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• US President Roosevelt's office turned down a request from US Jewish community leaders to meet with the president in preparation to the forthcoming conference in Bermuda regarding the situation of refugees in Europe. ww2dbase [Bermuda Conference | CPC]
• Stalin's son Yakov Dzhugashvili died in German captivity. ww2dbase [TH]
• Soviet 14th Army pushed back a German thrust southeast of Leningrad, Russia. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | TH]
• The No. 3 Column of the Chindits crossed the Chindwin River in Burma and soon became the first column to return to India. ww2dbase [Operation Longcloth | CPC]

• 23 Japanese dive bombers, 44 medium bombers, and 129 fighters attacked Milne Bay, Australian Papua; 44 Allied fighters rose in response. In the air, 1 Australian P-40 fighter was shot down and another was damaged, and additional Australian P-38 aircraft was destroyed on landing. Three Allied ships were damaged. For the Japanese 5 G4M bombers, 3 D3A dive bombers, and 1 Zero fighter were lost in combat. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]

• US Navy Fleet Radio Unit Pacific Fleet decoded a intercepted Japanese Navy message, which allowed the US to learn that Yamamoto was planning on an inspection of three front-line bases on and near Bougainville Island. The decrypted message was immediately forwarded to Admiral Chester Nimitz at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Operation Vengeance | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Isoroku Yamamoto | Chester Nimitz | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• The remnants of "Tobruch" Battalion of the "San Marco" naval infantry regiment of Italian Navy began to arrive in Italy from Tunisia. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Irako transited the Bungo Strait between Shikoku and Kyushu, Japan with minelayer Yurijima in escort. ww2dbase [Irako | CPC]

• Yugure collided with Muko Maru south of Truk, Caroline Islands and suffered minor damage. ww2dbase [Yugure | CPC]

• The Soviet State Defense Committee divided the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs Main Directorate for State Security (GUGB/NKVD) into three organizations: People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD; under Lavrentiy Beria; political repression, slave labor camps, prisoners of war camps, and NKVD troops), People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB; under Vsevolod Merkulov; foreign intelligence and domestic counterintelligence), and State Directorate of Counter-Intelligence (GUKR-NKO or SMERSH; later assigned under Viktor Abakumov; counterintelligence). ww2dbase [Lavrentiy Beria | CPC]

14 Apr 1943 Interactive Map