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March 25th, 1939 (SATURDAY)

SPAIN: As the civil war draws to a close, the government air arm surrenders at Barajas. More..

POLAND: Coming after the German demands regarding Danzig on 21 March and their occupation of the Memel Territory, the Poles mobilize troops around Danzig. 
 

GERMANY: In a decree published today, all sixteen to eighteen year old Hitler Jugend's are to perform annual public service; boys will be encouraged to work on the land at harvest time and girls are to help families with large numbers of children. 

UNITED KINGDOM: Old Trafford, Manchester: Before a crowd of 79,962, Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Grimsby Town 5 - 0 in the FA (Football Association) Cup semi-final.

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25 March 1940

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March 25th, 1940 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. Reconnaissance - Borkum - Wanne - Eickel - Thionville - Ruhr. 102 Sqn. Two aircraft. Heavy opposition over the Ruhr. One aircraft damaged by Flak, crew unhurt. 51 Sq. (K9024) Undershot at Dishforth, crew safe, 102 Sq. N1379 overshot at Dishforth, crew unhurt.

London: Crowds flock to the West End, ignoring the blackout and celebrate the Easter holiday. People were besieging restaurants and bars and filling the streets with torch light. By 5pm it was impossible to get a seat for any West End show, queues outside the cinemas were 100 yards long. Impromptu sing-songs began at main line railway stations where troops and evacuees were flocking back from leave or from their weekend in town. A special train took civil servants back to their exiled ministries in Blackpool.

ITALY: Rome: The Hungarian Premier, Count Paul Teleki, has lengthy talks with Count Ciano.

FINLAND: The SFK is disbanded. Marshal Mannerheim promotes General Linder to the rank of ratsuväenkenraali (General of Cavalry) in the Finnish Army. This was a very rare honour. When the Winter War started there were no full generals in active service in the Finnish Army (nor were in Air Force and there were not a single admiral in the Navy), and Linder was the first promoted to the rank since the beginning of the war. (203)

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25 March 1941

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March 25th, 1941 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: Operations Order No. 20 Enemy ships carrying iron ore from Norway to Hamburg; oil from Spain past Ushant to France and Germany and convoys from Hamburg carrying stores needed by the occupation forces in Holland, Belgium and France are targeted.

GERMANY: Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief:

Your big front-page story today is Yugoslavia's decision to join the [Axis] tripartite coalition. Besides giving a factual report of the event, you should add commentaries and articles which treat this as yet another significant victory for the concept of a new European order, over the destructive forces of the Anglo-Saxon world.

AUSTRIA: Vienna: in Vienna's ornate Belvedere Palace today, the Yugoslav premier, Dragisa Cvetkovich, put his signature to the pact which binds his country to Germany and the Axis. He had left behind in Belgrade a government and country deeply divided, with the Serbs passionately pro-British and the Croats equally pro-German.

After the signing, the premier said that his chief aim was peace and security for the Yugoslav people. Von Ribbentrop welcomed Yugoslavia as a "new partner", and promised that Germany would respect the country's territorial integrity and not make military demands. Nobody believes him, least of all the Yugoslav premier.

NORWAY: German merchant raider ATLANTIS sails from Suderpipe disguised as a Norwegian merchant ship. (Alex Gordon)

BALTIC STATES: The resettlement within the Reich of 60,000 Germans from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia has been completed. The migrations were carried out in accordance with a German-Soviet agreement signed on 10 January, and in return Germany has sent 20,000 Lithuanians, Russians and White Russians into the USSR.

Since 1936 the Nazis have planned ways of encouraging - or forcing - ethnic Germans outside the Reich to immigrate. In 1938 a resettlement agency was set up, under the direct authority of Hitler until 1939 when Himmler took over. So far over 400,000 ethnic Germans have been "repatriated", the largest number 100,000 - in 1939 from the South Tyrol, a part of Austria given to Italy after the last war.

Many of the Reich's new citizens live in poor conditions in camps in Nazi-occupied eatern Europe, and they have been promised farms and other possessions of deported Jews and Poles.

YUGOSLAVIA:  There are disturbances in Belgrade when it becomes known that Yugoslavia has signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany. 

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Mines are laid by submarine HMS Rorqual west of Sicily.

Increasing Axis activity in the form of air reconnaissance was observed south and west of Greece and Crete and there are daily attempts to observe the harbor at Alexandria, Egypt. It was deduced from this additional interest in the activities and whereabouts of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet that the enemy was planning some form of surface action. Secret intelligence intercepts confirmed that there would be attacks on British convoys but in planning the response it was most important to ensure that the Italians did not get any idea that this was known or suspected. 
 

ETHIOPIA:  The 5th Indian Division renews its advance toward the Italian blocking position on the Keren road. 

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25 March 1942

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March 25th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Grantham: The government has its first by-election defeat since September 1939.

FRANCE: Major Cecil P Lessig becomes the first USAAF pilot to fly a mission over France in World War II. Flying a Spitfire Mk. VB with RAF No. 64 Squadron from Hornchurch, Essex, England, Lessig participates in a 36-aircraft fighter sweep that is recalled when 50 Luftwaffe fighters challenge them. 
     During the day, nine RAF Bomber Command Bostons, with fighter escort, carry out accurate bombing at Le Trait shipyard. No Bostons are lost. During the night of the 25th/26th, 26 of 27 aircraft dispatched bomb the port area at St. Nazaire, 38 aircraft dispatched lay mines off Lorient, 30 aircraft drop leaflets over France, and one bomber hits Lannion Airfield. 

NETHERLANDS: One RAF Bomber Command aircraft dispatched on the night raid on Essen, Germany, bombs Haamstede Airfield.   

GERMANY: During the night, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 254 aircraft, 192 Wellingtons, 26 Stirlings, 20 Manchesters, 9 Hampdens, 7 Lancasters, to attack Essen, the largest force sent to one target so far; 190 aircrew claim they hit the target many claiming hits on the Krupps works, but bombing photographs showed that much of the effort was drawn off by the decoy fire site at Rheinberg, 18 miles (29 kilometres) west of Essen. Essen's report says that only nine high-explosive bombs, 700 incendiaries and 1,627 leaflets were dropped there. One house was destroyed and two seriously damaged. Five people were killed and 11 injured.. Nine aircraft, five Manchesters (out of the 20 dispatched), three Wellingtons, and a Hampden, are lost. Other targets bombed include Duisburg (by seven aircraft), Oberhausen (by two aircraft) while individual aircraft bomb Gladbeck and Hamborn. 
 

BURMA: The Chinese 200th Division is virtually besieged in Toungoo. Elements of the Temporary 55th Division (T-55th) of the Chinese 6th Army, arrive north of the town but do not attack. The Burma I Corps is ordered to concentrate in the Prome-Allanmyo area.   
 

AUSTRALIA: An advanced flight echelon of B-26s assigned to the 22d Bombardment Group (Medium) arrives at Archerfield Airdrome, Brisbane via the Pacific ferry route.

General Douglas MacArthur"> MacArthur finally consents to see Lieutenant General George Brett who commands all Allied air units in Australia. Brett later recalls, “ MacArthur went into a dissertation on the air forces. It was evident that he had nothing but contempt and criticism for them. ‘They lack discipline, organization, purposeful intent,’ he said.” Brett’s assessment is that the key to MacArthur’s speech is that the Philippine campaign had been lost-but “through no fault of his.” 
     Jean MacArthur goes shopping in Melbourne, Victoria, to buy clothes, and finds out that most Australians have no idea of what they've been through. The Myer Emporium salesgirl looks her over, shakes her head sadly, and says, "SSW. Well, I don't know whether we've got anything." What does SSW mean? "Small-sized woman. They're hard to fit." Another shopper recognizes Mrs. MacArthur, and says, sympathetically, "Won't your clothes soon be arriving from Manila?" 
     An advance air echelon of the USAAF 22d Bombardment Group (Medium) equipped with B-26 Marauders arrives at Archefield Airdrome near Brisbane, Queensland, via the South Pacific ferry route. These are the first B-26s to reach an active war zone. The ground echelon has been in Australia for a month. 

NEW GUINEA: On 21 March, RAAF No. 75 Squadron arrived at Seven Mile Aerodrome at Port Moresby with 17 Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk. IA (= USAAF P-40E) fighters. Today, only seven of the original aircraft are operational. 

PACIFIC OCEAN: Three Japanese merchant ships are sunk by U.S. submarines: (1) USS Drum (SS-228) sinks a cargo ship about 120 miles (193 kilometres) south southwest of Tokyo, Japan; (2) USS Pompano (SS-181) sinks a tanker about 70 miles (113 kilometres) northwest of Naha, Okinawa; and (3) USS Tautog (SS-199) sinks a transport about 460 miles (740 kilometres) southeast of Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands. 

SOCIETY ISLANDS:  The U.S. 162d Infantry of the 41st Infantry Division, arrives at the 14 square mile (36 square kilometer) Bora Bora Island in French Polynesia. Bora Bora Island is about 2,650 miles (6683 kilometres) south southeast of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. 

MIDWAY ISLANDS:  Light cruiser USS St. Louis (CL-49) arrives and disembarks Companies "C" and "D," 2d Marine Raider Battalion, and a 37 mm gun battery of the 3d Defense Battalion. 

 

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane (later assigned the Allied Code Name “Glen”), to reconnoiter Kiska and Amchitka Islands. 

CANADA: British Columbia Security Commission initiates scheme of forcing men to road camps and women and children to "ghost town" detention camps.

U.S.A.: The 77th Infantry Division of the United States Army is activated at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. (Marc James Small)

GULF OF MEXICO: An unarmed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and shelled by German submarine U-103 about 75 miles (121 kilometres) west northwest of Jamaica, and abandoned. U-103 surfaces and her commanding officer asks the Americans for the name and speed of their ship, and if all of her men have been accounted for, before he provides them with cigarettes. The freighter sinks early the following morning, after which time the U-boat departs. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The destroyer USS Blakely (DD-150) is torpedoed by German submarine U-156 off Martinique, French West Indies. The explosion carries away 60 feet (18 meters) of her bow. Six men are killed and 21 wounded, but the ship makes it to Port de France, Martinique, for emergency repairs. 
     German planes attack convoy PQ 16 as it proceeds toward Murmansk, USSR, from Reykjavik, Iceland; an armed U.S. freighter is damaged by near-misses and she leaves the convoy under tow of British trawler HMS Northern Spray. 

 

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25 March 1943

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March 25th, 1943 (THURSDAY)

GERMANY: Nürnberg: Der Sturmer, the Nazi newspaper, announces the "the extermination of the Jews is in progress."

NORTH AFRICA: British 1st Armoured Div nears Tebaga Gap.
General Von Arnim pulls German and Italian Infantry from the Mareth Line, as the 4th Indian Division overruns it.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-524 is sunk near Madeira, Portugal, position 30.15N, 18.13W, by depth charges from a US Liberator aircraft (US-Air Force Sqdn 1/T). 52 dead (all hands lost).

U-469 (type VIIC) is sunk south of Iceland in position 62.12N 16.40W by depth charges dropped from a British Fortress aircraft of Sqdn. 206/L. All 46 of the U-Boat crew are lost. (Alex Gordon)

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25 March 1944

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March 25th, 1944 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Ignoring Churchill's request for aerial attacks on V-weapon bases in France, Eisenhower gives priority to the bombing of transport and communications centres.

FRANCE: More than 140 Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb a marshalling yard at Hirson.

GERMANY: On the "Night of the Strong Winds" 72 out of 811 bombers raiding Berlin are lost and 50 are shot down by flak.

U.S.S.R.: Kamchatka Peninsula: A US Navy PV-1 Ventura bomber on a mission from Attu in the Aleutian Islands to Shimushu Island in the northern Kurils, crashes into the side of a mountain in this remote part of Siberia. The aircraft is found and the remains of the crew identified nearly 60 years later. More...

ITALY: Cassino: After a week of bitter fighting around this bomb-shattered town in central Italy, the Allied offensive, aimed at dislodging the German from the monastery, has been called off. Last night the Gurkha, Essex and Rajput Regiments were evacuated from their position on Hangman's Hill. The losses sustained in this abortive attack have been severe. The 2nd New Zealand Division has lost 63 officers and over 800 men dead, wounded or missing, while the 4th Indian Division lost 1,000 men and 65 officers.

AUSTRALIA: The Thirteenth Air Force and all US Marine Corps and US Navy aviation units in the former South Pacific Area are reassigned to the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA).

PACIFIC: Japanese resistance nears the end on Manus and Los Negros in the Admiralties.

The 14th Antiaircraft Artillery Group arrive on Emirau Island. (Jean Beach)

Bougainville: The Japanese counter-offensive fails and they begin to withdraw. (Gordon Rottman)

U.S.A.: USS Cooper (DD-695) is commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-976 (type VIIC) is sunk in the Bay of Biscay near St. Nazaire in position 46.48N 02.43W by gunfire from two British Mosquito aircraft from Sqdn. 248/L/I. 4 of the U-Boat crew are lost, but 49 survive. (Alex Gordon)

 

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25 March 1945

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March 25th, 1945 (SUNDAY)

 

GERMANY: 

As British and US troops link up on the east bank of the Rhine, Montgomery forbids British troops to "fraternize" with the local population.

- 1,009 Eighth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, escorted by 341 P-47s and P-51s, are dispatched to bomb seven oil plants and a tank factory. Due to bad weather, only 243 B-24s hit three oil plants.

- 641 Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26s and B-26s to bomb three marshalling yards, four communications centers and flak concentrations.

- Lead elements of the U.S. Third and Ninth armies cross the River Rhine .

As part of Operation Varsity, the US 17th Airborne Division is dropped over the east bank of the Rhine. (Mike Yared)

The Red Army has reached the Austrian border in the Köszeg-Szombathely area.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack Cheb Airdrome, and a tank factory and two airfields in and around Prague.

HUNGARY: The Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front starts its attack across the Hron River and along the north bank of the Danube. Hungarian troops begin deserting their German allies in droves, while German commanders report a loss of confidence among their own men. By the 28th, the Red Army has reached the Austrian border in the Köszeg-Szombathely area. (Tony)

CHINA: 175 B-25s and fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in southern and eastern China. Due to advances by the Japanese Army, the Fourteenth Air Force base at Laohokow is abandoned. This is the last USAAF base to fall to the Japanese in China during WWII. The US forces blow up the base before abandoning it.

OKINAWA: The four Royal Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 57 join the US Navy's Task Force 58 off Okinawa. Aircraft of Task Force 58 and the support carrier Task Group 52.1 continue their pre-invasion attacks on Okinawa and the Kerama Islands.

COMMONWELATH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Over 90 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s attack Cebu City.

NEW GUINEA: Lt. Albert Chowne (b.1920), Australian Military Forces, knocked out two machine guns, then led a successful charge before he was killed. (Victoria Cross)

 

 

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