12 March 1939

Yesterday Tomorrow

1933: GERMANY: Paul Von Hindenburg, President of Germany, dropped the flag of the German Republic, and ordered that the Empire banner (black - white - red stripe) and the Swastika (red - with white circle - with black swastika) be flown side by side. (Mike Ballard)

1938: AUSTRIA: German Chancellor Adolf Hitler announces an "Anschluss" (union) between Germany and Austria, in fact annexing the smaller nation into a greater Germany. In 1938, Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, bullied by Hitler during a meeting at Hitler's retreat in Berchtesgaden, Germany, agreed to a greater Nazi presence within Austria. He appointed a Nazi minister of police and announced an amnesty for all Nazi prisoners. Schuschnigg hoped that agreeing to Hitler's demands would prevent a German invasion. But Hitler insisted on greater German influence on the internal affairs of Austria--even placing German army troops within Austria--and Schuschnigg repudiated the agreement signed at Berchtesgaden, demanding a plebiscite on the question. Through the machinations of Hitler and his devotees within Austria, the plebiscite was canceled, and Schuschnigg resigned on 11 March. In his resignation address, under coercion from the Nazis, he pleaded with Austrian forces not to resist a German "advance" into the country. As the German troops, accompanied by Hitler, crossed the border, they were met by enthusiastic crowds. Hitler announced his Anschluss, and a plebiscite was finally held on 10 April. Whether the plebiscite was rigged or the resulting vote simply a testament to Austrian terror at Hitler's determination, the Fuhrer garnered a whopping 99.7 percent approval for the union of Germany and Austria which then became a federal state of Germany until the end of World War II, when the Allied powers declared the Anschluss void and reestablished an independent Austria. Schuschnigg, who had been imprisoned soon after resigning, was released in 1945.

March 12th, 1939 (SUNDAY)

GERMANY: For the first time Hero Commemoration Day is combined with the celebration of the freedom to rearm.

SPAIN: Republican Communist leader Dr. Negrin, his cabinet and Russian advisors leave Madrid.

12 March 1940

March 12th, 1940 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. 166 Sqn Whitley K8960 crashed near Abingdon. Plt Off R.B. Vaux and crew killed.

Upwood, Huntingdonshire. LAC Michael Patrick Campion (1916-43) and AC First Class Ernest Ralph Clyde Frost (1917-69) rescued a pilot from the burning wreck of two Blenheim bombers which collided during take-off. Unfortunately the man died later. For this they were each awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal but this was replaced by the George Cross as detailed in the London Gazette of 24 September, 1940. (Daniel Ross)

The British Home Fleet returns to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands from Rosyth and Loch Ewe after the completion of a substantial improvement of the anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defenses at the base.
The British finalize their plans for the invasion of Norway. Landings are to be made at Narvik and Trondheim in order to secure the rail line to Sweden and the large iron-ore fields.

FRANCE: The French prime minister, Edouard Daladier, informs the Chamber of Deputies that an Anglo-French expeditionary force is ready to embark for Finland on receipt of a formal Finnish appeal for assistance.

GERMANY: U-99 is launched.

POLAND: Lublin: 72 German Jews, out of 1,000 deported in sealed freight cars from Stettin, die of exposure after an 18-hour march in a blizzard.

FINLAND: The Finnish delegation receives from the government the powers to sign the peace treaty. President Kyösti Kallio, while signing the paper that gives the powers, exclaims "May wither the hand that has signed a paper like this!" The next summer Kallio suffers a stroke that paralyses his right arm. Minister of Defence Juho Niukkanen and Minister of Education Uuno Hannula, who think that war should be continued with Western help, resign.

At Moscow Molotov tells the Finnish delegation the proposed amendments are unacceptable. The delegation is as divided as the cabinet at Helsinki. Juho Paasikivi (who I in an earlier mail forgot to include in the Finnish delegation) and Väinö Voionmaa want to use the possibility of Allied help to get better terms from the Soviets and go back to Helsinki to explore the situation with the government. Risto Ryti and Gen. Rudolf Walden disagree. They are afraid the military situation would deteriorate and the Soviets could extort further concessions. Delegation votes, and Ryti's vote as the chairman of the delegation decides the issue. They would accept the Soviet terms.

Jääski: No. 1 Company Amerikansuomalaisten Legioona (American Finnish Legion) arrive. They are due to go to the frontline tomorrow but as the local commanding general knows that the peace will come tomorrow he decides to delay the order. In his opinion, it seems, it was not a good idea to let the foreign volunteers to fight and die in the very last hours of the war, when it made no difference.

At Viipuru the 34th Rifle Corps was reinforced with one tank brigade. South-west of Viipuri, on the frozen Bay of Viborg, 28th and 10th Rifle Corps attacked towards the Bay's western shore with five rifle divisions (again, one of them motorized).

The part of front under attack by 50th and 34th Rifle Corps was defended by Finnish II Army Corps (Lieutenant-General Hjalmar Öhquist).

It had three divisions in front line: from south-west to north-east 3rd Division (Colonel Auno Kaila), 5th Division (Colonel Selim Isakson) and 23rd Division (Colonel Woldemar Oinonen).

The Soviet formation that attacked straight towards Viipuri was 7th Rifle Division (Brigade Commander Sergey Verzin) of 34th Rifle Corps.

The division had (from south-west to north-east) 257th , 27th and 300th Rifle Regiments in front line. Approaches to the city were defended by Finnish Infantry Regiment 7 (Colonel Kaarlo Heiskanen), reinforced with Light Detachment 3 (Captain Karl Viisterä), and Infantry Regiment 8 (Major Sulo Laaksonen) of Colonel Kaila's 3rd Division. On 11 March the front line ran just south-east of Viipuri's outermost suburbs.

Situation wasn't advantageous for the Finnish defenders. City of Viipuri lies just south of Suomenvedenpohja, an inlet of Bay of Viborg. That body of water would be a natural defense line, but Viipuri had too much symbolic value to be abandoned (Mannerheim also wanted to fight for every inch in order to get as advantageous peace terms as possible). Lt. Gen. Hjalmar Öhquist wanted to abandon the south-eastern suburbs and withdraw the Finnish forces to Patterinmäki ('Battery Hill') defense line south-east of the city center, but this was refused by Mannerheim and Lieutenant-General Erik Heinrichs, commander of Army of the Isthmus.

Öhquist's situation worsened as his forces were at the same time detached to defend western shore of the Bay of Viborg, where the Red Army threatened to broke though to the back of Army of the Isthmus.

Infantry Regiments 7 and 8 were able to hold their lines on 11 March 1940; the full force of Soviet assault fell largely north of their sectors on the dividing line between 3rd and 5th Divisions. Pressure against the regiments grew, but when the night fell, 3rd Division got orders to hold its position 'at all costs'.

On the morning of 12 March the Soviet assault continued with full force along the dividing line between 3^rd and 5^th Divisions, and soon also Infantry Regiment 7 south of the divide was under attack. Soviet artillery and air forces bombarded the Finnish defenders with impunity.

At first the defences of Infantry Regiment 7 were in confusion, but by afternoon the Soviet attacks were repelled. But the situation remained very dangerous: Red Army had penetrated 5th Division's southern flank (just north of Infantry Regiment 7's defences) and advanced into the suburb of Karjala. On that afternoon Heinrichs finally gave Öhquist the permission to withdraw 3rd Division to Patterinmäki line. Öhquist immediately informed Kaila, and ordered the withdrawal to take place at midnight. However, the movement of forces started already in the evening of 12 March and was finished by 2 am on 13 March. Engineers set the remaining buildings in the suburbs of Talikkala and Kolikkomäki on fire to create unobstructed lines of fire. After the withdrawal to Patterinmäki line was complete, Infantry Regiment 8 was taken from the front line to army corps reserve. Enemy didn't interfere with the withdrawal.

As the two Finnish regiments were withdrawing to new defensive positions that night, negotiators in Moscow signed the Peace Treaty. War was to end at 11 am (Finnish time) on 13 March 1940. Among other territorial losses, Viipuri was to become a Soviet city. News of the peace filtered to Finnish units during the night and early morning hours.

Infantry Regiment 7, still reinforced with Light Detachment 3, now took the responsibility of defending Viipuri, city block by city block if need be. At 5.20 am units of Kaila's division were unconditionally ordered to hold their positions.

The "7th Finnish infantry regiment has to pull back to Patterimski ("Battery Hill" on the city's western edge) and so half of the city is in the hands of Russian troops." "A frontal storming of the fortress began at 11 PM." In order to assault the castle, the Russians must have occupied the city center. Taking the city center to mean "vyborg", The Russian historian Vyacheslav Rumyantsev states that "in the morning of March 13th (at night) Vyborg was taken."

www.silentwall.com/WWMarch1940.html

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

A picture of "Battery Hill:" http://www.ouka.fi/100kuvaa/viipurini/eng/008.htm

In this map of the city, you can see the city fortress, which was only laid siege to on the night of the 12th. To the north of the castle, you can see the lines of "Battery Hill": http://www.vyborg.ru/map.htm http://www.around.spb.ru/maps/suomi/wiipuri.gif

(Hal Smith)

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Finnish envoys initial a peace treaty with Russia. The Soviet-Finnish Peace Treaty forces Finland to cede important parts of Karelia to the Soviet Union.

During the Winter War in the air Finnish airmen shot down 185 Soviet planes (plus 9 planes shot down by the Swedish volunteers of Flight Regiment 19), and the AA-artillery more than 300. Total Soviet losses, including aircraft destroyed by anti-aircraft fire, were 684. 31 Finnish Fokker D-XXI fighters alone, managed to destroy 120 Soviet bombers while suffering casualties of 12 fighters and 8 pilots. Finland lost a total of 61 aircraft, 34 of them in aerial combat.

The top ten Finnish fighter aces of the Winter War were:

Lt. Jorma Sarvanto 12 5/6 kills

SSgt. Oiva Tuominen 8 kills

WO Viktor Pöytsiä 7 1/2 kills

WO Tatu Huhanantti 6 1/6 kills

Lt. Urho Nieminen 6 kills

SgtMaj. Kelpo Virta 6 kills

Lt. Per-Erik Sovelius 5 3/4 kills

Lt. Olli Puhakka 5 1/2 kills

SSgt. Pentti Tilli 5 1/6 kills

Lt. Paavo Berg 5 kills

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: A British warship to-day landed here with 46 German prisoners - the crew of the scuttled steamer 'Wakama', which was scuttled off the Brazilian coast on February 12th. She also landed 16 British sailors from the Ajax, the Achilles, and the Exeter, who had been wounded in the battle of the River Plate. They were brought here for convalescence from Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, as there are better facilities for treatment here.

The German prisoners were cheerful and obviously pleased with their treatment on board the warship. They had been given the greatest freedom, and even allowed to help the warship's crew at their work. They were freely supplied with cigarettes and received the same rations as the warship's crew. It was their captain, Captain Eschact, who, when he learnt that the German reports alleged his crew had been fired on in their lifeboats, sent a special message to the Woermann Line, denying the reports and saying that the whole crew had been rescued by a British warship.

The Times (Capetown Correspondent),

March 12th, 1940

12 March 1941

March 12th, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Prolonged air raids hit Merseyside, especially Birkenhead and Wallasey. They sink two ships in dock, damage others and kill 630 people.

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 82 bombers are sent to Bremen, including 28 Blenheims.

Meanwhile five aircraft of 139 Squadron patrolling in the North Sea attack two 500-ton ships.

London: Churchill writes to Roosevelt:

"Admiral Darlan's declaration and threat make me wonder whether it would not be best for you to intervene as a friend of both sides and try to bring about a working agreement. ... We fear very much a prolongation of the war and its miseries which would result from breakdown of blockade of Germany."

Churchill suggests allowing a ration of wheat to go through from America to Vichy and French Africa. The Germans need not know and perhaps a French warship or two may make its way from Toulon to Casablanca or Dakar.

London:

War Office suggest to Wavell that the RAF bomb the German lines of communication from Danube to Graeco-Bulgar frontier.

The original incident used in Compton Mackenzie's Whisky Galore occurs in the Hebrides when a cargo ship (Politician) runs aground with her holds full of whisky. Islanders hide the quarter of a million bottles from Customs officers.

ASW trawler HMS Valse launched.

Destroyer HMS Exmoor launched.

Corvette HMS Vervain launched.

GERMANY: U-167, U-605, U-606, U-661 laid down.

U.S.S.R.: There is a Thai-Soviet exchange of notes establishing diplomatic relations.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, sends the following message to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R. Stark: “In view of [your letter of 15 February], the Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, recommends that until a light efficient net, that can be laid temporarily and quickly is developed, no anti-torpedo nets [for protection against torpedo plane attacks] be supplied this area.”

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Meet John Doe" premieres in Hollywood and New York City. Directed by Frank Capra, this social drama stars Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan, Spring Byington, James Gleason and Gene Lockhart.

The Naval Air School at Corpus Christi, Texas, opens.

At 1805, U-37 opened fire with the deck gun and the 37mm Anti-Aircraft gun from a great distance at steam trawler Petursey south of Iceland, but first missed her many times, giving the crew time to abandon ship. After some heavy hits they went closer, saw the Icelandic flag painted on the side of the vessel and immediately ceased fire, but the trawler soon sank. The U-boat had observed how the crew abandoned ship, but they were never seen again.

12 March 1942

March 12th, 1942 (THURSDAY)

FRANCE: During the night of the 12th/13th, an RAF Bomber Command Hampden flies a leaflet mission.

GERMANY: Tonight RAF Bomber Command sends 251 aircraft to attack Essen. During the night of the 12th/13th, RAF Bomber Command attacks Emden and Kiel. Twenty Wellingtons and 20 Whitleys are dispatched to Emden; 22 bomb with three Whitleys lost but bombing photographs indicate that the nearest bombs were 5 miles (8 kilometres) from the target. At Kiel, 68 Wellingtons are dispatched to attack the Deutsche Werke U-boat yard; 53 aircraft bomb and reports from Kiel indicate that the port area was successfully bombed, with damage in the Deutsche Werke and the Germania Werft yards, both building U-boats, and in the naval dockyard. Casualties are listed as 12 killed and 21 injured but it is not known whether service personnel were included. Five Wellingtons are lost over Kiel. In the final mission of the night, 16 aircraft lay mines off German ports.

U-612 commissioned.

NORWAY: The Tirpitz returns to Trondheim after a six-day sortie, during which there was no action against Convoy PQ-12.

LITHUANIA: Ten Soviet parachutists land near Birzai to commit sabotage. They are seen, chased and shot, and all their equipment, including a radio transmitter, seized by German forces.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine SC-210 lost near Cape Shabler after 12 March 1942. Possibly by UMA type mine of S-15 Romanian minefield.

INDIA: Three transports arrive at Karachi after sailing from Australia. Aboard the three ships are the ground echelons of the USAAF’s 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) arriving from Australia and the 16th and 25th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor), 51st Pursuit Group (Interceptor) from the U.S. Cargo aboard the ships includes ten crated P-40s. The 51st Pursuit Group’s P-40s had been aboard the seaplane tender USS Langley (AV-3) when she was sunk on 27 February.

ANDAMAN ISLANDS: The garrison (a British company and a Gurkha battalion) of this group of islands in the Bay of Bengal is withdrawn, since the loss of Rangoon, Burma, makes it unfeasible to maintain this seaplane base.

BURMA: The Burma Army establishes headquarters at Maymyo.

CHINA: Chuck Baisden notes in his journal:
Flew from Kunming, China to Magwe, Burma on a Chinese DC-2 with 20 other support people from the 3rd Squadron AVG. Set up 2 water cooled .30 calibre Browning machine guns in slit trenches outside our operations tent. They were antiques and somebody said they had come of the USNavy Gunboat PANAY the Japs had bombed and sunk. Went to our quarters some distance from field. Area here very desert like. (See more at Chuck's website)

JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister General TOJO Hideki urges Australia to submit to Japanese rule or face an invasion like the recently conquered Dutch East Indies.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Three-quarters of the Americans and Filipinos troops defending Bataan and Corregidor now have major health problems. An estimated 500 to 700 per day are coming down with malaria and dysentery is rampant from drinking tainted water. Meanwhile, the Japanese are bringing in fresh infantry and artillery units from China.
During the night of the 12th/13th, the four motor torpedo (PT) boats carrying General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, his family, Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Commandant Sixteenth Naval District, and their staffs from Luzon to Tagauayan Island in the Cuyo Group became separated. PT-32 could only use two of its three engines and the other boats had to stop from time to time to clean gasoline strainers. The first boat to arrive at Tagauayan was PT-34 at 0930 hours, two hours late; in the late afternoon, PT-41 and PT-42 arrive in the cove from other islands where they had hidden during the morning hours. PT-35 was missing. Because of the condition of PT-32, the passengers on this boat were divided between the other two boats and these two refuelled using fuel drums carried as deck cargo. The crew of PT-32 was ordered to remain at Tagauayan to await the arrival of the submarine USS Permit (SS-178) and PT-35 and give directions to the captains of both vessels and then the PT-32 could get underway for Panay Island to obtain fuel. At 1800 hours, PT-34 and PT-41 get underway for Cagayan on Mindanao Island.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: On Java, the senior American, Australian and British officers sign a formal surrender document with the Japanese at their headquarters in Bandoeng. (Jack McKillop

NEW CALEDONIA: U.S. Army troops (Brigadier General Alexander M. Patch) land on New Caledonia Island to establish a base at Nouméa. The Army unit is Task Force 6814 consisting of 17,500 men of the 51st Infantry Brigade headquarters and the 132d and 182d Infantry Regiments plus supporting units. Their task is to protect this French colony from Japanese expansion. These American units will become the Americal Division in May 1942.
One of the soldiers landing that day was Bill McLaughlin. He writes, "We had been about 37 days from Brooklyn, New York, to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and then about a week or ten days in Bendigo, Victoria, 40 miles (64 kilometres) inland from Melbourne. Back on the ship for another ten days to New Caledonia. It was found that the harbour was too shallow to allow our ship to dock, and we had to go over the side into small boats to take us ashore. There, we were marched through the streets (sea legs and all), and another long haul out to our first bivouac area, and a horde of mosquitoes. Many years later, writing a native of Nouméa, Henri Daly, I mentioned that the sullen faces we saw all thru our march in Nouméa, showed most of them were pro Vichy French. He wrote back, 'Oh, Bill, did you ever think how most of the adults felt seeing some 15,000 lusty American youth, coming into our small country?' I still think I was right..the next month we saw the countrymen moving on to Nouméa, in protest with their rifles, and driving out the Vichys." (Bill McLaughlin, Americal Division)

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt designates Admiral Ernest J. King to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations, as well as the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet to which he was appointed on 30 December 1941. King replaces Admiral Harold R Stark as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) effective 26 March. More...

Minesweeper USS Skylark launched.

Corvette USS Ready commissioned.

BRAZIL:

President Vargas issued a decree ordering the confiscation of up to 30% of the funds of Axis nationals in Brazil. There were anti-Nazi demonstrations against German shops and establishments in Rio de Janeiro. The confiscation was ordered to guarantee compensation for the ships that had been sunk.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A U.S. merchant vessels is sunk and two others damaged by German submarines: (1) An armed tanker is torpedoed and irreparably damaged by U-158 about 85 miles (137 kilometres) east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S.A.; and (2) U-126 torpedoes two unarmed freighters off the coast of Cuba, sinking the first about 100 miles (161 kilometres) off Camaguey Province, and damaging the second about 10 miles (16 kilometres) off Cape Guajaba.

The first British armed trawlers sent to augment U.S. Navy patrol force efforts off the German submarine-plagued Eastern Seaboard, HMS Wastwater and HMS Le Tigre, begin patrol operations in the Third Naval District waters. They are assigned duties off Atlantic City and Barnegat, New Jersey, U.S.A.

At 0611, the unarmed and unescorted SS Olga was hit by one torpedo from U-126 about 20 miles north of Nuevitas Light, Cuba in the Old Bahama Channel, while steaming on a nonevasive course at 10.5 knots. The torpedo struck on the port side at the #4 hold, destroying the fireroom bulkhead, blowing away the #4 hatch cover and wrecking the wheelhouse and radio room. A lookout had spotted the torpedo wake but it was too late to take avoiding action. The crew of eight officers and 25 crewmen abandoned ship in one lifeboat and two rafts, while the ship stopped and sank at 0640. The first mate Arthur Wilder was picked up by the U-boat, questioned and was then allowed to swim to the nearest raft containing three other men. When the U-boat got underway, its wake swamped the raft and washed the men from it. The second cook died in the water from shock and exposure. The survivors were picked up by a US Naval craft and taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The unarmed and unescorted SS Texan was on a nonevasive course, when she was hit at 0234 by a torpedo which struck the port side bulkhead between the #6 and #7 holds. About five minutes later U-126 shelled the ship in an attempt to destroy the radio shack. The vessel was hit by four rounds but had successfully send SOS messages. Within ten minutes after the hit, ten officers and 37 men had launched two lifeboats. After 13 minutes the ship sank and both boats capsized due to the suction (three officers and six men perished). Ten men righted one lifeboat at daybreak and they picked up later 28 other survivors. About 16h00 a plane of the US Navy passed the survivors several times without spotting them. At 05h30 on 13 March the lifeboat was spotted by the Cuban fishing boat Yoyo approximately 15 miles WSW of the sinking position and was towed to Nuevitas, Cuba arriving there at 1050. The master Robert Hugh Murphy later commanded the Coloradan, which was sunk on 9 October 1942 by U-159 (Witte).

At 1536, U-578 fired a spread of two torpedoes at the unescorted SS Ingerto and one of them struck after 1 minute 11 seconds, causing her to sink quickly. The ship had been reported missing, after she was last seen on 12 March in approx. 44°30N/49°30W and was never heard from again.

U.S.A.: Lindbergh offers his services to Reuben Fleet of Consolidated Aircraft at a salary of not more than $10,000 a year. Fleet had offered $100,000 a year initially to build a research centre anywhere in the southwestern USA. Fleet is enthusiastic but two weeks later the offer is withdrawn. Again, companies with government contracts are afraid.

Albert Monmouth Jones is promoted to major general (temporary) in the United States Army. (Greg Kelley)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order combining the duties of Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet and the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Admiral Ernest J King, Commander-in-Chief U.S. Fleet, is designated to replace Admiral Harold R Stark as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) effective 26 March.

12 March 1943

March 12th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Escort carrier HMS Queen laid down.

Aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn commissioned.

GERMANY: RAF aircraft drop 1,000 tons of bombs on Essen, severely damaging the Krupps plant.

U-323 laid down.

U-1059 launched.

ITALY: 230,000 workers stage a protest strike against Mussolini's regime, bringing war production to a halt.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops liberated Wjasma. (Michael Ballard)

Germans and Russians battle at Kharkov.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: German Motor Torpedo Boat (S-boat) S-55 torpedoed and sank destroyer HMS Lightning in the Sicilian Straits.

Submarine HMS Turbulent sunk off Maddalena, NE of Sardinia by depth charges from Italian MTBs. Turbulent was declared overdue on 23 March 1943 when she failed to return to base.

NORTH AFRICA: Preparations of the 8th Army in Tunisia for a flanking movement begin. The 2nd New Zealand Division and the 8th Armoured Brigade are secretly begin to concentrate west of Wilder's Gap.

General Spaatz, commanding general of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in North Africa receives a temporary promotion to Lieutenant General.

Whilst operating with Force Q, destroyer HMS Lightning is torpedoed by German S-boats of the 7^th Flotilla and sunk. There are 46 casualties but 170 survivors are picked up by HMS Loyal. Location: off Bizerta at 37 53N 69 50E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U.S.A.: Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" is performed for the first time, by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with Eugene Goossens conducting.

Destroyer USS Hickox laid down.

Minesweeper USS Design laid down.

Submarine USS Sand Lance laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-130 is sunkwest of the Azores, position 37.10N, 40.21W, by depth charges from the US destroyer USS Champlin. 53 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)

At 1820, U-638 attacked a straggler from Convoy ON-168 SW of Cape Farewell (grid AJ 5897) and thought they'd missed, but the Empire Light was damaged and abandoned. 39 crewmembers and six gunners were lost. The master, three crewmembers and one gunner were picked up by destroyer HMS Beverley and landed at St John's. At 2212, U-468 sank the abandoned Empire Light by two coup de grâce.

SS Thomas Hooker sunk by U-653 at 53N, 43W in Convoy ONS-169.

A man from U-354 took his own life. [Maschinenmaat Helmut Richter].

12 March 1944

March 12th, 1944 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The Polish government in exile broadcasts a "call to arms" to the civilian population.

Westminster: With an invasion attempt of occupied Europe imminent the Allies have almost sealed off Eire from the rest of the world, following Dublin's refusal to expel Axis diplomats. For the time being 250,000 Irish citizens working in Britain cannot return home, nor can any of the 164,000 serving with the British armed forces. Mr Churchill recognises that this decision is "painful" in view of the contribution of so many Irishmen to the war effort. There were tears at Liverpool as some Irish girls were refused permission to sail home yesterday, but 1,000 others did leave.

U.S.S.R.: Konev's forces reach the River Bug at Gayvoron.

BURMA: Chuck Baisden notes in his diary:
Combat Mission N0. 25 No. 1 Air Commando
March 12, 1944 3:00 Hrs. Flight Time
Hailikandi to Dineblu, Burma No results noted

Note: There times when we bombed or strafed a target we could not see in a thickly forested area. A Chindit column would find a good target or run into a problem and vector us into the area and then put mortar smoke on the target and tell us what direction to come in from. We usually had excellent communications with the these ground forces.

U.S.A.:

Destroyer USS William C Lawe laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Paul G Baker launched.

Submarines USS Blackfin and Jallao launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-311 shot down an RAF 58 Sqn Halifax.

12 March 1945

March 12th, 1945 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The Mk 35 variant of the de Havilland Mosquito light bomber makes its maiden flight. With Merlin 113-144 engines, it has a top speed of 422 mph, and carries 2,000-lb of bombs for 2,050 miles. (22)

Frigate HMCS Montreal departed Londonderry escort for Convoy ON-290.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: U-683 (type VIIC) is listed as missing in the North Atlantic after 20 Feb, 1945 south-west of Ireland or in the English Channel. 49 dead (all hands lost). Probably sunk today near Land's End, in position 49.52N, 05.52W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Loch Ruthwen and the sloop Wild Goose (Alex Gordon)

GERMANY: Hohenlychen: Himmler signs an agreement promising to surrender the death camps to the Allies intact, with the prisoners still alive, and to order a halt to camp executions, contrary to Hitler's express orders.

In a record raid, 1,108 RAF bombers drop 4,851 tons of bombs on Dortmund.

Bergen-Belsen: Disease is sweeping through the camp, killing the starved and weakened inmates with an efficiency that the Nazis might envy. Anne-Frank, a 15-year-old German Jewish girl, died of typhus today. She spent two years hiding with her family in Amsterdam before being betrayed to the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau last August. Later she was moved on to Belsen. She hid her diary, to which she confided her deepest thoughts, in Amsterdam; it is a document of human dignity and hope in the face of relentless persecution.

Zhukov enters Kustrin, the entire Russian front has now reached the Oder-Neisse line as far south as Görlitz, excepting a small pocket near Stettin.

Kustrin fell after a week of savage fighting which culminated in the street-by-street destruction of the citadel by dive-bombers, artillery and assault teams armed with mortars and flame-throwers. Kustrin was a vital roadblock in the German plan of defence for Berlin. Now Marshal Zhukov has a clear road and Berlin is only 40 miles away.

NORWAY: U-1063 sailed from Kristiansand on her first and final patrol.

BURMA: Byotha falls to the 20th Indian Division.

JAPAN: 274 US aircraft tonight bomb Osaka and wipe-out 8.1 square miles of the city.

U.S.A.:

A Japanese incendiary balloon is shot down near Coal Harbour, on Vancouver Island. Launched from Japan and carried across the Pacific by winter winds, the enemy expects them to land in Canada's forests and begin huge fires. Unfortunately for the Japanese, most of the intended target areas are covered in snow and mist - hardly conducive to massive conflagrations.

Destroyer USS Glennon laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Henry W Tucker commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-260 (type VIIC) is scuttled at 2230hrs south of Ireland, in position 51.15N, 09.05W, after being mined at 80 meters depth. Whole crew interned in Ireland 48 survivors (No casualties).

U-296 (type VIIC/41) is listed as missing in the approaches to the Northern Channel on 12 March, 1945 in the approximate position 55.30N, 07W. There is a possibility that she was lost on or about 12 March to the minefields T1 or T21 which were laid in the path to her operational area. 42 dead (all hands lost).

(Alex Gordon)

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