11 March 1939

March 11th, 1939 (SATURDAY)

GERMANY: A correspondent from the British 'Practical Motorist' magazine takes a spin in the new 'Volkswagen'. More....

Chancellor Adolf Hitler drafts a secret order calling on Czechs to submit to military occupation without resistance.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Artur von Syss-Inquart, the Austrian lawyer, visits the Slovakian Cabinet in Bratislava and induces them to declare their independence. More...

To preserve internal peace, President Emil Hacha declares marshal law.

U.S.A.: The USAAC issues Air Corps Proposal Number 39-640 for a medium bomber with a bomb load of 3,000 pounds (1,361 kg) a range of 2,000 miles (3,219 km) and a top speed over 300 mph (483 km/h). Burnelli, Consolidated, Douglas, Martin, North American Aviation (NAA), Boeing-Stearman and Vought-Sikorsky all enter designs. The Martin Model 179 will be the winner and turned into the B-26 Marauder.

11 March 1940

March 11th, 1940 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: US Under-Secretary of State Sumner Welles meets HM King George VI, and discusses possible peace and mediation condition terms with Chamberlain and Foreign Secretary the Earl of Halifax.

Meat rationing began today with no sign of queues at butchers' counters. Most people had stocked up in advance. Meat is rationed by price, the ration being 1 shilling and 10 pence worth per week. Children under six get half as much.

At current prices a family with two children over six could buy a six-pound joint of lamb at 1/4 a pound. Poultry, game, offal, sausages and meat pies remain off the ration. Restaurants are allowed to serve meat without asking customers for their coupons.

Manston, Kent: F/O Anthony Henry Hamilton Tollemache (1913-77), 600 Squadron Auxiliary Air Force, crash-landed. He tried in vain to save his passenger, sustaining serious injury - for this he will receive the Empire Gallantry Medal later changed to a George Cross.

"The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following Awards: —

The Medal of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for Gallantry: -

Flying Officer Anthony Henry Hamilton TOLLEMACHE, Auxiliary Air Force.

On the night of 11th March, 1940, this officer was pilot of an aircraft which carried a passenger and an air gunner and was engaged in a searchlight co-operation exercise. When approaching the flare-path to land, at 2320 hours, after completing the exercise, the aircraft struck a tree and crashed into a field, where it immediately burst into flames.
Flying Officer Tollemache was thrown clear of the wreckage, and his air gunner was able to escape. Realising, however, that his passenger was still in the aircraft Flying Officer Tollemache, with complete disregard of the intense conflagration or the explosion of small arms ammunition, endeavoured to break through the forward hatch and effect a rescue. He persisted in this gallant attempt until driven off with his clothes blazing. His efforts, though in vain, resulted in injuries which nearly cost him his life. Had he not attempted the rescue it is considered he would have escaped almost unscathed."

(London Gazette - 6 August 1940)

NORTH SEA: U-31(Lt. Habekost) is bombed and sunk by a solo RAF Blenheim dropping four x 250 pound bombs, of Bomber Command at Jadebusen in the Heligoland Bight (Schilling Roads). 58 dead (all hands). U-31 was undergoing sea trials and sank in only 50 feet of water. She is salvaged and re-commissioned to be lost once and for all eight months later. (Robert Guercio)

FRANCE: Toulon: The French battleship Bretagne and cruiser Algerie sail for Canada with 2,379 gold bullion bars part of the national reserve.

GERMANY:

U-333, U-352 laid down.

U-101 commissioned.

FINLAND: The Finnish government informs the Finnish peace-delegation at Moscow that the Soviet terms are acceptable in an 'extreme situation'.

The Red Army starts its offensive directed at Viipuri when the Soviet 7th Army (Army Commander 2nd Class Kirill Meretskov) attacks aiming to outflank the city from north and encircle its defenders. On 7th Army's right flank attacked 50th Rifle Corps (Division Commander Filipp Gorelenko) with three rifle divisions (one of them motorized) and one tank brigade, and in middle 34th Rifle Corps with four rifle divisions (one of them motorized). The Red Army leadership wants to capture the city before the peace comes, apparently because of prestige. Thus thousands of lives will be wasted for no reason: the Soviet leadership already knows they will get the city in the peace that is about to be concluded.

The Foreign Ministry announcement published today in Finnish newspapers informs the nation for the first time that peace negotiations are being held at Moscow. The home front has been kept unaware of the desperate situation at the front by strict censorship, and the mood is still hopeful.

Soviet infantry on the bay's western shores broke across the Vyborg-Helsinki highway, opening the way to Helsinki. The breach of the highway cut Vyborg's supply route from Helsinki.

Jager Regiment 7 was Vyborg's defending regiment. To the north, there was the Finnish Jager Regiment 67. To the city's northeast stood the 100th Soviet Ski Division. To the south was the 138th Soviet Infantry Division. In this way, Viipuri was surrounded by the northeast, east, southwest, and south. The 7th Soviet Infantry Division was engaged in a frontal assault of the town.

http://www.hrono.ru/sobyt/finn1939_40.html

Sami Korhonen's "Winter War," http://www.winterwar.com/Maps/Frontline3.htm

contains a Finnish map of the last day of the war. It is worth pointing out that in war, a battle line cannot be marked down to the 1/4 mile. Rather, it should actually be drawn as a thick blurry line because it is volatile and contested.

(Hal Smith)

GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Exmoor, detained at Gibraltar by British authorities since 9 March, is released.

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Levis laid down Lauzon, Province of Quebec.

Passenger liner SS Prince Henry purchased for conversion to AMC HMCS Prince Henry.

U.S.A.: The government lifts its arms embargo to allow Britain and France to buy some P40 fighter planes
France was the first customer to purchase the Curtiss Model 81 (P-40). The first aircraft in French markings were completed in April 1940 but France was overrun before they could be delivered and the Royal Air Force (RAF) took delivery designating them Tomahawk Mk Is. The Curtiss Model Number was H81-A. The RAF realized that these aircraft were unsuitable for combat and relegated them to training; three were transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force with RAF serial numbers.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0317, motor tanker Eulota was hit by a torpedo from U-28 about 120 miles west of Ouessant. The torpedo, fired from about 1000 meters, struck amidships, broke her in two and set her on fire. The crew abandoned ship, but returned later that morning. An Allied aircraft sighted the burning tanker in the afternoon and directed HMS Broke and Wild Swan to the ship. They picked up the survivors and scuttled the still floating bow section.

11 March 1941

March 11th, 1941 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

RAF Bomber Command: The Handley-Page Halifax bomber makes its operational debut in a raid on Le Havre.
This mission was flown by six Halifax Mk Is of No. 35 Squadron based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire, England. The squadron had received its first Halifax Mk I on 23 November 1940.

Heavy raids hit Birmingham, Manchester and Salford during the night.

Old Trafford football ground, home of Manchester United, suffer two direct hits from German bombs. The main stand is nearly demolished and the United Road terrace damaged and the pitch scorched.

Corvette HMS Pennywort laid down.

Destroyer HMS Offa launched.

YUGOSLAVIA: Belgrade: Demonstrators hold a protest rally against growing Axis influence.

ALBANIA: Further Italian attacks on Monastery Hill result in nothing but additional casualties. (Mike Yaklich)

LIBYA: An armoured and a machine-gun regiment of the German 5th Light Division completes disembarking at Tripoli today. The tank regiment is composed of two battalions and has 150 tanks; more than half the tanks had 50 mm or 75 mm guns. The machine-gun regiment has two fully motorized battalion; one anti-tank battalion was equipped with 50 mm guns and the other with dual-purpose 88 mm guns.
Meanwhile, General Erwin Rommel, Commander of the Afrika Korps, has flown back to Germany for further orders and has been told that when the 15th Panzer Division arrives in Libya at the end of May, he is to recapture Benghazi.

GULF OF SIAM: France cedes two areas of Laos and part of Cambodia to Thailand. Both (and the only parts of Laos) lying on the right bank of the Mekong river. The first is Saiburi Province (northwester Laos), the second is part of Pakse Province (southern Laos).

Japan is given full use of Saigon airport and a monopoly of the colony's entire rice production.

(Peter E. Beal)

CANADA: Submarine HMS Severn departed Halifax for anti-U-boat patrol off Freetown.

Minesweeper HMCS Miramichi laid down North Vancouver, British Columbia.

U.S.A.: Washington: President Roosevelt this afternoon signed into law the Lend-Lease Bill, Public Law 11, 77th Congress, which in effect makes the United States a partner of Britain in the war.

The bill passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate with large majorities. It seeks, as its congressional sponsors put it, to give "legislative form to the policy of making this country an Arsenal for the Democracies and seeks to carry out President Roosevelt's pledge to send these countries in ever-increasing numbers, ships, aeroplanes, tanks and guns." The bill empowers the President to lease to Britain munitions owned and paid for by the US government.

Debate on the bill was fierce, and its isolationist opponents in the Senate filibustered against it. On 6 March, however, Senator Walter George, the influential chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, made a powerful speech in favour of its passage, arguing that "the collapse of the British Empire would mean chaos in this world." Two days later the bill was finally passed by the Senate - by 60 votes to 31.

Immediately after the bill was signed the US Army and Navy approved the export of the first material to be released under the terms of the act. Though what is involved is being kept secret for military reasons, it is believed that the first shipments will include 24 motor torpedo boats already ordered to British design which have been held up by the US attorney-general and will help to defend Britain against invasion.

Most of the material released today will go to Britain. Some will go to Greece, and some to China. The president's assistant, Laughlin Currie, has been sent to determine what the Chinese need.

A few hours after the vote the president sent Congress a request for $7,000 million for munitions. The New York Times predicted that if American convoys are needed to deliver the products from the arsenal to the democracies, they will be sent.

The House of Representatives had passed House Resolution 1776, which would eventually become known as the Lend-Lease Act, in February and the Senate passed their version of the bill on 8 March. The two bills had differences requiring a committee of House and Senate members to resolve them and the new bill was passed by both houses today. The bill was rushed to the White House and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law at 1550 hours. This new act changes the "cash and carry" provisions of the Neutrality Act of 1939 to permit transfer of munitions to Allies. The initial aid package worth roughly US$7 billion (US$85.4 billion in year 2002 dollars) but by the time the aid ended in 1946, the U.S. funnelled US$50.6 billion (US$617 billion in year 2002 dollars) worth of Lend-Lease aid to 44 countries, the majority of which went to the U.K. and the U.S.S.R.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Scharnhorst and Gneisenau refuel from tankers Ermland and Uckermark. Conference held on board Gneisenau with the Captains of both battleships and the tankers. (Navy News)

At 1546, the unescorted SS Memnon was hit by one torpedo from U-106 about 200 miles west of Cape Blanco, French West Africa and sank by the stern 15 minutes later following a second hit at 1547 hours. Three crewmembers and two passengers (RAF personnel) were lost. The master and 21 survivors landed at Yoff near Dakar on 21 March and were detained by the Vichy French authorities, were later released and went to Bathurst. The remaining survivors landed at Bathurst on 24 March, one of these lifeboats with 24 survivors had been found by the German battleship Gneisenau, which took three passengers and one gunner as prisoners on board.

Steam trawler Frodi was attacked by U-74 with gunfire about 192 miles SE of Westman Islands, Iceland. The vessel was heavily damaged by gunfire but made it back to Iceland.

11 March 1942

March 11th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Lord Woolton, the minister of food, announced today that there will be no more white bread on sale after 6 April, in order to save shipping. The "national wheatmeal loaf", which is not brown, but off-white in colour, will take its place. It has failed to catch on voluntarily, accounting for only 7% of sales. "In spite of advertisements I have issued, the nation has made it quite clear that it prefers white bread," Lord Woolton admitted, "but I don't believe it wants it as the expense of troop movements."

LCdr. Herbert Sharples RAYNER, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). The citation (awarded as per the London Gazette) read: "For courage and enterprise in action against enemy submarines."

GERMANY:

U-957 laid down.

U-186, U-212 launched.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-565 sinks HMS Naiad (AA cruiser) at 32 01N 26 19E, north of Sollum, Egypt. Seventy-seven of Naiad's 470 crewmembers are lost. (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)(108)

MALTA: The military garrison is placed under command of Commander in Chief Middle East Forces. Naval and RAF garrisons are under command of Commander in Chief Mediterranean and Air Officer Commanding in Chief, respectively. Lieutenant General Sir William Dobbie, Governor of Malta, remains commander in chief.

INDIA: New Delhi: Lieutenant-General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, a lanky, thin-lipped American general with a reputation for forcefully speaking his mind, will next week take over command of all American forces in the China-Burma-India theatre. Stilwell, who served with distinction in the Great War, is a student of Chinese and a former military attaché in Peking. He will also be chief-of-staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek - although he prefers to eat and sleep with his troops.

BURMA: The Burma Army regroups in preparation for the defence of upper Burma. In the Irrawaddy Valley, the Indian 17th Division is disposed in the Tharrawaddy area. In the Sittang Valley, the Burma 1st Division, after successful diversionary attacks against Shwegyin and Madauk, east of Nyaunglebin, withdraws, except for the 13th Brigade, to positions north of Kanyutkwin. Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma and India and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, is placed in command of the Chinese 5th and 6th Armies (actually the size of a Western division). The Chinese 6th Army is holding Shan States; the Chinese 5th Army, except for the 200th Division disposed in the Toungoo area, is to concentrate at Mandalay.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: General Douglas MacArthur      "> MacArthur leaves Luzon. "I shall return!" General Douglas MacArthur"> MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, his family, Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell and their staffs embark from Corregidor and Bataan in four motor torpedo (PT) boats, PT-32, PT-34, PT-35 and PT-41, of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three (MTBRon 3). The plan is that the boats will make for Tagauayan Island, in the Cuyo Group, and arrive by 0730 hours tomorrow morning.
     Three USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses takeoff from Australia to fly to Del Monte Field on Mindanao to pick up the MacArthur party. One turns back due to mechanical problems, the second crashes at sea off Mindanao and the third lands at Del Monte however; it is in poor mechanical condition.
      Major General Jonathan Wainwright assumes command of the 95,000 Americans and Filipinos on Bataan and Corregidor.

EAST CHINA SEA: Submarine USS Pollack (SS-180), operating in the East China Sea about 270 miles (435 kilometres) east of Shanghai, China, sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship and a passenger-cargo.

CANADA: Canadian and U.S. representatives meet in Ottawa to discuss the construction of buildings and facilities on the Northwest Staging Route, the air route that will be established between Edmonton, Alberta, and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to permit flying aircraft from the continental U.S. to the Territory of Alaska.. The meeting ends tomorrow.

Corvette HMCS Galt completed refit Liverpool , Nova Scotia.

BRAZIL: President Vargas has today confiscated up to 30% of the funds of German, Italian and Japanese citizens resident in Brazil, recalled all Brazilian ships to port and confined the Japanese ambassador and his staff to the embassy.

These measures are in response to the torpedoing of a fourth Brazilian vessel by the Germans and the mistreatment of the Brazilian ambassador in Tokyo. They also open the way for a declaration of war against the Axis powers by Brazil.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: An unarmed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. U-126 sinks the first about 40 miles (64 kilometres) east of Nuevitas, Cuba.

At 0758, the unescorted and unarmed U.S. freighter Caribsea was missed by one torpedo from U-158 about 14 miles east of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. The torpedo missed, because Rostin thought the ship (misidentified as Coast Guard vessel) lay dead in the water, but the master reduced the speed of the vessel to four or five knots, according the order he has received to pass Cape Hatteras in daylight. A second torpedo was fired, which struck the starboard bow at the #2 hatch, causing the boilers to explode. The Caribsea sank by the head due her cargo in less than three minutes. So no radio distress signals were sent and the crew of eight officers and 20 men had no chance to launch the lifeboats. The few survivors climbed onto two rafts that floated free and they later observed U-158 passing within 100 yards. Two officers and five crewmen were picked up by the American SS Norlindo ten hours after the attack and took them to the Cape Henry Lighthouse. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)

At 0316, the unescorted and unarmed Hvoslef was hit by two torpedoes from U-94 and sank within two minutes two miles east of Fenwick Island off Delaware Bay. The master, three Norwegian and two Swedish crewmembers were lost. The survivors kept themselves afloat in a damaged lifeboat until they landed on Rehobeth Beach near Cape Henlopen about a half-mile north of Fenwick Island Light after 14 hours. Three injured men were hospitalized in the Babe Hospital in Lewis, while the other survivors were sent to New York the following day. The body of the master was later found on a cork raft, which was located by an aircraft two days later.

ASW trawler HMS Stella Capella torpedoed and sunk by U-701 south of Iceland.

11 March 1943

March 11th, 1943 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Sloop HMS Wild Goose commissioned.

Frigates HMS Capel and Cooke laid down.

Destroyer HNLMS Kortenaer (ex-HMS Scorpion) commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Tuscan commissioned.

GERMANY:

U-345, U-428, U-743, U-744, U-853, U-974 launched.

U-868 laid down.

U-849, U-967 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: General Hausser re-enters Kharhov. This city of ruins, liberated only a month ago by the Red Army, is once again threatened by the Germans. SS General Hausser who, against Hitler's orders, extricated his Panzers from the then doomed German garrison in the city, has led his men back to crush the Soviet Third Tank Army and establish himself in the approached to the city. He has sealed off the city and is tonight preparing to attack.

INDIAN OCEAN: At 2310, the unescorted Aelybryn was torpedoed and sunk by U-160 ENE of Durban. The U-boat misidentified the vessel as the American SS Arian. Nine crewmembers were lost. The master, 27 crewmembers and four gunners were picked up by the Portuguese SS Lourenco Marques and landed at Capetown.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Barbel laid down.

CARIBBEAN SEA: At 0752, the unescorted Olancho was hit by one torpedo from U-183 about 30 miles west of Cape San Antonio, Cuba. The torpedo struck on the starboard side amidships abaft #2 hatch, ripping open the hull and demolishing the wheelhouse and starboard engine wing. The engine room flooded immediately and the port engine could not be stopped thus the ship kept going at full speed in circles until the screw was clear of the water due to the settling by the bow. At 0811 hours a coup de grâce hit the port side between #3 and #4 hatch, causing the ship to sink in 10 minutes. 41 crewmembers and 5 armed guards abandoned ship after the second torpedo hit in one lifeboat, on one raft and by jumping overboard. Three men went under with the suction of the sinking ship after the jumped from the stern and one was hit by the turning screw and later died after being picked up by the raft. Seven more survivors clung to a hatch cover. The 27 men in the lifeboat and the nine on the raft were picked up at 1255 by SS Choluteca. The remaining seven survivors were picked up by USS Absecon on 13 March and taken to Jacksonville. Green phosphorus flares dropped from aircraft were very helpful in assisting the ship to locate the survivors.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy HX-228 comes under attack. The British destroyer HMS Harvester (ex Brazilian Jarua) sinks one U-boat and is herself sunk by another which in turn is sunk by the Fighting French corvette ACONIT.

Destroyer HMS Harvester sighted a U-Boat following a ship which submerged when it sighted the destroyer. Harvester dropped depth charges and forced the U-444 to the surface which defends itself by gunfire. Harvester's guns were also scoring hits, and in the flurry Harvester rams the U-444 at 27 knots. The collision was so violent that that the destroyer's sides were torn open, and U-444 slides alongside her and becomes jammed under the destroyer's propeller shaft in her A brackets where she sticks fast for about 10 minutes. Harvester is unable to bring any means of engagement to bear, or to drop depth charges. U-444 then slips clear and disappears into the night, unable to submerge. Harvester is forced to stop, because an explosion has put her other engine out of action. An hour later, the French corvette Aconit which is cruising in the vicinity picks up severely damaged U-444 sailing slowly, in her searchlights and rams. This second ramming followed by Aconit which is dropping depth charges sinks the U-444 with loss of all but 5 German crew. In the meantime, Harvester steaming at 11 knots is trying to reach port when her propeller shaft breaks, and she drifts compelled to await a tow. U-432 spots the helpless destroyer and hits her with two torpedoes, Harvester breaks into two and sinks. U-432 then submerges. Aconit returns, locates the U-432 and drops some depth charges which put her out of trim and compels her to surface. Her commander is killed at once by gunfire, and U-432 is then rammed and sunk by Aconit. A few survivors are rescued by Aconit, which then sank U-432. Location: 51 23N 28 40W. (Alex Gordon)(108)

At 0215, U-590 fired torpedoes at Convoy HX-228 and observed two hits on a steamer and reported that the ship sank within one minute. In fact, SS Jamaica Producer was only damaged and managed to reach port.

At 1917, SS Baron Kinnaird, a straggler from Convoy O, Nova Scotia.-169 since 6 March, was torpedoed and sunk by U-621 NW of Belle Ile. The master, 35 crewmembers and six gunners were lost.

HMS LCT-2398 was on transfer from the USA to the UK aboard SS William C. Gorgas and was lost on 11 Mar, 1943, when this ship was sunk by U-757 in Convoy HX-228.

At 0503, U-86 attacked with FAT torpedoes on the starboard side of Convoy HX-228 and claimed to have sunk a tanker and an ammunition ship, which exploded. In fact, only SS Brant County was hit by one torpedo, which ignited her load of carbide. Of the five men on the bridge, three managed to get to the lifeboat and the other two died - the master in the flames and the other jumped overboard and drowned. Three of the four men in the engine room died and the fourth was unable to stop the engine but managed to get on deck. Among the dead were also eight military passengers. The 24 survivors abandoned ship in one lifeboat and when it was about 200 meters away the flames reached the cargo of explosives. Brant County disappeared in a huge explosion, which sent pieces of metal and other debris in the air. The British SS Stuart Prince picked up the survivors after 30 minutes. One of them was badly burned and died shortly thereafter.

11 March 1944

March 11th, 1944 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Destroyer HMS Zodiac launched.

Salvage vessel HMS Salvictor launched.

Rescue tug HMS Enticer launched.

Destroyer KNM Svenner (ex-HMS Shark) commissioned.

FRANCE: U-380 destroyed during an air raid on Toulon. One man from its crew was killed. [Maschinenmaat Jonny Christoph].

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army captures Berislav, in the southern Ukraine.

ALGERIA: Algiers: The Free French government sentences Pierre Pucheu, the former Vichy minister of the interior to death for treason.

BURMA: As the 7th Indian Division takes Buthidaung, the Japanese advance to Witok.

Naik Nand Singh (1914-47), 11th Sikh Regt., led his men up a steep ridge under fire to take one trench, advancing alone to take two more. (Victoria Cross)

Both sides in the battle for Burma are now trying to seize the initiative. In addition to two Allied offensives, Japan returned to the attack this week.

Last month saw the Japanese call off Operation Ha-Go, an attack on British positions in the Arakan peninsula. The Japanese 55th Division has slipped behind the Allied lines at Taung Bazaar in an attempt to cut off supply lines both from the north and from the Ngakyedauk Pass, in the east. The Indian 5th and 7th Divisions were cut off in the "admin box" of Sinzweya. Supplied by air, they fended off repeated Japanese attacks until 25 February, when they were relieved from the east. The Allied capture of Buthidaung today removes the last major obstacle to an advance on Akyab.

Operation U-Go, launched by General Renya Mutaguchi's 15th Army on the night of 7-8 March, is a pre-emptive strike to prevent an Allied offensive in northern Burma. Its main objective is the capture of the key communications and supply centre at Imphal, across the Indian border in Assam; today Japanese troops crossed the Manipur river, east of the Chindwin. Mataguchi has ambitions to advance to Delhi and "liberate" the whole of India on behalf of the nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose.

U-Go took General Slim by surprise. He was expecting an attack next week, and is now rushing troops north from Buthidaung to Imphal.

From Chuck Baisden's diary:

Combat Mission N0. 23 of B-25H BARBIE III 1st Air Commando Group 10th Air Force. 3:00 Hrs. Flight Time Hailikandi to Katha, Burma Bombed dumps and supply areas with good results. 5:00 Hrs. Flight Time (night) Hailikandi to Heho Airdrome, Burma. Mission flown at night which proved unsuccessful. We had a lot of difficulty locating the target and would not have found it if the Japs hadn't turned on their search lights. Only one bomber released bombs and they exploded a mile from the field. We almost had a midair collision when search lights bracketed our lead formation, blinding the pilots momentarily. (Being hit with search lights at night while flying formation is not exactly habit forming).

Air Commando Combat Missions 22 and 23 3:00 and 5:00 Hours Flight Times Hailakandi, Assam to Katha, Burma. Bombed dumps and supply areas with good results. Hailakandi, Assam to Heho airdrome, Burma. Mission flown at night which proved unsuccessful. We had a lot of difficulty locating the target and would not have found it if the Japs had turned on their search lights. Only one bomber released bombs, and they exploded about a mile from the field. We almost had a mid air collision when the search lights bracketed our lead 3 ship formation, blinding the pilots momentarily. Being lit up by search lights at night while flying formation is not exactly habit forming.

(Chuck Baisden)

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Chambly completed forecastle extension refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

Corvette HMCS Hespeler commissioned.

U.S.A.: A production order for 100 Bell P-59 Airacomet jets is placed.

Submarine USS Queenfish commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: UIT-22 is sunk south of the Cape of Good Hope, in position 41.28S, 17.40E, by a South African aircraft. 43 dead (all hands lost).

[Launched as the Italian submarine Alpino Bagnolini on 28 October 1939. Taken over by the Germans, following the Italian capitulation, at her Bordeaux, France base on 9 September, 1943.
* Commissioned into German service.
These boats were roughly 1166tons on the surface, in many ways they were similar in measurements to the German type IXC, they had 8 torpedo tubes and carried 14 torpedoes and had a complement of roughly 57 in Italian service.

UIT-22 (ex Alpino Bagnolini) and UIT-23 (ex Reginaldo Giuliani) were identical boats.]

(Alex Gordon)

U-255 was attacked by aircraft and 2 men were wounded.

RCAF 407 Sqn Wellington crashed preparing to attack U-256.

11 March 1945

March 11th, 1945 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Wales: Cardiff: 66 German PoWs broke out of a camp at Bridgend, Glamorgan, at 4am, having tunnelled 45 feet under the barbed wire. The tunnel began inside a hut and ended in a ploughed field. Elaborate preparations had been made for weeks. By tonight, 43 of them had been recaptured as police, former Home Guards and Land Girls with pitchforks searched 100 square miles of lonely wooded country. Many were found hiding on farms.

Destroyer HMCS Sioux departed Clyde with Convoy JW-65 for Kola Inlet.

Corvette HMCS Chambly departed Londonderry for refit Louisburg , Nova Scotia.

GERMANY: USN landing craft are used to cross the River Rhine at Bad Neuenahr.

The RAF has laid waste to the Krupp works at Essen, symbol of the German war machine. In a half-hour bombardment, 1,079 heavy bombers poured 4,661 tons of explosive onto a 2,000-acre site, killing 897 civilians. Later a British officer claimed: "Krupp's has been written off." Some Allied intelligence teams have concluded that the impact of strategic bombing on German war production has been less than decisive. American studies show that the Dresden raid hit the output of the German cigarette industry but not much else.

JAPAN: 285 of 310 XXI BC B-29s dispatched bomb Nagoya urban area with incendiary bombs at altitudes from 5,100ft to 8,500ft destroying 2.05 square miles. Six B-29s attack a secondary target. One B-29 is lost.

BONIN ISLANDS: Iwo Jima: 16 P-51s of the 15th Fighter Group take off to attack Chichi Jiima and Haha Jima (Father and Mother islands). General Moore flies as an observer. The formation divides eight tons of bombs between Susaki Airfield and Futami Ko on Chichi Jima.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The carrier USS Randolph is damaged by a kamikaze attack while in the fleet anchorage at Ulithi.

This was a special attack called the Tan Operation, launched by the Azusa Special Attack Unit of the Fifth Air Fleet on Kyushu. At least the guide planes came from Kanoya, but I don't know about the main attack force. The main force consisted of twenty-four Frances twin-engine bombers, likely the only IJN aircraft with the range to reach Ulithi. Thirteen of them dropped out along the way because of engine trouble, which might say a good deal about Japanese manufacturing or maintenance quality at that stage of the war. (Keith Allen)

Extract from Jim Verdolini's Diary:

March 11, 1945. Ulithi Atoll, Western Caroline

We are at fleet anchorage after returning from Iwo Jima, and Japanese areas.

2000 hours(8PM). I had just been relieved from watch in Rdo1, (which is our main radio room in the Island structure) and had started walking aft, on the flight deck. My rack(bed), and also my GQ (general quarters) battle station, was Rdo#3. Radio 3 was a small emergency transmitter room on the Gallery deck, just under the flight deck, starboard side above the fan tail.

Normally I would write letters, and listen to Tokyo Rose, because she had the best Big Band music. I slept in RDO#3, because it was a lot cooler up there, than down on the 2nd deck, and also because it was my battle station. As I started aft, I heard music from the movie on the hangar deck. It was the Polonaise. I went down to the hangar deck, and stood at the rear, until it ended, at about 2007. I then started to walk aft on the hanger deck, to Rdo3. Suddenly, there was a terrific white flash, explosion, and the ship shook violently! I was knocked flat on my behind. When I jumped up, there were men lying all over the place. A man just behind me had his head covered in blood, and when I stepped back to look down at him, I saw he was dead. Then GQ was sounded, the claxon going...bong, bong,bong,bong. " All hands, man your battle stations". The first few moments, we thought the ship might be going down. Fire, and 20mm cannon shells were exploding all over. The sprinkler system had automatically gone off, and we were drenched. Smoke was terrible. I saw a Marine Lt., and told him that my battle station was in flames, so he told me to help move planes out of the fire, and help the wounded. By this time, we knew what happened. A twin engine Japanese bomber, named Frances, dove into our starboard quarter aft, just outside Rdo#3, her bombs exploded both at impact, and a 2000# exploded on the hangar deck just forward of the fan tail.

The entire fantail area was aflame.

I helped move planes out of the fire, then a corpsman grabbed me, and told me to hold some guy' s stomach in, while he got a doctor.

This guys intestines were bubbling out, and I was so scared, I kept trying to push with both hands, but blood was so slippery, and my hands were shaking so badly, and the smell was so bad, that I yelled for that corpsman, and by that time he had the doctor.

My eyes were stinging me, and the smell of burned bodies, and the smoke was awful. It took about 2 hours for the fire to be brought under control. Then I went back to Rdo#3, but there was just a big hole outside, and our steel hatch had disappeared. They were bringing 3 bodies out, but we could not identify them. Later found out they were flight deck crew. I believe they were guys from the catapult group, who had gone into Rdo#3 to listen to music.

No radiomen were in there. I would have been, if I hadn't stopped to listen to music. I then went up to Rdo#1, and as soon as I walked in, the Chief started screaming at me! "You will be court-martialed", etc. etc. The Communications Officer took me aside, and explained. Seems the Chief had thought I was in RDO#3, and he was crying. When I walked in he was embarrassed, so he lit into me. I was filthy dirty, but I wasn't going below decks to get a shower. I just went up to Rdo2, and one of the guys gave me a mat, and I slept behind the transmitters. Next morning, when I awoke, my eyes were swollen and my face was beet red, so they sent me to sick bay.

Seems I had flash burn from the explosion. It did not last long. I went back to RDO3 to see if I could find my ring, that Bernice, (my girl friend) had given me. But the typewriters were melted, and the cabinet I kept it in was gone. The smell was so bad, I did want to not stay there very long, and right about then, they called GQ again, and I had no idea where to go, so I stayed right there. It was my GQ station, even though there wasn't anything left in there. It was just an alert, and they blew (bugle) retreat from GQ. We lost 30 men, and over 100 wounded. There were parts of three Japanese Kamakazi crewmen in the Frances. They said that a body was found in the port catwalk -decapitated.

Their flight originated from a Jap naval base at Kagoshima on the main island of Kyushu - 1500 miles north. Also found out later that there were a lot more planes that had started for Ulithi, but only three planes made it. One hit us, another crashed forward of the ship in the water, and the third crashed on Falalop Island.

The battleship that had the radar duty for the fleet anchorage, had picked up three blips on their radar but, since only Yap was 90 miles SE of us, and Yap was destroyed, the guy decided the blips were friendly?

You might know, they picked my ship, out of hundreds.

The battleships were at anchor all around us, plus other carriers, dozens of destroyers, many cruisers. If that plane had hit forward, and exploded on the hangar deck, the death toll would have been horrendous. There were over 500 at the movie. Guess I will never forget March 11th.

CANADA: HMCS Ottawa (ex-HMS Griffin, a Greyhound or G-class fleet destroyer known in the RCN as River-class, was damaged in a collision off of Halifax with HMCS Stratford, a Bangor-class minesweeper. Both ships suffered considerable damage to their bows. Repairs to Ottawa were not completed until Apr 45. Stratford was refitted from May to Aug but was inactive after the collision and was finally paid off on 04 Jan 46.

U.S.A.: Frigate USS Alexandria commissioned.

Destroyers USS Buck and Hanson launched.

Large cruiser USS Hawaii launched.

Top of Page

Yesterday Tomorrow

Home