Air Operations, Carolines

• 4 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Ponape Island.
• In their first mission against the Truk Atoll, B-24s of the XIII Bomber Command’s 5th Heavy Bomb Group are thwarted by bad weather.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack supply dumps at Kamaing. 12 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and 16 10th Air Force P-38s and P-51s attack rail facilities near Kawlin and Meza. 2 B-25s and approximately 50 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army ground troops at Myitkyina and provide support for Allied ground troops at Kamaing. 60 A-31s attack targets of opportunity along the upper Chindwin River.
• 80th Fighter Group P-40s and 311th Fighter Group P-51s down 13 Ki-49 'Helen' bombers and 14 escort fighters near Shimobwiyang and North Pass between 1110 and 1145 hours. A 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-40 makes that unit’s only victory claim of the war, a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter he downs near Shaduzup at 1150 hours.

• More than 60 14 Air Force P-38s, P-40s, and P-51s attack a bridge and warehouse at Anyi, bridges at Kienchang and Puchi, Japanese Army ground troops and buildings at Kwanyinchow and Sienning, and the airfield at Nanching.

• 6 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack rail cars, a bridge, and two factories near Viet Tri.

Air Operations, Europe

• 14 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg and 3 to Krefeld without a loss.

• 701 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack 11 Luftwaffe airfields in France with 1,853 tons of bombs.
• 3 B-17s and 3 B-24s lost to enemy action, 2 B-24s destroyed in collision during assembly over England
• Escort and support is provided by a record 960 USAAF fighters. USAAF pilots down 12 Luftwaffe aircraft over France between 1330 and 1615 hours.
• 10 fighters are lost with their pilots, 5 are damaged

• Of 53 IX Bomber Command B-26s dispatched against V-weapons sited in northern France, only 18 attack their assigned targets while the others abort in the face of bad weather.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack road and rail bridges at three locations.
• 12th Air Force B-26s attack a rail bridge and other rail targets at Poggibonsi.
• XII Air Support Command A-20s and A-36s attack a railroad station.
• XII Air Support Command P-40s attack supply dumps and a German Army Command post near Rome
• XII Air Support Command P-47s attack transportation targets along the rail line between Rome and Orvieto.

Air Operations, New Guinea

More than 200 5th Air Force bombers, fighter-bombers, and fighters attack a wide range of targets in and around Hansa Bay, Madang, Uligan, and Wewak.

Air Operations, Solomons

Following an unsuccessful ground attack against the Piva Uncla and Pive Yoke airfields aon Bougainville, Japanese Army ground forces permanently withdraw from the Empress Augusta Bay region.

Arctic

During the next 9 days the convoy JW-58 sails from Iceland to Murmansk without loss. One feature of the battle is the number of German scout and bomber aircraft shot down by the planes of the escort carriers. In addition 3 U-boats are sunk.

Bougainville

The Japanese begin to withdraw their forces from Empress Augusta Bay.

Britain, Home Front

Churchill broadcasts on BBC on the war situation. He speaks of 'the panic and frenzy which prevail in Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria' and of 'the heroic struggles of the partisans in Yugoslavia under the leadership of Marshal Tito'.

Burma

Ben Stopford's XXXIII Corps is put under Slim's control and ordered to concentrate at Dimapur before advancing to Kohima. A second brigade of 5th Div arrives at Imphal by air and the third brigade is being sent to Dimapur also for Kohima.

CBI

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), known as Merrill's Marauders, arrive at Auche.

Eastern Front

Kamenets-Podolski is taken by 1st Ukraine Front. Gorodenka is also taken by other units of this formation. In the southern Ukraine the Russians are on the point of taking Nikolayev, only a little way from Odessa.

The 4th Tank Army (down to just 60 operational tanks) takes Kamenets Podolsky, virtually isolating the 1st Panzer Army between it, the 3rd Guards Army to the north (lately redeployed following the success of the attacks in the Dniepr elbow) and 18th and 38th Armies to the east. The 6th Tank moves along the Dniestr to the south and 40th Army on the Prut. Hube plans to break out to the west rather than to the south as expected.

Italy

A small German coastal convoy is destroyed off Vado by a British torpedo boat squadron.

Pacific

• US torpedo boats PT-121 and PT-353 are sunk by a friendly bomber in the Bismarck Archipelago area.
• The US submarine Hake (SS-256) sinks the Japanese merchant tanker Yamamizu Maru (5174t) about 75 miles south of Borneo.
• The US submarine Rasher (SS-269) attacks a Japanese convoy in the Java Sea and sinks the army cargo ship Nichinan Maru (2750t) about 50 miles north of Bali.

Poland

Polish underground units are directed to make contact with the Russian arm in Poland.

Rumania

By agreement with the Rumanian government German troops occupy Rumania.

Images from March 27, 1944

MacArthur and Nimitz in Brisbane

B-17s of the 95th Bomb Group

37th Division Soldiers Advancing