CHINA: The Chinese 55th Division retreats from Manchi. It is met by the IJA 56th Division and destroyed.
ALASKA (11th Air Force): 18th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor), 28th Composite Goup, transfers from Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Territory of Alaska to Ft Greely, Kodiak, Aleutian with P-40's.
JAPAN: 16 USAAF B-25 Mitchell's, under Col. James Doolittle, take off from the carrier USS Hornet in the North Pacific. They have a 650 mile flight to bomb Japan. The raid results in little material damage, but it is a morale booster in the eyes of the US Public. It arrives in the middle of a Air Defense Drill and goes unnoticed by many civilians. It throws weight to Admiral Yamamoto's plan to attack Midway Island. The Japanese are unaware of the source of this raid. President Roosevelt refers to Shangri-La in a radio broadcast. Col. Doolittle is the first to take off. William Farrow pilots the last B-25 off the deck. The propeller on Farrow's aircraft struck a Hornet deckhand resulting in an amputation.
No 1 - 40-2344 (17th BG, 34th BS) piloted by Dolittle
No 2 - 40-2292 (17th BG, 37th BS)
No 3 - B-25B "Whiskey Pete" 40-2270 (17th BG, 95th BS)
No 4 - 40-2282 (17th BG, 95th BS)
No 5 - 40-2283 (17th BG, 95th BS)
No 6 - B-25B "Green Hornet" 40-2298 (17th BG, 95th BS)
No 7 - B-25B "Ruptured Duck" 40-2261
No 8 - 40-2242 (17th BG, 95th BS) *
No 9 - 40-2303 (17th BG, 34th BS) ***
No 10 - 40-2250 (17th BG, 89th RS) ***
No 11 - B-25B "Hari Carrier" 40-2249 (17th BG, 89th RS)
No 12 - 40-2278 (17th BG, 37th BS)
No 13 - 40-2247 (17th BG, 37th BS)
No 14 - 40-2297 (17th BG, 89th RS)
No 15 - B-25B "TNT" 40-2267 (17th BG, 89th RS)
No 16 - B-25B "The Bat " 40-2268 (17th BG, 34th BS)
NEI: The US submarine USS Searaven, which arrived off Japanese- held Timor Island, Netherlands East Indies yesterday evening, rescues 32 Royal Australian Air Force airmen from the island.
AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur assumes command of the Southwest Pacific Area. The staff of the new command is: Australian General Thomas Blamey, Commander of Allied Land Forces; USAAF Lieutenant General George H Brett, Commander of Allied Air Forces; USN Vice Admiral Herbert F Leary, Commander of Allied Naval Forces; US Army Lieutenant General Jonathan M Wainwright, Commander of Forces in the Philippines; and US Army Major General Julian F Barnes, Commander of US Army Forces in Australia. The Allied Air Forces had command all USAAF tactical and associated service units in Australia, and operational control, except for training, of the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force. In reality General MacArthur kept Blamey from having control over United States land forces in the Pacific during World War II.
BURMA: Two American Volunteer Group P-40s down a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft over Loiwing at 1300 hours local. In eastern Burma, a Chinese division collapses and opens the way for a Japanese drive toward Lashio, the eastern terminus of the Burma Road.
(SWPA, 5th Air Force): 5th Air Force units come under control of the Allied Air Forces (SWPA) which is created in Australia to control AAF, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Dutch elements. HQ 19th Bombardment Group transfers from Melbourne to Garbutt Field.
SOLOMONS: RAAF - Hudsons attack Simpson Harbor. Sunk is Komaki Maru.
U.S.: Due to the fear of a Japanese attack, west coast military leaders ask baseball's Pacific Coast League teams to limit crowds to
3,000 fans.