Italy: The Blackshirt combat legions in Italy are attached to Mussolini's various army divisions.
1933 — , March 29
CBI - China: Day 88 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1935 — , March 29
USA: The US House of Representatives passes bill HR 4016 which provides the US Marine Corps the same system of promotion and retirement as that of the US Navy.
1936 — , March 29
Germany: In a national referendum to obtain public support for the occupation of the Rhineland and approval of a single party list composed exclusively by Nazi candidates for the new Reichstag, over 98% of Germans turnout to vote. An unknown vote counting procedure, however, has been slipped in: If a voter doesn't write "no" alongside a candidate's name, then that vote is counted as a "yes" for the Nazi candidate.
Spotlight...
Propaganda even in the voting booth, with a poster instructing voters how to vote "Yes" on the referendum to show support for the annexation of Austria into greater Germany.
Note the huge circle for marking a "yes" vote and a very small one for a "no" vote.
People will give up an incredible amount of freedom as long as some form of their lost liberty is maintained. The Nazis were no different than dictatorial regimes before and since, regularly holding thinly veiled elections and referendums to show the world how loved they are.
Through intimidation, coercion and fraudulent vote counting, the results were never a surprise. Officials would even look directly over voters' shoulders to make sure they voted "correctly" and would even take them directly into custody for casting an "incorrect" vote.
Even Saddam Hussein was proud to get 100% of voter approval in 2002.
Related WWII Store items...
The Nazi Voter: The Social Foundations of Fascism in Germany, 1919-1933
1937 — , March 29
Spain: Day 256 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , March 28
Spain: Day 621 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 266 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 51 of 124 of the Battle of Henan.
Day 6 of 15 of the Battle of Taierzhuang.
Day 6 of 39 of the Battle of Xuzhou.
1939 — , March 29
Spain: All hostilities of the 985-day Spanish Civil War, which ended yesterday, have finally ceased.
Eastern Front: Day 7 of 13 of the Slovak-Hungarian War, aka the Little War.
CBI - China: Day 631 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 13 of 54 of the Battle of Nanchang.
1940 — , March 29
Atlantic: British armed merchant cruiser HMS TRANSYLVANIA intercepts German freighter MIMI HORN between Iceland and Greenland. The MIMI HORN's crew scuttles the ship to prevent enemy capture.
Soviet Union: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov declares the USSR neutral in the on-going European War.
CBI - China: Day 997 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 136 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
Day 62 of 67 of the Battle of Wuyuan. Additional Chinese troops are brought in.
1941 — , March 29
Atlantic: German sub U-48 attacks an Allied convoy 120 miles south of Iceland, sinking 3 freighters.
Atlantic: German sub U-46 sinks Swedish ship LIGURIA 300 miles southwest of Iceland.
ETO - UK: Day 205 of 258 of the Blitz.
ETO - France: A Commissariat for Jewish Affairs is set up in Vichy France, placing Xavier Vallat at its helm.
MTO - Greece: In the Mediterranean, Day 2 of 2 of the sea Battle of Cape Matapan. The British end up sinking three of Italy's cruisers, the POLA, the ZARA and the FIUME.
MTO - Libya: After 3 days of sandstorms, German troops resume their advance, engaging the British between El Agheila and Mersa Brega.
East Africa: Day 293 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt. In Abyssinia, the South African 1st Brigade captures the railway town of Diredawa and its airfield.
East Africa - Eritrea: Day 53 of 56 of the Battle of Keren.
CBI - China: Day 1,362 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 16 of 27 of the Battle of Shanggao.
CBI - Thailand: Day 180 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , March 29
Atlantic: Day 75 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
U-160 sinks US ship CITY OF NEW YORK east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
Escorts of an Allied Arctic convoy fend off a German destroyer attack, sinking one of Hitler's ships.
ETO - Germany: RAF bombers attack Lübeck, destroying 30% of the city.
Russian Front - North: Day 203 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 50 of 102 of the Battle of the Demyansk Pocket, another failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 66 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket. Another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 81 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 81 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 27 of 49 of the Battle of Rzhev, Russia, a diversion to pull more German troops away from Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 151 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula.
CBI - Burma: Day 106 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma. Japanese troops capture Toungoo as the Chinese retreat northward.
CBI - China: Day 1,727 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 96 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
PTO - Borneo: Day 104 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
PTO - Malaya: Day 39 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
PTO - Philippines: Day 112 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines. 5th Air Force provides air support. The Hukbalahaps, an armed Filipino communist resistance group, is formed.
1943 — , March 29
USA: Meat rationing begins in the US and is set at 2½ lbs (44 oz) per week per adult.
Spotlight...
Where's the Beef?
The military needed huge amounts of food to feed soldiers, and by late 1942 food at home was running short. Grocery stores started rationing canned goods to customers to prevent hoarding. Meat was in especially short supply. The government limited the amounts shipped to grocers and restaurants and set a "voluntary ration" of 2½ lbs of red meat per adult per week.
But stores often could not get even that much, and residents of some cities faced meatless holidays. Shoppers in San Diego crossed the border into Mexico in search of full shelves. Time magazine blamed government "blundering" for the shortages.
Lining up at the Rationing Board office, New Orleans, 1943
Although the United States did not have food rationing in World War I, it relied heavily on propaganda campaigns to persuade the public to moderate their food consumption. Through slogans such as "Food Will Win the War," "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays," the United States Food Administration under Herbert Hoover reduced national consumption by 15%.
ETO: Hitler orders the construction of large missile launch sites on the French coast.
Russian Front - North: Day 568 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 48 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 329 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 28 of 30 of the 3rd Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 133 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support. Day 7 of 16 of the Battle of El Guettar. New Zealand troops capture Gabès while Axis troops evacuate out of El Hamma.
CBI: US 14th Air Force attacks targets in Burma and China.
CBI - Burma: Day 99 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support. Under heavy pressure, British and Indian troops begin to withdraw from Arakan in western Burma.
CBI - Burma: Day 50 of 79 of the Allied Operation LONGCLOTH.
CBI - China: Day 2,092 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 296 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. US 11th Air Force heavy and medium bombers, with fighters, bomb and strafe the runway and nearby Main Camp area on Kiska Island.
PTO - New Guinea: US 5th Air Force B-l7s bomb the Gasmata Airfield and the Mur-Weber Point area. US fighter Ace, Dick Bong, gets his 9th kill.
[+] show related dates
Dick Bong related dates...
09 Jan 42: Receives wings, commissioned 2nd Lieutenant
12 Jun 42: Reprimanded, grounded for reckless flying
10 Sep 42: Assigned to 9th Fighter Squadron, Australia
27 Dec 42: Shoots down his first two Japanese planes
07 Jan 43: Shoots down his 3rd and 4th Japanese planes
08 Jan 43: Gets 5th Japanese plane, becoming an Ace
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s bomb at Brunswick, Unterluss and Stedorf.
Russian Front - North: Day 57 of 191 of the Battle of the Narva Isthmus, Estonia. Both German and Soviet troops in the Baltic region remain in a defensive position.
Russian Front - South: Day 97 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 26 of 45 of the Battle of Chernovtsy, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 5 of 15 of the Battle of Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 24 of 44 of the Battle of Snigirevka, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 4 of 20 of the Battle of Odessa, Ukraine.
MTO - Italy: Day 73 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. Bad weather keeps both sides fairly idle.
MTO - Italy: Day 68 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. Bad weather keeps both sides fairly idle.
CBI - Burma: Day 91 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - Burma: Day 25 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY. Japanese troops continue attacking the BROADWAY site.
CBI - Burma: Day 20 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support. Day 2 of 10 of an action at Nhpum Ga Ridge by the infamous "Merrill's Marauders" against 1,300 Japanese.
CBI - China: Day 2,458 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force attacks targets China.
CBI - India: Day 22 of 118 of the Battle of Imphal-Kohima.
PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force attack targets in the Marshalls.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 30 of 80 of the Battle of the Admiralty Islands. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 193 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 106 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Palau Islands: The US Navy bombards the Palau Islands destroying 150 planes, six naval vessels and 100,000 tons of shipping.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 150 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , March 29
USA: Franklin Roosevelt visits Hyde Park, New York, and the Franklin D Roosevelt Library, for what will be his last time.
ETO - UK: British anti-aircraft gunners shoot down a V-1 flying bomb near Suffolk.
ETO - France: Day 242 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 196 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 23 of 46 of the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. US 3rd Army captures Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. US 7th Army takes Mannheim. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 196 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 166 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 64 of 75 of the Battle of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
Russian Front - Center: Day 63 of 63 of the Battle of the Heiligenbeil Pocket in East Prussia. Some of the Germans are able to evacuate this area, but many are taken POW.
Russian Front - Center: Day 48 of 54 of the Battle of East Pomerania, Germany. The 1st Belorussian Front captures the fortress town of Küstrin.
Russian Front - Center: Day 45 of 83 of the German Siege of Breslau (today Wroclaw, Poland).
Russian Front - Center: Day 15 of 17 of the USSR's Upper Silesian Offensive in Germany (today Poland).
Russian Front - South: Day 4 of 21 of the Battle of Nagykanizsa-Körmend, western Hungary. The Soviets seize the oil fields south of Komorn.
Russian Front - South: Day 17 of 34 of the Battle of Vienna, Austria.
MTO - Italy: RAF and US Air Forces provide air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI: US 14th Air Force attacks targets throughout China, Burma, and French Indochina.
CBI - Burma: Day 54 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 2,823 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Malaya: US 20th Air Force B-29s night bomb oil storage facilities on Bukum Island.
PTO - Alaska: US 11th Air Force B-24s bomb Kataoka naval base on Shimushu Island.
PTO - Caroline Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs targets on Dublon Island in Truk Atoll.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 458 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 342 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 161 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 105 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 20 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 12 of 135 of the Battle of the Visayas region. 5th Air Force provides air support.
1947 — , March 29
Poland: The trial against Rudolf Höss at the Supreme National Tribunal of Poland ends. Höss, who was first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is found guilty, sentenced to death and will be hanged on 16 Apr 47.
Day-By-Day listings for March 29 were last modified on Friday, February 23, 2018
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