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• Saburo Kurusu was born in Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [Saburo Kurusu | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Aleksandr Pokryshkin was born. ww2dbase [Aleksandr Pokryshkin | CPC]

• British Admiral Kemp, with the full approval of the Murmansk Soviet (and it could be argued with that of Trotsky himself) put 130 Royal Marines ashore, the first Allied troops to set foot on Russian soil. Amidst considerable ceremony the Marines marched through the town to their barracks. Kemps flagship HMS Glory fired a salute to the Red Banner; the salute being cordially returned by a gunnery detail aboard the Russian battleship Chesma. ww2dbase [AC]

• USS Pennsylvania arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Pennsylvania | Bremerton, Washington | DS]

6 Mar 1922 Interactive Map

• Lewis Puller was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. ww2dbase [Lewis Puller | CPC]

• The order for the construction of Acasta was issued. ww2dbase [Acasta | CPC]

• The keel of heavy cruiser Chester was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Company in Camden, New Jersey, United States. ww2dbase [Chester | Camden, New Jersey | DS]
• Clifton Cates was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission in Washington DC, United States. ww2dbase [Clifton Cates | Washington | CPC]

• China agreed to the League of Nations demand to stop fighting in and near Shanghai, but Japanese forces continued to attack Chinese positions. ww2dbase [First Battle of Shanghai | Shanghai | CPC]

• Troops of the Chinese 620th and 621st Regiments ambushed Japanese troops near Beiping, China, slowing the advance but failing to stop it. ww2dbase [First Battle of Hebei | Beiping | CPC]

• Franklin Roosevelt mandated a bank holiday, originally planned for four working days, to ease the run on US banks. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]

• General Jiro Minami stepped down as the Governor-General of Kwantung Leased Territory and the commanding officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army in northeastern China. ww2dbase [Jiro Minami | CPC]
• Kenkichi Ueda was made the Governor-General of Kwantung Leased Territory and the commanding officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army. ww2dbase [Kenkichi Ueda | CPC]

• Japanese troops reached the Yellow River in China. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The modern Spanish Nationalist cruiser Baleares, which was escorting a convoy of merchant ships off the Mediterranean coast near Cartagena, Spain, was sunk by torpedoes launched by Spanish Republican destroyers during the Battle of Cape Palos. ww2dbase [The Spanish Civil War | AC]

• Czechoslovakian President Emil Hácha dismissed the Ruthenian government in an attempt to quell nationalist sentiments that was breaking apart his country. ww2dbase [Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia | CPC]

• King Carol II appointed Armand Calinescu as the Prime Minister of Romania. ww2dbase [Carol II | CPC]

• Based on a compromise of the original plan, modifications to the German invasion plan of the west were approved by Hitler. ww2dbase [TH]
• British cruiser HMS Berwick intercepted German freighter Uruguay northeast of Iceland. Just as the boarding began, Uruguay's crew set the ship on fire. Berwick sank Uruguay with gunfire after withdrawing the boarding party and bringing the German crew on board. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Fighting between Finnish and Soviet forces continued south, east, and west of Viipuri, Finland. ww2dbase [The Winter War | CPC]
• Dutch submarines O9, O10, and O11 departed from Den Helder Naval Base. Before they left the harbor, O11 collided with the armored tug BV3; 3 men were killed as they were trapped in O11 while she sank. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The French battleship Jean Bart was launched. ww2dbase [Jean Bart | AC]
• Major General Wilhelm S¸ssmann stepped down as the commanding officer of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Submarine USS Spearfish arrived at San Diego, California. ww2dbase [Spearfish | DS]

• The first of thirty-four FIAT CR.42 Falco biplane fighter aircraft ordered by the Belgian government in Sep 1939 entered service with the 3ème Escadrille de Chasse. This unit had twenty-five CR.42 aircraft available when the Germans invaded on 10 May 1940 but lost thirteen machines destroyed by Ju 87B dive-bombers during the opening Luftwaffe attack, and the survivors played little part in the subsequent defence of Belgium. ww2dbase [CR.42 Falco | AC]

• Simo Häyhä was shot in the lower left jaw by a Soviet soldier in combat in Finland. ww2dbase [Simo Häyhä | CPC]

• The 19 survivors of Norwegian steamship Vestfoss, sunk by German aircraft five days prior, were landed at Oslo, Norway the trawler Star of Liberty. ww2dbase [Oslo | HM]

• Finnish diplomats arrived in Moscow, Russia. ww2dbase [The Winter War | Moscow | TH]

• Two British convoys departed from Alexandria, Egypt for Greece; the first convoy, consisted of British cruisers HMS York, HMS Bonaventure, and HMS Gloucester departed with troops to reinforce Greece; the second, consisted of freighters Clan Macauley and Cingalese escorted by destroyers, departed with tanks and equipment. At 0715 hours, an empty convoy returning from Greece to Egypt was attacked by Italian submarine Anfitrite east of Crete; Anfitrite was counterattacked and forced to the surface and was scuttled by her own crew. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | York | CPC]
• British minesweeping trawler HMT Keryado hit a mine and sank in the English Channel, killing 9. ww2dbase [CPC]
• New German laws decreed that Polish farm workers were not to complain, were denied from any cultural events, and were forbidden to have sexual intercourse. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

• Jaguar and Iltis completed laying a minefield off Eastbourne, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Iltis | Jaguar | English Channel | CPC]

• Battleship Bismarck departed Hamburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Bismarck | Hamburg | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru departed Yokohama, Japan with new skipper Captain Toichi Takahata. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• USS Lexington made rendezvous with USS Yorktown and sailed for a raid on Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [Lexington (Lexington-class) | CPC]
• USS Yorktown made rendezvous with USS Lexington and sailed for a raid on Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | CPC]
• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Palau. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• HMS Indomitable launched the Hurricane fighters of No. 30 Squadron for Colombo, Ceylon. ww2dbase [Indomitable | CPC]
• German submarine U-505 sank Norwegian tanker Sydhav off Sierra Leone, British West Africa at 1131 hours; 12 were killed, 24 survived. Also in that morning, Italian submarine Tazzoli sank Dutch freighter Astrea in the Central Atlantic. Tazzoli struck again at 2215 hours, sinking Norwegian ship Tønsberg Fjord; all 33 aboard survived. At 2306 hours, 150 miles south of Iceland, U-701 sank British fishing trawler Rononia, killing all 11 aboard. Italian submarine Finzi sank French tanker Melpomene; all 49 aboard survived. Finally, 50 miles south of Newfoundland, German submarine U-587 sank Greenland merchant ship Hans Egede, killing all 23 aboard. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Giuseppe Finzi | CPC]
• Merchant ship El Occidente and Soviet anti-submarine whaler Stefa fell out of Allied convoy PQ-12 in poor weather. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
• Commander Gerald D. Linke was named the commanding officer of USS Helena, relieving Captain Robert Henry English, Jr. ww2dbase [Helena (St. Louis-class) | CPC]
• Karl Burk was promoted to the rank of SS-Standartenführer. ww2dbase [Karl Burk | CPC]
• Ariake and Yugure received fuel from ships of the First Supply Unit. ww2dbase [Yugure | CPC]

• German Type IXC U-Boat U-505 torpedoed and sunk the Norwegian tanker Sydhav off British West Africa (Sierra Leone). 12 were killed and 24 were rescued. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | U-505 | DS]

• Anglo-Indian and Japanese troops clashed at various roadblocks near Rangoon, Burma. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | Rangoon | CPC]

• Japanese aircraft attacked Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies, damaging Dutch minesweeper Jan van Amstel, killing 23. Dutch sailors scuttled minesweepers C and Pieter de Bitter, also at Surabaya, to prevent capture. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Surabaya, Java | CPC]

• The first conference on the plan to sterilize persons of mixed blood in Germany was held. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Joseph Rochefort's cryptanalytic team at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii began noticing a target location code named AF appearing in Japanese Navy radio messages, and that this target might be struck within a short time. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Joseph Rochefort | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Japanese killed many civilians, mostly ethnic Chinese, in Benut, Johor in Malaya. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Benut, Johor | CPC]

• German battleship Tirpitz and 4 destroyers departed Trondheim, Norway to intercept Allied convoys PQ-12 and QP-8, which departed from Reykjavik in Iceland for Murmansk in Russia and from Murmansk in Russia for Hvalfjörður in Iceland, respectively. The British Royal Navy learned of this departure via Ultra decryption and dispatched a fleet centered around battleships HMS Duke of York, HMS King George V, and HMS Renown to attack. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag | CPC]

• USS St. Louis shifted from Mare Island to San Francisco, California. ww2dbase [St. Louis | San Francisco, California | DS]

6 Mar 1942 Interactive Map

• Axis forces launched a failed pre-emptive strike, Operation Capri, in southeastern Tunisia near Medenine. The operation was canceled by the evening as Rommel concluded that his forces did not have the initiative of battle. ww2dbase [Battle of Medenine | CPC]
• German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels called off a round of deportation of Jews from Berlin because of public protests at a Jewish home for the aged. He secretly ordered the deportations to resume after a few weeks when public sentiments would have eased off a little. ww2dbase [Joseph Goebbels | CPC]
• Croatian Catholic Archbishop Stepinac protested the killing of Jews married to Christians to little effect. ww2dbase [CPC]
• George Patton was named the commanding officer of the US II Corps. ww2dbase [George Patton | CPC]
• Destroyer Yuzuki rescued survivors of sunken Kiriha Maru and assisted Mitto Maru, which was damaged in the same attack. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | CPC]
• The German 71st Werfer Regiment went into action in support of Field Marshal Rommel's disastrous tank attack on the Eighth Army at Medenine in Tunisia. Personally brought forward by Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) Count Claus von Stauffenberg, later organizer of the 1944 bomb plot against Hitler, the regiment's three batteries were rapidly knocked out by Allied fighter bombers-the dust thrown up by the launching of the Nebelwerfer rockets having revealed their camouflaged positions. ww2dbase [15 cm NbW 41 | AC]
• The Chindits reached Wuntho-Indaw railway in Burma near Nankan and Pinlebu. They fought off the Japanese units guarding key points of the railway and proceeded to destroy tracks, blasted cliffs to cause rocks to fall onto tracks, mined rail bridges, and destroyed other rail bridges. ww2dbase [Operation Longcloth | CPC]
• Light cruiser Astoria was launched. ww2dbase [Astoria (Cleveland-class) | CPC]
• Joseph Stalin was created a Marshal of the Soviet Union. ww2dbase [Joseph Stalin | AC]
• Kanichi Kashimura was shot down by a F4F fighter over the Russell Islands in the Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Kanichi Kashimura | CPC]

• The headquarters of USAAF 49th Fighter Group was transferred from Port Moresby to Dobodura Airfield, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Dobodura Airfield | Dobodura | CPC]

• Japanese aircraft attacked American positions at the Russell Islands in the Solomon Islands for the first time; these positions were manned by the US Marine Corps 11th Defense Battalion. Meanwhile, US warships bombarded the Vila-Munda area in New Georgia. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]
• Shortly after midnight, destroyers USS Fletcher, USS Nicholas, USS O’Bannon, and USS Radford formed a bombardment line offshore of the Japanese airstrip at Munda, New Georgia, Solomon Islands and shelled the airstrip. By daybreak, the destroyer group had entered Purvis Bay, Tulagi, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Nicholas | New Georgia, Solomon Islands | DS]

• Repair ship Akashi completed the repair work for destroyers Maikaze and Hamakaze and began repairing destroyer Kawakaze at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]

• Kamoi arrived at Ambon, Maluku, Dutch East Indies; she departed later on the same day. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Ambon, Maluku | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the port facilities at Lorient, France. ww2dbase [Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | RAF Thurleigh | Lorient | DS]

• USS Pollack departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pollack | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• USS Sunfish hit a Japanese ship in the East China Sea with 3 of 7 torpedoes fired; she was lightly damaged by the subsequent depth charging.27,122.5 ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | East China Sea | CPC]

• Destroyer Luce was launched at Bethlehem Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, New York, United States. She was sponsored by the wife of Stephen B. Luce, Jr., who was the grandson of Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce, who in turn was the namesake of the ship. ww2dbase [Luce | Staten Island, New York | CPC]
• Swedish steam tanker Sveadrott landed the master and nine survivors of Norwegian motor merchant Leif at Key West, Florida, United States. Leif was sunk by German submarine U-653 on 28 Feb 1942. ww2dbase [Key West, Florida | HM]
• USS Ranger arrived at Norfolk, Virginia. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Ranger | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]

6 Mar 1943 Interactive Map

• Cargo ship Havre Maru and her escort Patrol Boat No. 102 detached from convoy O-502, after which the convoy was consisted of tanker Nasusan Maru and Patrol Boat No. 36. ww2dbase [Stewart | CPC]

• HMCS Fennel and HMCS Chilliwack shared in the sinking of the German submarine U-744 in the Atlantic Ocean. ww2dbase [AC]

• Major General Masatake Kimihira noted in his diary that "more than half of the city has been reduced to ashes", referring to Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Further glider operations brought in more men to join Operation Thursday at the Chowringhee site in Burma. ww2dbase [Operation Thursday | CPC]
• Louis Mountbatten arrived at Taihpa, Burma by transport aircraft escorted by 16 fighters to inspect Joseph Stilwell's headquarters; Stilwell privately complained that Mountbatten had used enough fuel on this trip for Stilwell to mount an offensive. Mountbatten would also visit the Walawbum battlefield 25 kilometers to the south. On the front lines, the 2nd Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) arrived at Wesu Ga early in the morning. Colonel Charles Hunter, liaison officer Colonel Chun Lee, and a small group traveled north to make contact with was meeting with Colonel Rothwell Brown of the joint American-Chinese 1st Provisional Tank Group to possibly coordinate an attack on Japanese positions near Walawbum, but they could not locate the Chinese unit. On the same day, the Japanese launched several frontal attacks across the Numpyek River near Walawbum. 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)'s Orange Combat Team halted the attacks, inflicting heavy casualties while suffering only a small amount itself. At about 2230 hours, as the Japanese halted the attacks and quietly sent litter bearers to carry away the wounded, Frank Merrill ordered Lieutenant Colonel Charles Beach to withdraw the Orange Combat Team, intending for the Chinese 38th Division to eliminate the remaining Japanese. ww2dbase [Battle of Myitkyina | Joseph Stilwell | Louis Mountbatten | Charles Hunter | Charles Beach | Taihpa | CPC]

• Aircraft of US Navy Task Force 38 conducted a reconnaissance mission over Kagi Airfield in Kagi (now Chiayi), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Kagi Airfield | Kagi, Tainan | CPC]

• The RAF Bomber Command began a major offensive over France to prepare for the Normandy invasion. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | TH]

• The US 8th Army Air Force journeyed all the way to Berlin, Germany for the first time. In all 474 bombers, including those with 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh, and their Mustang escort fighters flew to the German capital, facing a barrage of heavy flak and many Luftwaffe fighters. A total of 53 B-17 bombers and 16 fighters were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Berlin | TH, AC]
• Robert Johnson shot down a German Bf 110 aircraft over Dümmer Lake, Germany. ww2dbase [Robert Johnson | Lembruch, Weser-Ems | CPC]

• USS Snook arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her fifth war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Snook | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• USS Finback completed refitting at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii and departed for her eighth war patrol. ww2dbase [Finback | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Norwegian motor vessel Tarifa (Master Hans Bjønness) detached from Allied convoy AB-33 in the Arabian Sea and began a zigzag course independently. ww2dbase [Arabian Sea | HM]

• USS Dragonet was commissioned into service with Commander Jack Hayden Lewis in command. ww2dbase [Dragonet | CPC]

6 Mar 1944 Interactive Map

• USS Franklin crossed the International Date Line. ww2dbase [Franklin | CPC]
• USS Sea Cat claimed sinking of a 2,000-ton Japanese ship; the credit was removed after the war. ww2dbase [Sea Cat | CPC]
• US Third Army reached the Rhine River near Koblenz, Germany, while US First Army captured Köln. ww2dbase [Advance to the Rhine | TH]
• Communist-dominated government under Petru Groza assumed power in Romania. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Operation Gen No. 2 was canceled by the Japanese; it was a new campaign against the American fleet using Kaiten special attack submarines. ww2dbase [Kaiten-class | CPC]
• USS Puffer fired 3 torpedoes at a Japanese submarine off Taiwan; all 3 torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Puffer | CPC]
• ShCh-307 and her crew received the Red Banner Award, and the commanding officer, M. S. Kainin, received the honorable rank of the Hero of the Soviet Union. ww2dbase [ShCh-307 | CPC]
• USS Nicholas departed Mangarin Bay, Mindoro, as an escort for a convoy bound for the landings at Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• Major-General Hellmuth Reymann, on Adolf Hitler's direct orders, became the military commander of Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Helmuth Reymann | Berlin | AC]

• USS Hackleback departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Hackleback | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]

• German 2.Panzerarmee and 6.SS-Panzerarmee launched a counterattack toward Budapest, Hungary to relieve the city and to destroy the Hungarian oil supplies nearby to prevent Soviet use. ww2dbase [Budapest Strategic Offensive Operation | Budapest | TH]

• 28 American P-51 Mustang and 12 P-61 Black Widow aircraft landed on Iwo Jima, Japan. ww2dbase [Battle of Iwo Jima | Iwo Jima | CPC]

• USS Segundo fired 4 torpedoes at a small Japanese ship in the East China Sea off Korea; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Segundo | East China Sea | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw arrived in Leyte Gulf and anchored in San Pedro Bay. ww2dbase [Shaw | San Pedro Bay, Leyte | DS]

• US fighters based in the Philippine Islands conducted a fighter sweep mission over Koshun Airfield, Takao Prefecture, Taiwan. ww2dbase [Koshun Airfield | Koshun, Takao | CPC]

• A German V-2 rocket hit Raveningham 13 miles southeast of Norwich, England, United Kingdom, causing little harm. It was the last rocket to hit the Norwich area in the war. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | Raveningham, England | CPC]

6 Mar 1945 Interactive Map

• Ho Chi Minh signed an agreement with France which recognized Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Pintado was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Pintado | CPC]
• The former German submarine tender Otto Wünsche was commissioned into the Soviet Navy under the new name Pechora. ww2dbase [Otto Wünsche | CPC]

• Milwaukee was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Milwaukee | CPC]

• Jürgen Stroop was executed by hanging at the Mokotów Prison in Warsaw, Poland at 1900 hours. ww2dbase [Jürgen Stroop | Warsaw | CPC]

6 Mar 1952 Interactive Map

• USS Tunny was recommissioned into service. ww2dbase [Tunny | CPC]
• USS Menhaden was recommissioned into service, Lieutenant Commander William R. Werner in command. ww2dbase [Menhaden | CPC]

• Panteleimon Ponomarenko stepped down from his position at the Soviet Presidium, the successor of the Politburo. ww2dbase [Panteleimon Ponomarenko | Moscow | CPC]

• King Paul of the Hellenes passed away in Athens, Greece. ww2dbase [Paul | Athens | CPC]

• Herbert Morrison passed away. ww2dbase [Herbert Morrison | CPC]

• USS Wasp arrived at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, United States. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | North Kingstown, Rhode Island | CPC]

• Captain Marvin S. Greer, Jr. was made the commanding officer of USS Proteus, replacing Captain John Rigsbee. ww2dbase [Proteus | CPC]

• Martin Niemöller passed away in Wiesbaden, West Germany. ww2dbase [Martin Niemöller | Wiesbaden | CPC]

• Operations at Ishigaki Airport on Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan ceased. ww2dbase [Ishigaki Airfield | Ishigaki, Okinawa | CPC]
• Operations at Ishigaki Airport on Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan ceased. ww2dbase [Ishigaki Airfield | Ishigaki, Okinawa | CPC]

6 Mar 2013 Interactive Map

• Traute Lafrenz Page passed away in Yonges Island, South Carolina, United States. ww2dbase [Traute Lafrenz | Yonges Island, South Carolina | CPC]