The Doolittle Raid: American B-25 Mitchell bombers, loaded on American warship Hornet, leave Alameda, California. The top-secret plan in to attack the Japanese capital of Tokyo.

The Pacific War Council was formed in Washington DC

Burma Campaign: Japanese forces attack Prome

Łachwa Ghetto in German-occupied Poland was created.

The Battle of Suursaari ends in Finnish victory.

Burma Campaign: British forces retreat from Prome.

Burma Campaign: The Burmese capital of Mandalay suffered a devastating air raid when the Japanese dropped incendiary bombs that created a firestorm killing about 2,000 civilians.

German Luftwaffe carried out Operation Eisstoß (Ice Assault) intending to smash the Soviet fleet at Kronstadt, which was well-protected by anti-aircraft guns. 62 Stukas, 70 bombers and 50 Bf 109s

Japanese forces completed the invasion of Buka and Bougainville.

Adolf Hitler issued Directive No. 41, pertaining to the summer offensive on the Eastern Front codenamed Case Blue. The plan is to push towards Voronezh, Rostov, Stalingrad, Kuban and the Caucasus

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 240+ aircraft attack on Cologne, Germany.

European Light-Heavyweight Boxing Title Luigi Musina (Italy) beat Richard Vogt (Germany) Pts 15, Deutschlandhalle, Berlin.

Football International: Italy 4-0 Croatia, Stadio Comunale, Genoa

Indian Ocean Raid by powerful Japanese naval forces. Carrier-based aircraft carried out an air raid on Colombo, Ceylon.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 150+ aircraft attack on Essen, Germany. The main targets being the Krupp works

A devastating air raid was conducted against the Maltese capital of Valletta. The Royal Opera House, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, took a direct hit and was reduced to rubble.

Japanese forces landed on Lorengau in the Admiralty Islands.

The floating drydock Dewey was scuttled at Mariveles, Bataan to prevent capture by the Japanese. She would later be raised by the Japanese but sunk by Allied forces later.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 270+ aircraft attack on Hamburg, Germany. The main targets being the Vulkan Shipyard

The Battle of Bataan ended in Japanese victory. The Bataan Death March began in which 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war were forcibly marched 97 miles to Camp O'Donnell.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 250+ aircraft attack on Essen, Germany. The first use of the 8,000 Ib bomb

Burma Campaign: The Battle of Yenangyaung began in Burma. Japanese forces push into central Burma & the Burmese oilfields

Football International:Croatia 6-0 Bulgaria, Stadion Concordije, Zagreb

Burma Campaign: Japanese forces in Burma captured the town of Myanaung.

The first units of the Hungarian 2nd Army left for the Eastern Front.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 250+ aircraft attack on Essen, Germany. The main targets being the Krupp works

Football International: Germany 1-1 Spain, Olympiastadion, Berlin

Iran breaks off diplomatic relations with Japan.

The Imber friendly fire incident occurred at Imber, England when a Royal Air Force fighter aircraft taking part in a firepower demonstration accidentally opened fire on a crowd of spectators, killing 25 and wounding 71.

The Federal Communications Commission reduced the minimum required programming time of U.S. television stations from 15 hours a week down to 4 for the duration of the war.

Under German pressure, Philippe Pétain reinstated Pierre Laval as Vice Premier of Vichy France.

On Budget Day in the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Exchequer Kingsley Wood announced that Britain's war expenditures for the year ended March 31 totalled £4 billion, exceeding the estimate by £285 million. Wood projected expenditure for 1942–43 at £5.286 billion and raised taxes on non-essential goods and services such as alcohol, tobacco, cinema admissions and cosmetics.

The Father Charles Coughlin-founded periodical Social Justice was banned from the U.S. mails on charges of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 by attacking the American war effort.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 140+ aircraft attack on Dortmund, Germany.

The Riom Trial, the trial of former leaders of the French Third Republic holding them responsible for the defeat of France in 1940, is adjourned sine die because the defendants were presenting their cases too well and increasingly discrediting the Vichy regime.

Burma Campaign: The Japanese forces captured Thawatti on the road to Mandalay.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 150+ aircraft attack on Dortmund, Germany.

Award of the George Cross to Malta: King George VI awarded the George Cross to the island of Malta.

Japanese forces invade the Philippine island of Panay.

Burma Campaign: Japanese forces in Burma reach Yenangyaung. In response, the main oilfields in Burma are destroyed by British forces to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 170+ aircraft attack on Hamburg, Germany.

Allied Bomber Offensive: The Augsburg Raid. Experimental day-time British air raid, 12 new Lancaster bombers attacking Augsburg, Germany. Main target MAN factory. 7 Lancasters lost, RAF decide day time raids are too dangerous at present

The Doolittle Raid was conducted by American B-25 Mitchell bombers launched from the American warship Hornet, to attack the Japanese capital of Tokyo. Although little damage was done it provided an important boost to American morale.

Wartime Football International: Scotland 5-4 England, Hampden Park, Glasgow

Football International:Italy 4-0 Spain, San Siro, Milan

Operation Trio: The German and Italian forces began a joint counter-insurgency operation in the Independent State of Croatia.

Operation Calendar: The successful delivery of 48 Supermarine Spitfire aircraft to Malta. However, the planes were almost immediately destroyed on the ground.

Burma Campaign: The Japanese forces capture Kyidaunggan on the road to Mandalay.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Experimental night-time British air raid, 60+ aircraft attack on Rostock, Germany. Experiment raid using only radio guidance system 'Gee'. Judged partly successful

South Africa broke off diplomatic relations with Vichy France.

Baedeker Blitz: Heavy German Luftwaffe air raid on Exeter. On St George's Day, the patron Saint of England, targetting the Catherdal plus other cultural and historic targets. This is the first of what became known as the Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, including detailed maps, which were used to select targets for bombing. Most targets missed

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 160+ aircraft attack on Rostock, Germany. The main targets were the Heinkel aircraft factory. Factory not hit

Baedeker Blitz: Heavy German Luftwaffe air raid on Exeter. Targetting the Catherdal plus other cultural and historic targets. Some damage reported

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 120+ aircraft attack on Rostock, Germany. The main targets were the Heinkel aircraft factory. Factory missed again

Baedeker Blitz: Heavy German Luftwaffe air raid on Bath, England. Some serious damage reported

American forces arrive in New Caledonia to assist in the defence of the archipelago.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 120+ aircraft attack on Rostock, Germany. The main targets were the Heinkel aircraft factory damaged.

The German Reichstag convened for what would be its final session. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler gave a long speech asking for total legislative and judicial power that would give him the right to promote or punish anyone with no regard to legal procedures. The Reichstag agreed and Hitler was given absolute power of life and death. This site now called the Bundestag would see its next legislative session until the 19th of April 1999.

Baedeker Blitz: Heavy German Luftwaffe air raid on Bath, England. Some serious damage reported 400 dead

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 100+ aircraft attack on Rostock, Germany. The main targets were the Heinkel aircraft factory. Parts of the city were destroyed. German radio reports raid using the expression 'TerrorAngriff' ('terror raid') for the first time. The German Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels remarks in his diary that 'community life in Rostock is practically at an end.

A gas and coal dust explosion at Benxihu Colliery in Manchukuo, China killed as many as 1,549 workers.

A plebiscite on conscription was held in Canada. 65.53% voted in favour of conscription, with Quebec being the only province to have a majority voting against.

Baedeker Blitz: Heavy German Luftwaffe air raid on Norwich. Some serious damage to the city reported 67 dead

The Japanese forces in China captured Lungyu

All Jews in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands were ordered to wear the yellow badge Star of David.

President Roosevelt gave a fireside chat on economic policy and sacrifice.

Baedeker Blitz: Heavy German Luftwaffe air raid on York. Historic York Guildhall destroyed by fire

The Japanese forces in China captured Quinlan

A fifteen-mile strip of the Atlantic coast around New York began conducting nightly blackouts to counter German U-boat activity in the region.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 90+ aircraft attack on Cologne, Germany. Damage to many buildings reported

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 90+ aircraft attack on Kiel, Germany. All three of the cities' shipyards damaged

Allied Bomber Offensive: Night-time British air raid, 40+ aircraft attack on Trondheim, Norway. The main target was the German warship, Tirpitz. No hits achieved

A Gallup poll indicated that Americans preferred the term World War II for the present conflict. The British prefer calling it the Second World War

German Chancellor Adolf Hitler meets with Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini at Salzburg for a conference on Axis war strategy. Mussolini agrees to send more Italian troops to the Eastern Front. The problem of what to do about Malta was also discussed, and plans for an invasion that would be codenamed Operation Herkules took shape.

Burma Campaign: The Japanese forces capture Lashio, cutting communications between Mandalay and China.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 240+ aircraft attack on Gennevilliers, Port of Paris, France, situated on the River Seine.

An ammonium nitrate explosion at a chemical plant in Tessenderlo, Belgium killed 189 people

A general election was held in Japan. Won by The Imperial Army endorsing rule by the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, winning 381 out of 466 seats. Confirming General Hideki Tojo as Japanese Prime Minister

The Lyuban Offensive Operation ends in German victory. Soviet forces had aimed to break the Siege of Leningrad

The "Hollywood Victory Caravan", consisting of many of Hollywood's best-known entertainers, visited Washington for a gala reception on the White House lawn the day before their first show of a 30-city tour promoting the sale of war bonds. Among the many celebrities taking part were Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Cary Grant, Desi Arnaz, Groucho Marx, Laurel and Hardy, Charles Boyer, Charlotte Greenwood, Claudette Colbert, Olivia de Havilland, Spencer Tracy and Betty Grable.

Dzyatlava massacre: About 1,000 to 1,200 Jews were murdered by German SS Order Police, Lithuanian and Belarusian Auxilliary Police in the Kurpiesze forest near Dzyatlava, in German-occupied Poland.