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• Theo Osterkemp was appointed the commanding officer of Jagdfliegerführer Sizilien and charged with safeguarding Axis flights between Sicily, Italy and Tunisia, Italian North Africa. ww2dbase [Theodor Osterkamp | CPC]
• Allies launched Operation Flax, a concentrated effort to destroy Axis capability to supply Tunisia by air. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Desert War | CPC]
• William Slim and Noel Irwin met in Calcutta, India. ww2dbase [William Slim | CPC]
• The keel of submarine U-869 was laid down. ww2dbase [U-869 | CPC]
• USS Finback hit a damaged and beached Japanese merchant ship off Wake Island with 1 of 2 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Finback | CPC]
• USS Pompon began her journey down the Mississippi River in a floating drydock toward New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. ww2dbase [Pompon | CPC]
• USAAF 325th Fighter Group received orders to move two of its P-40 squadrons to the airfield at Montesquien, Algeria. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Frederick Aikman shot down a German Ju 87 aircraft and damaged a German Bf 109G aircraft. ww2dbase [Frederick Aikman | CPC]

• Seven survivors of American Liberty ship William Pierce Frye, sunk by German submarine U-610 in the North Atlantic five days prior, were rescued by British destroyer HMS Shikari (D 85). ww2dbase [HM]

• Yugure departed Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands at 0600 to make rendezvous with Nichiei Maru at sea. ww2dbase [Yugure | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the docks at Antwerp, Belgium. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Antwerp | DS]

• USS Scorpion departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Scorpion | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Theater turned over to station (1200 capacity). ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• Shokaku departed Kure, Japan for a series of round trips between Iwaishima and Tokuyama (3 times), Oita, and Beppu. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• Naka completed her repairs at Maizuru, Japan and departed the port. ww2dbase [Naka | Maizuru Naval Arsenal | Maizuru, Kyoto | CPC]

• USS Ranger arrived at Argentia, Newfoundland. ww2dbase [Ranger | Argentia | DS]

• USS S-43 transited the Panama Canal and arrived at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone. ww2dbase [S-43 | Balboa | CPC]

• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides experienced a fire in her maneuvering room and also burned out her starboard motors. Silversides put into Johnson Island. ww2dbase [Silversides | Johnson Island | DS]

5 Apr 1943 Interactive Map