Air Operations, Europe

During the night 109 RAF bombers attack Gneisenau and Scharnhorst in the first of 63 raids, labeled the 'Blockade of Brest', on the battlecruisers by bombers and torpedo planes during 1941. No damage is reported.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-69 sinks the British steamer Coultarn (3759t) from Convoy OB-302 southwest of Iceland with the loss of 3 of her crew. 39 survivors are picked up by the British armed marchant cruiser California.
• U-124 sinks the British steamer Umona (3767t) 90 miles southwest of Freetown. 102 passengers and crew are lost. 5 survivors are picked up by the British destroyer Foxhound.

Germany, Planning

Hitler approves the army plans for the attack on Yugoslavia, to begin on April 6. Hitler also speaks to a conference of 250 top commanders who will have important parts in the Barbarossa operation. He makes it plain to them that the war in the east is to be conducted along different lines to any previous operation. There is to be no talk of proper 'knightly' behavior and commissars and Communists are to be treated with utmost severity.

Mediterranean

• Late in the afternoon Adm Cunningham's British forces reach the Alexandria harbor where a religious service is held to celebrate the success at Cape Matapan, a battle in which the British lost only 2 aircraft.
• The British submarine Rorqual sinks the German steamer Laura Corrado (3645t) 40 miles north of Trapani.

North Africa

Correctly discerning that the British forces are weakly dispersed in positions which prevent mutual support, Rommel brings his forces forward from El Agheila toward Mersa Brega. Only part of the 2nd Arm Div is ready to oppose him. The bulk of the Australian Div is near Benghazi and the remainder is back at Tobruk.

Secret War

Churchill learns that, following the Yugoslav signature of the Axis Pact, 3 Panzer divisions have been railed from Rumania to southern Poland - indicating firm intention to invade the USSR - then returned to the Balkans after the Yugoslav revolution - indicating punitive expedition against Belgrade.

United States, Policy

The US takes German, Italian and Danish ships, a total of 65 in all, into 'protective custody', effectively confiscating them. 3 other countries of the American continent decide on the same policy: Mexico, Costa Rica and Venezuela.