http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/apr44/17apr44.htm#
Americans bomb Sofia
Monday, April 17, 1944 www.onwar.com
Over Bulgaria... US B-17 and B-24 bombers attack Sofia.
Over Occupied Yugoslavia... US B-17 and B-24 bombers attack Belgrade.
In the English Channel and North Sea... The British Royal Navy and Bomber Command begin intensive mining of the approaches to the English Channel and as far north as the Danish coast. This operation is intended to prevent German interference with the D-Day invasion fleet. (It continues until June 5th by which time 7000 mines are laid. An estimated 100 light warships and other vessels are sunk by the mines.)
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/17.htm
April 17th, 1944 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: 14 of 15 Eighth Air Force B-24s of the 93d and 467th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) bomb the primary target, V-weapon sites at Wizernes, France without loss. (Jack McKillop)
London: Under pressure from the military commanders for the “Overlord” invasion of Europe, the British war cabinet has clamped down on diplomatic privileges, held up diplomatic bags and put all foreign embassies under surveillance.
Even friendly embassies have been included, since it was reckoned that they could not be completely secure against spies, dupes or chumps. There has been only one protest against the restrictions - from officials of General de Gaulle’s Free French.
The worrying gap in this security cordon is Eire, where de Valera’s government remains at peace with Nazi Germany. German agents in Dublin move freely. But the long, coiling border with Northern Ireland, where travellers pass to and fro freely in peacetime, is now under close guard.
FRANCE:
The Eighth Air Force flies two mission.
Mission 304: 14 B-24s bomb the V-weapon site at Wizernes without loss; escort is provided by 33 P-47 Thunderbolts.
Mission 305: 5 B-17s drop 1.48 million leaflets on Rennes, Brest, Nantes, Lorient and St Nazaire at 2248-2258 hours without loss. (Jack McKillop)
ITALY: Naples: Italy’s return to democracy is not coming easily. Nine months after Mussolini’s downfall, the country if without a government. The dictator’s successor, Marshal Pietro Badoglio, has announced the resignation of his entire cabinet.
Badoglio has been asked to form a new government with a broad base - and has approached the veteran communist leader Palmiro Togliatti as well as “Actionists”, led by Prince Caracciolo, at the other end of the political spectrum.
From Zurich come reports that Mussolini, who has spent much of his time at his Lake Garda villa, has visited a Vienna cancer clinic, but has refused an operation.
Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack bridges north of Orte and at Monte Molino, while A-20s pound a fuel dump NE of Rome; P-40, P-47 and A-36 Apache fighter-bombers hit motor transport stores and gun positions north of Anzio, bomb Fara in Sabina station, hit tracks, trains and guns in the Orte and Narni area and at other points north of Rome. (Jack McKillop)
BULGARIA: Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Sofia. (Jack McKillop)
YUGOSLAVIA: Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bomb the industrial area, air depot and marshalling yard at Belgrade. (Jack McKillop)
CHINA: The Japanese launch Operation Ichi-Go, to crush Chinese resistance between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers and wipe out USAAF bases in Honan and Kwangsi provinces.
BURMA: 6 Tenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs support ground forces near Meza; 9 P-38s destroy several airplanes at Heho Airfield while 5 B-24s bomb Ywataung; 26 B-25s and 36 P-51s support ground forces at Mawlu and bomb a fuel dump at Kin; 13 other P-51s are diverted to intercept a Japanese force over the Imphal, India area and claim 3 airplanes shot down. (Jack McKillop)
JAPAN: The submarines USS Barb (SS-220) and USS Steelhead (SS-280) shell phosphate works on Rasa Island which lies 254 miles (408 km) southeast of Okinawa. Officially, the island is named Okidaito-jima. (Jack McKillop)
NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force P-39s attack AA positions at Bogia; other planes, operating individually or in pairs, attack Hollandia, Uligan Harbor and vicinity and the Madang area. A Japanese army vessel is sunk off Aitape by USAAF aircraft. (Jack McKillop)
EAST INDIES: 20 Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb storage areas and troop concentrations in Kai Island, Moluccas Islands. (Jack McKillop)
CAROLINE ISLANDS: 20 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the airfield at Satawan Atoll. (Jack McKillop)
MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, based on Tarawa Atoll, strike Maloelap and Mille Atolls, rearming at Majuro Atoll between the raids. (Jack McKillop)
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, 24 B-25s pound runway and revetments at Rapopo Airfield; 40+ fighter-bombers hit Matupi with incendiaries while 10 others pound the runway at Keravat. (Jack McKillop)
PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese ships are sunk by submarines at sea:
- USS Harder (SS-257), in an attack on a convoy, sinks an army cargo ship about 150 miles (241 km) northwest of Woleai Atoll in the Caroline Islands.
- USS Searaven (SS-196) sinks an auxiliary minesweeper 120 miles (193 km) south of Haha Jima, Bonin Islands. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-986 is sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS Swift and the USN sub chaser USS PC-619. All 50 crewmen on the U-boat are lost. (Jack McKillop)