1920 — , April 24

• Poland: Polish leader Marshal Pilsudski signs a treaty with Simon Petlyura promising Ukrainian independence in return for military help in crushing the Bolsheviks.

1933 — , April 24

• CBI - China: Day 114 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.

1934 — , April 24

• Germany: A Supreme Court is created in Berlin to take on the most serious cases of treason.

1936 — , April 24

• Germany: The Ordensburgen Training Centers are formally established for the indoctrination of Nazi Party members.

1937 — , April 24

• Europe: Britain and France relieve Belgium of its responsibilities regarding the Locarno Treaties of 1925, which were meant to improve the tense post-WWI situation.
• Spain: Day 282 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.

1938 — , April 24

• ETO The Nazi-aligned Sudeten German Party issues the Carlsbad Decrees, demanding autonomy for Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia.
• Spain: Day 647 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
• CBI - China: Day 292 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • Day 77 of 124 of the Battle of Henan.
  • Day 32 of 39 of the Battle of Xuzhou.

1939 — , April 24

• CBI - China: Day 657 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • Day 39 of 54 of the Battle of Nanchang.
  • Day 5 of 35 of the Battle of Suizao.

1940 — , April 24

• Atlantic: The German cruiser ORION sinks the British ship HAXBY in the Atlantic Ocean.
• UK: The British House of Commons approves a trade agreement with Spain, the first since the Spanish Civil War began.
• ETO - Norway: Day 16 of 63 of the Battle of Norway. British and French troops arrive at Aandalesnes. Norwegian troops attack the Germans south of Narvik, but are beaten back. After sharp fighting north of Trondheim, British troops are forced to withdraw.
• MTO - France: France urges Italy to stay out of the European War.
• CBI - China: Day 1,023 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • Day 162 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.

1941 — , April 24

• Atlantic: The US Navy extends its range for Neutrality Patrols to as far east as Iceland and as far south as Rio de Janeiro.
• ETO - UK: Day 231 of 258 of the Blitz.
• Eastern Front: A German Naval Attaché in Moscow reports back to Germany that the British have calculated that a German invasion of the USSR will take place around 26 Jun 1941 and that the British have already informed the Soviet Union about the upcoming invasion.
• MTO - Greece: Day 19 of 25 of the Battle of Greece. German paratroopers capture the Corinth Canal. British troops hold off German attacks at Thermopylae. The British begin evacuating to Egypt and Crete.
• MTO - Libya: Day 15 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk. An Italian infantry attacks two points of the Tobruk defenses but are stopped within an hour.
• East Africa: Day 319 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
• CBI - China: Day 1,388 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
• CBI - Thailand: Day 206 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).

1942 — , April 24

• Atlantic: Day 101 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
• ETO - UK: The Luftwaffe bombs at Exeter, the first of Hitler's retaliatory raids better known as Baedeker Raids. Meanwhile, the RAF bombs Rostok again.
• Russian Front - North: Day 229 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
• Russian Front - North: Day 76 of 102 of the Battle of the Demyansk Pocket, another failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
• Russian Front - North: Day 92 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket. Another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
• Russian Front - South: Day 177 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula.
• CBI - Burma: Day 132 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma. Chinese mercenary troops under Allied command attack at Taunggyi.
• CBI - China: Day 1,753 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
• PTO - Malaya: Day 65 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
• PTO - Philippines: Day 138 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines.
• PTO - New Caledonia: US troops land on French New Caledonia.

1943 — , April 24

• Atlantic: The German sub U-710 is sunk by an airplane of British No 206 Squadron Coastal Command.
• Russian Front - North: Day 594 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
• Russian Front - North: Day 355 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
• MTO - Tunisia: Day 159 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support. Fierce ground fighting continues in the Jefna area.
• CBI - Burma: Day 76 of 79 of the Allied Operation LONGCLOTH. US 10th Air Force provides air support. The Chindits reach the Chindwin River.
• CBI - Burma: US 14th Air Force B-25s bomb the Namtu mines and railroad yards while P-40s strafe the mine and smelter area.
• CBI - China: Day 2,118 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
• PTO: After repeated failures, Admiral Nimitz discontinues the use of magnetic exploders on torpedoes for his theater of operation. Submarines under General MacArthur's command, however, will continue to use them.
• PTO - Alaska: Day 322 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. US 11th Air Force P-38s bomb Kiska and strafe personnel near Mutton Cove.
• PTO - Japan: The USS FLYING FISH sinks a Japanese cargo ship in the Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hokkaido.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 3 of 148 of the 2nd Battle of Lae-Salamaua. 5th Air Force provides air support.

1944 — , April 24

• UK: All overseas travel is banned in Britain.
• ETO - Belgium: US 9th Air Force P-47s attack the Louvain marshalling yard.

• ETO - Germany: The RAF bombs Munich. During this attack, the rare Spinosaurus ("spine lizard") fossil specimen is destroyed at the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology, leaving only detailed drawings and descriptions of this largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs from its discovery in 1912.
  Spotlight...

  

  Full reconstructed S aegyptiacus skeleton, Japan, 2009

  Spinosaurus may be the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs, even larger than Tyrannosaurus and Giganotosaurus. It lived in what is now North Africa, from the lower Albian to lower Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, about 112 to 97 million years ago.

  The best known species is S aegyptiacus from Egypt, although a potential second species S maroccanus has been recovered from Morocco.

  The loss of this far-from-complete Spinosaurus specimen was especially significant because it was the holotype (the individual used in the first official scientific description of the species).

  The RAF's attack on Munich not only wiped out the remarkable Spinosaurus collection, but also the specimen of the carnivorous dinosaur Bahariasaurus, the only known specimen of the unusual prehistoric crocodile Stomatosuchus, and the bones of the long-necked dinosaur Aegyptosaurus.

  Additional Spinosaurus specimens would not be unearthed until the 1990s during expeditions to the Sahara.
• ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb airfields and aircraft production industries.
• Russian Front - North: Day 83 of 191 of the Battle of the Narva Isthmus, Estonia. Both German and Soviet troops remain in their defensive positions.
• Russian Front - South: Day 17 of 35 of the Battle of the Crimea.
• Russian Front - South: Day 17 of 60 of the Battle of Romania, 1st Jassy Offensive.
• MTO: US 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb in Romania, Yugoslavia and Italy.
• MTO - Italy: Day 99 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provide air support. The German Gustav Line continues getting weaker.
• MTO - Italy: Day 94 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. RAF and US Air Forces provide air support.
• CBI - Burma: Day 51 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY.
• CBI - Burma: Day 46 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
• CBI - Burma: Day 24 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
• CBI - China: Day 2,484 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • Day 8 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
  • Day 8 of 39 of the Battle of Central Henan, the first offensive in Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
• CBI - India: Day 48 of 118 of the Battle of Imphal-Kohima. The British capture the road to Kohima.
• CBI - Thailand: US 14th Air Force B-25s attack near Dara, Kengluang and Dhasan.
• PTO - Alaska: US 11th Air Force B-24s bomb Matsuwa, Shasukotan, Yekaruma, Kharimkotan and Onnekotan Islands.
• PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs Ponape Island, Jaluit and Wotje Atolls.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 56 of 80 of the Battle of the Admiralty Islands. 5th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 219 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. Allied troops secure Hollandia, Aitape and Madang, inflicting 9,000 Japanese casualties while only suffering 450 dead themselves.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 132 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 3 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
• PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 176 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.

1945 — , April 24

• UK: After five and a half long years, nightly blackouts are finally lifted throughout England with the exception of certain coastal areas.
  Spotlight...

  

  Britain was blacked out on 1st September 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland and two days before Britain declared war. Everyone had to cover their windows and doors at night (before sunset) with heavy blackout curtains, cardboard or paint to prevent any glimmer of light from escaping and aiding enemy aircraft during the bombing raids. Street lights were switched off or dimmed and shielded to deflect the light downward. Traffic lights and vehicle headlights were fitted with slotted covers to deflect the beam down to the floor.

  

  British wartime poster

  Thousands of Britons died in road accidents during the Blackout, increased by the lack of street lighting and dimmed traffic lights. To help prevent accidents, white stripes were painted on the roads and on lamp-posts. People were encouraged to walk facing the traffic and men were advised to leave their shirt-tails hanging out so that they could be seen by cars with dimmed headlights. Others were injured tripping, falling down steps or bumping into things because they could not see in the darkness.

  Related WWII Store items...

  • The Blackout 1939-45
• Atlantic: The destroyer USS FREDERICK C DAVIS is sunk by German sub U-546 off the Atlantic coast.
• ETO - France: Day 269 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
• ETO - France: Day 222 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
• ETO - Germany: The British 2nd and Canadian 1st Armies enter Bremen. The US 7th Army crosses the Danube at Dillingen and captures Ulm.
• ETO - Germany: US 9th Air Force attacks at Landau an der Isar and Schrobenhausen.
• Russian Front - Finland: Day 222 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 192 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 12 of 13 of the Battle of Zemland, East Prussia.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 23 of the Battle of Settin-Rostock, both sides of the border between Germany and Poland. Day 3 of the 11-day Battle of Bautzen.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 17 of the Battle of Berlin.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 71 of 83 of the German Siege of Breslau (today Wroclaw, Poland). The Soviets continue with their siege.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 1 of 8 of the Battle of Halbe, Germany.
• MTO: US 15th Air Force B-24s and B-17s attack targets in Austria and Italy.
• MTO - Italy: Day 19 of 27 of Operation GRAPESHOT. The US 5th Army drives through Mantua on its way north along the Italian coast and captures Spezia while the British 8th Army attacks across the Po River and captures Parma and Ferrara. The Allied Air Forces provide air support.
• CBI - Burma: Day 80 of 99 of the Battle of Pakokku and Irrawaddy River operations in central Burma. The Indian 5th Division captures Toungoo and advances to Penwegu. The British 14th Army takes Pyinmana.
• CBI - China: Day 2,849 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • Day 24 of 91 of the Battle of Zhijiang. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
  • Day 16 of 60 of the Battle of West Hunan (near Zhijiang).
• PTO - Formosa: US 5th Air Force A-20s hit sugar refineries at Mizukami and Shinei while B-24s bomb Tainan and Hokko.
• PTO - Japan: US 20th Air Force B-29s bomb the Hitahi aircraft plant at Tachikawa.
• PTO - Japan: Day 24 of 83 of the Battle of Okinawa.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 484 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 368 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - Philippines: Day 188 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
• PTO - Philippines: Day 131 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - Philippines: Day 46 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. 5th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - Philippines: Day 38 of 135 of the Battle of the Visayas region. US 5th and 7th Air Forces provide air support.

1949 — , April 24

• China: Sun Chu is captured by the Chinese communist forces at Taiyuan, Shanxi.