Admiralty Islands

The US occupies Pityilu Island to the north of Manus.

Air Operations, Carolines

• Based at the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia, armed at the Piva Uncle Airfield on Bougainville, and refueled at the Nissan Airfield, 20 of 24 unescorted 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sent execute the 13th Air Force's first daylight mission to the Caroline Islands at 1300 hours, an attack against the airfield on Eten Island in the Truk Atoll. 2 B-24s are lost to intercepting fighters, including 1 that is set on fire by a new phosphorous bomb lobbed at it by a Japanese Navy fighter. Photographs indicate that 49 Japanese Navy aircraft are destroyed in the attack, for which the 307th Group is awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.
• VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Ponape Island.
• As Task Force 58 continues to close on the Palau Islands, small numbers of G4M 'Betty' torpedo bombers are sent to attack the carriers. 4 VF-10 F6Fs down 1 G4M 'Betty' 30 miles from the carriers at 1242 hours. A VF-32 F6F downs a 'Betty' at sea at 1715 hours. A VF-2 F6F downs a 'Betty' at sea at 2000 hours.
• During the night, Task Force 58 is attacked by 12 G4M 'Betty' torpedo bombers, based at Tinian and staging through Palau, but all are downed or driven away by antiaircraft fire.
• During the night, 2 SB-24s of the XIII Bomber Command's 868th Heavy Bomb Squadron mount a reconnaissance strike against Moen Island in the Truk Atoll. 2 squadrons of 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack a fuel depot, an airfield, and a seaplane base in the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Victoria Lake area near Mandalay. More than 20 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and 10th Air Force P-51 fighter-bombers attack Katha, support Allied ground forces near Indaw, and attack rail facilities and warehouses at Indaw. 10th Air Force A-31s attack Japanese Army ground positions and targets of opportunity at Tamu and Homalin. 12 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s and RAF aircraft attack airfields, rail facilities, and boat traffic near Mandalay. More than 80 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack ground targets in the Mogaung Valley and artillery batteries near Kamaing. More than 80 10th Air Force fighters maintain an aerial umbrella over the Sumprabum area.

• 12 14th Air Force P-40s and 3 P-51s attack rail facilities, the airfield, and a bridge at Nanchang. A 76th Fighter Squadron P-51 downs an A6M Zero near Nanchang during a morning mission.

• 10th Air Force A-31s attack Japanese Army ground troops at Imphal, Jessami, Tonzang, and Ukhrul.

Air Operations, Europe

• 76 Halifaxes and 8 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack the railway yards at Vaires near Paris in bright moonlight. The bombing is accurate and 2 ammo trains which are present blow up.
• 1 Halifax is lost.
• 19 Lancasters of No. 5 Group accurately bomb the aircraft engine factory at Lyons without a loss.

• 32 Mosquitos are sent to Kiel, where 47 people are killed and 134 are injured, 11 to Krefeld, 5 to Aachen and 4 to Cologne.
• There are no losses.

• 30 of 77 2nd Bomb Division B-24s dispatched attack the V-weapons sites around Watten. The only losses are 2 B-24s that collided during assembly, killing 18 crewmen. 19 would-be rescuers and 4 civilians on the ground are killed and 38 servicemen are injured when the bombs in one of the crashed airplanes detonate. Escort for this otherwise uneventful mission is provided by 37 361st Fighter Group P-47s.

• 233 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack the city of Brunswick and several targets of opportunity.
• Escort and support for the bombers is provided by 428 USAAF fighters. USAAF pilots down 46 Luftwaffe fighters over Germany between 1315 and 1520 hours.
• 10 pilots are lost when 12 fighters are downed in action and 6 crash or ditch for various reasons

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack the Viterbo Airdrome.
• 12th Air Force B-26s attack Leghorn.
• XII Air Support Command A-36s attack the harbors and port facilities at Civitavecchia and San Stefano al Mare.
• XII Air Support Command P-40s attack repair shops, supply dumps, and a bivouac area near Rome and a supply dump and gun emplacements near Velletri.
• XII Air Support Command P-47s attack a rail overpass north of Rome.

• In the 15th Air Force's largest mission so far in the war, nearly 300 15th Air Force B-24s attack marshalling yards at Bolzano and Milan while 105 15th Air Force B-17s attack marshalling yards, a ball-bearing factory, and the Fiat airplane-engine factory at Turin.
• A total of 13 Luftwaffe fighters are downed over Italy duing the day by 12th and 15th Air Force fighter pilots.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-24s attack Hollandia. B-25s and A-20s attack the Wewak area. A-20s attack targets in the Bogia-Bunabun area. V Fighter Command P-39s attack antiaircraft emplacements at Erima.

Battle of the Atlantic

The British sloop HMS Starling is screening convoy JW-58 when the asdic operator reports a contact at 1900 yards. Starling attacks first with two ten-charge patterns designed to keep the U-boat down and occupied while the British sloop HMS Magpie takes station to execute a creeping attack. Before Magpie could begin her attack, breaking-up noises could be heard and a short time later a very heavy underwater explosion occurred shaking the Starling.

U-961

Burma

At Gen Stilwell's request Chiang Kai-shek promises to send a division to reinforce the Chinese and Americans fighting in northeast Burma.

Having crossed the Burma-India border, Japanese troops cut the road between Imphal and Kohima and the Japanese 15th Army encircles 155,000 British-Indian troops on the Imphal Plain and despite Allied air superiority, holds its positions until June 22. Chinese troops occupy Shaduzup as part of an effort in northeast Burma to divert the Japanese forces from their main goal of moving into India.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 1st Ukraine Front have crossed the Prut and taken Kolomya in Rumania in the foothills of the Carpathians.

Kolomna falls to the 1st Tank Army, while at Tarnopol Group Neinhoff is again heavily attacked.

India

In the area defended by the British IV Corps, troops of Gen Kotoku Sato's 31st Div at Maram cut the Imphal-Kohima road near Kohima. Slim sticks to his plan to supply the garrison of Imphal by air. Reinforcements are sent to the Kohima garrison.

Indian Ocean

The US freighter Richard Hovey (7176t) is torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-26 and abandoned. The submarine surfaces and shells the ship setting her afire. She then fires on the lifeboats and rafts killing 1 of the Armed Guard sailors before taking 4 POWs and clearing the area. The survivors are rescued by two British freighters on April 2 and 14.

Italy

In the Garigliano River sector Gen Sir Richard McCreery's British X Corps is relieved by the French Expeditionary Corps under Gen Alphonse Juin and the US II Corps, which takes up positions at the extreme left of the Allied line on the Tyrrhenian coast.

Pacific

The super-battleship Musashi is torpedoed in the bows by the US submarine Tunny (SS-282) and has to return to Japan for repairs.

Switzerland

Dr Gina Lombroso Ferrero, Italian sociologist and anti-Fascist, dies at the age of 73.

Images from March 29, 1944

Strking the Japanese in Palau

A Member of Women's Army Corps At Work

Bf 109 G-6 W.Nr. 162 764 'RU+OZ'

Medical Evacuations from England