CBI - China: Day 99 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1937 — , April 9
Spain: Day 267 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , April 9
Spain: Day 632 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 277 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 62 of 124 of the Battle of Henan. Chiang Kai-Shek orders his troops to pursue and destroy the fleeing Japanese troops from Taierzhuang, but his local commanders decide to give their troops a rest instead.
Day 17 of 39 of the Battle of Xuzhou.
1939 — , April 9
USA: Having been refused by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall, African-American contralto Marian Anderson performs her Easter Sunday concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC before a crowd of 75,000 and a radio audience of millions.
Spotlight...
Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial
At the time, Washington, DC, was a segregated city and black patrons were upset that they had to sit at the back of Constitution Hall. The District of Columbia Board of Education also declined a request to use the auditorium of a white public high school.
The chair of the DC citywide Inter-Racial Committee convened a meeting that formed the Marian Anderson Citizens Committee (MACC) composed of several dozen organizations, church leaders and individual activists in the city, including the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the Washington Industrial Council-CIO, American Federation of Labor, and the National Negro Congress.
On February 20, the group picketed the board of education, collected signatures on petitions, and planned a mass protest at the next board of education meeting. As a result of the ensuing furor, thousands of DAR members, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned.
In her letter to the DAR, the First Lady wrote, "I am in complete disagreement with the attitude taken in refusing Constitution Hall to a great artist... You had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way and it seems to me that your organization has failed."
President Roosevelt, the executive secretary of the NAACP, and Marian Anderson's manager persuaded the Secretary of the Interior to arrange the open air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
The performance began with a dignified and stirring rendition of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."
During World War II (and the Korean War), Marian Anderson entertained troops in hospitals and bases. In 1943, she did sing at Constitution Hall at the invitation of the DAR to an integrated audience as part of a benefit for the American Red Cross.
She said of the event, "When I finally walked onto the stage of Constitution Hall, I felt no different than I had in other halls. There was no sense of triumph. I felt that it was a beautiful concert hall and I was very happy to sing there."
CBI - China: Day 642 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 24 of 54 of the Battle of Nanchang.
1940 — , April 9
Atlantic: British sub HMS TRAUNT torpedoes the German cruiser KARLSRUHE in the Skagerrak Strait (Norway). After the crew is rescued, the German torpedo boat GRIEF scuttles the KARLSRUHE.
Atlantic: Norwegian coastal batteries at Oscarborg sink the German cruiser BLUCHER while the RAF and British Navy sink the German cruiser Konigsberg.
Atlantic: At Narvik, Norway, German destroyers sink the Norwegian coastal cruisers EIDSVOLD and NORGE, killing 276.
Atlantic: Off Bergen, Norway, Luftwaffe JU-88s and He-111s damage the British battleship HMS RODNEY and sinks destroyer HMS GURKHA.
ETO - Denmark: Day 1 of 1 of the Battle of Denmark. This battle is practically unopposed, resulting in just 20 Danish casualties before the unprepared country surrenders. Denmark will remain under German occupation through the end of the war in Europe.
ETO - Norway: Day 1 of 63 of the Battle of Norway. The Norwegian royal family, the government and the country's reserves of over 48 tons of gold depart from Oslo.
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Dates related to Norway, heavy water and Quisling...
09 Apr 40: Day 1 of 63 of the Battle of Norway
10 Jun 40: Norway surrenders unconditionally to the Nazis
16 Jun 40: French transfer Norwegian heavy water to British
25 Sep 40: All political parties except Quisling's pro-Nazi party are dissolved
01 Feb 42: Quisling forms a puppet government under German rule
18 Oct 42: Commandos parachute in to recon Telemark plant
19 Nov 42: Sabotage attempt fails when gliders crash en route
16 Feb 43: Commandos parachute in to meet reconnaissance party
28 Feb 43: Commandos successfully sabotage Telemark plant
16 Nov 43: RAF bombs heavy water plant, which is under repair
20 Feb 44: Railway ferry carrying heavy water to Germany is sunk
07 May 45: All German troops in Norway surrender unconditionally
09 May 45: Quisling is captured by Norwegian underground
CBI - China: Day 1,008 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 147 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1941 — , April 9
Atlantic: Henrik Kauffmann, the Danish ambassador to the US, signs a treaty with the US making Greenland an American protectorate for the duration of the war. This allows the US to build bases there, which will eventually end the U-boat threat to Allied convoys.
Atlantic: German sub U-107 sinks the British ship HARPARTHIAN 400 miles northeast of Canary Islands.
Atlantic: German sub U-98 sinks the Dutch ship PRINS WILLEM II 200 miles southeast of Iceland. 22 of the crew are able to survive in 2 lifeboats.
ETO - UK: Day 216 of 258 of the Blitz. This time the Luftwaffe raid includes hitting Birmingham with incendiary bombs.
ETO - Germany: The RAF bombs at Kiel in an attempt to knock out the naval facilities there.
MTO - Yugoslavia: Day 4 of 12 of the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. German troops capture Nis and Monastir.
MTO - Greece: Day 4 of 25 of the Battle of Greece. German troops capture Salonika and Thessalonika, forcing the Greek 2nd Army to surrender.
MTO - Libya: The Italian 27th Division and German 5th Light Division reach Tobruk. Rommel's troops also capture Bardia.
East Africa: Day 304 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt. British, Indian and Free French troops capture the hill forts surrounding Massawa, Eritrea. After one of their ships is sunk, the Italians scuttle 12 ships before surrendering themselves and the city.
CBI - China: Day 1,373 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 27 of 27 of the Battle of Shanggao. The Japanese troops withdraw, leaving the town to the Chinese.
CBI - Thailand: Day 191 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , April 9
ETO - Norway: Norwegian Lutheran Bishop Eivind Berggrav is arrested for refusing to comply with Nazi occupational orders to alter religious practices. From prison he orchestrates the mass resignation of almost all of the priests of the Church of Norway in protest against Nazi tyranny.
Spotlight...
Bishop Eivind Berggrav
Berggrav, known as Primate of the Church of Norway, was saved from execution and was placed in solitary confinement at an isolated location in the forests north of Oslo, allowed to see no one but his guards.
Almost all of the priests of the Church of Norway resigned in protest against Nazi tyranny, as did teachers a few months later when faced with Vidkun Quisling's proposal to force Norwegian children to join an organization modeled on the Hitler Youth. Since all the clergy of the Church of Norway were also civil servants at the time, this shunning of the orders of the Quisling regime sent a powerful message to all Norwegians.
With his guards' implicit cooperation, Berggrav often secretly left his hut to meet with the Norwegian underground. Because his face was well known, the bishop often wore disguises, such as a policeman's uniform or thick glasses and a fake mustache.
TIME Magazine, Christmas 1944 issue
In December 1944, Berggrav was featured on the cover of TIME magazine, becoming one of the relatively few protestant religious figures to ever receive this honor.
After World War II, Berggrav received Norway's highest medal, the Order of St Olav. President Harry S Truman awarded Bishop Berggrav the Medal of Freedom.
Atlantic: Day 86 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
U-123 sinks the US freighter ESPARTA near Cumberland Island, Georgia.
Off the coast of North Carolina, U-160 sinks the US freighter MALCHACE while U-552 sinks two US tankers, the SS ATLAS and SS TAMAULIPAS.
Russian Front - North: Day 214 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 61 of 102 of the Battle of the Demyansk Pocket, another failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 77 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket. Another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad. The Germans make some limited advances toward their surrounded troops at Kholm and Staraya.
Russian Front - Center: Day 92 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 92 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 38 of 49 of the Battle of Rzhev, Russia, a diversion to pull more German troops away from Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 162 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. The Soviets make repeated attacks on German positions on the Kerch Peninsula but fail to break through.
CBI: Day 10 of 11 of the Japanese Naval raids on Allied ships throughout the Indian Ocean. Japanese carrier planes sink the British carrier HMS HERMES, destroyer HMS VAMPIRE, HMS HOLLYHOCK and two other warships and also bomb at Trincomalee, Ceylon.
CBI - Burma: Day 117 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma. Japanese troops overrun the Chinese 200th and 22nd Divisions at Yedashe.
CBI - China: Day 1,738 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Malaya: Day 50 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
PTO - Philippines: Day 123 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines. The US-Filipino troops on Bataan unconditionally surrender to the Japanese. About 2,000 US troops escape from Luzon and go to Corregidor.
1943 — , April 9
Germany: Exterminations cease temporarily at the camp at Chelmno, Poland, but will be resumed in the spring of 1944 to liquidate more ghetto Jews. In all, Chelmno will claim 300,000 deaths.
Russian Front - North: Day 579 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 340 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 144 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support. The British troops capture Mahares.
CBI - Burma: Day 61 of 79 of the Allied Operation LONGCLOTH. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,103 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 307 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - New Guinea: US 5th Air Force hits a variety of targeted areas.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 9 of 16 of Japan's Operation I-GO.
1944 — , April 9
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb aircraft factories and airfields.
ETO - Switzerland: A new German BF-110 twin-engine fighter-bomber, piloted by a German defector, lands at Dübendorf.
Russian Front - North: Day 68 of 191 of the Battle of the Narva Isthmus, Estonia. Both German and Soviet troops in the Baltic region remain in a defensive position.
Russian Front - South: Day 108 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 37 of 45 of the Battle of Chernovtsy, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 35 of 44 of the Battle of Snigirevka, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 2 of 35 of the Battle of the Crimea. The Soviets break through the German lines at Kerch.
Russian Front - South: Day 15 of 20 of the Battle of Odessa, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 2 of 60 of the Battle of Romania, 1st Jassy Offensive.
MTO - Italy: Day 84 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provide air support.
MTO - Italy: Day 79 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. RAF and US Air Forces provide air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 36 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY.
CBI - Burma: Day 31 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 9 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,469 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force sinks a 200-ft tanker sunk off Cape Bastion and shoots down 3 enemy fighters over Yulinkan Bay.
CBI - India: Day 33 of 118 of the Battle of Imphal-Kohima. Japanese troops capture Kanglatongbi and begin to surround the Anglo-Indian troops at Imphal. Other Japanese troops capture GPT ridge, forcing the British troops to fall back to Garrison Hill.
PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force B-24s bomb Jaluit Atoll.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 41 of 80 of the Battle of the Admiralty Islands. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 204 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 117 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 161 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , April 9
ETO - France: Day 254 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 207 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 35 of 46 of the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
ETO - Germany: Day 6 of 9 of the Battle of Heilbronn.
Germany: The Moringen Concentration Camp is liberated by Allied troops.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force bombs an underground oil storage, an ammunition plant and ten jet airfields in Germany.
Germany: Anti-fascist Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who participated in a failed plot to kill Hitler, is executed by hanging.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 207 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
Russian Front - Center: Day 177 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 75 of 75 of the Battle of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The German troops surrender to Soviets.
Russian Front - Center: Day 56 of 83 of the German Siege of Breslau (today Wroclaw, Poland). The Soviets continue with their siege.
Russian Front - South: Day 15 of 21 of the Battle of Nagykanizsa-Körmend, western Hungary.
Russian Front - South: Day 28 of 34 of the Battle of Vienna, Austria. Soviet troops begin assaulting the central part of Vienna.
MTO - Yugoslavia: German Army Group E is now completely cut off, but they continue to fight against Tito's partisans.
MTO - Italy: Day 4 of 27 of Operation GRAPESHOT, a successful offensive in northern Italy. Rifleman Ali Haidar takes out two gun positions at Fusignano, getting wounded on each occasion. His actions earn him the Victoria Cross.
MTO - Italy: Day 1 of 13 of the Battle of Bologna. The British 8th Army launches an offensive east of town while the US 5th Army begins its offensive toward Bologna and on up to the Po River Valley.
MTO - Italy: RAF and US Air Forces provide air support for the Allied ground units.
MTO - Italy: The Liberty Ship SS CHARLES HENDERSON, loaded with aircraft bombs, blows up in Bari harbor, killing 360 and injuring 1,730.
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Dates related to Liberty Ships...
03 Jan 41: FDR announces the $350 million Liberty Ship program
27 Sep 41: "Liberty Fleet Day" declared as first 14 are launched
12 Nov 42: SS ROBERT E PEARY is completed in record time
15 Jan 44: Liberty Ship SS CAROLE LOMBARD is christened
20 Apr 44: SS PAUL HAMILTON hit by aerial torpedo and explodes
09 Apr 45: SS CHARLES HENDERSON explodes in Italian harbor
CBI - Burma: Day 65 of 99 of the Battle of Pakokku and Irrawaddy River operations in central Burma. The US 10th Air Force provides air support. Indian Private Namdeo Jadhav carries two wounded comrades under heavy fire through deep water and across a minefield. Then he recrosses the river and destroys three machine gun posts. His extraordinary conduct will earn him the Victoria Cross.
CBI - China: Day 2,834 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 9 of 91 of the Battle of Zhijiang. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
Day 1 of 60 of the Battle of West Hunan (near Zhijiang).
PTO: USS TIRANTE sinks the Japanese troop transport NIKKO MARU and damages another Japanese vessel.
PTO - Japan: Day 9 of 83 of the Battle of Okinawa.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 469 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 353 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 172 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 116 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 31 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 23 of 135 of the Battle of the Visayas region. US 5th and 7th Air Forces provide air support.
1963 — , April 9
USA: President John F Kennedy signs a bill into law making former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill an honorary citizen of the United States. For this reason the day continues to be known as Winston Churchill Day in America — a good day to keep calm and carry on.
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Winston Churchill related dates...
01 Nov 36: "It's only fair. We had to have them in the last war."
21 Sep 38: Warns of futility of appeasing Adolf Hitler
03 Jun 39: Predicts war with Germany will come this year
20 Jan 40: Famous "feed the crocodile" line to neutral nations
10 May 40: Asked by King to replace Chamberlain as PM
13 May 40: Famous "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat" speech
04 Jun 40: Gives his stern "never surrender" speech
14 Jul 40: "We may show mercy, We shall ask none" speech
20 Aug 40: "Never ... was so much owed by so many..."
23 Dec 40: "Because of one man" broadcast to Italians
20 Jul 41: Inaugurates the "V for Victory" campaign
Spotlight...
