Air Operations, Bismarcks

• Despite bad weather that causes numerous aborts, 2 of 5 ships evacuating irreplaceable Japanese aircraft-maintenance crews and other key aviation personnel from Rabaul are sunk with great loss of life off New Ireland by 16 38th and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s. AirSols bombers later sink a rescue tug carrying most of the survivors of the earlier sinking.
• 15 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Rabaul's Lakunai airfield. 4 B-24s attack the Rapopo airfield at Rabaul. AirSols TBFs and SBDs attack antiaircraft batteries at Rabaul's Lakunai airfield.
• 50 V Bomber Command B-24s attack coastal targets at Talasea and Iboki plantations in western New Britain. Several B-24s attack shipping off New Hanover.V Fighter Command P-39s attack Japanese Army ground troops.

Air Operations, Carolines

VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Kusaie and Ponape islands.

Air Operations, CBI

• 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s, escorted by RAF fighters, attack a road tunnel between Maungdaw and Buthidaung. Several B-25s and more than 50 10th Air Force P-51s and A-36s attack a Japanese Army headquarters, military camps, and dumps throughout Burma.

Air Operations, Europe

• 17 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg, Stuttgart and 2 flying-bomb sites, there is 1 Serrate patrol, 41 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians and off French ports, and there are 10 OTU sorties.
• 1 mine-laying Stirling is lost.

Air Operations, Marianas

During the night, an esimated 35 G4M 'Betty' torpedo bombers mount numerous individual attacks in a futile attempt to thwart the advance of Task Force 58 upon targets in the Marianas. Faulty direction equipment prevents US Navy night fighters from taking part in the action, but antiaircraft fire and skillful maneuvering prevent any torpedo hits.

Air Operations, Marshalls

• Task Group 58.4 and Task Group 53.6 carrier aircraft attack targets throughout the Eniwetok Atoll. VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Jaluit Atoll. 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Maloelap Atoll. 15th Fighter Group P-40 fighter-bombers attack the Mille Atoll. Fleet Carrier Air Group 10 light bombers and fighters attack the Jaluit Atoll.
• VF-39, in F6Fs, and the VMSB-231 flight echelon, in SBDs, are delivered to the Majuro Atoll by US escort carriers. Both units will participate in neutralizing bypassed Japanese bases.

Air Operations, New Guinea

Nearly 30 V Bomber Command A-20s attack targets in the Madang and Hansa Bay areas.

Burma

The 5th Indian Div clears the Japanese from commanding heights in the Arakan.

Diplomatic Relations

A US note to Eire requests the expulsion of Axis diplomats who were charged with engaging in espionage activities. An Irish rejection is published on March 10.

Eastern Front

The Soviets in the norther sector take Soltsy, southwest of Shimsk, and Kholm, 60 miles farther south. In the Ukraine the Soviet advances around Krivoy Rog proceed apace. The area is being defended, like Nikopol, to the bitter end by the Germans because of the vital manganese and iron deposits.

The 8th Guards and 37th Armies fight their way into Krivoi Rog. The Germans have been severely weakened by constant fighting and are close to collapse.

Italy

Gen Bernard Freyberg issues a new plan of attack against Cassino.

Japan, Politics

Prime Minister Gen Tojo takes on the office of Chief of the Army General Staff in place of Field Marshal Hajime Sugiyama. The navy minister, Adm Shigetaro Shimada also takes on an additional office, replacing Adm Osami Nagano as Chief of Staff.

Marshall Islands

Japanese resistance ceases on Eniwetok Island. Artillery units are landed on Jajotan Island, which has been cleared of the enemy, and fire directed on to Parry Island from there. The pre-invasion bombardment of Parry Island begins.

New Guinea

The 5th Marine Regt advances along the north coast of the island from Natamo towards the Iboki Plantation. A battalion fo the same regiment carries out an amphibious operation to take Karaiai, near Cape Raoult, where there is a Japanese supply depot.

Images from February 21, 1944

Men of the 2/7th Middlesex Regiment Carry Out Maintenance on a Vickers Machine Gun at Anzio, 21 February 1944

Luftwaffe Ace Major Heinrich Bär on 21 February 1944 Inspecting his 184th Aerial Victory 'Miss Ouachita', a Boeing B-17F of 91st Bomb Group

Italian Prince Umberto Speaks with Italian Soldiers in Castelnuovo, Italy, 21 February 1944

Troopers of The Ontario Regiment Moving Forward, Atessa, Italy, 21 February 1944

US Artillerymen Protect Their Ears as a 155mm ‘Long Tom’ Gun Fires from a Dugout during Fierce Fighting Resulting from German Counterattacks