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 1918

Germany

Robert Greim was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords medal.
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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

China

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.
Yoshinori Shirakawa was seriously wounded by a bomb planted by Korean nationalist Yoon Bong-Gil at Hongkou Park (now Lu Xun Park) in Shanghai, China.
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29 Apr 1933

Germany

In Germany the Verkehrsministeriuin (Ministry of Communications) was established by Adolf Hitler as a cover for a new air ministry. This was later renamed the Reichsluftfahrtministerium and to be headed by Hermann Göring as Reichskommisar for air, with Erhard Milch as his deputy.

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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Japan

Prince Hiroyasu was awarde Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum.
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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 1937

Photo(s) dated 29 Apr 1937

Hitler visiting the Ordensburg Vogelsang school in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 29 Apr 1937, photo 1 of 2; Dr. Robert Ley seen with Hitler

Hitler visiting the Ordensburg Vogelsang school in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 29 Apr 1937, photo 2 of 2; Dr. Robert Ley seen with Hitler

German State Secretary Hans Lammers at his desk with his adjutants, Berlin, Germany, 29 Apr 1937

29 Apr 1938

Tetsuzo Iwamoto shot down several Chinese fighters in combat.
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China

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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China

USS Astoria arrived at Shanghai, China.
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29 Apr 1940

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."

Norway

King Haakon VII and the Norwegian government evacuated to Tromsø, Norway via British cruiser HMS Glasgow.
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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 Special Naval Landing Force departed Rabaul, New Britain aboard transports for the invasion of the RAAF seaplane base at Tulagi, Solomon Islands. On the same day, other transports at Rabaul embarked equipment necessary to build a new base at Port Moresby, Australian Papua. In Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, Joseph Rochefort's cryptanalytic team intercepted a radio message from Isoroku Yamamoto to Shigeyoshi Inoue regarding Operation MO, in which Yamamoto made mention of northern Australia, thus giving Rochefort confidence regarding the hypothesis that Operation MO's target was Port Moresby.
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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.
Lansdowne was commissioned into service.
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Admiral Ernest King established the South Pacific Amphibious Force composed primarily of the 1st Marine Division.
German submarine U-66 sank Panamanian tanker Harry G. Seidel 50 miles west of Grenada; 2 were killed, 48 survived.
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4 minesweepers departed from the close escort force of Allied convoy QP-11 off northern Russia; later on the same day, the convoy was spotted by a German Ju 88 aircraft.
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Australian New Guinea

In the morning, Three US B-28 bombers attacked Rabaul, New Britain, destroying five Zero fighters on the ground and damaged four more.

Burma

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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France

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.
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Malaya, Singapore, and Borneo

Naka entered the drydock at Keppel Harbor, Singapore.
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Philippines

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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United Kingdom

German bombers attacked Norwich, England, United Kingdom.
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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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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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Joseph Stilwell and Claire Chennault arrived in Washington DC, United States.
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Nobutake Kondo was promoted to the rank of admiral.
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Russia

Soviet counterintelligence agency GUKR SMERSH named its chiefs in each military front, with A. A. Avseevich to the Northwestern Front, G. S. Bolotin-Balyasny to the Volkhov Front, I. P. Konovalov to the Southern Front, S. F. Kozhevnikov to the Leningrad Front, N. G. Kravchenko to the Bryansk Front, A. P. Misyurev to the Kalinin Front, F. G. Petrov to the Southwestern Front, K. L. Prokhorenko to the Voronezh Front, V. P. Rogov to the Western Front, and I. T. Rusak to the Karelian Front.
Viktor Abakumov was summoned to Joseph Stalin's office to consider GUKR SMERSH deputies; at the same meeting, Abakumov was named the deputy commissar of the NKO, reporting directly to Stalin.
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Tunisia

German troops fell back to Lake Garaet Anchkel west of Bizerte, Tunisia; "Grado" Battalion of the "San Marco" naval infantry regiment of Italian Navy served as rearguard.
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United Kingdom

After much experimentation an "Upkeep" bomb drop was successfully carried out at Reculver in southeastern britain. By this time several of the new Lancaster bombers modified for dam attacks had been delivered to the squadron's base, RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire.
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29 Apr 1944

American troops captured the Japanese airfield at Hollandia, New Guinea.
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USS Tunny departed Brisbane, Australia for her sixth war patrol.
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After dark, Japanese troops launched a counterattack at Kohima, India.
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USS Parche attacked a Japanese convoy south of Taiwan and damaged one transport with 1 of 4 torpedoes fired.
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Japan

Light carrier Ryuho departed Kure, Japan for Iwakuni, Japan.
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United Kingdom

Australian Prime Minister John Curtin arrived in London, England, United Kingdom for the Imperial Conference.
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In England, United Kingdom, Dwight Eisenhower cabled Washington DC, United States, telling Marshall that he was pondering the notion of firing George Patton because "he simply does not keep his mouth shut", referring to the 25 Apr 1944 incident in which Patton spoke of his vision of a post-war world that, after being mis-quoted by a reporter, created another public relations row for Eisenhower's headquarters.
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United States

USS Barbero was commissioned into service with Lieutenant Commander Irvin S. Hartman in command.
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Photo(s) dated 29 Apr 1944

Smoke rising from the Japanese naval base at Dublon Island, Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands, 29-30 Apr 1944

Aerial view of United States Coast Guard cutter Spencer in New York Navy Yard, New York, United States, 29 Apr 1944

Soldier maintaining the 29cm Petard spigot mortar on a Churchill AVRE of 79th Squad, 5th Assault Regt, Royal Engineers, UK 3rd Infantry Division, 29 Apr 1944; note 40-lb bomb on right

Lieutenant Commander Edward C. Outlaw and pilots of his VF-32 squadron celebrating after completing a mission over Truk, Caroline Islands, 29 Apr 1944

29 Apr 1945

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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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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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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USS Cero sank a Japanese tanker south of Japan, hitting her with 1 of 4 torpedoes fired.
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Burma

The two-prong assault by Indian 17th Division on Pegu, Burma was repulsed.
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Germany

Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun in his bunker in Berlin, Germany, and began dictating his final political testament and will.
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British Second Army crossed the Elbe River at Hamburg, Germany.
In the afternoon, Colonel Nicolaus von Below and other three adjutant officers departed Adolf Hitler's bunker in Berlin, Germany.
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Guam

USS Ray arrived at Apra Harbor, Guam, Mariana Islands.
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Italy

British Eighth and US Fifth Armies linked up near Padua, Italy, which had just been liberated by Italian partisans who surrounded the 5,000-strong German garrison. Later in the day, German Colonel General Heinrich von Vietinghoff surrendered Axis forces in northern Italy.
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German 148th Division, Italian 4th Alpine Division "Monte Rosa", Italian 3rd Marine Division "San Marco", and German 29th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division (Italian troops) surrendered to Brazilian General Mascarenhas de Moraes near Parma, Italy.
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Japan