, killing 11.
German bombers attacked Allied defenses at Tobruk, Libya as well as its harbor, sinking HMS Chakla.
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Indian 20th Infantry Brigade arrived at Basra, Iraq from Bombay, India.
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29 Apr 1942

German submarine U-108 pursued US tanker Mobiloil from 0900 hours to 1645 hours, finally sinking her 400 kilometers north to Puerto Rico with the sixth torpedo expended in this effort; all 53 aboard survived.
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Japanese troops landed at Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippine Islands. To the north at the island of Luzon, minesweeper USS Finch was damaged by Japanese air attacks. A large scale artillery and aerial bombardment was conducted at the island of Corregidor at the tip of Bataan Peninsula, Luzon.
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Japanese Special Naval Landing Force occupied RAAF seaplane base at Tulagi, Solomon Islands.
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The Tenderloo chemical works in Belgium was destroyed by a resistance group, killing over 250 people.
The rate of German retaliatory executions of Belgians was reported to be 25 to 30 per month.
Soviet forces launched a counter offensive near Kursk, Russia.
British sailing vessel Terpsithea struck a mine (laid by German submarine U-562 on 13 Apr 1942) in Famagusta Bay, Cyprus in the evening; as British tug Alliance approached the damaged sail for rescue, she also hit a mine at 1945 hours and sank, killing 3.
Admiral Ernest King established the South Pacific Amphibious Force composed primarily of the 1st Marine Division.
Japanese 18th Infantry Division captured Kyaukse, Burma just south of Mandalay. To the west, Japanese 33rd Infantry Division pursued the Anglo-Indian withdraw across the Irrawaddy River toward India. To the north, 100 kilometers south of the border with China, Japanese 56th Infantry Division captured Lashio midday.
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88 British bombers (73 Wellington, 9 Hampden, 6 Stirling) attacked the Gnome et Rhône aircraft engine factory near Paris, France; one building was destroyed and three buildings damaged at the cost of 3 bombers destroyed.
German bombers attacked Norwich, England, United Kingdom.
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German submarine U-66 sank Panamanian tanker Harry G. Seidel 50 miles west of Grenada; 2 were killed, 48 survived.
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Lansdowne was commissioned into service.
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USS Wasp arrived at Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, completing Operation Calendar.
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29 Apr 1943

Starting at midnight, German submarines U-650, U-375, U-386, U-528, and U-532 attacked Allied convoy ONS 5 in the North Atlantic. They scored no hits until around 1200 hours when US freighter McKeesport sunk by a torpedo from U-528; three attacking submarines were damaged during the attacks and were forced to return to base to receive repairs. Upon learning the attacks, the British Admiralty dispatched additional destroyers to reinforce the escort force.
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Joseph Stilwell and Claire Chennault arrived in Washington DC, United States.
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USS Scorpion sank a Japanese patrol vessel by gunfire.
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The keel of submarine Becuna was laid down.
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29 Apr 1944

Australian Prime Minister John Curtin arrived in London, England, United Kingdom for the Imperial Conference.
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American troops captured the Japanese airfield at Hollandia, New Guinea.
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After dark, Japanese troops launched a counterattack at Kohima, India.
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USS Tunny departed Brisbane, Australia for her sixth war patrol.
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Light carrier Ryuho departed Kure, Japan for Iwakuni, Japan.
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Photos dated 29 Apr 1944

29 Apr 1945

Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun in his bunker in Berlin, Germany, and began dictating his final political testament and will.
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The bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were taken to Milan, Italy and hung upside down for public display at the spot where partisans had been executed earlier.
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British Eighth and US Fifth Armies linked up near Padua, Italy.
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British Second Army crossed the Elbe River at Hamburg, Germany.
US Seventh Army entered Munich, Germany.
French First Army captured Freidrichshafen, Germany.
The Soviet Union set up a provisional government in Vienna, Austria.
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Japanese B5N torpedo bombers from Truk, Caroline Islands attacked Manus, Admiralty Islands; they launched torpedoes at floating docks, which were misidentified as carriers.
Troops of the US 157th and 122nd Infantry Regiments executed 165 German SS prisoners of war at Dachau Concentration Camp and the hamlet of Webling in Germany before a colonel intervened.
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Japanese transport Kumikawa Maru hit a mine laid by Australian aircraft and became damaged off Balikpapan, Borneo.
Eva Braun changed her legal name to Eva Hitler after marrying Adolf Hitler.
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In the afternoon, Colonel Nicolaus von Below and other three adjutant officers departed Adolf Hitler's bunker in Berlin, Germany.
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The two-prong assault by Indian 17th Division on Pegu, Burma was repulsed.
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USS Macabi departed New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
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USS Sea Robin arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her second war patrol.
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Photos dated 29 Apr 1945

29 Apr 1946

28 former Japanese leaders were indicted as war criminals at Tokyo, Japan.
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Apogon was decommissioned from service.
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29 Apr 1948