Air Operations, Europe
The Germans drop a few bombs over the Isle of Wight and Dorset and claim to have 'blown up an ammunition dump near Portsmouth'. There is also a night raid on Moscow.
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]Barents Sea
The German steamer Argus, with a supply of munitions, is lost in an explosion of her cargo at Hamnbukt, Norway.
[ | ]Battle of the Atlantic
- The unarmed US freighter Collamer, straggling from convoy HX-178, is torpedoed and sunk by U-404 off the coast of Nova Scotia. The British freighter Empire Woodcock rescues the 24 survivors from the crew of 31.
- U-126 torpedoes and sinks the unarmed US freighter Mariana east of Nassau, Bahamas. There are no survivors from the 36-man crew.
| ]Britain, Home Front
Conscription extends to men aged 41-45 and woment between 20 and 30.
[ | ]Britain, Command
Gen Sir Alan Brooke replaces Adm Sir Dudley Pound as Chairman of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee. Brooke works well with Churchill and his all-around qualities are an improvement on Pound's more strictly maritime viewpoint.
[ | ] Racial Prejudice Against the Japanese |
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Burma
Gen Sir Harold Alexander arrives in Rangoon to take command of the troops in Burma. He replaces Gen Thomas Hutton. Martial law is declared in southern Burma. He orders an immediate counter-offensive to close the gap between the 1st Burma and the 17th Indian Divisions. The Japanese attack Pegu from the west and succeed in entering the town.
[ | ]Dutch East Indies
Fighting contiues in Java. The Dutch announce that Batavia has been evacuated and Batavia becomes an 'open city'.
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Eastern Front
In the central sector the Soviets recapture Yukhnov, an important rail center northwest of Kaluga and east of Smolensk.
CENTRAL SECTOR
The West Front captures Yukhnow after a bitter struggle.
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On March 5 Soviet forces under General Golubov recaptured Yukhnov, 125 miles east of Smolensk, an important rail center and supply base for the German armies on the Central Front. The town, which was protected by a formidable double row of fortifications, fell after a fierce struggle lasting several days, during which Soviet troops fought their way through the battered streets and engaged in house-to-house fighting.
[ | ]Mediterranean
The British submarine P-31 sinks the Italian steamer Marin Sanudo (5081t) about 10 miles southeast of Lampedusa.
[ | ]New Britain
A Japanese invasion convoy sails from Rabaul heading for the Gulf of Huon in New Guinea.
[ | ]North Africa
Air and naval installations at Benghazi are again hit by RAF aircraft.
[ | ]Soviet Union, Home Front
At Kuibyshev, Shostakovich's 7th, or 'Leningrad', Symphony is performed for the first time.
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Yugoslavia
Patriot forces under Gen Mihailovic rout Italian troops at Nikshich in Montenegro.
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