CBI - China: Day 78 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1937 — , March 19
Spain: Day 246 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , March 19
Spain: Day 611 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 256 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 41 of 124 of the Battle of Henan.
1939 — , March 19
UK: The British reject Stalin's call for a five-nation pact against Hitler saying, due to the lack of available personnel they are examining an alternative scheme.
Spain: Day 976 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 621 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 3 of 54 of the Battle of Nanchang.
1940 — , March 19
UK: The British House of Commons debates their lack of action during the Winter War (Russo-Finnish War) and blames their Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who notes that Finland never officially requested any military aid.
France: The French Parliament criticizes Prime Minister Daladier for their inaction during the Winter War. Daladier resigns after a vote of "no confidence" is passed.
Atlantic: German sub U-19 sinks Danish steamer MINSK in the Moray Firth, Scotland. U-19 strikes again, sinking Danish steamer CHARKOW, killing the entire crew.
Atlantic: British destroyer HMS JERVIS collides with Swedish steamer TOR northeast of Blyth, England. She will be under repair until July 1940.
ETO - Germany: In retaliation for the Scapa Flow raid, the RAF bombs the Hornum seaplane base on Sylt Island, Germany.
CBI - China: Day 987 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 126 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
Day 52 of 67 of the Battle of Wuyuan.
1941 — , March 19
USA: The 99th Pursuit Squadron is activated, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black unit of the Army Air Corp.
Spotlight...
The first class of Tuskegee cadets reviewed, 1941
The 99th Pursuit Squadron would later be renamed the 99th Fighter Squadron.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, African-Americans in many US states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws. The American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army. Despite these adversities, they trained and flew with distinction.
Tuskegee Airmen related dates...
19 Mar 41: 99th Pursuit Squadron is activated
30 May 43: Tuskegee Airmen see their first combat action
24 Mar 45: Tuskegee Airmen shoot down 3 ME-262 German jets
UK: Mass-produced vegetable casseroles go on sale in Britain for 8 pence per pound.
Atlantic: Churchill forms the "Battle of the Atlantic" committee in order to afford the highest level of coordination against the U-boat menace.
Atlantic: German sub U-105 sinks Dutch ship MANDALIKA 350 miles west of Nouakchott, Mauritania, French West Africa. 62 survivors are rescued by British corvette HMS MARGUERITE.
ETO - UK: Day 195 of 258 of the Blitz. 750 people are killed in London and several ships, including the anti-aircraft ship HMS HELVELLYN, are sunk or damaged in the London docks.
MTO - Yugoslavia: Hitler gives Prince Paul of Yugoslavia an ultimatum, asking him to join the Tripartite Pact within five days or face an invasion.
MTO - Italy: The German Naval staff complains to the Italians about their lack of effort to intercept British convoys going to Greece.
MTO - Libya: Hitler tells Rommel not to expect reinforcements in Libya until May when the German 15th Panzer Division will be assigned to him.
[+] show related dates
Related dates (Rommel)...
06 Feb 41: Lt Gen Rommel appointed commander of the Afrika Korps
12 Feb 41: Rommel arrives in Tripoli with his Afrika Korps
19 Mar 41: Hitler tells Rommel not to expect reinforcements in Libya until May
24 Mar 41: Rommel begins his North African offensive
15 Aug 41: Panzer Group Afrika is activated with Rommel in command
17 Nov 41: British mission to kill Rommel fails because he is away in Rome
22 Jun 42: Rommel is promoted to the rank of Field Marshal
03 Nov 42: Hitler orders Rommel's Afrika Korps to stand and fight
09 Mar 43: Rommel leaves North Africa for reasons of health
11 Mar 43: Rommel receives Diamonds to his Knight's Cross medal
12 Dec 43: Rommel takes command of northern coastal defenses
15 May 44: Rommel invited to anti-Hitler meeting, but does not attend
05 Jun 44: Rommel goes back to Germany for his wife's birthday
29 Jun 44: Rommel urges Hitler to pursue peace, which he rejects
15 Jul 44: Rommel writes to Hitler, again urging he sue for peace
17 Jul 44: Rommel is wounded when his staff car is strafed
14 Oct 44: By Hitler's order, Rommel is forced to commit suicide
18 Oct 44: Funeral service is held for Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
East Africa: Day 283 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
East Africa - Eritrea: Day 43 of 56 of the Battle of Keren.
CBI - China: Day 1,352 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 6 of 27 of the Battle of Shanggao.
CBI - Thailand: Day 170 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , March 19
UK: Home Secretary Herbert Morrison threatens to shut down the Daily Mirror for publishing a "wicked cartoon" that was "lowering the morale of the armed forces and the general public." Censorship laws regarding cartoons, obituaries and even football scores generate widespread complaints throughout Britain and forces a debate on the issue in the House of Commons.
Spotlight...
"The price of petrol has been increased by one penny."
This cartoon, drawn by Philip Zec, was published in the Daily Mirror on March 5, 1942. Winston Churchill believed that the cartoon suggested that the sailor's life had been put at stake to enhance the profits of the petrol companies.
In the House of Commons, Herbert Morrison, the Home Secretary, called it a "wicked cartoon" and Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, argued that Zec's work was "lowering the morale of the armed forces and the general public." Zec's cartoon was described as "worthy of Goebbels at his best."
Morrison told the newspaper's editor that "only a very unpatriotic editor could pass it for publication" and that "only a fool or someone with a diseased mind could be responsible" for allowing the Daily Mirror to publish such material.
Atlantic: Day 65 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
U-332 sinks US freighter LIBERATOR off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
Russian Front - North: Day 193 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad. German troops begin attacking partisan bases around Yelnya and Dorogobuzh.
Russian Front - North: Day 40 of 102 of the Battle of the Demyansk Pocket, another failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad. SS police troops begin attacking Russian villages.
Russian Front - North: Day 56 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket. Another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 71 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 71 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 17 of 49 of the Battle of Rzhev, Russia, a diversion to pull more German troops away from Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 141 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. All German attacks against Sevastopol are shut down for the winter.
CBI - Burma: Day 96 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma. Japanese troops capture Pyu. Allied troops hold the Toungoo section of the Burma Road.
CBI - China: Day 1,717 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 86 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
PTO - Borneo: Day 94 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
PTO - Malaya: Day 29 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
PTO - Philippines: Day 102 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines. 5th Air Force provides air support.
1943 — , March 19
ETO: The new radiolocation system ASV III is used over the Bay of Biscay off France by RAF bombers.
Germany: Colonel Rudolf von Gersdorff attempts to assassinate Hitler using a suicide bomb but Hitler leaves the show he was attending earlier than expected, which foils the plan.
Russian Front - North: Day 558 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 38 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 319 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 18 of 30 of the 3rd Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 123 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support. Day 4 of 12 of the UK's Operation PUGILIST in southern Tunisia. The British 8th Army begin their main attack on the Mareth line, penetrating the line near Zarat.
CBI - Burma: Day 89 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support. As a test, a P-40 uses a 1,000-lb BLOCKBUSTER bomb on the bridge near Mogaung, to see if a fighter can even carry these.
CBI - Burma: Day 40 of 79 of the Allied Operation LONGCLOTH.
CBI - China: Day 2,082 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
The China Air Task Force is incorporated into the US 14th Air Force. Today's targets are in French Indochina.
PTO - Alaska: Day 286 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - Formosa: The Japanese passenger ship, TAKACHIHI MARU, is sunk. More than 1,200 perish, mainly Japanese and Taiwanese civilians. This becomes Formosa's (Taiwan's) worst sea disaster.
1944 — , March 19
ETO - France: US 8th Air Force B-17s bomb V-weapon sites at Wizernes and Watten.
ETO - France: US 9th Air Force B-26s and A-20s attack V-weapon targets in the Saint-Omer area during the morning and afternoon.
Russian Front - North: Day 47 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 87 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 16 of 45 of the Battle of Chernovtsy, Ukraine. Soviet troops capture Mogilev, Podolski and Vinnitsa.
Russian Front - South: Day 14 of 44 of the Battle of Snigirevka, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: German troops enter and occupy Hungary. About 750,000 Hungarian Jews, who have so far remained unmolested by the Germans, are about to experience a real nightmare.
MTO - Italy: Day 2 of 6 of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Flames shoot up thousands of feet in the air underneath a massive black cloud. A stream of lava flows toward Naples, destroying everything in its path.
MTO: US 12th and 15th Air Forces begin Operation STRANGLE, which is a series of attacks on German transportation routes feeding into Rome. This operation doesn't end until Rome falls to the Allies.
MTO - Italy: US 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb several targets in Austria and Yugoslavia.
MTO - Italy: Day 63 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops. Lt Gen Edson Burns takes command of the Canadian 1st Corps.
MTO - Italy: Day 58 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
MTO - Algeria: Former Vichy French Interior Minister Pierre Pucheu is killed in Algiers.
CBI - Burma: Day 81 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - Burma: Day 15 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY. The Chinese 66th Regiment captures Jambu Bum ridge.
CBI - Burma: Day 10 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,448 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force hits targets in China.
CBI - India: Day 12 of 118 of the Battle of Imphal-Kohima. The Japanese continue pushing into India.
PTO: US 7th Air Force attacks targets on Wake Island and in the Marshalls.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 20 of 80 of the Battle of the Admiralty Islands. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 183 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 96 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. 5th Air Force provides air support. US Marines land unopposed on Emirau Island.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 140 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
1945 — , March 19
ETO - France: France signs an economic pact with the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
ETO - France: Day 232 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 186 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO: Day 60 of 66 of the Battle to the Rhine. Day 14 of 20 of the Battle of Ramagen. US 7th Army captures Worms.
ETO - Germany: Day 13 of 46 of the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
ETO - Germany: Day 28 of 36 consecutive RAF night raids on Berlin.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force bombs airfields and industrial targets in Germany.
Russian Front: Hitler issues the Nero Decree, a scorched Earth policy to prevent any industry, utility, or transportation from being used by the advancing Allied and Soviet armies.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 186 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 156 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 54 of 75 of the Battle of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
Russian Front - Center: Day 7 of 10 of the Battle of Braunsberg, East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 53 of 63 of the Battle of the Heiligenbeil Pocket in East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 38 of 54 of the Battle of East Pomerania, Germany.
Russian Front - Center: Day 35 of 83 of the German Siege of Breslau (today Wroclaw, Poland).
Russian Front - Center: Day 5 of 17 of the USSR's Upper Silesian Offensive in Germany (today Poland).
Russian Front - South: Day 14 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 7 of 34 of the Battle of Vienna, Austria.
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 sinks a large freighter in the South China Sea and attacks trucks in French Indochina.
CBI - Burma: Day 60 of 61 of the Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay. The US 10th Air Force provides air support. The Japanese begin evacuating Mandalay.
CBI - Burma: Day 44 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 2,813 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: US 11th Air Force B-24s bomb the Kashiwabara naval base on Paramushiru Island while B-25s bomb canneries along the Masugawa and Asahigawa Rivers.
PTO - Japan: A kamikaze dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS FRANKLIN, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.
PTO - Japan: US Navy planes attack Osaka, Kobe and the Kure naval base southwest of Tokyo. During the raids, they destroy a submarine under construction and damage the light carriers RYUHO and HOSHO.
PTO - Japan: US 7th Air Force attacks targets on Chichi Jima Island.
PTO - Japan: Day 29 of 36 of the Battle of Iwo Jima. US 7th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 448 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 332 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 151 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 95 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 10 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 2 of 135 of the Battle of the Visayas region. 5th Air Force provides air support.
1947 — , March 19
Luxembourg: General George Patton's remains are moved to a different grave site within the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial in Hamm, Luxembourg.
[+] show related dates
Patton related dates...
04 Apr 41: Promoted to Major General (shows full promotions table)
06 Mar 43: Named the commanding officer of the US II Corps
Spotlight...
