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• German troops counterattacked Soviet forces near Moravska-Ostrava and Nitra in Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, Soviet troops entered Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. At Kosice in the Slovak Republic, the Soviet Union set up a provisional Czechoslovakian government. ww2dbase [TH]
• British Second Army captured Osnabrück, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
• On the fourth day of the Soviet artillery bombardment, Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany lost electric power. ww2dbase [East Prussian Offensive | CPC]
• Eduard Schallmoser, flying a Me 262 jet fighter, scored the first kill of German Jagdverband 44. The kill was accidental, however, as he unintentionally rammed an American P-38 fighter in the tail. ww2dbase [Me 262 Schwalbe | CPC]
• General Dwight Eisenhower transferred the US 9th Army from Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group to General Omar Bradley's 12th Army Group, thus making Bradley the first American general to command four field armies simultaneously. ww2dbase [Omar Bradley | AC]
• German pilot Unteroffzier Eduard Schallmoser destroyed a P-38 fighter by ramming its tail. He was only able to fly his damaged fighter partly home before he had to bail out. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Bailey departed Subic Bay escorting a Legaspi resupply convoy by way of Balayan Bay. ww2dbase [Bailey | DS]
• Twenty-two B-17 Fortresses flew a Disney mission attacking the Finkenwarder U-boat yard at Hamburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Disney | DS]

• In Germany, US Third Army eliminated resistance in Kassel, and captured Suhl and Gotha. ww2dbase [TH]
• Troops of US 89th Infantry Division captured Ohrdruf Concentration Camp in Germany, which was a satellite of Buchenwald Concentration Camp. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Buchenwald Concentration Camp | Ohrdruf, Gotha | CPC]
• The US 9th Army crossed the Weser River to commence a rapid advance to reach the Elbe River in Germany. ww2dbase [AC]
• Ferdinand Schörner was promoted to the rank of field marshal. ww2dbase [Ferdinand Schörner | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the airfield at Fassberg, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Fassberg | DS]
• Togo was damaged from Allied air raid at Kiel, Germany. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Task Force 19.9.9, comprised of Scouting Squadron 46 (VS-46), Scouting Squadron 53 (VS-53), and Scouting Squadron 69 (VS-69) arrived on board. All major construction on the Inshore Patrol Squadron area completed, including parking mat, nose hangar, enlisted barracks, mess hall, BOQ's, and shop space. Carrier Air Group 31 (CVG-31) on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts completed the capture of Hungary. ww2dbase [Budapest Strategic Offensive Operation | TH]

• Naval mines in the Inland Sea, Japan sank three Japanese ships. ww2dbase [Inland Sea | CPC]

• USS Gabilan and her wolfpack mates detected Japanese cruiser Isuzu in the South China Sea and gave chase. She sank one of the escorting gunboats with her deck gun. ww2dbase [Gabilan | South China Sea | CPC]
• USS Sterlet arrived at Midway, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Sterlet | Midway | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Saufley departed Sanga Sanga Island escorting a convoy bound for Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines. ww2dbase [Saufley | Sanga Sanga | DS]

• USAAF A-20 aircraft based in the Philippine Islands attacked factories and rail marshalling yards at Shinchiku (now Hsinchu), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Shinchiku | CPC]
• Six B-25 bombers of 498th Bombardment Squadron and six B-25 bombers of 500th Bombardment Squadron, both of USAAF 345th Bombardment Group, took off from San Marcelino in western Luzon island, Philippines to attack Mako (now Magong or Makung) harbor, Pescadores Islands in the Taiwan Strait. The attack commenced at 1430 hours, sinking a 2,000-ton tanker and the 2,500-ton freighter Horei Maru. 500th Bombardment Squadron lost one bomber to anti-aircraft fire. ww2dbase [Mako Guard District | Mako, Hoko | CPC]

• USS Alabama departed California, United States. ww2dbase [Alabama | California | CPC]
• US Marine Corps Commandant, Lieutenant General Alexander A. Vandegrift, was promoted to the rank of general, and thus became the first Marine officer on active service to attain four-star rank. ww2dbase [Alexander Vandegrift | AC]

4 Apr 1945 Interactive Map