3rd April
The Japanese open an all-out offensive against the Bataan line, which is by now under strength, undernourished, poorly clothed and equipped, and battle weary. After air and artillery bombardment, lasting from 1000 until 1500 hours, the Japanese move forward, making their main effort against Sector D, the west flank of the II Corps, where the 41st and 21st Divisions, Philippine Army, are thinly spread and dazed as result of the preliminary bombardment. The 41st, on the west, gives way and is rendered virtually ineffective as a fighting force, although a regiment on extreme west succeeds in withdrawing in an orderly fashion.
In the Mediterranean, final preparations for an amphibious operation aimed at Sicily are taking place. Reports from the Far East are encouraging, and the monsoon will soon put a stop to major operations in Burma and Malaya. Once it starts, Operation Husky will take place on the next suitable date.
4th April
In the II Corps area on Bataan, the Japanese attack is again preceded by a demoralizing artillery bombardment in conjunction with air attacks. The main line of resistance of Sector D collapses as the 41st Division Philippine Army, withdraws again and the 21st Division is forced from their main line of resistance to the reserve line in front of Mt Samat. After nightfall, the Japanese regroup for an assault on Mt Samat.
The first large raid using all the new equipment and the Coventry bomber is made by Bomber Command against Hanover. The main raid consists of 150 of the new high altitude Coventry, which follow in the Mosquito pathfinders. Their bombs, dropped from 35,000 feet, do severe damage to the supporting structures of buildings, as well as breaking gas lines and water mains. This damage makes it much more difficult to fight the damage and fires of the following waves of bombers - 400 Lancasters dropping the new 4,000 lb bombs and incendiaries, and a final wave of Halifax bombers carrying more incendiaries and light bombs to interfere with the fire-fighting efforts. The raid is finished off the next morning, when 150 Coventry bombers raid above the ceiling of the German air defences, losing only one plane over the target. They drop another 2,000 tons of bombs on targets that were missed in the night raid.
The raid is considered a success - a considerable part of Hanovers industry has been burned out or wrecked, and the sight of RAF bombers attacking apparently at will during the day had a serious effect on morale, many people fleeing the city. This raid will be a pattern for the RAF Spring offensive against the Ruhr and selected coastal cities.
In Malaya the Australians break the Japanese defensive line. With orders to hold, Yamashita is unable to stop them forming a 'shoulder' in the east, allowing them to commence rolling up the western units, which are almost unable to pull back as they are also facing a slow infantry advance from the west under Slim.
5th April
Fuhrer Directive 41 is issued and the Wehrmacht has its orders for 1942. Leningrad is to be captured and contact is to be made with the Finns east of Lake Ladoga, however this is a secondary objective. The main attack will be in the South, which involves 2nd Army and 4th Panzer Army breaking through to Voronezh on the Don River. 6th Army will break out south of Kharkov and combine with the 4th Panzer Army to surround the enemy. After that, the 4th Panzer Army and 6th Army will drive east under the command of Army Group B and surround Stalingrad from the North, while Army Group A's 17th Army and 1st Panzer Army will do so from the South. Once Stalingrad is taken, the 6th Army will hold the flank defence line while Army Group A drives South into the Caucasus to seize the oilfields. After this it will be possible to advance south and attack the British positions in the Middle East, taking the oil fields and the Suez canal and cutting the direct link between Britain and the Far East
After air and artillery preparation, the Japanese resume their offensive in the II Corps area on Bataan, taking Mt Samat. They concentrate on the 21st Division, leaving it virtually ineffective as a fighting force. The Corps prepares to counterattack tomorrow with all available forces.
A Japanese invasion force of 4,852 troops sails from Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, toward Cebu Island, in the Visayan Islands, east central Philippines.
6th April
The First Canadian Army formed in the U.K. under the command of Lieutenant General McNaughton.
7th April
Soviet Army troops force a very narrow corridor to Leningrad, opening a tenuous rail link to the city. Trains run into the city with desperately needed supplies and came out with civilians and the wounded, all under heavy artillery fire from the Germans.
8th April
Bomber Command mounts a raid on Essen. It is somewhat lighter than that against Hanover, but is again effective. The combination of the pathfinders and the Coventry bomber is causing the German defenders terrible problems, as the loss rate is very low and they leave the target open, burning and damaged for the follow-on bombers, which as a result are attaining a much better number of aircraft on target.
Harry Hopkins, Special Assistant to President Roosevelt, and General Marshall, US Army Chief of Staff, arrive in London for talks with British service and supply chiefs concerning the integration of US and British manpower and war production for action in Europe. General Marshall urges an offensive in the west to relieve pressure upon the USSR and promises a constant flow of US troops, including many air units, to the UK. The British treat these suggestions politely, but in fact they have no intention of attacking into France, instead their operations are aimed at Italy. Since the only US Army involvement is a brigade of the 1st Infantry Division (compared to some 14 Imperial and French Divisions), Marshall has no troops to back his arguments with.
On Bataan, II Corps disintegrates completely under sustained Japanese attacks from the ground and air. The Japanese soon discover gaps in the Alangan River line held by the U.S. 31st Infantry and 803d Engineer Battalion; the Philippine Scouts’ 57th Infantry, 26th Cavalry and 14th Engineer Battalion; and Philippine Constabulary troops, and stream southward at will. In a final effort to stem the enemy advance, the Provisional Coast Artillery Brigade, serving as infantrymen, forms a weak line just north of Cabcaben, but other units ordered to extend this line are unable to do so. Major General King, Commanding General Luzon Force, decides to surrender his troops and orders equipment destroyed during the night of the 8th/9th. Of the 78,000 men of the Luzon Force, about 2,000 succeed in escaping to Corregidor Island in Manila Bay
Submarine USS Seadragon delivers food to Corregidor, and evacuates the final increment of naval radio and communications intelligence people.
The air echelons of the 3d, 17th and 20th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor), 24th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), and the 21st and 34th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor), 35th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) based on Bataan begin operating from Del Monte Field on Mindanao with whatever aircraft are left.
Somerville informs Alexander and Blamey that he expects to be able to lift the required troops onto Bali in a few days. While he has the naval support he needs, a delay has been caused due to all light shipping and craft having been evacuated to the west out of the range of the failed Japanese landings.
At 1200 hours, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, with the heavy cruisers USS Salt Lake City and Northampton , four destroyers, and the oiler USS Sabine, sortie from Pearl Harbor to rendezvous with the aircraft carrier USS Hornet which is carrying B-25s to attack Japan.