26 Apr 1893
- Dragoljub Mihailovic was born in Ivanjica, Serbia, Austria-Hungary. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1894
- Rudolf Heß was born. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1896
- Robert Saundby was born to Professor Robert Saundby. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1902
- Charles Burnett was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1912
China
China
- Lieutenant General Yasumasa Fukushima succeeded General Baron Yoshimasa Oshima as the Governor-General of Kwantung Leased Territory in northeastern China. ww2dbase [CPC]
26 Apr 1915
- British Second Lieutenant W. B. Moorhouse RFC was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross after his B.E.2c was shot down during a raid over Courtrai, Belgium. ww2dbase [AC]
- Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary but not Germany. ww2dbase [AC]
- Joseph Stilwell arrived at Madison Barracks, Sackets Harbor, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1917
- Quintin Brand was awarded the Military Cross award. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1923
Taiwan
Taiwan
- Crown Prince Hirohito visited Taiwan Army 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters, a government-run tobacco and alcohol plant, Taihoku No. 1. Girls High School, Taihoku Butokuden, Taihoku No. 3 Girls High School, and a sports convention in Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Prince Albert, Duke of York, married the Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey, London, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [AC]
26 Apr 1926
United States
United States
- Franklin Roosevelt announced the purchase of the Meriwether Inn in Warm Springs, Georgia, United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1933
Germany
Germany
- Hermann Göring established the Gestapo as a small Prussian secret police organization. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1934
Japan
Japan
- Tatsuta Maru departed Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [Main Article | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]
26 Apr 1935
Photo(s) dated 26 Apr 1935
Photo(s) dated 26 Apr 1935
26 Apr 1937
- Operation Rügen: German and Italian bombers attacked the Spanish city of Guernica, killing between 200 and 1,000 civilians. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1938
China
China
- Cen Zeliu and wingman Lieutenant Chu Chun-chiu, flying I-15bis fighters, gave chase to the Japanese G3M bomber (Lieutenant Commander Jiro Tokui) which had just conducted a single-plane bombing mission on Xiaogan Airfield near Wuhan, Hubei, China. They shot down the bomber six miles northeast of the airfield. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Germany enacted a law that required authorization for Jews to sell or rent a company. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1939
- USS Astoria departed Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Troops of the Chinese 3rd and 9th War Areas breached into southern Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt captured the world air speed record with a specially prepared Me 209 (later named Me 109R by Nazi propaganda agents) aircraft. The aircraft reached a speed of 469.22 miles per hour, just beating the record set by the Heinkel He H00-V8. ww2dbase [AC, CPC]
- The US Army Air Corps placed an order for 524 P-40 fighters; it was the largest contract to date at the value of US$13,000,000. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1940
- Gladiator biplanes based out of Stetnesmoen, Norway intercepted a group of German He 111 bombers, downing one of them; this RAF unit would run out of fuel and ammunition by the end of this engagement, however. Adolf Hitler, unhappy that the British 15th Brigade was able to land in Norway without German interference, ordered Åndalsnes, Norway to be bombed the entire day; part of the British 15th Brigade's supplies were destroyed by the bombing while they continued to hold their line against attacks by the German 196th Division at Kvam, 172 kilometers from Åndalsnes. In the evening, the British 15th Brigade fell back 3 kilometers to form a new line at Kjorem. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- German submarine U-13 torpedoed and sank British steamer Lily at 0117 hours, killing the entire crew of 24. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Satisfied with the progress in Norway, Adolf Hitler ordered his generals to resume planning for the invasion of France. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- In Britain, Lord Beaverbrook's Daily Express published an editorial condemning the stirring up of witch hunts against foreign nationals falsely suspected of being members of a Fifth column. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC]
26 Apr 1941
- German troops attack British and Australian positions at Halfaya Pass on the Libyan-Egyptian border. Allied troops held the pass all day, but after dark they withdrew to Buq Buq, Egypt. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- German paratroopers attacked the Corinth Canal bridge in Greece early in the morning; the bridge was blown up as the German approached; by the end of the day, however, German engineers would erect temporary crossings at this point of the canal. Overnight, 8,300 Allied troops were evacuated from beaches south of Athens while 12,950 were evacuated from beaches on the Peloponnese Peninsula. German aircraft sank Greek torpedo boat Kydonia and 3 other ships on this date. To the north in Yugoslavia, British destroyer HMS Defender evacuated the crown jewels of Yugoslavia. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- General Georgy Zhukov, the recently appointed Soviet Chief of Staff, ordered a creeping mobilization to begin, in response to widespread evidence that German forces were moving eastward. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC]
- General MacArthur issued his third plan for the seizure of the New Britain, New Guinea, and New Ireland area, emphasizing cooperation between the US Army and US Navy as the two services each moved toward the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- The German Nachtjagdfliegerdienst nightfighter unit scored its 100th night kill. ww2dbase [CPC]
- General Lord Gort was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC]
- South African 1st Brigade captured Dessie, Abyssinia, taking 4,000 Italians as prisoners of war. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- HMS Eagle arrived at Mombasa, Kenya. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Wolfgang Falck, stationed at Deelen in the Netherlands, was ordered to attend a meeting at Hamburg, Germany. He would use the opportunity to learn more about new aircraft-mounted radar systems under development: Morgenstern, Flensburg, and SN-2 (Lichtenstein). ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- British freighters Clan Chattan, Clan Campbell, Clan Lamont, Empire Song, and New Zealand Star, carrying 295 tanks for Egypt, departed from the Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom in Operation Tiger. They were escorted by battleship HMS Rodney, cruiser HMS Naiad, destroyer HMS Havelock, destroyer HMS Hesperus, and destroyer Harvester. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1942
- USS Tautog sank Japanese submarine RO-30. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Destroyer Yukikaze departed Davao, Mindanao, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Luftwaffe bombers conducted a raid on Bath, England. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]
- Aleksandr Vasilevsky was promoted to the rank of colonel general. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- German submarine U-66 sank US ship Alcoa Partner 80 miles north of Bonaire in the Caribbean Sea at 0830 hours; 10 were killed, 25 survived. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Destroyer USS Sturtevant departed Key West, Florida, United States at 1520 hours to make rendezvous with a convoy sailing from New Orleans, United States; at about 1720 hours, 18 miles north of Key West, Sturtevant struck three mines previously laid by USS Miantonomah and sank; 20 were killed, 132 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
- In Burma, the Indian 17th Division moved from Mahlaing to Meiktila, 20 miles to the south, to assist the Chinese 200th Division in forming a line of defense against the Japanese attack on Mandalay. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- 8 Pe-3 bombers of No. 2 Squadron of Soviet 95th Fighter Aviation Regiment attacked the German airfield at Heybukten, Finland, destroying 6 German aircraft; en route home, the Soviet bombers were intercepted by German Bf 109 fighters; 5 Pe-3 bombers were shot down. ww2dbase [CPC]
- A law passed by the German Reichstag granted Hitler the right to change laws by decree without discussion by the Reichstag. The German dictator had now been given complete despotic power and Germany has ceased to be a state whose structure was based on the rule of law. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC]
- Five prisoners of war escaped from the military hospital at Gnaschwitz, Germany. Four would be recaptured, but the fifth, Belgian Captain Louis Rémy would make it to Algeciras, Spain. ww2dbase [CPC]
- 106 British bombers attacked Rostock, Germany for the fourth and final night in a row, causing damage in the town and the nearby Heinkel aircraft factory. 1 Stirling, 1 Wellington, and 1 Whitley bombers were lost during this attack. At the end of the four-day attack, Rostock suffered 1,765 buildings destroyed, 204 civilians killed, and 89 civilians injured. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH, CPC]
- The Nazi German parliament held its final meeting at the Kroll Opera House in Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Allied convoy PQ-15, consisted of 24 merchant ships, 1 fleet auxiliary oiler, and 2 icebreakers departed Reykjavík, Iceland for Murmansk, Russia with 4 destroyers, 1 corvette, 3 minesweepers, 4 trawlers, 1 catapult aircraft merchantman, and 1 anti-aircraft ship in escort. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- HMS Edinburgh embarked 5 tons of Soviet gold worth about £5,000,000 at Murmansk, Russia; it was meant to be the down payment for US war goods. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- The PPS submachine gun began to be tested. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- US Navy Admirals Nimitz and King met in San Francisco, California to discuss Nimitz's plan in the South Pacific. ww2dbase [CPC]
26 Apr 1943
- RAF bombers conducted a raid against Duisburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Repair ship Akashi completed the repair work for transport Noshiro Maru at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Main Article | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]
- The No. 5 Column of the Chindits arrived in Imphal, India. Only 95 men of the original force of 318 returned. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Shokaku arrived at Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Main Article | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]
- USS Wahoo reconnoitered Matsuwa (now Matua), Kurile Islands, taking photographs of the Japanese airfield and other facilities. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Jürgen Stroop reported that, in the effort to liquidate the Warsaw ghetto in Poland, 1,330 Jews had been pulled out of their strongholds and killed, 662 were killed in combat, and 30 were captured and sent to concentration camps. ww2dbase [Main Article | Event | CPC]
26 Apr 1944
See all photos dated 26 Apr 1944
- Georgios Papandreou became the new Prime Minister of Greece after his predecessor resigned. ww2dbase [TH]
- Sentani Airfield and Cyclops Airfield near Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea was captured by US 186th Infantry Regiment. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | CPC]
- Pétain made his first and only visit to Paris, France to inspect damage from Allied bombings. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]
- Heinrich Kreipe was kidnapped by British operatives at Archanes, Crete, Greece. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Prince Takahito's daughter Princess Yasuko was born. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Hamazasp Babadzhanian was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- USS Franklin arrived at New York, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
See all photos dated 26 Apr 1944
26 Apr 1945
- USS Cod had a fire in the aft torpedo room, but it was extinguished before causing serious damage; one sailor was lost, drowning after being washed overboard. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- USS Macabi arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- 20,000 German troops at Pillau, East Prussia, Germany (now Baltiysk, Russia) surrendered after two weeks of heavy fighting. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- The garrison at Bremen, Germany surrendered to British and Canadian forces. ww2dbase [TH]
- US Third Army captured Regensburg, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
- German 9.Armee was cut off in the Halbe pocket in eastern Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
- Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Brno, Czechoslovakia. ww2dbase [TH]
- Soviet forces captured Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland). ww2dbase [TH]
- Japan attempted to negotiate with the Soviet Union to maintain friendly status. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Petain was arrested at the Swiss border. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- The Ohka Model 43 variant design efforts completed. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Indian 17th Division reached Daiku, Burma. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- At Adolf Hitler's bunker in Berlin, Germany, Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim was promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall and was named by Hitler as Hermann Göring's replacement. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH, CPC]
- General Walther Wenck's German 12.Armee started to move in an attempt to relieve Berlin, Germany, but this attempt was repulsed by Soviet forces. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]
- Oberstleutnant Heinz Bär was appointed to command Luftwaffe jet fighter unit JV 44 in place of the wounded Adolf Galland. ww2dbase [AC]
- Hanna Reitsch attempted to convince Magda Goebbels at the Führerbunker in Berlin, Germany to let her take the Goebbels children to safety, but Goebbels refused to yield. In the evening, Adolf Hitler gave Reitsch a vial of poison before sending her on a mission out of Berlin, in case of her capture by the Soviets. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Shortly after Adolf Galland (Jagdverband 44) attacked and shot down US B-26 bombers, his Me 262 jet fighter was shot down by Lieutenant James Finnegan's P-47D Thunderbolt fighter (US 50th Fighter Group). Galland crash landed safely at München-Riem Airfield in southern Germany, though sustaining wounds. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC, CPC]
- German pilot Eduard Schallmoser's Me 262 jet fighter was shot down by an American fighter. Amazingly, he parachuted into his mother's garden, who told him to clean up while she cooked him dinner. Schallmoser would return to base on the next day. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Captain Robert Clark, flying in a P-47 fighter, shot down a German Me 262 fighter of Jagdverband 44. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Captain Herbert Philo, flying a P-47 fighter, shot down a German Me 262 fighter. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Obergruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, Eva Braun's Brother-in-law, deserted his station in the Chancellery bunkers in Berlin, Germany but was found hiding at his home in the Charlottenburg district by SS-Obersturmbannführer Peter Högl and arrested. After interrogation by the Gestapo in which he reveals Heinrich Himmler's treachery he was taken out into the Chancellery gardens and shot. ww2dbase [AC]
- Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Air Group 31 departed. ww2dbase [Main Article | DS]
- US Fifth Army captured Verona, Italy while Italian partisans took over Genoa and started an uprising in Milan. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]
- Brazilian scouts detected German troops near Collecchio, Italy; Brazilian infantry supported by US tanks attacked at 1930 hours. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- In Japan, 464 American B-29 bombers attacked the urban areas of Tokyo, Japan south of the Imperial Palace. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | CPC]
- USS Whale completed her repairs and overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | CPC]
- USS Tirante arrived at Midway, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | CPC]
- USS Hackleback arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | CPC]
26 Apr 1946
- USS Missouri departed Piraeus, Greece. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1947
China
China
- Lieutenant General Hisao Tani was executed by firing squad at Nanjing, China. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Hisao Tani was executed by firing squad on Mount Yuhuatai in Nanjing, China. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Pan Yukun was made the commanding officer of New 1st Army. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1952
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
- USS Wasp collided with minesweeper USS Hobson in the Atlantic Ocean; 176 were killed aboard Hobson, while Wasp suffered a 75-foot rip on her bow. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1957
Japan
Japan
- USS Saint Paul departed Japan for the United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1969
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
- USS Wasp completed her participation in Trilant exercise with Spanish and Portuguese navies. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1971
- Richard O'Connor was made a Knight of the Order of the Thistle. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
- Song Ziwen passed away from a stroke in San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
26 Apr 1985
- Ira Eaker was promoted to the rank of general in the retire list of the US Air Force as the result of a special legislation of the US Congress. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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Famous WW2 Quote
"I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."General Douglas MacArthur at Leyte, 17 Oct 1944
