21st April
USAAF Major General Brett assumes command of the Allied Air Forces, which has units based in northern and eastern Australia, with advanced facilities in the Port Moresby, New Guinea, area. He will report to General Blamey as overall commander. Admiral Crace has been placed in command of the naval forces in the area, although until Japanese intentions become clear Somerville retains his heavy ships eastward. Crace will deploy a mixed force of cruisers and destroyers with the two Australian light carriers to harass the Japanese (with the aid of the RN submarines), but is not to engage a heavy task force.
The Germans request the assistance of the Italian Navy to deal with the ramshackle Soviet flotilla on Lake Ladoga (estimated at 6 gunboats, 2 large and 5 small torpedo boats, 32 armed minesweepers, 9 armed transport ships, 17 armed tugboats and 1 submarine, plus another 25 other boats).
The Italian Navy promptly agreed and sent the four torpedo boats of 12th MAS Flotilla, commanded by Capitano di Corvetta (Lt-Comm) Bianchini. The Italians have received assurances from the Germans that no RN Carriers are present on the lake.
In Washington DC, the federal government decides to build the "Big Inch" oil pipeline from Texas to New York so Allied tankers won't have to run the German submarine gauntlet along the East Coast. This pipeline has a diameter of 24", the highest-capacity oil pipeline ever built.
22nd April
The raid on Tokyo by US B-25 bombers has caused immense consternation in the Japanese command, as well as much loss of face - the Emperor could have been injured or even killed. As a result an emergency re-appraisal of the impending IJN operations is ordered. The Americans cannot be allowed to get away with such an attack on the Japanese home islands, even if it means altering or postponing operations originally thought to be more militarily important.
One consequence of the attack is that Admiral Somerville has made arrangements for his heavy units, particularly his fleet carriers, to undergo boiler and bottom-cleaning at Singapore as fast as possible. It is expected that the raid will sting the Japanese into some sort of retaliation, and he wants the fleet to be as prepared as possible. Similar activity takes place at Pearl Harbor, although the wide disposition of naval units makes this more difficult. Nimitz's actions are expected to hinge on how well his code-breakers can decrypt Japanese signals, something they are becoming increasingly adept at. Daily summaries are being flown to Singapore to keep the breaking of the codes secret.
23rd April
In retaliation for the recent RAF raids, the Luftwaffe raids Exeter at night. Considerable damage was done, as this was the first major raid in a considerable time, however the RAF night fighters took a heavy toll of the bombers. The number of aircraft used by the Luftwaffe is far fewer than in the heavy night raids of early 1941, and it is believed that they no longer have the bombers to cause more than occasional disruption by this means. The increased performance of the RAF defences, and the better radar now in use means that unless the Germans can invent some new method of penetrating the defences that the raids will continue to suffer severe losses which will limit their effectiveness even more.
24th April
The Australian-led attack on the Japanese in Thailand reaches its 'stop line' and halts major offensive action in the east and central parts. This is basically the line of defence originally intended to be taken by Operation Matador. While it would be possible to continue further, there are two considerations; first the start of the monsoon season is expect very soon, and stopping now allows supplies to be brought up under relatively benign conditions, and second Blamey and Alexander have been informed that secret negotiations are underway with an anti-Japanese faction of the Thai military/government. The attacks to destroy the Japanese to the west will continue until they are destroyed; the Japanese infantry are still fighting hard, but have run out of artillery ammunition and are thought to be low on all other supplies.
An emergency meeting of the Japanese General Staff comes to the decision that 'a heavy and devastating response must be made to teach the foreign barbarians a lesson.' Accordingly the Navy is tasked with coming up with an immediate plan. The Navies immediate response is that they have three options. First, and attack on the Royal Navy in the South China Sea to drive it back past Singapore and allow new landings in Malaya and Borneo. Second is an attack into the Coral Sea area to take New Guinea and draw in elements of the US Navy, allowing them to be destroyed. Third is an attack on the island of Midway, close enough to Hawaii to force the US fleet to defend it. These operations would use the carrier force (it is expected that repairs currently underway will be finished shortly), backed by the battleships. The intention is to attack a vital target in such force as to destroy the offensive options of the enemy for a considerable period, probably for a year.
After initial consideration, the High Command suggests that the Coral Sea and Midway options seem the most promising, as it is imperative to teach the Americans a lesson for bombing Japan and risking the life of the Emperor. The China Sea operation should be considered a follow-up to destroy the Royal Navies capapility in the area.
25th April
A new RAF raid by some 300 bombers attacks the Heinkel works at Rostock. Thanks to the efforts of the Pathfinders later reconnaissance reports show considerable damage to the factory. However a considerable number of the bombers missed the target due to desception measures. Losses were again low, but intelligence is reporting urgent Luftwaffe efforts to modify fighters to allow them to intercept the Coventry bombers. While existing fighters can reach the 35,000 feet needed, performance is poor at this height. This has been anticipated by the RAF, one of the reasons for delaying the bombing campaign being to allow a useful number of the new heavy bomber to be deployed to make use of the period before German defences were improved.
Paris is exhilarated today by the news that General HenriGitaud, who has been a prisoner of war since he was captured in June 1940, has escaped to Switzerland. The 63-year-old general's escape has given a boost to French morale. He succeeded in freeing himself from the castle at Königstein, in Saxony, which has been turned into a maximum-security prison, jumped on board a moving train and reached the French border. He is expected to join the Free French army currently in North Africa.