Admiralty Islands

New American aircraft arrive at Momote airfield, Los Negros. Other aircraft begin a series of attacks against Manus Island, the biggest island in the archipelago, in preparation for the landing.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

In their ongoing campaign against Rabaul, AirSols light bombers drop, for the first time, new 500-pound incendiary cluster bombs that each dispense 128 bomblets. The new bomb is especially effective against supply dumps.

Air Operations, Carolines

In their first mission from the Engebi airfield on Eniwetok, 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Kusaie Island.

Air Operations, CBI

• 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack Kamaing and Mogaung in the morning, and 23 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack both targets again in the afternoon. Also, more than 40 10th Air Force P-38s, P-40s, and P-51s attack Japanese Army ground troops and dumps near Mogaung, artillery batteries at Walawbum, the airfield at Anisakan, rail facilities at Anisakan and Myitnge, and the town area at Laban.

• 6 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the port area at Kowloon. 14th Air Force P-40s and P-51s attack the airfield at Foochow, a bridge, factory, and barracks at Sienning, and a barracks at Nanchang.
• While attacking shipping and barges at Anking during a sweep along the Yangtze River, 2 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s, escorted by 8 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s, are attacked by 18 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters. No confirmed victories are credited from the melee.

• 14 Air Force P-51s and P-40s attack a barracks at Ha Coi and shipping at Campha and Hongay.

Air Operations, Europe

• 102 Lancasters of No. 5 Group carry out moonlight raids on 4 factories in France. 33 planes hit the Michelin works at Clermont-Ferrand, 30 to an aircraft factory at Châteauxroux, 26 to Ossun, and 16 to the La Ricamerie factory. All targets are bombed successfully.
• 1 Lancaster on the Clermont-Ferrand raid is lost.

• 29 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg and 93 aircraft are involved in Resistance operations without a loss.

Air Operations, New Guinea

11 V Bomber Command B-25s attack Lorengau and B-25s and RAAF P-40s attack targets of opportunity on Manus.

Air Operations, Solomons

40 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Japanese Army positions in the hills around Empress Augusta Bay, and AirSols light bombers and fighters mount 160 sorties against Japanese artillery and positions around the embattled Bougainville perimeter.

Allied Planning

The Allied Joint Chiefs of Staff determine the timetable for the Pacific: April 15, invasion of Hollandia, New Guinea; June 15, invasion of the Marianas; September 15, invasion of the Palau Islands; November 15, landing on Mindanao in the Philippines; February 15, 1945, invasion of Formosa.

Bougainville

The Japanese take an important feature on the perimeter of the Cape Torokina beachhead, Hill 260, and drive off repeated American counterattacks. Elsewhere on the perimeter the Americans manage to reduce, but not to eliminate, the salient that the Japanese have won in their line.

Burma

The Japanese attack the rear of 17th Div's positions at Tongzang. They also bomb the Chowringee landing strip in central Burma. This strip was build by the Chindits and valuable for supplying the columns operating in the enemy's rear. It is becoming clear to the British command that the Japanese offensive is under way.

Diplomatic Relations

Ireland refuses to oust Axis diplomats as requested by the US.

Eastern Front

The attacks of Ivan Konev's troops push forward up to 40 miles on a 100-mile front. Uman, southwest of Cherkassy and previously an important Luftwaffe base, is taken by the 2nd Ukraine Front. 1st Ukraine Front continues to advance north of Proskurov.

The 1st Guards Army is involved in heavy fighting around Tarnopol, the Germans counterattacking and forcing the Soviet units out of the town. However, the fortress remains under siege and comes under sustained arty fire. Other units of the 1st Ukrainian Front also puch toward Proskurov as the 1st Panzer Army falls back.

Uman falls to the 2nd Tank Army, while the 5th Guards Tank and 53rd Armies converge on the town to destroy significant elements of the 8th Army. The fighting on the road to Uman has cost the 8th Army some 200 tanks, 600 arty pieces and 12,000 motor vehicles. The 3rd Ukrainian Front crosses the Ingul River as it presses toward the Bug.

New Britain

(9th?)The American forces take Talasea without opposition.

Solomons

On Bougainville the Japanese gain Hill 260 but lose ground to American counterattacks in other areas.

Images from March 10, 1944

U-625 Under Attack by a Short Sunderland Mk III of No. 422 Squadron RCAF in the North Atlantic, 10 March 1944

U-625 (Type VIIC) sunk 10 March, 1944 west of Ireland, in position 52.35N, 20.19W, by depth charges from a Canadian Sunderland aircraft (RCAF Sqdn. 422/U). 53 dead (all hands lost).

U-625 (Type VIIC) Sunk West of Ireland

Aerial view of the Graphite Reactor, March 10, 1944, during the Manhattan Project. The Oak Ridge facility, a prototype for producing plutonium, was the world’s first continuously operated nuclear reactor. At the time, reactors were called atomic piles. (Department of Energy archives/Ed Westcott photo)

Graphite Reactor during the Manhattan Project

Mess personnel of the 71st Infantry Division have set up fires and heated all 'C' rations which were served to the men from a large pot at Hunter Leggitt Military Reservation in California on 10 March 1944

Mess Personnel of the 71st Infantry Division

With the Japanese firmly entrenched on the South Knob of Hill 260, several artillery pieces were hauled into the jungle and set up on nearby Hill 309. They blasted away point blank, pounding the Japanese at the base of the remains of the Observation Post in the banyan tree.

Artillery in the Jungle

A tall banyan tree on top of Hill 260 on Bougainville was deemed an ideal spot to observe enemy and friendly activity for miles around. A wooden platform was constructed high up in the tree

Observing the Enemy

The island of Bougainville itself was primitive, remote, and rugged – an easy place for the Japanese to hide. It featured dense jungle, as well as a number of soaring volcanoes. Earthquakes were a frequent occurrence, as were torrential downpours. The jungle was thick, overgrown, and as Jack Morton recalled, 'spooky'.

Island of Bougainville