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• US Army General MacArthur arrived at Kooringa, Australia by train and discovered there would be no army waiting for him to reinforce the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | CPC]
• The United Kingdom discussed plans for Indian independence after the war. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Adolf Hitler placed Fritz Sauckel in charge of mobilizing forced laborers from occupied territories. ww2dbase [Fritz Sauckel | CPC]
• Germany introduced harsh laws against unnecessary rail travel. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-124 heavily damaged US tanker Esso Nashville 20 kilometers southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, United States at 0608 hours. At 1005 hours, U-124 struck again, damaging US tanker Atlantic Sun. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Submarine Mingo was laid down. ww2dbase [Mingo | CPC]
• The US Marine Corps established the 3rd Marine Brigade at New River, North Carolina, United States; the unit was slated for the defense of Western Samoa. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British aircraft carriers HMS Argus and HMS Eagle departed Gibraltar, escorted by battleship HMS Malaya, cruiser HMS Hermione, and 9 destroyers, with Spitfire fighters for Malta. Italian submarines Mocenigo and Dandolo attempted to attack the force in failure. ww2dbase [Eagle | CPC]

• Four US Kittyhawk fighters arrived over Port Moresby, Australian Papua as reinforcement at 1400 hours, but nervous anti-aircraft gunners fired on them, damaging all four. Later in the day, a lone Japanese bomber attacked Port Moresby, and one of the newly arrived Kittyhawks was able to scramble and shoot down the attacker. Later in the day, 14 additional Kittyhawk fighters arrived. ww2dbase [Port Moresby | CPC]

• 151 Japanese bombers attacked the British airfield at Magwe in northern Burma, the operating base of the Chinese Air Force 1st American Volunteer Group "Flying Tigers"; 15 Sino-American aircraft were destroyed at the cost of 2 Japanese aircraft. Meanwhile, at Oktwin, forward elements of Japanese 55th Division engaged Chinese troops. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Truk | CPC]

• Allied convoy PQ-13, consisted of 19 merchant ships, set sail from Reykjavík, Iceland, with 1 destroyer and 5 trawlers in escort. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Reykjavík | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru departed Yokosuka, Japan. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Italian submarines Onice and Platino spotted British convoy MW10, which had departed from Alexandria, Egypt, off the Libyan coast. A force consisted of battleship Littorio, 3 cruisers, and 10 destroyers departed from Taranto on mainland Italy and Messina on the island of Sicily to intercept; British submarine P36 spotted this Italian response. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | Onice | Platino | CPC]

• Jews from the Lublin ghetto in occupied Poland were deported to Belzec, Majdanek, and other concentration camps. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Lublin | CPC]

• General Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach led a German assault out of the Demyansk, Russia to the northwest. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | Demyansk, Leningrad | CPC]

• At Fort Benning in Georgia, United States, 276 men of the US 501st Parachute Battalion received their "wings". ww2dbase [Columbus, Georgia | CPC]
• USS Marlin departed New London, Connecticut, United States. ww2dbase [Marlin | New London, Connecticut | CPC]

21 Mar 1942 Interactive Map