Germany: A Presidential election takes place in Germany. Hitler receives 30.1% of the votes, Hindenburg receives 49.6% and communist Ernst Thalmann receives 13.2%. Since no one receives the required 50% of the vote, a second election will be held on April 10th, which Hindenburg will win with 53%.
1933 — , March 13
Germany: Joseph Goebbels is named the Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, a cabinet-level position.
CBI - China: Day 72 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1937 — , March 13
Spain: Day 240 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , March 13
Germany: Hitler proclaims the Anschluss (union) and declares that Austria is now the Ostmark, a province of the Third Reich. The SS is placed in charge of Jewish affairs in Austria.
USSR: A Soviet decree makes teaching the Russian language a compulsory subject in all schools across the Soviet Union.
Spain: Day 605 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 250 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 35 of 124 of the Battle of Henan.
1939 — , March 13
Germany: Hitler once again demands that Jozef Tiso declare Slovakian independence from Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, Hungary moves troops to the Slovakian border should these negotiations fail.
Germany: The Gestapo raids the offices of the patriotic Pan-German League. A number of its leaders are arrested, their offices are sealed and the League is compelled to close.
Spain: Day 970 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 615 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1940 — , March 13
ETO - UK: In London, Punjabi rebel Udham Singh assassinates Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the former British governor of Punjab, a small nation northwest of India.
ETO - Norway: The British troops who were already on the ships to go to Norway begin disembarking without ever having left port.
Finland: Day 105 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War, aka the Winter War. The signed peace treaty between Russia and Finland is to take effect at 1100 hours, however, in a last ditch effort, the fighting steps up to a whole new level.
MTO - Italy: Joachim von Ribbentrop informs the Italians that Hitler would like to push the date of the upcoming Brenner Pass meeting with Benito Mussolini up to 18 Mar 40.
CBI - China: Day 981 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 120 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
Day 46 of 67 of the Battle of Wuyuan.
1941 — , March 13
Atlantic: 400 miles north of the Azores, the HMS SCARBOROUGH intercepts two Norwegian whalers STAR XIX and STAR XXIV, which had earlier been captured by the Germans. Both ships are scuttled.
ETO - UK: Day 189 of 258 of the Blitz. The Luftwaffe bombs Clydebank, near Glasgow, Scotland, and hits Liverpool again.
Germany: Hitler appoints Alfred Rosenberg the minister of the eastern occupied territories while all new conquests will be assigned to Heinrich Himmler.
MTO - Yugoslavia: Germany repeats their demand for Yugoslavia to join the Axis alliance.
MTO - Libya: Erwin Rommel moves his headquarters to Sirte.
East Africa: Day 277 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
East Africa - Eritrea: Day 37 of 56 of the Battle of Keren.
CBI - China: Day 1,346 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Thailand: Day 164 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , March 13
USA: The US Army creates the K-9 Corps to train dogs to preform sentry duty at supply depots.
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K-9s on Iwo Jima Great assets with abilities to find snipers and serve as speedy messengers
In January 1942, members of the American Kennel Club and other dog lovers formed a civilian organization called Dogs for Defense. They intended to train dogs to perform sentry duty for the army along the coast of the United States. Aware of this effort, Lieutenant Colonel Clifford C Smith, chief of the Plant Protection Branch, Inspection Division, Quartermaster Corps, met with his commander, Major General Edmund B Gregory, and suggested that the Army use the sentry dogs at supply depots. Gregory gave his approval to an experimental program, and on March 13, 1942, Under Secretary of War Robert P Patterson approved Gregory's application and created the K-9 Corps.
The K-9 Corps initially accepted for training thirty-two breeds of dogs. By 1944, however, that list had been reduced to seven: German Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Belgian Sheep Dogs, Siberian huskies, farm collies, Eskimo dogs, and Malamutes. Approximately 18,000 dogs reached training centers after examinations by Dogs for Defense. Almost 8,000 of those animals failed exams given at the centers. Reasons for dismissal included excitability when exposed to noise or gunfire, disease, poor sense of smell, and unsuitable temperament.
The Quartermaster Corps trained dog handlers as well as the dogs themselves. Normal training time for a dog was eight to twelve weeks. First the animals went through what might be called "basic training" to become accustomed to life in the military. Then the dogs received assignment to a specialized training program - sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs, or mine dogs.
The Quartermaster Corps established war dog platoons in March 1944 to assist American military forces conducting offensive operations in Europe and the Pacific. Of the fifteen such platoons organized, seven served in Europe and eight in the Pacific. It has been said that, in the latter theater, the Japanese never ambushed or made a surprise attack on a patrol led by one of the war dogs.
The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Trained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender. The wounded Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and the Purple Heart--all of which were later revoked due to an Army policy preventing official commendation of animals.
After World War II, the Military Police Corps took over responsibility for training military dogs. They have continued to serve with distinction in other conflicts. It is estimated that the Army employed 1,500 dogs during the Korean War and 4,000 in the Vietnam War. Currently, the Army has 578 dog teams which have seen service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The courage and loyalty of these dogs have continued to save lives and prevent injuries since creation of the K-9 Corps.
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USA: Three German spies in New York are sentenced to a total of 117 years imprisonment.
Atlantic: Day 59 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
U-332 sinks US schooner ALBERT F PAUL east of the Bahamas.
Barely offshore at Asbury Park, New Jersey, U-404 sinks the Chilean freighter TOLTEN.
Germany: 1,200 sick prisoners in the hospital at Auschwitz are transferred to the Birkenau camp, where they are killed and their bodies brought back to Auschwitz for cremation.
Germany: The Belzec Concentration Camp opens for operation receiving 6,000 Jews from Mielec, Poland.
Russian Front - North: Day 187 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 34 of 102 of the Battle of the Demyansk Pocket, another failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 50 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket. Another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 65 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 65 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 11 of 49 of the Battle of Rzhev, Russia, a diversion to pull more German troops away from Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 135 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. All German attacks against Sevastopol are shut down for the winter.
CBI - Burma: Day 90 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma.
CBI - China: Day 1,711 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 80 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
PTO: USS GAR sinks the Japanese cargo ship CHICHIUBU MARU off the coast of Japan.
PTO - Borneo: Day 88 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 6 of 6 of the 1st Battle of Lae-Salamaua. The Japanese have secured this section of the island and have driven out the few Australian defenders that had been guarding the area.
PTO - Malaya: Day 23 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
PTO - Philippines: Day 96 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines. 5th Air Force provides air support.
1943 — , March 13
USA: Saturday Evening Post magazine features Norman Rockwell's "Freedom from Fear" painting, the fourth of four depictions of FDR's 06 Jan 41 "Four Freedoms" speech.
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Norman Rockwell related dates...
06 Jan 41: FDR delivers his "Four Freedoms" speech to Congress
20 Feb 43: Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Speech is published
27 Feb 43: Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Worship is published
06 Mar 43: Norman Rockwell's Freedom from Want is published
13 Mar 43: Norman Rockwell's Freedom from Fear is published
29 May 43: Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter is published
ETO - France: US 8th Air Force B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Amiens.
Germany: A celebration takes place in Krakow, Poland, to celebrate the 2,000th transport of workers from Poland to Germany. The one-millionth forced laborer is "honored."
Russian Front: Anti-Nazi Wehrmacht officers attempt to assassinate Hitler by sneaking a bomb on board his plane returning form the Eastern Front, concealed in a package of two bottles of brandy. But luck favors Hitler and the British-made chemical pencil detonator on the bomb, which had been tested many times and was considered reliable, goes off, but the bomb does not.
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This photo of a 1943 briefing shows Colonel Henning von Tresckow (fourth from right) and his first cousin Lt Fabian von Schlabrendorff (far right, standing).
Tresckow had Schlabrendorff pass on the package containing the bomb hidden with two bottles of brandy to a passenger flying on Hitler's plane. The British-made chemical pencil detonator on the bomb (which had been tested many times and was considered reliable) went off, but the bomb did not explode.
Schlabrendorf flew to Berlin on hearing of the failure of the attempt and replaced the "gift" with two genuine bottles of brandy.
Schlabrendorff survived the war to become a renowned lawyer and judge at the German Federal Constitutional Court. Treskow, however, committed suicide following the failed 20 July 44 Stauffenberg bomb plot.
Russian Front - North: Day 552 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 32 of 51 of the USSR's Operation POLAR STAR, a failed offensive north of Leningrad, hoping to take the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, Russia.
Russian Front - North: Day 313 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - Center: Day 12 of 30 of the 3rd Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 23 of 25 of the 3rd Battle of Kharkov, Ukraine. The hot and heavy fighting continues.
MTO - Italy: US 9th Air Force B-24s bomb Naples harbor through heavy clouds.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 117 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 83 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support. One column of British Chindits is attacked by Japanese forces but it fails as their probing attack was too conservative.
CBI - Burma: Day 34 of 79 of the Allied Operation LONGCLOTH.
CBI - China: Day 2,076 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
A Chinese counter-attack pushes the Japanese troops back across the Yangtze River.
PTO - Alaska: Day 280 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. US 11th Air Force P-40s and P-38s strike the Kiska Island beach, camp and runway.
1944 — , March 13
Atlantic: US ships and British RAF planes sink German sub U-575 in the Atlantic Ocean.
ETO: The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom demand that Sweden stops selling ball bearings to Germany.
ETO - UK: US 8th Air Force commander James Doolittle is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General (three stars).
[+] show related dates
Doolittle related dates in WWII...
11 Mar 32: Doolittle sets world high speed land plane record
04 Apr 42: USS HORNET departs San Francisco for the Doolittle Raid
ETO - France: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s fail to bomb V-weapon sites in the area of the Pas de Calais due to bad weather, so they hit whatever targets of opportunity they can find.
ETO - France: US 9th Air Force B-26s attack a V-weapon site at Lottinghen/Les Grands Bois.
Germany: The Jewish ghetto of Kraków, Poland, is shut down as its residents are deported to the newly built Plaszów labor camp. 2,000 will die en route.
Russian Front - North: Day 41 of 191 of the Battle of the Narva Isthmus, Estonia. Both German and Soviet troops in the Baltic region go on the defensive.
Russian Front - South: Day 81 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 10 of 45 of the Battle of Chernovtsy, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 8 of 44 of the Battle of Snigirevka, Ukraine. Soviet troops capture Kherson in southern Ukraine.
MTO: Italy and the Soviet Union resume their diplomatic relations.
MTO - Italy: Day 57 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
MTO - Italy: Day 52 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
CBI - Burma: Day 75 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - Burma: Day 9 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY. British troops take the GOLDEN FORTRESS (Razabil).
CBI - Burma: Day 4 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,442 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force hits targets in China.
CBI - India: Day 6 of 118 of the Battle of Imphal-Kohima. Japanese troops invade India from northern Burma.
PTO: Submarine USS SANDLANCE sinks a Japanese troopship convoy en route to the Mariana Islands.
PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force attacks targets in the Marshalls.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 14 of 80 of the Battle of the Admiralty Islands. 5th Air Force provides air support. Hauwei Island is cleared of Japanese opposition and artillery is brought ashore.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 177 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. US 13th Air Force provides air support. The Battle of Hill 700 ends as Japanese troops halt their failed attacks against US positions. Australian troops capture Bogodjim.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 90 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 134 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , March 13
ETO - France: Day 226 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 180 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO: Day 54 of 66 of the Battle to the Rhine. Day 8 of 20 of the Battle of Ramagen. US 3rd and 7th Armies advance toward the Rhine River. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
ETO - Germany: Day 7 of 46 of the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. The British and Canadian troops have now established a strong foothold inside Germany.
ETO - Germany: Day 22 of 36 consecutive RAF night raids on Berlin. The RAF test-drops their 22,000 pound Grand Slam bomb. The RAF also bombs Swinemünde north of Stettin (Poland), a major port of disembarkation for German refugees from eastern Germany, killing hundreds of civilians.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 180 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
Russian Front - Center: Day 150 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 48 of 75 of the Battle of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
Russian Front - Center: Day 47 of 63 of the Battle of the Heiligenbeil Pocket in East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 1 of 10 of the Battle of Braunsberg, East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 32 of 54 of the Battle of East Pomerania, Germany. Himmler abandons his command, claiming he is sick.
Russian Front - Center: Day 29 of 83 of the German Siege of Breslau (today Wroclaw, Poland).
Russian Front - Center: Day 10 of 15 of the Battle of Kolberg, Germany (today Kolobrzeg, Poland).
Russian Front - South: Day 8 of 11 of the failed German Operation FRÜHLINGSERWACHEN (Spring Awakening) at Lake Balaton, Hungary. The idea was to destroy their oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 8 of 16 of the Battle of Drava (a river in Bulgaria). Germans attack the Bulgarians, hoping to distract the Soviet advance on Berlin.
Russian Front - South: Day 1 of 34 of the Battle of Vienna, Austria. Soviet and Bulgarian troops begin advancing toward Vienna.
MTO: US 15th Air Force bombs targets in Germany and Austria.
MTO - Italy: RAF and US Air Forces provide air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI: US 14th Air Force attacks targets in French Indochina, China and in the South China Sea.
CBI - Burma: Day 54 of 61 of the Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay. The US 10th Air Force provides air support. A surprise armored thrust by the British cuts off 3,000 Japanese in Mandalay.
CBI - Burma: Day 38 of 99 of the Battle of Pakokku and Irrawaddy River operations in central Burma. The US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,807 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO: US 7th Air Force attacks targets in the Caroline Islands and against the Susaki Airfield on Chichi Jima Island. During the night they hit Susaki again.
PTO - Japan: US 20th Air Force B-29s bombs the industrial city of Osaka for the first time, destroying over 8 square miles of city.
PTO - Japan: Day 23 of 36 of the Battle of Iwo Jima. US 7th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 442 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 326 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 145 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 89 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 4 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. 5th Air Force provides air support.
Day-By-Day listings for March 13 were last modified on Monday, March 12, 2018
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