Saturday 7 March 1942

Japanese troops advancing in Java, March 1942 (Sectie Militaire Geschiedenes Landmachstaf).

Battle of the Pacific: The battle in Burma nears its end on 7 March 1942 when the Japanese send the 17th Indian Infantry Division defending Pegu on the road to Rangoon in full retreat. A counterattack by the 1st Burma Division and 7th Armored Division also fails. The new commander in Burma, General Harold Alexander, realizes that Rangoon is lost and orders the British Indian to move first to Taukkyan and then to Prome, 200 miles to the north. Alexander himself remains with local commands in the vicinity of Rangoon, which now has been completely abandoned with strategic facilities destroyed. This begins a hard-fought retrograde movement by the British Army to India which lasts for several months. Today decides the Burma Campaign.

As at other ports facing capture, the Allies scuttle any ships at Rangoon that can't escape - but most have been able to leave due to the proximity of India and the time taken by the Japanese to cross Burma. This includes 382-ton British freighter SS Nyounghla. In the coming decades, the British Army awards the battle honors Pegu and Pegu 1942 to participants.

The Arizona Daily Star for 7 March 1942 notes that "Allies Facing Exhaustion in Java Battles." Almost as interesting to the paper's readers is that "Filipinos Are Ordered to Give Up All Bolos." Bolos are knives that the locals use as both weapons and tools.

The battle on Java also is coming to an end. Allied troops have moved to the interior of Java near Bandung. Japanese troops under Colonel Toshishige Shoji moving south from Batavia arrive at the plateau of Lembang, which is within 5 miles (8 km) of Bandung. The Allies under Major-General Jacob J. Pesman, the commander of Stafgroep Bandung, prepare to make a last stand in the hills south of the town. Other Japanese forces take the key port of Tjilatjap on the south coast, which would be the Allies' only avenue of escape. The situation is hopeless for the Allies, and they prepare to surrender.

South of Java, Japanese aircraft bomb and sink 3051-ton Norwegian freighter SS Woolgar. The crew manages to launch one lifeboat, and the crew endures an epic 88-day journey to Port Blair, Andaman Islands, where the Japanese make them prisoners. Japanese destroyer Arashio intercepts Dutch minesweepers Jan Van Amstel, which also is trying to escape Java, and sinks it. There are 23 deaths and the rest of the crew become prisoners.

German destroyers Friedrich Ihn, Hermann Schoemann and Z 25 sink Russian freighter Ishora during Operation Sportpalast on 7 March 1942. The photo is taken by V. Gernhard from Z 25. The Tirpitz, while part of the operation, was not present.

A RAAF Hudson patrol plane of No. 32 Squadron sights a convoy of 11 Japanese ships heading for Salamaua/Lae. A Japanese invasion force lands in Northern Sumatra, with Japanese ships entering the South Andaman Sea.

Pleased with the success of the flying boat raid on Hawaii of 4 March 1942, the Japanese plan a second "K Operation" for 7 March. However, the planes and crew are not ready, so the operation is postponed to 10 March. The Americans, meanwhile, have been listening to Japanese propaganda broadcasts boasting of the raid's effects (which in reality were negligible), figure out how it was carried out, and prepare to give another such attack a hot reception.

"The aircraft carrier HMS ARGUS which acted as fighter escort, with HMS EAGLE (center) and the battleship HMS MALAYA (right distance) prior to flying off to Malta of the Spitfires." 7 March 1942. © IWM (A 7953).

Eastern Front: The Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front is overstretched, and this is beginning to affect overall operations. Eighteenth Army informs the OKH that it is ready to begin Operation Raubtier ("Beast of prey"), whose aim is to re-establish the former line along the Volkhov River and thereby trap Soviet 2nd Shock Army to the west. The gap in the German lines is only about six miles wide, though the Soviet incursion bulges out to the west. Closing this gap is well within the Wehrmacht's abilities. However, the operation depends upon strong Luftwaffe support, and it is fully engaged in supplying the trapped German garrisons at Kholm and Demyansk. Knowing that the two encircled outposts cannot survive without each day's deliveries, Hitler postpones Operation Raubtier. The Eighteenth Army then tries to build up its forces sufficiently so that it can mount the operation with only minor Luftwaffe support, that but will take several days.

European Air Operations: After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 bombers to attack the U-boat pens at St. Nazaire. Another 17 Hampden bombers lay mines off Lorient, another major U-boat base. One Hampden fails to return.

SS Barbara, sunk on 7 March 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-126 (Kptlt. Ernst Bauer), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 4627-ton US freighter Barbara about 9 miles northwest of West Tortuga Island, Dominican Republic. The ship bursts into flame and the crew must jump into the sea quickly without being able to launch any lifeboats. The surviving crew clings to rafts and debris, with 16 of them, including the master and a stewardess, being picked up by a PBY Catalina flying boat (the pilot is cited for overloading his plane). Another 21 survivors make it to shore after almost three days at sea. In total, there are 26 dead and 59 survivors.

U-126 also sinks 5104-ton US freighter Cardonia in the same area. This time, Bauer uses his deck gun after the Cardonia's crew spots the U-boat sinking the Barbara and evades two torpedoes. After firing 56 rounds, the ship catches fire. After the crew abandons ship, Bauer fires a coup de grâce torpedo which sinks the ship at 12:16. Twenty of the crew make landfall in a lifeboat, while 15 others are rescued by USS Mulberry. The master, Gus Warren Darnell, is awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for his evasive maneuvers and other conduct during the attack. Overall, there is one dead (in the initial attack) and 37 survivors.

U-155 (Kptlt. Adolf Cornelius Piening), on its first patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 7874-ton Brazilian tanker Arabutan about 81 miles off Cape Hatteras. Arabutan sinks within 13 minutes. Piening claims to have seen no neutrality markings. The crew successfully launches the lifeboats and are rescued quickly by USCGC USS Calypso. There are 54 survivors and one death.

SS Uniwaleco, sunk on 7 March 1942.

U-161 (Kptlt. Albrecht Achilles), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 9755-ton South African tanker Uniwaleco. The first attack at 17:59 causes the ship to run out of control in circles, so a second torpedo is fired as a coup de grâce. The ship then sinks within three minutes. There are 33 survivors and 18 deaths.

U-701 (Kptlt. Horst Degen), on its second patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks Danish 272-ton fishing trawler FV Nyggjaberg in the North Atlantic near Iceland. There are no survivors from the 21-man crew.

The Russian steamer Ishora is under fire from the German destroyer Hermann Schoemann in the afternoon of 7 March 1942. The photo is taken from the German destroyer Z 25 by V. Gernhard.

Operation Sportpalast, a German sortie into the Atlantic including battleship Tirpitz, continues today. in the Arctic. German destroyers Friedrich Ihn, Hermann Schoemann and Z 25 sink Russian 2815-ton passenger ship Ijora (or Izhora or Ishora) near the Kola Inlet. Tirpitz is not present during this encounter and does not meet up with the destroyers for another 30 minutes.

"HMS EAGLE and HMS MALAYA whilst serving with Force H in the Mediterranean. Supermarine Spitfires are ranged on the deck of HMS EAGLE (photograph was taken from the aircraft carrier HMS ARGUS)." © IWM (A 7840).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Royal Navy sends Force H from Gibraltar on a resupply convoy to Malta. The main objective is to fly off planes from aircraft carriers HMS Argus and Eagle to the embattled garrison, which has been enduring around-the-clock air raids for many days straight. Eagle flies 15 Spitfires off which make it to the island, becoming the first Spitfires to operate there. This doubles Malta's air cover.

Applied Science: US Navy non-rigid airship K-5 conducts a successful experiment in conjunction with the submarine USS S-20 off the New London, Connecticut coast fo a radio sonobuoy. The experiment shows the utility of using sonobuoys to detect the sounds of a submerged submarine's propellers. The blimp receives the signals at a distance of up to three miles and sometimes up to five miles.

"The ship's doctor giving a lecture on first aid to crew members on HMS ATHERSTONE at Plymouth, 7 March 1942." © IWM (A 7761).

US Military: Major General Alexander M. Patch, arrives on New Caledonia Island. He will assume command of the New Caledonia Task Force.

US Navy Patrol Wing 10 completes a three-month, roundabout withdrawal from the Philippines via Java to Perth, Western Australia. The unit has been devastated by enemy action and having to leave equipment and ground personnel behind. Three out of its four wing squadrons (VP-21, VP-22, and VP-102) are officially stricken from the order of battle. The sole remaining squadron, VP-101, will conduct patrol operations off the Australian west coast, which the Japanese Air Force recently has raided, with its PBY-4 and PBY-5 Catalinas.

"The aircraft carrier HMS ARGUS which acted as fighter escort, with HMS EAGLE (center) and the battleship HMS MALAYA (right distance) prior to flying off to Malta of the Spitfires." 7 March 1942. © IWM (A 7954).

Headquarters, 8th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) and the 35th, 36th, and 80th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor) arrive at Brisbane from the United States in their P-39s.

USAAF Fifth Air Force transfers the Headquarters, 22nd Bomber Group (Medium), from Brisbane to Ipswich, Australia.

The Tuskegee flying school for black pilots graduates its first class of students. They join the 99th Pursuit Squadron. The men are Capt. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., and Second-Lieutenants Mac Ross, Charles DeBow, LR Curtis, and George Roberts.

The first four Tuskegee airmen graduates, including Captain Ben Davis (US Air Force Historical Foundation).

US Government: California Representative Carl Hinshaw warns the House that a major attack on the West Coast is imminent:

Word has come to us the Japanese timetable will bring the second phase of their plans into action about April 15. This includes a major attack on Hawaii, and the commencement of sabotage action on the West Coast, in preparation for events to follow. 

If our administrative officials do not get down to quick action to evacuate all Japanese and all other enemy aliens immediately — They may, by inaction, have committed so great a sin that even history may never forgive them.

There is a very real fear of a Japanese invasion all along the coast.

The New Yorker, 7 March 1942.

American Homefront: The New Yorker for 7 March 1942 publishes a brief item (on page 7) which notes that:

We've heard from a naval officer who got promoted recently, which necessitated a reshuffling of his insignia. When his stars were removed, he found, on the back of each, a label reading "Made in Japan."

Well, times sure have changed in a hurry.

The San Francisco News continues its series of "helpful hints" to ethnic Japanese regarding their coming internment. In today's entry, the paper warns against leaving too hastily to their new homes:

General DeWitt again cautioned the aliens and Japanese-Americans against a too hasty disposition of farms, shops, residences, and other property, pointed out that Federal officials are being appointed to assist them in handling and transfer of their property. Until they have an opportunity to turn their properties over to an official custodian, such persons should not dispose of their possessions unless they receive full value in return, the general said.

There is a surreal air to these articles, which treat the evacuations as akin to a going away to summer camp with the government's sole aim to make the journey as painless and safe as possible.

The Saturday Evening Post, 7 March 1942.

Future History: Michael Dammann Eisner is born in Mount Kisco, New York. After graduating from Denison University in 1964, he quickly becomes involved in the entertainment industry. Very early in his career, Barry Diller at ABC hires Eisner as his personal assistant. This sets Micheal Eisner on a path to success, and he joins Paramount Pictures in the 1970s when Diller becomes chairman there. Diller makes his old assistant president and CEO of the film studio, and Eisner repays the favor by greenlighting a string of classic pictures including "Star Trek" and its sequels, "Saturday Night Fever," and "Beverly Hills Cop." In 1984, Diller leaves Paramount and Eisner moves on to the Walt Disney Company, where he becomes CEO and Chairman of the Board. Eisner once again proves to have an uncanny touch at choosing good films and is largely responsible for the "Disney Renaissance" that begins with "The Little Mermaid" in 1989. Eisner leaves Disney in 2005 and goes on to other entertainment pursuits such as his own talk show on CNBC. Michael Eisner remains involved in the entertainment industry and is a legendary corporate figure.

Tamara Faye LaValley is born in International Falls, Minnesota. In 1960, Tamara (known as Tammy Faye) meets Jim Bakker and marries him a year later. Together, they form a popular televangelist organization, the PTL (Praise The Lord) Club, which takes them to heights of fame. In 1987, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker get embroiled in scandal due to Jim Bakker's involvement with assistant Jessica Hahn. Tammy Faye divorces Bakker in 1992 after he is sent to prison for 45 years on 24 fraud and conspiracy counts. her next marriage, to property developer Roe Messner, also involves scandal when he is convicted of bankruptcy fraud. Tammy Faye Messner (her final name) passes away on 20 July 2007 from cancer.

Collier's, 7 March 1942. During World War II, Collier's readership reaches 2.5 million.

March 1942

March 1, 1942: Second Battle of Java Sea
March 2, 1942: Huge Allied Shipping Losses at Java
March 3, 1942: Japan Raids Western Australia
March 4, 1942: Second Raid On Hawaii
March 5, 1942: Japan Takes Batavia
March 6, 1942: Churchill Assaults Free Speech
March 7, 1942: British Defeat in Burma
March 8, 1942: Rangoon Falls to Japan
March 9, 1942: Japanese Conquest of Dutch East Indies
March 10, 1942:US Navy attacks Japanese Landings at Lae
March 11, 1942: Warren Buffett's First Stock Trade
March 12, 1942: Japan Takes Java
March 13, 1942: Soviets Attack In Crimea Again 
March 14, 1942: The US Leans Toward Europe
March 15, 1942: Operation Raubtier Begins
March 16, 1942: General MacArthur Gets His Ride
March 17, 1942: MacArthur Arrives in Australia
March 18, 1942: Japan Attacks In Burma
March 19, 1942: Soviets Encircled on the Volkhov
March 20, 1942: "I Shall Return," Says MacArthur
March 21, 1942: Germans Attack Toward Demyansk
March 22, 1942: Second Battle of Sirte
March 23, 1942: Hitler's Insecurity Builds
March 24, 1942: Bataan Bombarded
March 25, 1942: Chinese Under Pressure in Burma
March 26, 1942: Win Or Die, Vows MacArthur
March 27, 1942: The Battle of Suusari
March 28, 1942: The St. Nazaire Commando Raid
March 29, 1942: The Free Republic of Nias
March 30, 1942: Japanese-Americans Off Bainbridge Island
March 31, 1942: Japanese Seize Christmas Island

2020

Wreckage of the Cafe de Paris, 8 March 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Recent Greek attacks continue on 8 March 1941, but the impetus of the Greek counteroffensive definitely is petering out. Mussolini is in Tirana, Albania and has ordered an offensive in the same region where the Greeks have been attacking. It is set to begin on the 9th - something that Mussolini actually announces on the radio. Telling your opponent your strategy in advance is... a very odd strategy. A dozen Italian divisions (50,000 men) are in position to attack at the Trebeshinë heights between Osum and Vjosë Rivers. Italian artillery and 2000 warplanes are poised to launch the attack.

The Regia Aeronautica is very active in the region, while the RAF bombs the port of Durazzo.

Greek Commander-in-chief Papagos believes that Yugoslavia will join the fight against the Axis. He therefore holds to his position of defending against a German attack through Bulgaria in the forward Nestos line.

East African Campaign: The operations in Italian Somaliland continue, with the British heading along the road to Mogadishu. The RAF is active throughout the region, including over Keren.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe sends a large raid (125 bombers) against London after dark. Among the places hit are Buckingham Palace (front courtyard quadrangle and the chapel in the south wing), The Garland's Hotel SW1, a block of London County Council (LCC) flats, and the Cafe de Paris (34 deaths and many casualties as the bomb hits during the evening performance). There is a total of 34 deaths and 60 seriously injured from the attack. Fortunately for the residents, many of the bombs fall harmlessly in Green Park. The Queen Consort almost perishes in the attack on the Palace.

The Luftwaffe also raids Plymouth. The dockyards are hit hard.

The Cafe de Paris before...

Damage at the Cafe de Paris after the 8 March 1941 raid.

Battle of the Atlantic: Admiral Lütjens turns his heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst west, away from the convoy he has stumbled upon near the Cape Verde Islands. The presence of battleship HMS Malaya has prevented Lütjens from attacking an otherwise vulnerable convoy (Convoy SL-67). However, the contact is not to no purpose: Lütjens has contacted the Kriegsmarine U-boat command (BdU), which has vectored in U-boats in the vicinity to attack Convoy SL-67.

Malaya's aircraft is the first to spot the German ships; it runs out of fuel and the crew is picked up by a passing Spanish freighter and interned. The Royal Navy dispatches Force H, led by battlecruiser HMS Renown and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal from Gibraltar toward the Cape Verde Islands to search for the German cruisers, but they are long gone into the vastness of the Atlantic.

Accordingly, at 01:42 U-124 (Kptlt. Georg-Whilhelm Schulz) spots the convoy. An hour later, U-105 (Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe) arrives as well. U-106 (Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten) also arrives during the night but makes no attacks. The two U-boats go to work on the convoy and have a big night, sinking 28,148 tons of shipping. They kill 62 sailors and wound 300 other men, collectively. Once U-105 is on the scene, the attack happens in slam-bang fashion, with all the ships sunk by the two U-boats being hit within a total of fifteen minutes. However, the real prize - the Malaya - is nowhere to be seen.

U-124 fires six torpedoes and sinks four British freighters:

• 4897-ton Hindpool (28 deaths, 12 survivors)
• 5304-ton Lahore (abandoned on the 9th, 82 survivors)
• 7974-ton Nardana (19 deaths)
• 5984-ton Tielbank (unknown)

This starts an extremely successful fourth patrol by U-124, one of the most successful U-boats of the fleet.

U-105 also will be remembered as a very successful boat during World War II, but this is only its second patrol out of Lorient. It has racked up only two kills so far. The boat gets its third victim today from Convoy SL-67, sending to the bottom 5229-ton British freighter Harmodius. There are 14 deaths and 61 survivors.

Much further north, south of Iceland, the attacks on Convoy OB-293 continue. U-A torpedoes and sinks British freighter Dunaff Head. There are five deaths and 39 survivors. The Royal Navy escorts counterattack and damage U-A. This incident is often interpreted as being the attack that is often ascribed to the death of U-boat ace Guenther Prien of U-47 - whose fate is unknown.

The E-boat action that began on the 7th in the North Sea off Happisburgh, Norfolk concludes shortly after midnight. S-102 sinks 957-ton British freighter Norman Queen. There are 14 deaths, and one man is taken as a prisoner.

S-102 also, in the same night action, sinks 1547-ton British freighter Togston. There are eight deaths.

The Luftwaffe (KG 27 Heinkel He 111s) bombs and sinks 128-ton Dutch freighter Prins Frederik Hendrik in St. George's Channel off Wexford. There are 8 deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 700-ton Norwegian coaster Nurgis, carrying 815 bricks, off the Lizard. All 14 men on board survive, but some are injured by strafing and several near misses.

British 3724 ton freighter Francis Dawson catches fire at Halifax, Nova Scotia and is written off. The salvagers, however, are less discriminating. They tow the hulk to New York and repair it, returning the ship to service as Empire Tyne.

USS Wasp (CV-7) rescues the crew of sinking lumber schooner George E. Klinck off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Some accounts place this on the 7th, so the incident is listed on that page, too.

German battleship Bismarck exits the Kiel Canal and docks at Deutsche Werke (Dock C) at Kiel. She is to be supplied for a raiding expedition, including two Arado Ar-196 floatplanes. The hull is given striped camouflage paint.

German cruiser Admiral Scheer refuels from German tanker Nordmark in the South Atlantic.

Convoy OB 295 departs from Liverpool.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Quinte is launched in British Columbia.

U-204 (Oberleutnant zur See Walter Kell) is commissioned, U-372 is launched, U-463 is laid down.

Soviet submarine K-54 is launched.

Damage to Garland's Hotel SW1, Suffolk Street, 8 March 1941. The hotel is hit by a single high explosive bomb at 21:46, trapping many people inside.  There are three deaths and three other casualties. Later raids finished off the hotel. Copyright Westminster City Archives.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Another German/Italian convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli. The four freighters (Alicante, Arcturus, Wachtfels, and Rialto), which are heavily escorted, carry additional units of the Wehrmacht's 5th Light Division.

The British, meanwhile, are busy sending troops and equipment out of North Africa. Today, two British freighters (Clan Macauley and Cingalese) loaded with tanks and other equipment arrive in Piraeus, Greece. The German consulate in Piraeus overlooks the harbor, and the Wehrmacht knows exactly what is happening. Convoy AS 17 heads in the other direction, back toward Alexandria. Convoy ANF 18, meanwhile, leaves Alexandria. This will be a very busy sea lane for some time. Battleships HMS Valiant and Barham depart Suda Bay, Crete to cover the convoys.

The German mines in the Suez Canal claim another victim. This time it is a minesweeping boat, HMS Dart. There are two deaths, with the other two men badly wounded.

Egyptian 1116 ton tanker Star of Mex runs aground near Ras Assaz. It is towed off and proceeds to Alexandria for repairs.

Battle of the Pacific: In London, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies meets with the Admiralty leadership at Whitehall. He confides to his diary the general attitude of the officers there regarding the reinforcement of the Far East:

The real truth, which we are all beginning to see, is that air reinforcements to Singapore and the Far East is the great deterrent (apart from USA) to Japan. The [Japanese pilot] is reported to be a poor airman. Even on the naval side, the Second Sea Lord (Phillips) said British fleet would be happy to attack with only 60% of the Japanese Force. The Japanese experience in China seems to point to a similar state of affairs in the Army!

The "Phillips" mentioned by Menzies is Rear Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. He will lose his life on 8 December 1941 when the "poor Japanese airmen" sink his battleship.

In addition, Menzies gives the Admiralty leave to place priority on the Mediterranean Theater at the expense of the Far East should the Japanese attack. This is due to the major commitment of Australian and New Zealand ground forces in the region.

West Indian-born bandleader Ken Johnson aka "Snakehips" is decapitated by the blast at the Cafe de Paris during a performance of the Andrew Sisters' "Oh Johnny, Oh, Johnny, Oh!"

German Military: Admiral Raeder confers with Adolf Hitler. Raeder, a prime proponent of the "Peripheral Strategy" against Great Britain, tells Hitler that northwest Africa - colonized by Vichy France - is the likely spot for a US invasion should the US enter the war.

Soviet Military: The Stavka orders mobilization of 900,000 reservists from 15 May 1941 to 20 October 1941.

US Military: The War Department awards contracts for the construction of aircraft plants to Fort Worth, Kansas City, and Tulsa. One of the government's primary considerations is that all three cities are well inland, as required by the military. Consolidated will take over the plant in Fort Worth. It states that the plant in Fort Worth, where it has been mulling building for some time, would be adequate to build a plane that would dwarf the B-24. Construction at all three sites is rushed.

US Government: The US Senate passes the Lend-Lease Bill ("An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States") with a 60-31 vote. The Bill now has passed both houses of Congress, but the bills passed by each is slightly different. The differences must be resolved in a joint Senate-House conference, and then sent back to each House for passage by each of the final Lend-Lease Bill. The amount of the funds authorized by the act is $1.3 billion.

Television is cutting-edge technology, and the government is at the stage of setting basic standards for purposes of uniformity. The National Television System Committee (NTSC) adopts 525 lines of resolution and 30 frames per second as the standard. This recommendation now goes to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for consideration.

While Germany is continuing its development of television broadcasts using the public airwaves, Great Britain has suspended all broadcasts for the duration of the war. This is because the British fear the signals will serve as homing beacons for Luftwaffe bombers. For comparison, the pre-war British standard was 405 lines and the French standard was 455 lines. In Germany, where broadcasts continue during the war, the standard is 441 lines. Thus, the US standard is the highest at this point among the early television pioneers.

SS Comliebank, one of the five freighters in Convoy ANF 18 departing Alexandria today bound for Piraeus.

China: The Western Hupei Operation continues along the Yangtze River. The Japanese 13th Infantry Division of the 11th Army continues expanding from its bridgehead south and west of the river. As desired by the Japanese, the Chinese (Kuomintang) are withdrawing back on Chunking.

Dutch Homefront: The German occupation forces continue clamping down on the citizenry following the February General Strike. They proclaim martial law.

British Homefront: In Liverpool, Corporal James Patrick Scully of the Royal Pioneer Corps spends hours digging people out of a bombed-out building. He ultimately receives the George Cross.

American Homefront: Philadelphia Phillies All-Star pitcher Hugh Mulcahy is drafted. He is the first major leaguer to be drafted. While the rules state that time in service is set at one year, those will be extended after Pearl Harbor. Mulcahy finally will return to the diamond until July 1945, but his promising career effectively is over.

Warner Bros. releases "Footsteps in the Dark," directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall and Alan Hale. While the critics like it, "Footsteps in the Dark" does poorly at the box office.

The Australian Women's Weekly, Saturday 8 March 1941.

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