Arctic

During the next few days, while the convoy PQ-12 is sailing to the USSR, the German battleship Tirpitz makes a sortie from Trondheim to try to attack it. The British Home Fleet with the carrier Victorious is out also and, although it is given accurate instructions from the Admiralty, there is no contact between the various forces. This is one instance when it has been correct for the Admiralty to 'interfere' in the conduct of operations in the way that will attract criticism concerning the PQ-17 operation.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-129 torpedoes and sinks the US freighter Steel Age about 130 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana and takes the lone survivor captive.

Burma

The 63rd Bde of the 17th Indian Div attempts to open the Rangoon-Pegu road, held by the Japanese, in order to relieve the garrison still cut off in Pegu. In view of the serious situation Alexander confirms the order for the evacuation of Rangoon.

Scorched Earth Policy in Rangoon

Smoke billows over Rangoon on March 6, 1942, as British forces prepare to abandon the city to the advancing Japanese. As Burma's capital and major port, Rangoon served as a major Allied supply point. Determined to leave nothing of value for the Japanese, the Allies evacuated the city and declared a general scorched-earth policy. Oil storage tanks, refineries, port installations, cars and trucks, stockpiles of tires, and even stocks of blankets and bed sheets were destroyed. The main power station was blown up on March 9 as the last defenders left. The Japanese entered the ravaged city the following day.

Dutch East Indies

Batavia is occupied by the Japanese.

Japanese Troops Storming a Beach in Dutch East Indies

Filmmaker Frank Capra

Maj Frank Capra sits at his War Department desk in Washington on March 6, 1942. Capra's non-War Department films include It's A Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. When America entered World War II, some of Hollywood's most celebrated directors enlisted and risked their lives. But they weren't fighting — they were filming combat. Through the 1930s, Hollywood and the federal government held a mutual suspicion of each other. But after Pearl Harbor, the War Department asked Hollywood directors to make short documentaries that could be presented in theaters before the featured films. The idea was to show Americans what was at stake, give them a glimpse of what our soldiers were going through and stir up patriotic feelings.