March

1940 U-boats sink seven neutral ships. 1941 US 99th Pursuit Squadron activated, the first black unit in the Army Air Corps. Grand Coulee Dam opens in Washington state, the world’s largest source of electric power. 1942 Late in the afternoon after an unsuccessful Italian torpedo-aircraft attack, Admiral Iachino’s squadron engages the British convoy. The convoy […]

1940 Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France, with Edouard Daladier being made Minister of Defense and War. First German merchant ship sunk by British sub: British submarine Ursula sinks German freighter Heddernheim. 1941 The last Italian post in East Libya, North Africa, falls to the British. 1942 In a repeat of Force H’s mission

1940 The British Royal Air Force conducts an all-night air raid on the Nazi airbase at Sylt, Germany. French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier resigns after vote of no confidence from Parliament. 1941 Four Yugoslav ministers resign rather than accept German terms. The Berbera force and elements of the 11th African Division meet at Hargeisa inside

1936 The Soviet Union signs a pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan. 1940 The RAF retaliates against the Luftwaffe’s bombing of Scapa Flow, by attacking the German seaplane base at Hornum on the island of Sylt with 50 bombers. Later photo reconnaissance reveals little damage to the target. Helsinki releases figures showing that 26,662 Finns

1940 Mussolini and Hitler meet in the Brenner Pass in northern Italy, Mussolini agreeing to Italy’s entry into the war “at an opportune moment”. Alan Turing’s Bombe electromechanical decipher machine becomes operational at Bletchley Park, England to decrypt German Enigma messages. Russia assures Sweden of its safety after Finland’s surrender. 1941 The United States and

1940 Fritz Todt named German Minister for Armaments and Munitions. 1941 The 11th African Division captures Jijiga in central Abyssinia; having advanced 744 miles up the Italian built Strada Imperiale in just seventeen days. In convoy HX-112, British destroyer Walker causes U-99 to scuttle (40/43 captured, including famous captain Otto Kretschmer). British begin to ration

1935 Adolf Hitler orders a German rearmament and violates the Versailles Treaty. 1939 Germany occupies the rest Czechoslovakia. 1940 The Luftwaffe attacks the British Fleets anchorage at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. This raid causes the death of a British civilian, the first of the war. 1941 The Kriegsmarine loses two of its most

1935 Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda bans four Berlin newspapers. 1939 Germany occupies Bohemia and Moravia, Czechoslovakia. 1941 Roosevelt broadcasts to the nation announcing ‘the end of compromise with tyranny. The British ‘Northern Force’ having concentrated the 4th and 5th Indian Divisions begin their offensive for Italian fortress of Keren in Eritrea. German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sink

1936 Adolf Hitler tells a crowd of 300,000 that Germany’s only judge is God and itself. 1939 The Nazis dissolve the republic of Czechoslovakia. 1941 Japanese fighters raid Chengtu, China in longest range for fighter operation of war to date. 1942 US troops arrive in Australia in force. Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrives in Mindanao, after

1940 Finland capitulates conditionally to Soviet terms, but maintains its independence. The Finns have lost 25,000 killed and 45,000 wounded, while the Russians have lost an estimated 200,000 killed and an unknown number of wounded. 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt establishes President’s Committee on War Relief Agencies. The Luftwaffe carries out a heavy raid against Clydebank,