March 5th 1943, Germany. The British start a 4-month offensive against the Ruhr. 367 bombers strike the Krupp factories at Essen in the first attack. 14 planes are lost. March 6th – March 9th 1943, Tunisia. German troops try to interrupt general Montgomery’s preparations for his last offensive at Medenine, attacking in a wide front. But the British successfully repel the attack. The German C.-in-C., marshal Erwin Rommel, sick and demoralised, abandons Africa. March 6th – March 20th 1943, Atlantic Ocean. The Battle of the Atlantic reach its climax, the Germans are in the edge of victory: 20 U-boats attack convoys HX-229 and SC-122, 21 ships are lost against 1 submarine. The Allies cannot afford this kind of losses. March 13th 1943, Germany. Unsuccessful attempt on Hitler’s life by German officers who put a bomb in Hitler’s plane but fails to explode. March 14th 1943, Soviet Union. After the vanguard of the Soviet III Tank Army reaches the Dónets River, field marshal Erich von Manstein’s forces encircle and destroy it. The Red Army withdraws from 9.500 square-kilometres of just conquered territory. Von Manstein’s brilliant offensive prevents the backbone of the Wehrmacht from being broken and the entire collapse of the German position in the Southern Soviet Union. March 15th – March 31st 1943, Soviet Union. Army Group ‘Don’ re-conquers Khárkov and Belgorod. The Soviet Voronezh Front withdraws to the Dónets. Von Manstein’s final offensive phase —a combined attack from Orel to Kursk— is halted by spring snow-melting. A 160-kilometres salient around Kursk is formed, which contains half million Soviet troops. March 20th – March 28th 1943, Tunisia. General Sir Bernard Montgomery launches an attack against the German fortified ‘Mareth Line’, whose main defences at Wadi Zigzaou are pierced on the 21st and 22nd, but the 15th Panzer division successfully counterattacks. Montgomery then flanks the line from the left and by the 26th all Axis forces have withdrawn northwards, to the plains of El Hamma. The weak Germans withdraw to Wadi Akarit whilst many Italian units surrender. March 26th 1943, Bering Sea. At the Battle of Kommandorsky Isles, 2 American cruisers and 4 destroyers fight against 4 Japanese cruisers and 5 destroyers. The Japanese withdraw before being able to exploit their numerical superiority. Both sides have a cruiser damaged. March 27th 1943, Tunisia. General Sir Harold Alexander sends the 34th American infantry division to take Foundouk Pass, but German artillery prevents it and halts the advance. March 30th 1943, Arctic Ocean. Great Britains stops her convoys to the Soviet Union because she is unable to provide enough escorts and because of the losses are extremely high.
March 1st 1944, Burma. The 16th Chindit brigade crosses River Chindwin while Chinese forces and ‘Merrill’s Marauders’ under lieutenant general Joseph ‘Vinegar’ Stilwell advance towards Myitkyina. March 2nd 1944, Turkey. The Allies suspend all help to Turkey, due to her government’s reluctance to help the Allied war effort. March 5th – March 11th 1944, Burma. The 87th Chindit brigade of brigadier Mike Calvert starts landing in gliders on Kaukkwe Valley, on spots codenamed ‘Broadway’ and ‘Piccadilly’. 35 out of 61 gliders completed the mission, but by March 11th, Calvert’s whole brigade had landed successfully. March 7th – March 8th 1944, Burma. ‘Operation U-Go’, the Japanese offensive to expel the Allies from Burma, through the destruction of their bases at Kohima and Imphal start with movements made to cut the roads of Tiddim and Imphal. The Japanese 33rd division is to isolate the 17th Indian division and force the British to send reserves to rescue it. Japanese divisions 31st and 15th cross the Chindwin River in the north and head towards Kohima and Imphal. March 8th 1944, Germany. 590 planes from the US VIII Air Force attacks the Erker factories in Berlin, it is the third attack in which P-51 fighters act as escorts. 35 planes are lost. March 11th 1944, Soviet Union. General Rodion Malinovski’s II Ukrainian Front reaches the River Bug, pushing back the VIII German Army. The Germans expect to use the river as a last line of defence before the Vistula. March 11th – March 12th 1944, Burma. In the north of the country, the Allies reconquer Buthidaung and surround and take the Japanese fortress of Razabil. March 15th – March 16th 1944, Burma. Japanese divisions 15th and 31st cross the Chindwin River between Homalin and Thaungdut and advance to cut the motorway Imphal-Kohima. March 15th – March 17th, Italy. The VIII Century monastery at Monte Cassino is bombed and destroyed by the Allies. The 2nd New Zealander division attacks and takes hill 193. In the afternoon the 4th Indian division takes hill 165 but all attacks are frustrated on the next day. On the 17th, however, the Kiwis take the rail station at Cassino. March 18th 1944, Soviet Union. The II Ukrainian Front reaches the Dniéster River and makes a bridgehead at Mogilev Podolski, splitting German Army Group ‘South’ in two and reaching the Romanian border. March 19th 1944, Hungary. As the Red Army approaches, Hitler sends troops to occupy the country. Admiral Miklós Hórthy is forced to appoint a pro-nazi prime minister. The Hungarian Army takes control over the transportation system and authorities are forced to co-operate in the task of the SS of deportation of all Jews. March 19th 1944, Italy. Unsuccessfull German counterattack against Hill 193. Despite that, they stop a Kiwi armoured attack.
March 20th – March 22nd 1944, Italy. Despite more attacks by the New Zealanders, German veteran paratroopers of the 1st Paratroops division, hidden around and at the ruins of the monastery make all advances impossible. General Sir Harold Alexander stops all offensive actions. March 24th 1944, Burma. Major general Orde Wingate, commander of the Chindits dies in an air crash. March 28th 1944, Soviet Union. The Germans rapidly retreat from the southern Bug. Nikoláiev falls to the Red Army and the III Ukrainian Front attacks Odessa. March 29th 1944, India. The 20th Japanese division establishes in Shenam, near Imphal. Japanese forces cutb the motorway and the siege of Imphal begins. March 30th 1944, Germany. Hitler sacks field marshals Erich von Manstein and Ewald von Kleist from their commands in the Ukraine. The defeats by the Red Army are intolerable to Hitler. March 30th 1944, Burma. The 16th Chindit brigade of brigadier Bernard Fergusson withdraws after its failure to take the main Japanese supply depôt, at Indaw. March 30th – March 31st 1944, Germany. 795 RAF bombers strike Nuremberg and cause little damages. They lose 95 planes and 71 are damaged. March 1st 1945, Germany. The I Bielorrusian Front of marshal Georgi K. Zhúkov advances to destroy the German III Panzer Army —composed of 203.000 men, 700 tanks and 2.600 guns—and to open the gates of Berlin. March 3rd 1945, France. General George Patton launches his III Army through mud and snow against Kyll river, leaded by VIII and XII Corps.
March 3rd 1945, Germany. The German IV Panzer Army counterattacks between Lauban and Glogau to reconquer the Oder River defences, but is halted by the Red Army. March 3rd 1945, Burma. The 17th Indian division, under major general David Cowan, along the 255th Indian armoured brigade take the communication centre of Meitkila after a harsh battle. March 4th 1945, Iwo-Jima. The first B-29 lands in the island. March 6th 1945, Hungary. The Germans launch an offensive to capture the oil fields of Nagykanizsa and retake Budapest. The VI SS Panzer and II Panzer Armies make good advances, despite of the harsh winter. March 7th 1945, Yugoslavia. Marshal Tito forms a provisional government which will include —temporarily— members of the old monarchic régime. March 7th 1945, Germany. Units of the I American Army capture intact the Ludendorff bridge over the Rhine, at Remagen. March 10th 1945, Germany. Field marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery’s XXI Army Group completes the conquest of the western area of the Rhine at the cost of 22.934 casualties, against 90.000 German casualties. March 10th 1945, Japan. The first night incursion against Tokio by B-29 bombers kills over 100.000 people. March 14th 1945, Germany. Patton’s III Army crosses the Meuseule River and pierces the German ‘Siegfried Line’. March 16th 1945, Hungary. The III Ukrainian Front of marshal Fiódor Tolbukhin counterattacks the Germans at the front between lake Velencei and Bicske. The VI SS Panzer Corps resists against a much superior Soviet force, but the III Hungarian Army on their left collapses. March 16th 1945, Iwo-Jima. The island is declared secure, after a horrible one-month fighting and the loss of 6.821 Americans and 20.000 Japanese. March 17th – March 19th 1945, Burma. The battle for the reconquest of Mandalay starts. The main Japanese defence garrison is at Fort Dufferin, which is intensely bombarded by British artillery and aircraft. The Japanese evacuate the fort on the 19th and Mandalay falls to the British. March 18th 1945, Philippines. The jump between isles campaign continues and the American 40th division lands at Panay, takes it and then heads to Guimarras, the neighbour island. March 20th 1945, Germany. The I Bielorrussian Front finish its cleansing of the Oder River defensive positions. March 22nd – March 31st 1945, Germany. The Allied crossing of the Rhine begins. The American 5th division of the III Army crosses near Nierstein and Oppenheim and makes a bridgehead. By the 23rd, the whole division is in the opposite bank. German resistance is insignificant. Marshal Montgomery’s 1.250.000 men start crossing the same day when the 51st Highlander division and the 3rd Canadian cross at Rees and Emmerich. On the 24th, the American 87th division crosses at Boppard and the 89th at St. Goer. In the north, the British 6th airborne and the American 17th airborne divisions land and join the ground troops. By the end of the month, the 3rd Algerian division of general de Lattre de Tassigny’s I French Army crosses the river too. All three powers are in the east of the river. March 24th 1945, Burma. The new I Chinese Army joins the 50th Chinese division near Hsipaw, ending thus, the campaign in northern Burma. March 25th – March 28th 1945, Hungary. The II Ukrainian Front starts its attack through River Hron and the River Danube. Hungarian troops start neglecting their German Allies en masse while the German commanders lose the confidence of their own men. By the 28th, the Red Army has reached the Austrian border at Köszeg-Szombathely. March 30th 1945, Poland. Danzig is taken by the Red Army, along 10.000 Germans and 45 U-boats.
I started to read the information until I saw the length. I scanned the whole thing mostly looking for interesting battles. I also read about each of the pictures. There is a lot of info there. It's real interesting. I think I may go back there some time.
Normandy, 13 June 1944, Villers-Bocage. 7th Armoured Division halted at Viller-Bocage by Tiger tanks. See more detailed post on Battle Specifics board.
Hi all, It is always a big topic of conversation. Operation Barbarossa: - 64th anniversary June 22nd, 1941: Beginning of OPERATION BARBAROSSA, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. At 3:15 a.m. CET, German, Rumanian and Finnish forces comprising 183 divisions (3,500,000 men), 3,350 tanks, 7,184 guns and 1,945 aircraft launch the biggest military operation in history on an 1,800-mile front from 'Finland to the Black Sea' (title of the German Army campaign song). Three army groups supported by powerful Panzer armies and Luftwaffe bomber fleets, Heeresgruppe Süd (von Rundstedt) with Panzergruppe 1 (von Kleist), Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) with Panzergruppen 2 (Guderian) and 3 (Hoth), and Heeresgruppe Nord (von Leeb) with Panzergruppe 4 (Hoepner) go into action against 132 Soviet divisions (2,500,000 men), 20,000 tanks and 7,700 aircraft. The overall objective of the campaign is to destroy the Soviet forces in western Russia by fall and to occupy the European part of the Soviet Union up to the line Archangelsk - Urals - Volga - Astrachan. In the first few hours of the attack, the Luftwaffe destroys 1,500 Soviet aircraft on the ground at 60 airfields and 300 in the air. The Red Army forces along the border seem unprepared for the assault and offer only limited resistance. At London, Winston Churchill announces Britain's support for the Soviet Union, thus making the Bolshevik state her much-needed ally. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation Bagraton: 61st Anniversary June 22nd, 1944: On the central front in the East, the Soviet 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian Fronts (Vassilevsky) and the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts (Zhukov) begin Operation Bagraton, a massive offensive against Heeresgruppe Mitte (Busch) on a 300-mile front between Polotsk and Bobruysk. The German forces of 63 divisions, 900 tanks and 10,000 guns are facing vastly superior Soviet forces of 124 divisions, 5,200 tanks, 30.000 guns and 6,000 aircraft. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ France & Germany sign Armistice - 65th Anniversary June 22nd, 1940: An armistice between France and Germany is signed at Compiegne. Its terms, read out loud to the French delegation by Generaloberst Keitel, provide for the occupation of the entire Channel and Atlantic coastlines, all major industrial areas, Alsace-Lorraine (to be returned to Germany). Most of southern France will remain unoccupied, with a French administrative center at Vichy; the French Army and Navy is to be demobilized and disarmed; France is to bear the cost of the German occupation, and all French prisoners of war are to remain in Germany until a peace treaty is signed.
7 March 1941, The German U-Boat U47, which sank the British Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak, is sunk by allied destroyers, with its entire crew aboard.
