Air Operations, CBI

• 4 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the dock area at Bassein.
• 12 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge and antiaircraft emplacements at Myitnge.
• P-40s attack Pebu and Wan-hat.

Air Operations, East Indies

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

Air Operations, Europe

• 16 Mosquitos are sent to bomb railway centers at Tergnier and Aulnoye in France and at Lingen in Germany. All targets are hit with 1 Mosquito being lost.

Post-attack picture of the damage caused by the Mosquito raid at Aulnoye.

Damage at Aulnoye

• 335 aircraft are sent to Nuremberg. Included in the total are 170 Lancasters, 103 Halifaxes and 62 Stirlings.
• This distant raid is to be marked by a combination of H² and visual means. There is no moon or clouds, but haze prevents an accurate marking of the target area. The result is that the marking and bombing is spread over more than 10 miles along the line of attack. More than half the bombs fall outside the city boundaries.
• 4 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters are lost.

Despite the widespread nature of the bombing, some damage was caused to industrial sites in and around Nuremberg.

Damage at Nuremberg

This Was the Scene at the Siemens Factory

• 4 Mosquitos are sent to the Ruhr and 16 Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount individual attacks against Babo and Japanese Army-occupied areas in northwestern New Guinea.
• A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber and a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter off Oro Bay at 1345 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Over the next 2 days U-510 torpedoes 8(9?) ships of Convoy BT-6 off French Guiana.
• Naval land-based aircraft (VP-53) sink the German submarine U-156 in the West Indies area.

March 8, 1943 U-156 died by the attack of the aircraft from the United States Navy (“Catalina”), to the east of the island of Barbados. The whole crew of 53 died.

U-156 Destroyed by US Navy Aircraft

China

Japanese forces cross the Yangtze between Ichang and Yoyang. This is one of many 'rice offensives' which are carried out in the course of the year, raids aimed at securing food supplies which are as essential to the occupying troops as they are to Chiang Kai-shek's army.

Diplomatic Relations

Adm William Standley, the US Ambassador in Moscow, embarrasses the Soviet Government by denouncing the secrecy surrounding the delivery of US Lend-Lease supplies. He says, 'It is not fair to mislead Americans into giving millions from their pockets, thinking that they are aiding the Russian people, without the Russian people knowing it.'

Eastern Front

The Soviets take Sychevka on the central sector between Rzhev and Vyazma and bring pressure to bear on von Kluge's. forces in the Smolensk area.

Contemporary Soviet image of a woman and two girls looking at their destroyed house in the Rzhev area.

Family Looking at Destroyed Home

Sychevka falls to the 20th Army as XXXIX Panzer Corps withdraws.

Remnants of the 3rd Tank Army abandon Taranovka and attempt to flee as the XLVIII Panzer Corps pursue them toward Merefa. The SS Panzer Corps continues its attacks, closing upn Lyubotin while also pushing north of the town. SS units also advance north from Valki to cut the Bogodukhov-Kharkov railway line.

Germany, Strategy

The Germans change their Enigma machine halting intelligence about U-boat movements.

Mediterranean

HMS Lightning is sunk by the German MTB S-55.

North Africa

British 1st Army forces fall back near Tamera.

The 18th Army Group takes command of the US II Corps, but the French XIX Corps stays attached to the British 1st Army. The II Corps continues planning for an offensive in mid-Match. Forward elements of the Southeast Algerian Command occupy Tozeur.

In the British 1st Army area, the V Corps continues to withstand pressure against its northern flank in the Tamera area.