Topic: It Happened this day in WWII

[rustybayonet]

March 1

1941 – The southeastern European nation of Bulgaria joins the Axis powers by signing the
              Tripartite Pact.  When the Second World War broke out, Bulgaria declared its neutrality.
              But Bulgaria's King Boris was eager to expand his country's borders, and Germany had
              already coerced Romania to restore south Dobruja—which had been lost in World War
              I to Bulgaria. Bulgaria had chosen the wrong side in World War I, deciding that its
              territorial needs then would best be met by joining the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary
              and the German Empire). They were wrong, and King Boris was determined not to make
              the same mistake again.

1942 – U.S. War and Navy Deptments announce that Major General Walter Short and Rear Admiral
             Kimmel, commanding officers of forces at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack on
             December 7,1941 are to be court martialled on charges of dereliction of duty.
1943 – Construction of the new Burma road is completed. 
             In the Pacific a American B-24 spots a Japanese convoy on it's way from Rabaul to the
               Gulf of Huon in New Guinea.
1944 – The German offensive against Anzio beachhead is contained.
             The Japanese infiltrators are wiped out on Los Negros Island by an American landing
                force, to secure sites for air and naval bases.
1945 – U.S. 1st Army Forces continues attack towardCologne and the Rhine.  U.S. 3rd Corps is
                also continuing toward the Rhine.
            The Philippines,  Luzon in the capital, Japanese resistance is now confined to the Ministry
                 of Finance building.
            East of Manila, the U.S. 6th Division regroups to attack from Antipolo to Mount Oro an
                  area strongly manned by the Japanese.
            On Iwo JimaTurkey Crest, one of the three hills near Airfield No. 2 falls to the Marines after
                 heavy fighting.
             Aircraft from Vice Admiral Mitscher's fast carrier squadron attack installations of Okinawa.
             Turkey declares war on Germany.

[oldcoastie6468]

One must wonder of students in today's government schools even know these names, locations, and history.

[AlanS]

1942 – U.S. War and Navy Deptments announce that Major General Walter Short and Rear Admiral
             Kimmel, commanding officers of forces at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack on
             December 7,1941 are to be court martialled on charges of dereliction of duty.

And yet those that cut military budgets to minimal levels were missed.

[rustybayonet]

March 2

1942 – Japanese continue to infiltrate between the 1sr Burma Division and17th Indian Division,
                by-passing Pegi, they converge on Rangoon.
            Japanese continue their oiccupation of Java.
            New Guinea; Japanese aircraft begin massive air raids in preparation for invasion.
            Austratlia declares war on Thailand.
            There are two heavy air raids on Palermo by the British.
1943 – U.S. and Australian land-based planes begin an offensive against a convoy of Japanese
              ships in the Bismarck Sea, in the western Pacific.  On March 1, U.S. reconnaissance
              planes spotted 16 Japanese ships en route to Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea. The
              Japanese were attempting to keep from losing the island and their garrisons there by
              sending 7,000 reinforcements and aircraft fuel and supplies.
            Army Group Center under Germen General von Kluge evacuates Rzhev.
1944 – A train stops in a tunnel near Salerno, Italy, and more than 500 people on board suffocate
              and die. Occurring in the midst of World War II, the details of this incident were not
              revealed at the time and remain somewhat murky.
           On Los Negros %th Calvary arrives to reinforsce those already landed.
           Americans occupy Momote airfield without difficulty.
           British forces moving from Ledo in Assam, cross the river Chindwin near Singkaling Hkamti
              on boats dropped by parachute.
           In the  Arakan the 81st West African Division takes Apaukwa, but is driven out again by
               the Japanese.
1945 –    British and Canadian forces capture Weeze and advance sount towards Geldern on the
                   western front.
               U.S, 9th Army 35th Division XVI Corp moves quickley into German territory reaching
                   Sevelen after passing through Strafen and Nieukerk.
               The U.S, 83rd completes the capture of Neuss and reached the Rhine opposite
                    Dusseldorf, but the retreating Germans have destroyed all the bridges over the
                    rivers.
                The U.s. 99th Division [VII Corp] crosses the Erft in the neighborhood of Glesch. And
                     further south the 3rd Armoured division and 104th defend  the bridgeheads east of
                     the Erft, while III Corps continues it's advance to the Rhine
                 In the Phillippines American units reach the outskirts of Mauo.
                 On Iwo Jima the 3rd Marine Division captures Airfield #3 under intensive Japanese
                 artillary and machine-gun fire.
             
                 Burma; the 20th Indian Division and the British 2nd Diviaion join up their bridgeheads
                      west of mandalay.         

[Libertas]

1942 – U.S. War and Navy Deptments announce that Major General Walter Short and Rear Admiral
             Kimmel, commanding officers of forces at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack on
             December 7,1941 are to be court martialled on charges of dereliction of duty.

And yet those that cut military budgets to minimal levels were missed.

Yes.  No doubt the same people sending confusing communiques to Pearl, robbing the Pacific Fleet to offset Atlantic Fleet transfers to Britain...real stand-up guys, eh?

 

[rustybayonet]

Always typical congressional CYA actions, find and blame a scape goat.

[rustybayonet]

Posting early, may not be available tomorrow, going for procedure for my back and they will be putting me out so I'll probably sleep most of the day after.

March 3

1941 – Russia criticizes German occupation of Bulgaria.
1942 – Berlin admits that the encircled 16th Army in seriously short of food.
            Burma;  Fighting continues in the WAW-Pyinbon area, north-east of Pegu.
            New British trrops arrive to reinforce the defences of Rangoon.
            The Phillippines; Japanese land at Zamboanga on the island of Mindanao.
            Japanese aircraft raid Broome in Western Australia where most refuges from Java are.
            RAF makes heavy raid on the Renault works on the outskirts of Paris.
1943 – Russians take Rzhev after days of bitteer fighting, also taking Lgov and Dmitriev-
              Logovskiy on the Kharkov -Bryansk railway.
            Burma; Windgate's column crosses the river Mu and skirting the village of Tongmauw,
               tackle the Mingin Mountains east of where the railway and the river Irrawaddy flows.
            Heavy night raid by RAF on Hamberg.
            In London 173 people killed after entering a tube shelter during air raid in which no bombs
               fell in that area, deaths caused by suffocation.
1944 – In what are to be the last battles in the Anzio sector, American 3rd Division halts a fresh
                German attack near Pont Rotto, counter-attack and re-take some positions in the
                   afternoon.
           The Japanese on Los Negros launch a very powerful night attack against the American
                 beachhead. They are driven back after suffering heasy losses, and never mount
                 operations on so big a scale again.
           Burma;   American 5307th occupies Lagang Ga and clears an open space for dropping of
                            supplies.
                        American / Chinese armoured group in support of Chinese 22nd Division occupies
                             Ngam Ga and repulses a night counter-attack.

1945 – Winston Churchill visits Julich, Germany for the first time as Prime Minister setting foot on
              German soil.
           American, British, and Canadian forces hook up at Wallbeck, south-west of Gelderen.
           Units of the VII Corps[US 1st Army] advance rapidly to the Rhine, taking
              Sinsteden,Stommeln,Gleesen and Dansweiller, before starting operations against
              Konigsberg with the 104th Division.  No improvement witht the 87th and 4th Divisions
              pinned down near Ormont and Reuth.  11th Armoured crosses the Prium river and
              attacks towards the river Kyll, taking Fleringen.  6th Armoured continues advance from
              Prium to the Nims and some cross north of Schonecken.
            Phillippines; All Japanese resistance in Manila is at an end, with the liquidation of their
              forces in the Ternate area of the entire Manila Bay.
             Iwo Jima;  the 3rd,4th and 5th Marine units continue attacking strong Japanese
               positions, Height 382 is finally taken, caves and tunnels are being 'mopped up'.


U.S. Marines fighting for control of Iwo Jima in WWII

[rustybayonet]

March 4

1941 – The British navy raids a German position off the coast of Norway and inside the Arctic
              Circle—the Lofoten Islands. The raid, code name Operation Claymore, proved highly
              destructive of its target—an armed German trawler—but ultimately a failure in achieving
              its objective, the capture of an Enigma decoding machine. British send first convoy of
              cargo ships and warships from Alexandria with troops and
              supplies to Greece.  Four cruisers and four destroyers are sent to protect the convoy.
          Hitler meets with Prince Paul of Yugoslavia in secret and asks him to join the Tripartite Pact
              allowing German troops to pass through, in exchange for Thessalonski and part of Greek
              Macedonia.
          Bulgaria breaks off diplomatic relations with Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands.
1942 – MacArthur reorganizes forces defending the islands in readiness for his departure.
              The Dutch East Indies is now lost to the enemy, dutch nationals destroy all instalations
                 of value to enemy.
            General Stilwell sets up Chungking as headquarters for America forces operating in China,
                 Burma and India.

1943 –  Russians take Sevsk, south of Bryansk and west of Kursk.

1944 – In the Ukrfaine the Russians unleash another big offensive, driving the German forces back
                  between Kiev and Odessa, surrounding some of the enemy divisions.
            About 600 Flying Fortresses [B-17]  and Liberators [B-24] of the U.S. 8th Army Air Force
                   carry out the first daylight raid on Berlin.  Met with heavy resistance they lose nearly
                   80 aircraft [ about 800 airman].
            Green Islands landing strip for the Allied fighters is operational, and a runway big enough
                    for bombers is almost completed.
            General Stilwell, and Chiang Kai-shek's Chief of Staff meet with Supreme Commander in
                   South-East Asia, Admiral Lord Mountbatten and iron out differences.
            At Walawbum, Burma; the Japanese try unsucessfully to attack the Americans on the
                    flank.
            American/Chinese armoured advances from Ngam GA to Tsmat GA, near Maingkwan, and
                    the Japanese evacuate Tsamat GA.
        The U.S. Eighth Air Force launches the first American bombing raid against the German     capital.The British Royal Air Force (RAF) had been conducting night raids against Berlin and other  German cities since November 1943, suffering losses at increasingly heavy rates. While the British inflicted significant damage against their targets, the German defenses proved quite effective: The RAF flew 35 major raids between November 1943 and March 1944 and lost 1,047 aircraft, with an even greater number damaged. Having already suffered heavy losses during day raids of various German industrial centers, the Americans had been cautious in pursuing night raids. But in March, with the RAF exhausted, the U.S. Eighth Air Force finally pursued night bombing and made Berlin its primary target. Fourteen U.S. bomber wings took off for Germany from England on the evening of March 4; only one plane reached Berlin (the rest dropped their loads elsewhere; few planes were lost to German defenses). In retrospect, the initial American attack was considered "none too successful" (as recorded in the official history of U.S. Army Air Force). Subsequent attacks in March were more effective.
1944 – Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, the head of Murder, Inc., is executed at Sing Sing Prison in New York. Lepke was the leader of the country's largest crime syndicate throughout the 1930s and was making nearly $50 million a year from his various enterprises. His downfall came when several members of his notorious killing squad turned into witnesses for the government.
1945 – The 5th  U.S. Armoured Division [part ofU.S. 9th Army] reaches the Rhine taking Orsoy
              and Rheinkamp.  The XIX Corps reaches Rhinehausen and eliminates the pocket near the
              Adolf Hitler Bridge south of Urdinger.  Third Armour Division attack Cologne early in the
              morning and early that day enters the city.  104th Division continues attck toward
              Cologne, taking Junkersdorf.
           In Italy the limited offensive of the IV Corps [U.SD. 5th Army] is concluded.
           In the Phillippines Near Luzon the 11th Division re-inforces XIV Corps and stars operations
               for Balayan and Batangas bays.
           Burma;  The British XV Corps and Indian 25th Division  advances from Arakan and takes
                Tamandu, while 19th Indian Division advances to Mandalay.     

[rustybayonet]

March 5

1941 – Britain severs diplomatic reltions with Bulgaria.
1942 – Fighting continues in Java.
            The Dutch announce the evcacuation of Batavia.
            Japanese convoy sails from Rabaul to New Guinea carring invasion troops.
            General Alexander arrives in Rangoon, taking over troops ion Burma.
             Soviets recapture Yucknov, an important rail center.
             RAF carry out heavy raids at Benghazi in North Africa.
             Yugoslavian forces under General Milhailovitch rout Italian troops at Nikshich, Montenegro.

1943 – Eastern Front – Russians attack Staraya Russa.
                                      German Armyadvances under heavy resistance toward Kharkov and
                                           Belgorod.
                                       At Kiev, German Erich Koch gives “We belong to the superior race” –
                                           speech
                                       A heavy conce ntrated raid lasting 40 minutes, 150 4,000 lb. Bombs
                                            are dropped with 442 planes, both fighters and bombers.  This is
                                            the first use of 'Oboe' navigational radar equipment.

1944 – New Guinea – U.S. 126th Infantry from the 32nd Division lands withouttrouble at Yalau
                                       Plantation.  The Japanese avoid encirclement by withdrawing towards
                                            Masang.
                                    MacArthur hoping to isolate Japanese presses plans for  the invasion of
                                       Hollandia, New Guinea and Kavieng, New Ireland.
           Admiralty Island – U.S. 7th Cavalry starts operations to capture Los Negros, with General
                                        Swif taking command.
           Burma – Chinese 22nd Division surrounds and captures Maingkwan.
                           Admiral Mountbarren asks for reinforcements for  the Arakan sector, believing a
                              big Japanese offensive is imminent.  Also British XV Corps are beginning
                              offensive movement toward Maungdaw-Buthidaung towards the mouth of
                              the Naaf river.

1945 –  Western Front – U.S. 9th Army sector, the 5th armoured Division reaches the Rhine at
                                       Orsoy which is taken along with Rhinkamp.  XIX Corps reaches
                                       Rhienhausen and elimated pocket near the Adolf Hitler bridge.   
                                       U.S. 3rd Armour opens attack on Cologne   
             Italian Front – Limited offensive of the U.S. 5th Army is concluded.   
             Phillippines – U.S. XIV Corps and 11th Divisionstart occupation ofBalayan and Batrangas
                                   Bays and Japanese halt advance near Langanan.
             Burma – British XV Corps and Indian 25th Division advance from Arakan and take
                                    Tamandu.
                            19th Indian Div ision advances towards Mandalay.             

[rustybayonet]

March 6

1941 – German authorities in Holland condemn 18 members of the underground to death.
            The British Admiralty announces that the German offical communiques claim to have
              destroyed 19 more battleships,6 more aircraft carries 40 more cruisers and 13 more
               submarines, more submarines than the Royal Navy had.

1942 – The 63rd Brigade of the 17th Indian Division carries out a futal attempt to open the
              Rangoon-Pegu road, trying to block the Japanese.

1943 – Tunisia – Rommel's Africakorps attacks British 8th Army east of the Mareth Line. Following
                the battle of Kasserine, Rommel realizes efforts to relieve the pressure in the west is
                  useless.

1944 – New Britain-U.S. Marine 1st  Division carry out landing on Willaumesx penninsula near
                  Volupai.
            Bouganville – Big Jaoanese forces are located on a hill overlookingCape Torokina
                       beachhead.
                  Americans try to extend and strengthen tyheir position perimeter, but are unable to
                       dislodge the Japanese.

              Admiralty Islands – Another American regiment lands on Los Negros to pursue the
                          retreating Japanese.
               Burma – Chiang Kai-shek orders General Stilwell to hold upthe offensive in the north-
                         east for a time.
               In Argentine the Foreign Ministry repudiated the breaking off of relations with the
                       Tripartite Pact.
1945 – Members of the Dutch Resistance who were attempting to hijack a truck in Apeldoorn,
                 Holland, ambush Lt. Gen. Hanns Rauter, an SS officer. During the following week, the
                   German SS executed 263 Dutch in retaliation.  The Dutch Resistance was one of the
                   fiercest of all the underground movements in Nazi-occupied Europe. "The Dutch
                   never accepted the German contention that... the war was over," wrote the Dutch
                   foreign minister in a postwar account of life under Nazi occupation. "Their acts of
                   resistance and sabotage grew more audacious as time passed."  Those acts of
                   resistance and sabotage included harboring Allied soldiers and pilots who either
                   parachuted or crash-landed within Dutch territory, harboring Dutch Jews, and killing
                   German troops. The Resistance was composed of representatives from all segments
                   of Dutch society, ranging from the most conservative to communists.  Rauter was
                   head of the SS in Holland and answered directly to Heinrich Himmler, the SS
                   commander. In 1941, during a strike that broke out in Amsterdam among Dutch
                   workers to protest the round-up of almost 400 Dutch Jews, Hauter ordered the SS
                   and German troops to open fire on the strikers, killing 11. The Jews, whom the
                   strikers were trying to protect, were deported to Buchenwald. All were dead by the
                   fall.  Rauter was riding in an SS truck, filled with food destined for the Luftwaffe (the
                   German air force) based near Apeldoorn on March 6, 1945, when some young
                   members of the Dutch Resistance ambushed the truck. The closing days of the war
                   had left much of occupied Holland close to famine conditions, and the guerrillas were
                   determined to co-opt the food. They did not know Rauter was in the truck when it
                   was attacked; Rauter was shot during the heist attempt but lived. In retaliation, the
                   SS proceeded to round up and execute 263 Dutchmen, some of whom were
                   Resistance fighters who were already being held in prison.  Rauter was tried for war
                   crimes by the Dutch court Den Haag. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.
                   He appealed the sentence at Nuremberg in 1949, but the sentence was upheld and
                   he was executed that year.
--------- British 3rd Division and Canadian 1st Army re-inforce their positions in the Xanten area
                  on the Western Front.
--------- Canadian 3rd Division concludes the mission when it takes Sonsbeck, while 4th Armour
                  pushes on to Veen.
---------- In the 9th Army sector Operation Grenade is brought to a conclusion.
---------- U.S. XVI, XIII, and XIX Corps have moved up from the Rur to the Rhine river.
---------- VII Corps and 3rd Armour from U.S. Continue the battle for Cologne.
---------- On the Easteern Front - 2nd Belorussian finishes off the capture of Grudziadz a key
                 point for German defensive system on the Vistula in Poland.
---------- Phillippines-  On Palawanthe Japanese firmly dug in repuilse the attack of the U.S. 186th
                                        Infantry.
---------- In Hungary – German Army Group South assembled considerable forces against the
                    U.S. 1st Army and 8th Cavalry.
---------- Iwo Jima U.S. Naval guns fire in support of American V Amphibious Corps in it's attempt
                    to break throughthe Japanese defense line north on the island.  The scene of the
                    most bloody battles are Height 362B to the east ofMotoyama.
----------  28 Mustang fighters and 12 twin-engine P61's arrive to be stationed on Airfield No. 1
                     to give speedy support to ground forces.

[richb]

One must wonder of students in today's government schools even know these names, locations, and history.

Often the TEACHERS don't know,  so yeah, the students of course don't.

[Libertas]

I remember the books I paged through, and when I came across a picture of a P-51 I thought, jeez, for a prop job that has to be the damned best looking plane ever!  I liked it better than many jets of the day!

Most of the other pictures and stories made me think "Ugh, wouldn't want to be there!" but many did go to these places.  WWII literally was a world war, WWI had pretensions to be, but it was largely a European affair that spilled over into their territories elsewhere.  Hopefully war on the WWII scale is never seen again.

[rustybayonet]

March 7

1941 -- British forces land in Greece.

1942 – Dutch East Indies – Java falls to Japanese.  All allied aircraft have been destroyed
-------- Burma – Rangoon is evacuated.  The British retire towards the nort of the country.  The
                  Pegu garrison is cut off, and is ordered to break out and make it's way north.
-------- New Guinea – During the night the Japanese invasion convoy arrives in the Gulf of Huon
                   and under cover fire from the convoy, troops come ashore at Salamaua and Lae,
                   meeting no opposition.

1943 – Nothing different – existing battles still in progress.

1944 – Admiralty Islands – American advance guards capture Papitalai and the eastern part of
                  Seeadler Harbour in Los Negros Island.  B-25 aircraft are able to make emergency
                  landings on Momore airfield.
 -------  The American and Chinese concentrate for the occupation of Walawbum where substantial
                Japanese forces are in the vicinity.

1945 – Western front – Canadian II Corps prepare for final attack on Xanten, XVI Corps to extend
                  it's north flank towards Wesel, the U.S. 9th Army front remains quiet.  Cologne
                  Germany's third city is captured by theU.S. 3rd Armoured Division and the 104th
                  Infantry. Some units of U.S, 9th Armoured establish beachheads across the rivers
                  Ahr and Rhine, while others seize a bridge across at Remagen.
  -------  U.S. 3rd Army and 87th Division advances north towards the Ahr river with units of the
                   11th Armoured taking Dockweiler, Boxberg and Kelberg.
 --------- Phillippines – I Corps batttalion of the 127th Infantry Regiment occupies the bridge and
                  village of Aringay and advances toward Mount Magabang.
 --------- XIV Corps begins operations against the Simbu line, the 158th Infantry occupies Taal
                   and advance rapidly toward Lake Taal.
 --------- Iwo Jima – Taking the Japanese by surprise, regimental combat group of the 3rd Marines
                    attack Height 362 E without first using artillary.
 --------- Burma – A regiment of the Chinese 38th division occupies Lashio, north east of
                    Mandalay.Japanese launch a counter offensive to recapture Meikitla and succeed in
                    cutting off the 17th Indian Division.

[Libertas]

"the U.S. 9th Army front remains quiet"

An uncle would dispute that, but it depends on where you were and how "quiet" was defined.   

[rustybayonet]

"the U.S. 9th Army front remains quiet"

An uncle would dispute that, but it depends on where you were and how "quiet" was defined.   

The research book I use [World War II - A complete Photographic History , More than 2,500 photographes and maps"] by Hal Buell, with earliest copyright in 1977 says: "Apart from some limited activity by the XVI Corps to extend north towards Wesel, the U.S. 9th Army remains quiet".
My thinking was 'not alot of new activity' so I didn't enter the entire sentence.

Could very easily be not factual about this [books do miss things, and so do I] - for this WWII history nut - if you could get some first hand info from him, I'd love to be updated.  Thanks....

[rustybayonet]

March 8

1941 – U.S. Senate passes the Lend-Lease Bill by 60to 31.  Britain and Greece to get military
              supplies under the Act at once.

1942 – The Japanese enter Rangoon, Indian infantry, with tanks and artillery support break
              through the Japanese block on the Rangoon-Prome road, along which the British are
              retiring.
 -----    A new-style RAF air raid on Essen, the biggest city in the north Rhineland.  Main target the
               Krupp armament works, droppiing flares then incendiary bombs indicate the targets for
               the  bomber squadrons.

1943 – the Eastern Front – Russians re-take Sychevka, north of Vyazma, and bring pressure
               against vonKluge's forces towards Smolensk.
  -----   China – Japanese forces cross the Yanhtze between Yichang and Yoyang.  One of many
               raids during the year to secure rice and supplies, not only for the dJapanese but also to
               deprive the Chinese of Chiang Kai-shek's army.

1944 – 600 U.S. Bombers carry out another raid on Berlin, with the ball-bearing factory at Erkner
               their target.
  -----   South-west Pacific – The U.S. 41st Division moves from Australia to Cape Cretin in New
                Guinea, to concentrate on an attack on Hollandia.
  -----  Admiralty Islands – The capture of Los Negros is virtually complete.American ships tie up in
                 Seadler Harbour without Japanese gun fire.
  -----  Bougainville – Japanese surprise U.S. By opening artillery fire on the berachhead and the
                  Piva runways destroyingone bomber, 3 fighters and damaging 19 more.  Remaining
                  bombers are moved to New Guinea.  During the night tw Japnaese companies attack
                  the American positions in the 37th Divisions area.
  -----  New Britain – The 5th Marine Regiment continues advance to Talasea with very little
                 resistance.
  -----  Burma – American/Chinese attack on Walawbum area fails due to lack of co-ordination.
                  Chinese armoured enters Walawbum, but does not get infantry support.
  -----  Japanese 15th Army under General Mutaguchi carry out masssive attack north of Tiddim
                  and Tamu.

1945 – Western Front – British 43rd and Canadian 2nd Divisions attack Xanten and take it.
  -----  U.S. 1st Army [VII Corps] pushes on toward the Rhine oppostire the city of Bonn.
  -----  At Remagen the III Corps is engaged reinforcing and extending the bridgehead over the
               Rhine, but with the haste that have been mounted [they cannot let this unexpected
               advantage slip], lack of co-ordination starting to lead to congestion on routes leading to
               the bridge.  Germans are making every effort to plug the leak at Remagen, within two
               days more than300 planes of the German Luftwaffe carry out dive-bombing attempts to
               destroy it, but fortunately for the Allies it's in vain.
  -----  U.S. VIII Corps of U.S. 3rd Army advances rapidly towards Rhine.
  -----  Italian Front - 1st Armoured Division  [U.S. II Corps] carries out limited attacks to
               reinforce the corps left flanks, taking Carviano, north-east of Vergato.
  -----  Eastern Front – Fighting continues south of Stettin and Danzig as well in Silesia, while in
                Hungary and Yugoslavia German 6th SS Armoured presses on from Szekesfehervar
                towards the Danube and along the Sarviz Canal.
  -----  German Army Group E engages the Bulgarian and Yugoslav forces across the Drava and
                contains the Yugoslav forces west of Sarajevo.
  -----  Phillippines – U.S. XIV Corps continues attack on the Shimbu line with 6th Division and 1st
               Cavalry, with some progress towards Antipolo.  American I Corps capture Mount
               Magabang, north-east of Aringay and the village of Putlan.  In southern Phillippines, all
               Japanese resistance ceases on Palawan Island, with the Americans occupying the islets
               of Busuanga, Balabac and Pandanan.
  -----  Iwo Jima – Three Marine divisions renew their attacks against Japanese positions with flame
               -throwers and artillery.  The 4th Marine Division then drives the Japanese off a violent
                counter attack.  American forces notice increased suicides among the enemy dead –
                and incouraging sign for the Allies.

[rustybayonet]

March 9 [ busy tomorrow so posting tonight]

March 9

1940 – The Finish army is no longer able to hold it's position and General Mannerheim asks
                polititians to come to terms with the enemy.

1941 – In Mussolini's presence, Italians launch their offensive in Albania [half of which between
               Tomor and the Vijose River is already in their hands].  They gain successes in the area
               of MaliArza and Mount Trebescini, south-east of Berat.  There is a heavy night raid on
               Portsmouth.

1942 – Dutch East Insies – The last Dutch units still fighting in Java surrender to the Japanese, all
              of Dutch East Indies now under Japanese control.
   -----  New Guinea – American aircraft hit at the Japanese troop convoy in the Gulf of Huon.
              Japanese air force continues raids on Australian and British positions on the island.
   -----  Burma – The British withdraw to the north continues.

1943 – Eastern Front – Russians contain pressure of von Manstein's armoured armies toward
              Kharkov and Belgorod, and contunue advence on Smolensk.
   -----  New Guinea – Japanese aircraft attack Wau in force. This is the first of many raids carried
               out on the important positions of the Allies, including Oro Bay, Milne, Port Morseby,
                Dubodura and Porlock Harbour.
   -----  Soloman Islands – the Americans begin series of air raids against Japanese installations at
                 Munda in New Georgia, an important base of the enemy.
   -----  Field-Marshall Rommell called home after the battle of Medenine stops off in Rome for a
                 meeting with Mussolini, and does not hide the gravity of the Axis position, but
                 Mussolini announces that Tunisia must be saved at all costs.  Command of the
                 German forces in Tunisia passes to General Jurgen von Arnim, and overall command of
                 Axis troops goes to General Giovanni Messe.

1944 – Eastern Front – Troops of the 1st Ukraine reach Tarnopol, where fiece house to house
                 fighting begins against Manstein's Army Group South.
   -----  Bougainville – Japanese resume attacks along perimeter of Cape Torokina beachhead
                 making small break in American lines of the 37th Division.  Counter attacks are
                 unsuccessful.
                 Japanese switch artillery fire from Piva runways to the Torokina airfield.
   -----  Admiralty Islands – An American brigade lands at Salami Plantation, Los Negros and a
                 squdron of U.S. Fighters arrives a Momote airfield.
   -----  Burma – The American/Chinese 1st Armoured Group with Chinese 22nd and 38th Divisions
                  occupy Walawbum, giving the Chinese control of the Hukawng Valley.

1945 – Western Front – Germans abandon their bridgeheads in the Wesel area and destroy the
               bridges.
   -----  Canadian 1st Army and their 4th Division take veen.
   -----  German 15th Army abandons the west bank of the Rhine, Bonn is captured by the U.S.
                1st Division.
   -----  Control of the bridgehead at Remagen is taken over by U.S. 9th Division, mean while U.S.
                 7th  Armoured has taken over defences of the west bank of the Rhine River between
                 Bonn and Remagen.
   -----  U.S. 3rd Army have reached the Rhine while the 4th Armoured Division is ordered to
                  establish a bridgehead at Treis.
   -----  Eastern Front – Yugoslavia 3rd Army launches a counter-attack against the bridgehead
                  over the Drava established by the German Army Group E, counter-attack is contained.
   -----  Russians storm through the defences of Kustrin and bitter house to house fighting
                  develops.
   -----  Phillippines – Hard fighting continues on the Shimbu line, east of manila, and in the central
                 part of the island.
   -----  South Phillippines – American aircraft and ships bombard the Zamboanga area of the
                 Mindaneo island area in preperation for a landing.
   -----  Iwo Jima – During the night large groups of Japanese with explosive charges tied to their
                 belts throw themselves against the American positions achieving some penatration
                 putting 4th Marines in some difficulty.
   -----  3 Marine divisions continue their artillery, explosive and flame-thrower assault against
                 Japanese caves and other strongpoints.
   -----  In the morning after boths nights activities 784 Japanese dead are counted.
   -----  Burma – British XXXIII Corps and 19th Indian Division penetrates into the outskirts of
                 Mandalay where bitter fighting develops.
   -----  334 B-29 bombers from Guam, Saipan, and Tinian drop incendiary bambs on Toyko in a
                 massive 3 hour raid.  Confirmed kill numbers 130,000 with other estimates going as
                 high as 200,000.
   -----  French Indo-China – Japanese fearing American landings deprive Admiral Decoux of all
                 authority as Governor-General of the colony, and dismiss the entire French
                 administration, which strenghtens the resistance movement.
 

[rustybayonet]

March 10

1940 -- U.S. Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles, after a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Berlin,
                visits London to discuss a peacemaking proposal with Prime Minister Neville
                Chamberlain to prevent a widening of the European war.  Sumner Welles, a diplomat
                and expert on Latin America, spent his early professional life promoting the
                UnitedStates' "Good Neighbor" foreign policy as attache to the U.S. embassy in Buenos
                Aires, chief of Latin American affairs of the State Department, and commissioner to the
                Dominican Republic. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him assistant
                secretary of state, sending him to Cuba, where Welles successfully mediated opposing
                groups attempting to overthrow the government of Gerardo Machado. He was
                promoted to undersecretary of state in 1937, serving as a delegate to several
                Pan-American conferences.

1941 – Further night raids on Portsmouth in a six-hour attack.

1942 – New Guinea – Another Japanese landing at Finschhafen.
    ---       One hundred – four American aircraft from the carriers Lexington and Yorktown bomb
                  Lae and Salamaua, damaging Japanese shipping and airfields.
    ---     Japanese aircraft from Rabaul [New Britain] carry out 'neutralization' raids on Port
                  Moresby.
    ---     Soloman Islands – The Japanese land on Buka.
    ---     The USA declares that help under the Lend-Lease Act may be extended to Iran.

1943 – Eastern Front – After savage fighting von Manstein's armoure recaptures Kharkov,
                  reversing the Red Army's biggest recent successes, even though Russian units
                  continue to hold out in part of the town.
    ---      In Sicily,  Allied bombers make heavy attack on Palermo.

1944 – Eastern Front – After violent fighting 2nd Ukraine Front takes Uman south-west of
                   Cherkassy, which was previously a Luftwaffe important base.
    ---       Bougainville – The Japanese take an important feature on the perimeter of the Cape
                   Torokina beachhead, Hill 260 driving off repeated American counter-attacks.
    ---   In other areas the Americans manage to reduce but not eliminate the salient the Japanese
                    have won in their line.
    ---       Admiralty Islands – New American aircraft arrive at Momote airfield, Los Negroes, while
                     other aircraft begin a series of attacks against Manus Island, the largest island in the
                     archipelago, in preparation for the landing.
    ---       Allied Joint Chiefs of Staff determine timetable for the Pacific;
                    15 April – invasion of Hollandia, New Guinea
                    15 June – invasion of the Marianas
                    15 September – invasion of Palau Islands
                    15 November – landing on Mindanao in the Phillipppines
                    15 February 1945 – invasion of Formosa
    ---       Burma – Japanese bomb th Chowringee landing strip in central Burma, valuable for
                     supplying the columns operating in the enemy's rear flank.

1945 – Western Front – U.S. 1st Army finishes Operation Vertable with the capture of the region
                      between  the rivers Moselle and Rhine.  II Corps concludes Opersation Blockbuster
                      and as a result Allies have the Calcar-Uden-Xanten sector, but the success of the
                      two operations has cost America over 7,300 casualties, Canadian 5,500 and Britain
                      10,500.
    ---     U.S. 1st Army extends it's bridgehead over the Rhine at Remagen, where the 768th
                      Division while the Germanscontinue their efforts to destroy the bridge.
    ---     4th Armoured Division completes occupation west of the Rhine between Andernach and
                      Koblenz, and north of Moselle between Koblenz and Cochem, while 5th Division
                      reaches there also.
    ---     On the southern flank XX Corps is reinforced by the 80th Division in readiness for attack
                      on the Saarburg bridgehead planned for March 13.
    ---     10th Armoured Division reaches Wittolich sector and begins adveance towards the
                      Moselle.
    ---      Commanders of the 3rd Ukraine Front, Tolbukhin asks Soviat Supreme Command for
                    reinforcements because of threat by the German counter-offensive, but he is denied.
    ---      Germans break off their thrust toward the Canube because of resistance, but continue
                    with their penetration along the Sarviz Canal west of Lake Velencei.
    ---       German Army Group Centre still heavily engaged with 1st Ukraine Front near Oppelin in
                    Breslau near Grottkau, Striegau and Lauban.
   -------   Phillippines – Luzon, Violent aerial and artillery bombardment for the Shimbu line east of
                    Manila.
    ---        U.S. 8th Army in soutern Phillippines sail from Mindanao to occupy Romblon and Simara
                    islands.  On Mindanao a powerful preperation by aircraft and warships, the U.S. 41st
                    Division lands on the Zamboanga penisula, overcoming weak Jaoanese resistance and
                    occupies Wolfe airfield, and advances to Mindanao City.
   --------  Burma – British 36th Division take Mongmit.

[Libertas]

"the U.S. 9th Army front remains quiet"

An uncle would dispute that, but it depends on where you were and how "quiet" was defined.   

The research book I use [World War II - A complete Photographic History , More than 2,500 photographes and maps"] by Hal Buell, with earliest copyright in 1977 says: "Apart from some limited activity by the XVI Corps to extend north towards Wesel, the U.S. 9th Army remains quiet".
My thinking was 'not alot of new activity' so I didn't enter the entire sentence.

Could very easily be not factual about this [books do miss things, and so do I] - for this WWII history nut - if you could get some first hand info from him, I'd love to be updated.  Thanks....

You and me both.  He recently passed away but rarely if ever talked about his experiences, I had to piece together what I knew with what I could research...his was one of many units that kept getting transferred between American (Bradley) and British (Montgomery) command, that was not too well received by the Yanks forced to participate in that latter fellows meatgrinder affairs.  Plus my uncle was not originally part of the 9th but transferred there after D-Day, so he had D-Day, the Ardennes and on into Germany.

[rustybayonet]

Damn - getting old is a bi*ch - everything done for March 11 posting, so what do I do
hit paste instead of copy - everything gone and I get to start over after I get off work.