Monday 10 March 1941

The King and Queen visit Dundee, 10 March 1941. © IWM (A 3383).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italian Primavera Offensive continues into a second day on 10 March 1941. On the left flank, the Pusteria Division captures, then loses Mali Spadarit, a peak overlooking the strategic Klisura Pass. In the center, Italian attacks to take Monastery Hill fail, and the Italians begin to bring up the reserve Bari Division. Elsewhere, the Italians are stopped cold by fixed Greek defenses of the Greek 1st Division. The weather turns poor, with cold rain negating any advantage that the Italians have in the air. The Italian high command decides to try to outflank the main Greek positions.

Operation Lustre, the British reinforcement of Greece, continues. The troop convoys from Alexandria and Suda Bay are arriving every three days. So far, the first troop tranche has arrived at Piraeus, and the second is en route.

East African Campaign: At Keren, Eritrea, Lieutenant-General William Platt remains frustrated at his troops' inability to fight through the narrow Dongolaas Gorge. The fierce Italian resistance at Keren is the only thing standing between the British and the coast at Massawa. Platt is assembling his troops for another attempt at the middle of the month.

Keren is a key crossroads whose capture will enable the British to scoop up all of Eritrea and head south into Abyssinia toward Addis Ababa, which is being threatened by the South African advance far to the south. Once the British are past Keren, the entire Italian position in East Africa will become unhinged - but there are very few routes in this rough country that are able to support large military operations. So far, attempts to flank Keren using secondary routes have produced no results.

Far to the south, the South African forces continue to advance north from the vicinity of Mogadishu. Operation Canvas continues without any meaningful results despite swallowing large amounts of territory. Now about 500 miles (900 km) past it, the Italian resistance begins to stiffen forward of the fortress of Jijiga, Abyssinia. The Italians top the 23rd Nigerian Brigade of the British 1st African Division at Dagabur (Degehabur), about 100 miles (160 km) south of Jijiga.

Belgian Congolese troops, meanwhile, cross the border into Abyssinia from the west and take Italian base Asosa.

Battery "Pooh," located at St. Margaret's near Dover, on 10 March 1941. It is a 14-inch gun designed to counter the German batteries at the Pas de Calais at Hellfire Corner.

European Air Operations: After the winter lull, air operations are picking up again. Both sides launch damaging raids, though the Luftwaffe continues to have the upper hand in terms of the devastating effects of their raids.

The Luftwaffe raids Portsmouth after dark for the second night in a row. It is one of the most devastating raids outside of London for some time. The Germans put around 240 bombers over the city, the most since 1940, and cause extensive damage to the docks and shipping. They sink a minesweeping trawler, HMT Revello, killing one man, and damage destroyers HMS Sherwood, Tynedale and Witherington, training ship HMS Marshal Soult and four other minesweeping trawlers. Four sailors on shore also perish.

RAF Bomber Command raids Le Havre. While just another raid against a Channel port, this is the first raid by Handley Page Halifax bombers by No. 35 Squadron flying out of Yorkshire (Linton-on-Ouse). One of the Halifax bombers (L9489) goes down over Hog's Back in Surrey, killing four of the six crew, crashing on fields near Merrist Wood, Worplesdon. This is what is known as a "nursery raid," the first operational raid by new equipment which is intended as much to test it operationally as to produce actual results. The crash is a friendly fire incident, as the bomber is shot down over England by an RAF night fighter (Squadron Leader P A Gilchrist DFC) whose crew is completely unaware that it just shot down one of its own planes. One of the engines will be recovered from the field in 1996, and a plaque will be erected on the lonely spot on 8 March 1997.

Other RAF targets during the night are Cologne (19 bombers) and St. Nazaire (14 bombers). The RAF also conducts Rhubarb sweeps over the French coast during the day.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies writes down in his diary his impression of the Blitz:

Curious to see the North Lodge at Buckingham Palace lying in ruins this morning. Houses shattered in Curzon Street. Germans are poor psychologists. If they had left the West End alone the East Enders might have been persuaded that they alone were bearing the brunt of the war. And Buckingham Palace again! ha ha!

Of course, the German bombs at Buckingham Palace came within whiskers of killing the King, which would not have been such a laughing matter.

The Reykjaborg, sunk by U-552 today.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-552 (KrvKpt. Erich Topp), on its first patrol just south of Iceland, comes across 687-ton Icelandic fish trawler Reykjaborg.  Topp fires a torpedo that fails to explode. Refusing to waste another torpedo, Topp surfaces at 23:14 and uses his deck and anti-aircraft guns to sink the ship about 460 miles southeast of Iceland. There are 12 deaths (13 if you count a man who dies just before his mates are rescued by HMS Pimpernel) and three survivors.

A convoy of British freighters blunders into a minefield off Hastings. Three ships sink:

• 870-ton Corinia (14 deaths)
• 708-ton Sparta (9 deaths)
• 1107-ton Waterland (7 deaths)

German S-boats (fast boats) attack Convoys FN 428 and FS 429A in the English Channel. The Royal Navy escorts fight them off without loss.

The Luftwaffe attacks a freighter off Wexford in St. George's Channel. It is the 4343-ton Norwegian ship Bur. The Bur is damaged and barely makes it to Fishguard, where the captain beaches it. The ship is repaired at Barry in the Bristol Channel. Another freighter, 391-ton Dutch ship Libra, also is damaged and towed into Swansea.

Royal Navy submarine HMS H.28 is damaged by a collision with an unidentified freighter in the Irish Sea. Repairs in Belfast take until mid-April.

German supply operations in the Atlantic operate without much hindrance these days. German tanker Nordmark rendezvouses with supply ship Alsterufer.

German minelayers lay minefield Pregel as part of minefield Westwall.

Convoy OB 296 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SC 25 departs from Halifax.

Destroyer HMS Chiddingfold is launched.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Formidable completes its journey to join the British Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. HMS Illustrious, badly damaged but seaworthy, departs from Alexandria for Port Said.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Unique torpedoes and sinks Italian freighter Fenicia 160 km (100 miles) north of Tripoli.

In Malta, there are repeated attacks by the Luftwaffe throughout the day. At 12:21, nine German Bf 110s strafe the Sunderland flying boats in St. Paul's Bay, destroying one and damaging two others. In addition, a fuel lighter has to be beached with damage. The defending Hurricanes shoot down one of the Bf 110s. After dark, up to 20 bombers attack in bright moonlight, damaging Luqa Airfield and various other points on the island.

Convoy BN 19 departs from Aden, bound for Suez.

Applied Science: Centimetric radar is being developed both by the Americans and the British, and today both countries try out a prototype mounted in a bomber. The USAAC uses a Douglas B-18 Bolo bomber to try out the radar, but it is a first test of the equipment with no real results beyond making sure the aircraft can handle it. The British are at the next stage in their development and today use the radar to make an air-to-air detection. It is hoped that centimetric radar will have useful applications in naval warfare.

Spy Stuff: Acting Japanese Consul General Ojiro Okuda is continuing his spying operations on the US Pacific Fleet. Today, he sends another message to Tokyo listing the ships present there on the 9th. This includes "Four battleships... Five heavy cruisers... Six light cruisers... [and the aircraft carrier USS] Yorktown."

French diplomat Gaston Henry-Haye on the cover of Time Magazine, March 10, 1941, | Vol. XXXVII No. 10 (Cover Credit: DAVID E. SCHERMAN).

Vichy French/US Relations: Marshal Petain requests humanitarian aid from the United States. The hold-up for such aid is not President Roosevelt or the US government, because Roosevelt has been pressing for such aid since late 1940. Instead, the British government, meaning Prime Minister Winston Churchill, is against such aid to any country that is not strictly neutral. The official British position is set forth concisely and coldly:

Nothing has since occurred to alter the view of His Majesty's Government that it is the responsibility of the German Government to see to the material welfare of the countries they have overrun, nor to weaken their conviction that no form of relief can be devised which would not directly or indirectly assist the enemy's war effort.

Speaking to US journalists, Admiral Darlan, now Petain's chief deputy, warns:

I am responsible for feeding 40 million people, plus millions more in Africa. I will feed them even if I have to use force.

The issue of humanitarian aid will remain throughout the war, with the US wishing to help the people of Europe, but the British government objecting on the grounds that any aid of any sort to countries controlled by the Germans will help the Axis war effort.

France confirms the Murphy-Weygand Agreement today. Pursuant to the agreement, the United States agrees to supply French North Africa with certain basic commodities, so long as the French do not build up stockpiles and do not export them.

Anglo/US Relations: The Lend-Lease Bill is not yet law, but President Roosevelt gets a jump on the process by requesting $7 billion in aid to England.

US Military: The USAAF 73rd Squadron (Douglas B-18s) begins transferring from McChord Field outside Tacoma, Washington to Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Alaska.

Japanese Military: Japanese rear admiral Takijirō Ōnishi submits to Isoroku Yamamoto a plan for the Pearl Harbor attack.

British Government: There is a rare meeting of the War Cabinet at the Cabinet War Room bunker ("Paddock") located in Brook Road, Dollis Hill, northwest London. It is a massive, two-story underground facility under a corner of the Post Office Research Station site. The bunker is only used for two meetings during the war. Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies gives a summary of Australian achievements in the war to date.

Soviet Government: Nikolai Voznesensky becomes the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Maksim Saburov becomes Chairman of the State Planning Committee.

"Squadron Leader James Wheeler, a Flight Commander of No. 85 Squadron RAF, gets into the cockpit of a Hawker Hurricane Mark I night fighter, 'VY-X', at Debden, Essex, for a sortie while taking advantage of the clear moonlit nights during the period of the full moon from 10-16 March 1941." © IWM (CH 2249).

Yugoslav Government: Regent Prince Paul convenes the Crown Council again to consider signing the Tripartite Pact. There is great disagreement about what course to take - support the British or succumb to the Germans.

Vichy French Government: The Vichy government orders that, as of this date, compulsory ceremonies be conducted in every school Dahomey. This includes raising and lowering the French flag to the sounds of choral music.

Indochina: The Japanese mediate the French into giving the Thais everything that they originally sought. Thailand takes possession of all land up to the Mekong River. As their "fee," the Japanese take a monopoly on Indochinese rice production and basing rights for their planes at a Saigon airfield. This is a major expansion of Japanese influence in Indochina, which formerly was confined to the northern area around China.

Australia: Queensland's Public Works Department begins construction of the Rocklea Small Arms Factory/Munitions Works.

China: The Western Hupei Operation continues. Japanese 13th Infantry Division advances to take Kuankungling, Hutzuchung, and Hsianglingkou along the Yangtze River as the Chinese (Kuomintang) continue retreating on Chunking.

French Homefront: The Vichy government rations beer. It cannot be sold on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

German Homefront: The government constantly monitors public views about the war and toward the regime. These reports continue throughout the war and, unlike German propaganda, are as accurate as the preparers can make them. This week's report notes that hawking pictures of Hitler at fairs next to those of religious icons is meeting resistance with the public.

American Homefront: Following upon the test of batting helmets in Havana, Cuba, the General Manager Lee MacPhail of the Brooklyn Dodgers organization announces that the team's players will wear them throughout the season.

Future History: Naw Louisa Benson is born in Burma. She becomes Burma's first Miss Universe contestant in 1956 and again becomes Miss Burma in 1958. Benson joins the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in 1964 and takes over command of her husband's brigade after he is assassinated.

On 10 March 1941, Transport Workers Union bus drivers in New York City go on strike over wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits. The strike halts most of Manhattan’s bus service.

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Friday 7 March 1941

U-47 (Photo courtesy of Vladimir Tarnovski).

Italian/Greek Campaign: Limited Greek offensive operations continue on 7 March 1941 at the center of the line, west of Klisura Pass in the Senteli Mountains, by II Corps (1st, 5th, 11th, 15th, and 17th Divisions). The Italians are building up their forces for a major effort in the same effort, so the Greeks make little progress.

South African leader Jan Smuts is in Cairo consulting with British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell, Foreign Minister Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill. He okays the use of his country's troops wherever they are needed, which at the moment is Greece. Smuts sends a telegram to Whitehall expressing his agreement to the use of South African troops there.

The flow of British troops from Suda Bay, Crete and Alexandria to Piraeus (Athens) continues. Today, cruisers HMS Bonaventure, Gloucester and York arrive and disembark the troops they are carrying. Slower freighters also arrive carrying their equipment. These troops for Operation Lustre include parts of the British 1st Armoured Division.

New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg arrives in Athens. He is slated to command a major part of the British force.

March 7, 1941, Lynn, Massachusetts Daily Evening Item.

East African Campaign: The British continue advancing toward Mogadishu along the main road in Italian Somaliland. Supply difficulties are slowing them more than scattered Italian opposition.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues its lone-raider operations during the day, dropping scattered bombs hither and thither. The British claim to down two bombers, one by convoy escort HMS Guillemot. RAF Coastal Command attacks Den Helder and shipping off the Dutch coast. RAF Bomber Command is inactive.

Günther Prien. Despite being a committed member of the NSDAP, his reputation survived the war largely intact due to his daring exploits.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is an extremely busy day in the Battle of the Atlantic. However, one event stands out above all the others.

Günther Prien is one of the top U-boat aces, having received news of his promotion to Korvettenkapitän as of 1 March 1941 (though technically he remains a Kapitänleutnant at this time, the promotion becoming effective posthumously). Prien has to date been mentioned in the official military communiques (Wehrmachtbericht) seven times (with another to come). Each mention on the nightly news is one of the highest honors of the Third Reich, equivalent to receiving a top medal.

Prien also became the 5th recipient of the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-47 (on 20 October 1940). Throughout his career (including today), Prien has sunk 30 merchantmen of 162,769 tons, sunk a warship of 29,150 tons (Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow in 1939), and damaged eight other merchantmen of 62,751 tons along with a warship of 10,035 tons. Günther Prien is a commander of great daring and an asset to the U-boat command.

Today, Prien sights Convoy OB-293 and vectors in a Wolf Pack (the other U-boats involved are U-70, U-99, and U-A). Prien's U-47 damages 20,638-ton British whaling factory ship Terje Viken (reputedly the world's largest before the war, currently serving as a tanker). U-70 (Kptlt. Joachim Matz) also fires three torpedoes at it, but misses. Before U-70 can fire a fourth, U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) then torpedoes and disables the Terje Viken, turning it into a flaming wreck. The whaling ship's crew abandons ship and survives. The abandoned derelict remains afloat for a while, but finally is sunk by the Royal Navy escorts as a hazard to navigation.

Afterward, U-47 disappears. Since none of the 45 men on board ever is heard from again, it is unknown what happened to U-47. One theory is that U-47 is destroyed or seriously damaged by attacks from convoy escorts HMS Wolverine and Verity, two of four destroyers in the vicinity. In any event, the warships do see what is believed to be the U-boat rise almost to the surface, then explode in an orange fireball. However, recent scholarship has called the identity of this U-boat into question, and it may not have been U-47 at all that the British saw explode. In fact, some wild conspiracy theories posit that Prien survived the patrol, but was arrested for subversion upon his return to port - but that has been completely disproven (among other things, Prien was a solid member of the NSDAP, but there are many other reasons this theory is not widely believed).

Of all the U-boat commanders, it is fair to say that Prien's memory has been the most long-lasting within the German military. His name has been considered for several major weapons systems, and his life has been celebrated in various media forms such as film and books. His death also is the first of three top U-boat commanders in the next ten days which are extremely damaging to the fleet and show how thin the "bench" of ace commanders is. This lack of depth is an endemic problem within all branches of the German military, as top Luftwaffe aces and tank commanders also are extremely difficult to replace when lost.

The German authorities soon realize that U-47 is missing and presumed lost. However, the Propaganda Ministry decides to keep the news from the public. The British also realize that Prien is missing - they have excellent spies - and turn Prien's loss and the German decision to keep it hidden into a propaganda coup. The RAF will drop leaflets over Germany asking "Wo ist Prien?" (Where is Prien), stirring wild speculation about his fate throughout the Reich.

HMS Camellia (K-31). It is one of the escorts of OB 293 and claims credit, along with sister ship HMS Arbutus, for sinking U-70 (though that claim is much disputed).

The other U-boats in the Wolf Pack also make attacks and suffer as well. U-70, on its first patrol, has a big day, and not in a particularly good way. First, at 04:30, it torpedoes and sinks 6570-ton British tanker Athelbeach. Seven crew perish So far, so good for U-70 (Some sources assign this sinking to U-99, but the U-70 crew claimed credit as set forth in its interrogation report).

Then, at 04:50, U-70 torpedoes 6423-ton British freighter Delilian. The crew abandons ship, but later returns and manages to restart the engines and make port.

U-70 then, at 06:25, torpedoes 7493-ton Dutch tanker Mijdrecht. The Mijdrecht has made the "mistake" of stopping to pick up survivors of the Delilian, but the ship remains maneuverable. The captain of the Delilian spots the U-boat's periscope and reacts immediately. He turns the ship and rams U-70. This causes the U-boat to surface, and the Mijdrecht uses one of its guns to hit U-70's conning tower (the U-boat's crew denies this, but it is a minor point). U-70's crew then abandons ship, and U-70 sinks. Mijdrecht, meanwhile, manages to make port, a rare instance when a merchant ship sinks a U-boat and survives rather than the other way around.

U-A also is present, but it does not make a successful attack. During the aftermath, U-A is damaged by HMS Wolverine but survives.

Elsewhere, U-37 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen), on its final patrol out of Lorient (it is to become a training boat), is sailing south of Iceland. It spots the 3050-ton Greek freighter Mentor. There are seven deaths.

Far to the south, there also are dramatic developments in the Battle of the Atlantic. Commanding Operation Berlin with heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, Admiral Lütjens has been waiting for several days on the Cape Town-Gibraltar convoy route northwest of Cape Verde. Today at 09:20, his lookouts spot a convoy (SL-67). However, as in an earlier instance, among the escorts is a battleship, HMS Malaya. Lütjens is under strict orders to avoid combat with capital ships. However, in this area of the ocean, Lütjens now has another card to play. He radios U-boat command (BdU) in Lorient to vector in any U-boats nearby. Two U-boats arrive and attack the convoy during the night of 7-8 March (early on the 8th) and sink 28,488 tons of shipping.

Malaya, meanwhile, also spots the two German cruisers and steams toward them. The Malaya closes to within extreme firing range, about 24,000 meters, but Lütjens decides to obey his orders and heads west out into the Atlantic.

In the English channel, the German 1st MTB Flotilla sorties against Convoys FN 426 and FS 429 off Yarmouth. This is one of many short, sharp and largely forgotten actions by German E-boats against the local British convoys. In all, five British ships sink on the 7th, and two more just after midnight.

S-29 damages 1385-ton British freighter Dotterel. The captain beaches the ship, which is written off. There are eight deaths among the crew. In addition, three men of patrol boat HMS Sheldrake attempt to board the ship, but perish in the attempt, including the commander, Lt. Commander WC Checucci. There are 19 survivors.

S-31 sinks 1047-ton British freighter Kenton. There are four deaths.

S-28 sinks 2345-ton British freighter Corduff. There are seven deaths, two men become POWs, and 14 are rescued by the British.

S-61 sinks 4805-ton British freighter Boulderpool. Everyone survives.

S-27 sinks 1048-ton British freighter Rye. All 22 men on board perish.

Just after midnight, in the opening minutes of the 8th, two more ships go down.

S-102 sinks 1547-British freighter Togston. There are 8 deaths.

S-102 also sinks 957-ton British freighter Norman Queen. There are 14 deaths, one man survives as a POW.

The Luftwaffe also is active during the day. It attacks and sinks 934-ton British freighter Flashlight in the North Sea off Hull. Everyone survives.

Belgian 483-ton freighter Adolphe Urban disappears without a trace after passing Mumbles Light, off Glamorgan. A lifeboat eventually washes ashore at Kilrush, Ireland on 26 March.

Royal Navy motor torpedo boat MTB 28 has a fire and is lost at Portsmouth.

British battleship Bismarck enters the Kiel Canal on its journey east.

Convoy OG 55 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Splendid is laid down.

U-412 is laid down.

Some victims of the Adolphe Urban, as memorialized at Tower Hill.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF attacks Tripoli, including its airfields and harbor. The Afrika Korps continues digging its defensive line west of El Agheila.

Convoy AN 18, a troop convoy, departs from Alexandria bound for Piraeus, while Convoy GA 1 1/2 departs from Piraeus.

The Luftwaffe bombs Malta during the day and after dark, damaging the dockyard area and some ships. British 11,063 transport Essex is damaged (again), and destroyer HMS Imperial is hit by splinters. Fighters of 7,/JG 26 are achieving dominance over the island, and they strafe the harbor and damage a Sunderland flying boat. Island Governor Lt. General Dobbie cables the Chief of the Air Staff and warns that he needs RAF fighters if the island is to remain useful to the Royal Navy.

"Short Sunderland Mark I, L2164 'DQ-M', of No. 228 Squadron RAF, on fire in St Paul's Bay, Malta after being hit for a second time by Messerschmitt Bf 109s of 7/JG26. L2164, already damaged from the previous attack on 7 March 1941, ultimately sank after efforts to tow her ashore failed." © IWM (MH 8043).

US Military: USS Wasp (CV-7, Captain Reeves) is sailing in the notoriously stormy seas off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina when it comes across a sinking merchantman. It is a US lumber schooner, George E. Klinck. Reeves pulls off a rescue of great daring, saving the crew in this "graveyard of ships."

The Seventh Defense Battalion of the Fleet Marine Force arrives at Pago Pago, Samoa. They are aboard transport USS William P. Biddle. This is the US Marines' first deployment south of the Equator during the conflict.

British Government: Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin is given powers to classify any business as constituting essential war production. Once so classified, a business has special restrictions imposed on its employees: the workers cannot leave or be fired without authorization from the ministry. The rationale is to prevent turnover and keep skilled workers where they are. On the flip side, such "essential" workers are guaranteed a minimum wage and other protections. However, again on the flip side, workers who are not punctual or miss a lot of work can be punished.

Bevin immediately classifies aircraft, building, shipbuilding, engineering, railways, docks, and mines as "essential." This order appears unrelated to an ongoing strike at the John Brown shipbuilding firm at Clydeside, as Bevin has been concerned about labor developments in the shipyards throughout the war to date. This gives the British government - and Bevin in particular - massive power over labor conditions in major portions of the British economy. Many workers resent this and carry those feelings over to the 1945 elections.

China: The Japanese Western Hupei Operation continues making progress. The 13th Infantry Division of the 11th Army has a bridgehead on the southern/western bank of the Yangtze River. It breaks out and takes Wuchiapa, Hsiawulungkou, and Chienchiatai. The objective is to clear the river valley and push the defending Chinese (Kuomintang) forces back toward Chunking.

Holocaust: German Jews are pressed into forced labor.

American Homefront: It is spring training in the US baseball leagues. A recent issue in the sport has been the protection of batters' heads from pitches. Two Brooklyn Dodgers, Pee Wee Reese, and Joe Medwick try out batting helmets during a special exhibition game in Havana, Cuba against the Cleveland Indians. They have no issues using the helmets, which later become standard equipment.

St. Paul's Cathedral, London, taken 7 March 1941 (PA).

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020