Battle of the Atlantic

The British anti-submarine trawler Gulfoss (730t) sinks on a mine in the English Channel with the loss of 10 of her crew.

The Blitz

There is a heavy night bombing raid on Portsmouth. 100 tons of bombs and 16,000 incendiaries are dropped on London by planes of Luftflotte III. The northeastern districts of the city suffer the most. At St Pancras, the church and hospital are both hit.

German Raiders

The Greek steamer Marathon (7296t) is sunk by the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst north of the Cape Verde Islands. The entire crew are made prisoners.

Greek-Albanian Front

In Mussolini's presence the Italians launch an offensive along the front between the Devoli and Vijose Rivers which will last until March 25. There are a few local successes initially in the area of Mali Arzs and Mount Trebescini, southeast of Berat.. The Italians have assembled 12 divisions for the attack and Mussolini himself has crossed to Albania to supervise its progress.

Mussolini participated in the planning, and supervises the new Italian offensive. He is surrounded by attentive staff officers including Gen. Alessandro Pirzio Biroli at Mussolini's right shoulder, second-in-command of the 9ª Armata (9th Army under Gen. Mario Vercellino).

Mussolini Supervises Italian Offensive

There is little subtlety in the tactical plan and much that is reminiscent of World War I. The Greek intelligence of the direction of the attack is good and their defenses well prepared. All attacks are repelled by the Greeks and they inflict heavy casualties on the Giulia Div, but are weakened themselves.

Mediterranean

The British submarine Utmost sinks the Italian steamer Capo Vita (5683t) in the Gulf of Hammanet.