The Imperial Russian Navy, down to four ships following the Russo Japanese War, began a program of rebuilding, laying down keels for four dreadnoughts.
The Wright Brothers returned to Ft. Myer, Virginian, with an improved Wright Military Flyer. The prior version had killed Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge.
Last prior edition:
Notre Dame students clashed with Ku Klux Klan members arriving in South Bend.
Three U.S. Army airplanes flew from Attu to Paramashiru in the Kurils, the longest and most dangerous leg of their transglobal flight.
The route allowed the effort to avoid Soviet airspace. The US had not yet recognized the USSR.
Attu has been discussed here several times before, Paramushir (Russian: Парамушир, Japanese: 幌筵島, Ainu: パラムシㇼ) has not. It is a volcanic island in the northern portion of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The Kurils have been mentioned on this blog only once previously.
The wounded German beast must be pursued and finished off in its lair.
Stalin, May 1, 1944.
The RAF hit Romania for the first time. On the same day, the Soviet Air Forces hit Galatz.
A large air raid was staged on Hollandia, Indonesia. The mission was successful with no losses, but the aircraft ran into a severe weather front on the return and 46 of the 170 aircraft in the raid went down. The day acquired the name "Black Sunday" as a result.
The attacking force was made up of B-24s, B-25s and A-20s, escorted by P-38s
The US 15th Air Force sent 500 sorties to Bucharest and Ploesti. The war had reached the point where the Western Allies air attacks were now directly assisting the Soviet offensive in the east.
