Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount individual attacks against Gasmata.

Air Operations, East Indies

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount individual attacks against Saumlakki in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

• The target is Essen for 442 aircraft - 157 Lancasters, 131 Wellingtons, 94 Halifaxes, 52 Stirlings and 8 Mosquitos.
• 56 aircraft turn back early due to technical defects and other causes. 3 of those are Oboe Mosquito marker aircraft. The 5 Mosquitos that do reach the target open the attack on time and mark the center of Essen perfectly. The Pathfinder backers-up do the same. The marking is blind because of haze which usually leads to incorrect marking. The Main Force bombs in 3 waves. Halifaxes are in the first wave, Wellingtons and Stirlings in the second, and Lancasters in the third. Two-thirds of the bomb tonnage is incendiary, the high-explosive bombs are fused for long delay. 362 aircraft claim to have bombed the target area during the 40-minute raid. Reconnaisance photographs show 160 acres of destruction with 53 buildings within the Krupps works receiving damage. Small numbers of bombs fall in 6 other Ruhr cities. This is also the first attack of Air Marshal Harris' Battle of the Ruhr, and from now until July 23, 1943 when the battle ends there will be 43 major attacks mounted by Bomber Command in which 1,000 aircraft will be lost.
• 4 Lancasters, 4 Wellingtons, 3 Halifaxes and 3 Stirlings are lost.

A view of part of the sprawling Krupps industrial complex at Essen.

Krupps Industrial Complex at Essen

Another part of the site, including severe damage to the railway lines.

Krupps Industrial Complex at Essen

More damage at Krupps'

Fires can be seen burning in the city of Essen during the attack of the 5/6 March.

Fires Burning in Essen

• 7 aircraft of No. 4 Group lay mines in the Frisians without a loss.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack the Malahang airfield at Lae.
• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount individual attacks against Alexishafen and Lae.
• 49th Fighter Group P-38s down 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near the Malahang airfield at Lae at 0840 hours, and 2 A6M Zeros, also over the Malahang airfield, at 0920 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-130 sinks 4 ships from Convoy XK-1.
• U-255 attacks the Loch Ewe, Scotland bound Convoy RA-53 torpedoing the US freighters Executive (4978t) and Richard Bland. The former is abandoned with the loss of 4 crewmen and 1 Armed Guard sailor. Her survivors are rescued by the British trawlers St. Elstan and Northern Pride. Executive is then scuttled. The Richard Bland, which was hit by a dud torpedo without serious damage, continues with the convoy.

Eastern Front

In the central-northern sector of the front the Russians attack towards Staraya Russa. Hoth's 4th Pzr Army inflicts heavy casualties on three Russian Corps west of Izyum, but cannot continue its attack because the Donets is blocked by floating ice which prevents bridging operations. German armor of von Manstein's Army Group South advances in the face of strong resistance in the direction of Kharkov and Belgorod

In a speech at Kiev the Nazi Commissioner for the Ukraine, Erich Koch, says: 'We belong to the superior race, and we must govern with firmness and justice. . . I shall exploit these lands to the absolute limit. I have not come here to make people happy. . . The population will have to work, and work, and go on working. . . We are a superior race, and we must remember that, on the racial and biological plane, the least of the German workers is worth more than any one of the population of these lands.'

The 4th Panzer Army unleashes a furious attack that destroys further remnants of the 3rd Tank Army near Krasnograd. Units of the XLVIII Panzer Corps attack at Taranovka while the SS pushes the tank army cavalry back. The 3rd Tank Army has lost more than 12,000 killed and over 60 tanks, 200 arty pieces and 600 motor vehicles during its bloody battle with the German panzer corps.

As the thaw draws ever closer the Germans rush to redeploy to continue their drive upon Kharkov. Gen Kempf concentrates his forces west of Krasnograd, deploying the 3 infantry divisions of Corps Raus along the Psel south of Valki, and placing the refreshed Grossdeutschland Division at Chudovo. Grossdeutschland is to prise apart the remnants of the 3rd Tank and 69th Armies while the infantry hit 40th Army at Akhtyrka. The newly reconstituted VII Corps, on the southern wing of the 2nd Army, will also push along the Psel River with its 3 infantry divisions.

Finland, Home Front

A coalition government is formed.

North Africa

In the British 1st Army's V Corps area, the 1st Parachute Brigade, upon being relieved by the 26th Regimental Combat Team, 1st Div, moves north to strengthen units of the 46th Div in the Tamera area, where an enemy threat is still serious. The US II Corps continues to patrol aggressively. A reconnaissance force of the 34th Div enters Pichon, from which the Germans have withdrawn, but later withdraws because of enemy forces on the hills to the north and south.