Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Gasmata airfield on New Britain.

Air Operations, CBI

• 17 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the viaduct at Gokteik in two waves and 7 B-25s attack rail facilities at Thazi.

• 51st Fighter Group P-40s strafe the phosphate mine at Lao Kay.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Venturas attack the Maasluis oil refinery but again fail to hit the targer. 12 other Venturas turn back from French targets.
• There are no losses.

• 357 aircraft are sent to St Nazaire. In the total are 189 Lancasters, 99 Halifaxes, 63 Stirlings and 6 Mosquitos.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 6 Wellingtons lay mines of Texel without a loss.
• Mosquito fighters shoot down 2 Ju-88s over the Bay of Biscay.

22 March 1943, the head of the column of 21 Fortresses of 91 BG before take off from Bassimbourg for the mission to Wilhelmshaven.

B-17 Heading for Wilhelmshaven

Air Operations, Mediterranean

There are more raids on Palermo, Sicily by American heavy bombers.

Heavy Bombers Hit an Ammo Ship at Palermo, 22 March 1943

Air Operations, New Guinea

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen, Lae, and Madang, and the harbor at Lorengau, Manus Island.

Air Operations, North Africa

Hurricanes smash a Panzer counterattack near the Mareth Line with their 40-mm AP cannons, while simultaneously driving off German fighters with their machine-gun fire.

Air Operations, Sicily

In the first bomber mission mounted against Sicily from Northwest Africa, 24 301st Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack port facilities at Palermo harbor with nearly 72 tons of bombs. 2 120-foot vessels are demolished, and major damage is caused to docking and warehouse facilities.

Air Operations, Solomons

347th Fighter Group P-38s attack the Japanese Navy seaplane base at Rekata Bay.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack road junctions, troop concentrations, and motor transport throughout the Gabes area.
• NATBF A-20s attack Mezzouna Airdrome. 52nd Fighter Group Spitfire escort pilots down 2 Ju-88s, 2 FW-190s, and 6 BF-109s over Mezzouna Airdrome about 1530 hours.
• 82nd Fighter Group P-38 pilots down 2 Italian Air Force Mc-202s and 9 Bf-109s north of Bizerte between 1345 and 1400 hours.
• A 79th Fighter Group P-40 pilot downs 1 Bf-109 near Mareth at 1610 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The B-24 Liberator 'Tidewater Tillie' of the 1st Squadron, 480th Group USAAF sights a broad wake five miles on the starboard beam. The aircraft decides to make a beam attack approaching out of the sun. 4 depth charges are dropped in a perfect straddle. The stern of U-524 is completely enveloped in the explosions and then sinks by the stern.

U-524

Class	Type IXC
CO	Kapitänleutnant Walter Freiherr von Steinaecker
Location	Atlantic, S of Madeira
Cause	Air attack
Casualties	52
Survivors	None

• Whitley 'V' of No 10 OTU flying in bad weather sights a surfaced U-boat at 1503. The aircraft drops 6 depth charges from about 100 ft. The rear gunner saw the depth charges explode, straddling the track of the submarine. The weather was so bad the results of the the attack could not be assesssed. It was in post-war analysis that it was determined U-665 was the victim of this attack.

U-665

Eastern Front

The Soviets capture Durovo(21st?) to the northeast of Smolensk.

March 22, 1943: Technical Sgt. R.W. Greenwood, a Marine, sits in the cockpit of a Grumman Wildcat fighter plane, based at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, that is credited with shooting down 19 Japanese aircraft, as illustrated by the number of Japanese flags on his plane. (AP Photo)

A Marine in the Cockpit of a Grumman Wildcat

North Africa

Although the British have managed to reinforce their bridgehead over Wadi Zigraou during the night, a counterattack by 15th Pzr causes heavy losses, effectively ending the attack there. At the Tebaga Gap 21st Pzr and 164th Light Div are more than enough to hold the New Zealanders. The British 50th Div is driven back from its bridgehead, and Montgomery changes his strategy and decides to attack from the south.

During the night a counteroffensive launched by the Italians leads to the recapture of the positions take by the Allies on the Mareth Line on a 1-1/4-mile-front.

In the US II Corps area, the 1st Armored Div finds Maknassy free of enemy troops and occupies it. They renew their attack during the night with Combat Command C on the north and the 60th Regimental Combat Team on the south, seize Djebels Dribica and Bou Douaou but is unable to clear the enemy from Djebel Naemia, which dominated the pass east of Maknassy. The 1st Div consolidates and improves its positions east to El Guettar, the 26th Infantry probing beyond Bou Hamran, on Gumtree road, and the 18th Occupying Djebel el Mcheltat and moving elements south across the El Guettar-Gabès road to Djebel El Kreroua and the eastern tip of Djebel Berda.

During the night a German armored division heads northwest up the Gabès-Gafsa road for a counterthrust toward Gafsa. The Southeast Algerian Command continues forward in conjunction with and to the south of the US II Corps and is in contact with the enemy at Djebel Bou Jerra, southwest of Djebel Berda.

In the British 8th Army area, the offensive is severely hampered by heavy rainfall. A determined enemy counterattack forces the 50th Div, XXX Corps, to give ground. Since the enemy has committed his reserves in the coastal sector and the fighting here is proving very costly, Gen Montgomery decides to switch the main weight of his attack to the western flank and conduct a holding action to the east. X Corps releases the 7th Armored Div to XXX Corps.

Pacific

• Two US submarines, the Grampus (SS-207) (see February 12, 1943) and the Amberjack (SS-219) (see February 14, 1943) are reported as presumed lost in the Pacific Ocean area.
• The US submarine Gudgeon (SS-211) attacks a Japanese convoy 30 miles north of Surabaya, Java, sinking the army cargo ship Meigen Maru (5434t) and survives the resultant depth-charging by escort vessels.

United States, Policy

10 US sub-chasers are transferred to the Cuban Navy.

Thrace, Greece - A woman and child board a deportation train to Auschwitz and Treblinka on March 22, 1943. At the time Greece was under Bulgarian rule.

Deportation Train in Thrace, Greece