http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/apr42/f03apr42.htm
Japanese attacks force British retreat
Friday, April 3, 1942 www.onwar.com
In Burma... Mandalay is bombed heavily. The British continue to withdraw up the Irrawaddy Valley.
In the Philippines... After a short lull, the Japanese renew their attacks on the Bataan Peninsula, where an under equipped American and Philippino force has retreated to their final defensive positions. The attack begins with a lengthy bombardment of allies positions and they are forced to retreat again.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
April 3rd, 1942 (FRIDAY)
U.S.S.R.: Moscow: The German and Soviet armies are now sparring for advantage before they launch the major offensives they plan for spring. Encounters are reported from outside Leningrad, and there is heavy fighting for possession of Novgorod and Staraya Russa in the centre.
Most of the activity is in the south where the spring thaw is releasing the ground. The Russians have pushed the Germans back south-east of Kharkov. The Germans admitted yesterday that the Russians had penetrated their lines and compelled them to retreat.
BURMA : The Burma I Corps continues a northward withdrawal from the Allanmyo area although not under enemy pressure. In the Sittang Valley, Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, begins deploying the Chinese for a stand at Pyinmana. The Chinese 22d Division is to fall back gradually on Pyinmana, where the Chinese 96th Division is to take over. (Jack McKillop)
Japanese bombers attack Mandalay, killing 2000 and destroying much of the city. (Jack McKillop)
Six USAAF 10th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses from Asansol Airdrome, India, bomb warehouses and docks at Rangoon starting three large fires; one B-17 fails to return. (Jack McKillop)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 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 (PA), 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. A battalion on the flank of the 21st Division is forced to pull back. An effort to re-establish the line of the 41st Division after dark is partially successful. The only corps reserve unit, the 33d Infantry (PA), less the 1st Battalion, is released to Sector D as is the Provisional Tank Group (-) of the Luzon Force reserve. In the I Corps sector to the west, the Japanese succeed in reaching the main line of resistance on the eastern flank but are unable to pierce it. (Jack McKillop)
AUSTRALIA: The USAAF’s Air Transport Command activates two transport squadrons, one at Archerfield Aerodrome near Brisbane, Queensland, and the second at Essendon Aerodrome near Melbourne, Victoria. The squadrons are equipped with various transport aircraft. (Jack McKillop)
EAST INDIES: RAAF Hudsons of Nos. 2 and 13 Squadrons operating from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, bomb Penfui Airfield on Dutch West Timor Island. The Australians destroy four and damage two aircraft on the ground. (Jack McKillop)
TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Admiral Chester W Nimitz assumes command of Pacific Ocean Areas (POA). POA comprises North, Central, Southeast and South Pacific Areas, all under overall command of Admiral Nimitz as Commander-in-Chief POA. The Southeast Pacific Area had been established on 8 December 1941 and is commanded by Rear Admiral John F Shafroth. The South Pacific Area is officially established on 20 April and North Pacific Area on 17 May. Nimitz retains his position as Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC). (Jack McKillop)
Light minelayers USS Pruitt (DM-22), Preble (DM-20), Sicard (DM-21), and Tracy (DM-19) mine French Frigate Shoals, Hawaiian Group, to prevent Japanese submarines from using the area as a refueling point for flying boat raids on Oahu. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: The motion picture “Jungle Book” is released in the U.S. This action adventure fantasy, directed by Zoltan Korda, starred Sabu and Rosemary DeCamp. The plot involves a boy raised by wolves in India who is adopted by Ms. DeCamp. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two U.S. merchant ships are sunk by German submarines: (1) a freighter, en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., from Takoradi, Gold Coast, is torpedoed and sunk by U-754 about 250 miles (402 kilometres) east of Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.A.; and (2) a freighter en route to Takoradi, Gold Coast, from Marshall, Liberia, is torpedoed by U-505 about 240 miles south southwest of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and abandoned. (Jack McKillop)
Among the things not reported at the time the Brits evacuated all the white people in Penang and left all the Chinese and mixed-blood Portuguese behind for the Japanese to deal with.
This POd just about EVERYONE.
Bitterness lingers to this day.