Admiralty Islands

The US 7th Cav moves into the northern half of Los Negros. Gen Swift takes personal command of the new phase. A third wave of 1,400 troops arrives with destroyers which also give fire support.

Air Operations, Carolines

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

Air Operations, CBI

• At the start of Operation THURSDAY—what will be a massive offensive in Burma—USAAF light cargo aircraft of the 10th Air Force’s provisional, composite No. 1 Air Commando (formerly the 5318th Air Unit) airlift a 2-brigade British Army deep-penetration force (known as 'Chindits’) to landing zones in central Burma, 50 miles east of Indaw and far behind Japanese Army lines. Following a combat jump by US Army engineers, who clear a landing ground known as Broadway, 32 of 67 troop and cargo gliders sent deliver 539 ground troops, 3 mules, and 65,972 pounds of cargo (including several bulldozers). The gliders that abort (because a second landing ground has been blocked by Japanese Army ground troops) all return safely to their bases. By nightfall, the first of 62 fully laden C-47s are able to land at a newly created runway at Broadway. And during the night, a second landing zone is used by a dozen troop-laden gliders.
• 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and 10th Air Force P-51s, P-40s, and A-36s mount more than 60 effective sorties throughout the day against Japanese Army ground troops, dumps, a bridge, and road targets around Myitkyina, Shingban, and Zigon.

• 8 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the airfield at Chiengmai.

Air Operations, Europe

• 9 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg and 1 to Aachen, there are 4 RCM sorties and 4 Serrate patrols, and 49 Stirlings and 17 Halifaxes are on Resistance operations.
• 1 Halifax is lost.

• 207 IX Bomber Command B-26s attack V-weapons sites around St.-Omer and Abbeville.
• 219 2nd Bomb Division B-24s are dispatched against three Luftwaffe airdromes in France, but cloud cover over the targets forces 164 to attack four other airdromes, and the rest abort.
• Escort for the B-24s is provided by 307 USAAF fighters. VIII Fighter Command escort pilots down 16 Luftwaffe aircraft over France between 1130 and 1305 hours.
• 5 USAAF fighters are lost with 4 pilots, 3 are lost in operational accidents with 1 pilot

• Most of the 12th Air Force is grounded by bad weather, but XII Air Support Command A-36s attack Formia, and P-40s attack Pontecorvo.

Air Operations, Marshalls

VMSB-231 SBDs attack antiaircraft defenses on the Jaluit Atoll. Atoll. From this day forward, VMSB-231 and VMSB-331 will mount alternating attacks almost daily attacks against Jaluit and other bypassed Marshall Islands s bases.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• Nearly 30 V Bomber Command B-24s attack Japanese Army defensive positions on Los Negros Island.
• As elements of the US 32nd Infantry Division land at Yaula, in northeastern New Guinea, about 30 miles from Saidor, V Bomber Command A-20s attack targets throughout the area. Also, V Fighter Command P-39s attack Erima and Madang.
• A V Fighter Command senior pilot downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over the airfield at Dagua at 1325 hours. 348th Fighter Group P-47s down 3 G3M 'Nell' bombers and 1 Ki-43 'Oscar' over Wewak at 1720 hours.

Arctic

Swordfish 'F' of 816 NAS sights U-366 12 miles from the outer screen of convoy RA-57. The aircraft climbs and maneuvers so as to attack the U-boat from 90 degrees. Rockets are fired from 1,200 feet and 3 hits are observed aft of the conning tower. The U-boat's bow rises up and sinks stern first.

U-366

CBI

In the northeast, the 66th Regiment of the Chinese 22nd Division surrounds and captures Maingkwan. On their left flank, the 2nd Battalion of Merrill's Marauders cross the Tanai River and takw Walaqbum, only about 60 miles from Myitkyina. The battle for Walawbum is ferocious, with troops of the Japanese 18th Division making suicidal bayonet charges, while US and Chinese troops often go without food for 24-hour periods. But losses among Allied soldiers are relatively light.

Adm Mountbatten asks for Chinese and American reinforcements for the Arakan sector, where he believes a big Japanese offensive is imminent.

In the British 14th Army area, Gen Wingate's Special Force of Long Range Penetration brigades (largely from the British 70th Division but called the Indian 3rd Division and popularly known as Chindits) begin dropping from air on Japanese lines of communications in central Burma. US engineer personnel drop first, followed by the 77th and 111th Brigades. No. 1 Air Commando, USAAF, under Col Philip G. Chochran, Chindits' own air force, flies Chindits in and drops them on an airstrip called Broadway, about 50 miles northeast of Indaw. Another projected dropping site, Piccadilly, some 20 miles south of Broadway, cannot be used since the enemy has blocked it.

In the Arakan the British XV Corps begins an offensive movement against the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road and towards the mouth of the Naaf River.

Eastern Front

The 1st Ukraine Front's attacks make rapid progress, fracturing von Manstein's attenuated lines. The object of the offensive is to destroy the German forces in the great southern bend of the Dniepr. Izyaslav, Yampol and Ostropol in the Shepetovka sector are all taken.

Rybalko's 3rd Guards Tank Army and Badanov's 4th Tank Army pass through the advancing 60th and 1st Guards Armies to break into the German rear. Yampol and Ostropol are quickly taken, leaving the LIX Corps scattered. Zbaraz falls to the 18th Army.

Koniev's 2nd Ukrainian Front begins its attack against the 8th Army and 1st Panzer Army. Before Uman a rain of arty fire hits the German line. After the bombardment the 5th Guards Army crashes into the right wing of the 8th Army. Once againe the weight of the Russian attack proves too great for the Germans, their forces collapsing after a bloody struggle. Koniev then commits the 2nd Tank and 5th Guards Tank Armies to the attack.

New Guinea

Two battalions of the US 126th Inf Regt from the 32nd Div with support units land without trouble at Yalau Plantation, 30 miles west of Saidor. There is almost no Japanese opposition. Australian forces converge on the north coast west of Saidor from inland. The Japanese avoid encirclement by withdrawing toward Madang.

Gen MacArthur, hoping to isolate the Japanese forces in New Guinea, presses on with plans for the invasion of Hollandia, New Guinea and of Kavieng, New Ireland.

Images from March 5, 1944

Equipped for a Patrol

A Member of No. 9 Commando

A Section Leader with No. 9 Commando

Italian Troops of the X MAS

Maintenance for a Pz.Abt. 508, Befehlstiger A2

Parked near the Mud

Boeing B-17G-5-BO 'Miss Billie, Jr'

Assault Gun and Heavy Tank at Nettuno