Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command heavy bombers attack the Gasmata airfield on New Britain and shipping off New Britain.

Air Operations, CBI

51st Fighter Group P-40s destroy part of a bridge near Pinbaw.

Air Operations, Europe

• 60 Venturas are sent to Dunkirk where 33 planes drop their bombs. There are no losses. 20 Mosquitos are sent to attack a naval stores depot at Rennes, France. 17 aircraft bomb and ammo dump is seen exploding.
• 3 Mosquitos are lost including 2 that collide.

Remarkable picture of a Mosquito making its attack on the naval depot at Rennes.

A Mosquito over Rennes

• Cologne is the target of 427 aircraft including 145 Lancasters, 126 Wellingtons, 106 Halifaxes, 46 Stirlings and 4 Mosquitos.
• Most of the bombs fall to the southwest of the city.
• 4 Wellingtons, 3 Lancasters, 2 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling are lost.

• 2 Mosquitos are sent to Aachen, 21 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians and there are 4 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack the airfield at Wewak Airdrome and shipping off Wewak.
• 1 B-17 attacks Lae and Salamaua and V Bomber Command A-20s attack Japanese Army-occupied villages.

Burma

The 'nuisance raids' of the Chindits, under Gen Wingate, continue. Ships of the Indian navy sink a lighter loaded with Japanese soldiers and damage another north of the mouth of the Ramree River.

Eastern Front

There is heavy fighting on the Lovat as the 1st Shock Army tries to close off the much reduced German Demyansk salient.

Central Front, newly committed to this sector, throws its 65th and 2nd Tank Armies into an attack toward Bryansk but is held up by the German 2nd Army.

Heavy fightin erupts at Lozovaya as SS Totenkopf and SS Das Reich attack the town. The 6th Panzer advances east to cut off the Soviet line of retreat. At Barvenkovo the XL Panzer Corps fights its way into the city despite ferocious resistance.

English Channel

German MTBs attack a convoy in Lyme Bay off southern England.

North Africa

In Operation OCHSENKOPF (OXHEAD) units from 10th and 21st Pzr Divs under von Arnim's command attack the British positions at Medjez el Bab in an attempt to encircle them. Progress by the Germans is made around El Aroussa. Beja and Medjez el Bab are also threatened. This comes to nothing but prevents Rommel from concentrating as quickly as he wishes for an attack on 8th Army before the Mareth line. At this stage Montgomery only has 2 divs forward because his supply organization has not yet been completed. Montgomery knows that he is vulnerable and has only advanced so far as a diversionary move to help with the Kasserine operations.

In the British 1st Army's V Corps area, the German 5th Panzer Army, under von Arnim, opens an offensive on a broad front, threatening Bédja and Medjez el Bab. On the northern flank, the attacks west of Jefna are contained. The British outpost at Sidi Nsir, on the road from Mateur to Bédja, is overwhelmed after a vigorous battle that gains time for the 46th Div to concentrate for the defense of the pass to Bédja. The attack on Medjez itself is repulsed, but in the region to the south the Germans make a deep penetration that is contained north of El Aroussa. The 38th Brigade contains the attack north of Bou Arada, but is in an exposed position because of the enemy's success to the north. Gen K. A. N. Anderson, in order to strengthen the defenses in the Goubellat-Bou Arada region, forms a provisional division called Y, from the 38th Brigade and the 1st Parachute Brigade. In the US II Corps area, the 16th Regimental Combat Team reverts to the 1st Div, which assumes responsibility for Kasserine Pass and for maintaining contact with the 34th Div, which comes under II Corps command. The 1st Armored Div is assembling as a reserve south of Tébessa.

In the British 8th Army area, Gen Montgomery sets 20 March as D-Day for the attack on the Mareth Line, Operation PUGILIST. He expects to have sufficient troops and supplies in a forward area by 4 March. Because of enemy movements, Gen Alexander warns Gen Montgomery that the enemy will attack as soon as possible.

American combat engineers search for mines at the Kasserine train station, February 26, 1943

Searching for Mines