March

1940 Hitler changes his plans for the invasion of the west. At a military conference in Berlin, he decides to adopt the plan put forward by Gerd von Rundstedt and his former chief of staff, Erich von Manstein, for the Ardennes option. Code-named ‘Fall Sichelschnitt’, it called for the attack against the Low Countries to […]

1939 Britain and France agree to support Poland if Germany threatens to invade. 1940 German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis sets sail, will sink 22 ships before being sunk November 22, 1941. 1941 British civilian casualties for March are 4,259 killed and 5,557 injured. Italian naval forces sink the British Cruiser, HMS Bonaventure off Crete. The 5th Light

1940 The Japanese set up a puppet government called Manchuko in Nanking, China. 1941 Claiming their crews are engaged in sabotage, President Roosevelt orders the government to seize sixty ships belonging to Axis countries that are currently docked in American ports. 1942 First trainloads of Jews from Paris arrive at Auschwitz. The RAF makes a

1936 Italy firebombs the Ethiopian city of Harar. 1940 In German-occupied territories, only Jewish doctors are now allowed to treat Jews. 1941 A ‘Commissariat’ for Jewish Affairs is set up in Vichy France. The Italians spot a British convoy escorted by 4 Cruisers and 4 Destroyers and close in. The British ships lure the Italians

1933 Nazis order a ban on all Jews in businesses, professions and schools. 1940 Dutch fighters shoot down a British bomber near Rotterdam by mistake, killing one flier. The British and French decide to start mining neutral Norwegian waters from the 8th April 1940. 1941 In an attempt to intercept British convoys sailing to Greece,

1941 A coup in Yugoslavia by General Simonic and other army officers overthrows the pro-German government. King Peter takes control and a new cabinet is formed. This upsets Hitler, who decides to delay his surprise attack on the Soviet Union in order to launch “Operation Union”, whose intent is the destruction of Yugoslavia. British troops finally

1938 Herman Goering warns all Jews to leave Austria. 1940 Canadian election returns Mackenzie King as prime minister. First flight of Curtiss C-46 Commando cargo plane in St. Louis MO. 1941 The German Army High Command gives approval to RSHA and Heydrich on the tasks of SS murder squads (Einsatzgruppen) in occupied Poland. The British

1940 US allows sale of military aircraft to the Allies. Britain doubles butter ration to ½ pound per week. 1941 Under heavy pressure Yugoslavia signs Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers. Anti-Axis protests break out in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 1942 US troops occupy the Society Islands. Standard Oil president William Stamps Farish II pleads no contest

1941 Berlin suffers its first raid of the year by the RAF. German troops on parade in the city of Cherbourg have their show spoiled when British bombers hit the parade ground in the middle of the event. Rommel conducts a limited offensive to recapture El Agheila from the British, which succeeds with startling ease.

1940 Germany requires car owners to donate batteries and requires church bells to be melted down. 1941 Heavy Luftwaffe attack on Malta leads RAF to withdraw bombers and flying boats. 1942 During World War II, the U.S. government began moving Japanese-Americans from their West Coast homes to detention centers. The British convoy, have escaped serious