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• US declared Manus, Admiralty Islands secure. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Manus, Admiralty Islands | CPC]

• At Tulagi, Captain Harry Thurber assumed command of cruiser USS Honolulu in relief of Captain Robert Hayler who was, on the same day, promoted to Rear Admiral. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Tulagi, Solomon Islands | DS]

• Lieutenant Colonel William Osborne of 1st Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) sent a platoon to attack the Japanese along the Kamaing Road as a diversion for another group of his troops to advance down the trail toward the main objective, Shaduzup, Burma. Meanwhile, Men of Lieutenant Colonel George McGee, Jr.'s 2nd Battalion departed the village of Ngagahtwang at 0500 hours, many wounded in tow. Colonel Charles Hunter, whose radio is broken, surveyed the field in an L-4 aircraft and spotted McGee's column. Realizing the many wounded after landing and speaking to McGee, he ordered the aircraft to return without him, and to quickly return with litters to help evacuate the wounded. Hunter scolded McGee for foolish field decisions, but McGee told him that some of the tactical decisions were made by Frank Merrill directly, thus deepening the chasm between McGee/Merrill and Hunter. Finally, on 3rd Battalion's front, Japanese troops attacked in force, destroying the radio set carried by Lieutenant Logan Weston of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, thus rendering him without communications; he made contact with Lieutenant Warren Smith also of 3rd Battalion, who assisted with Weston's retreat. ww2dbase [Frank Merrill | Battle of Myitkyina | Charles Hunter | George McGee | William Osborne | Ngagahtwang | CPC]

• At Lingga Roads, Dutch East Indies, Shokaku became the flagship of Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo's Third Fleet and the Mobile Fleet. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Lingga Roads | CPC]
• Patrol Boat No. 102 departed Balikpapan, Dutch East Indies at 0720 hours to escort tanker Kyokuto Maru, returning to Balikpapan at 1800 hours. ww2dbase [Stewart | Balikpapan, Borneo | CPC]

• U-976, a German Type VIIC submarine, was sunk in the Bay of Biscay south-west of Saint-Nazaire, France by gunfire from two RAF Mosquito aircraft from 248 Squadron RAF/L&I. Four of the submarine's crew of 53 lost their lives. ww2dbase [Saint-Nazaire, Pays de la Loire | HM]

• 811 RAF bombers raided Berlin, Germany; 122 aircraft were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | CPC]

• The Hungarian Council of Ministers approved several anti-Semitic policies, including a law requiring Jews to wear the yellow Star of David to be effective on 5 Apr 1944. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

• The 3rd Battalion of the Japanese 60th Regiment attacked Allied positions at Sangshak, India. Meanwhile, Louis Mountbatten requested the Anglo-American Combined Chiefs of Staff for more aircraft to supply Imphal, India, which would be denied. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | Sangshak, Manipur | CPC]

• Landing ship No. 104 was launched. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• USS Gar fired six torpedoes on a Japanese ship in the Pacific Ocean; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Gar | CPC]
• US submarine USS Pollack (SS-180) attacked a Japanese convoy and sank Japanese Submarine Chaser No. 54 and damaged two freighters 50 miles north of Muko Jima, Ogasawara Islands (Bonin Islands); ten torpedoes were expended in this attack. ww2dbase [Pollack | CPC, HM]
• USS Whale set sail for East China Sea. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
• In the Pacific Ocean about 150 miles east of Guam, USS Archerfish detected an aircraft with her SD radar and dove. The Japanese aircraft had already detected the submarine and attacked with depth charges, causing no damage. ww2dbase [Archerfish | CPC]

• 184 Jews who had been recently arrested from their hiding places in the Hague in the Netherlands arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler allowed German 1st Panzer Army to break out west of Lvov, Ukraine. ww2dbase [Lvov | TH]

• Winston Churchill's recommendations to bomb German V-weapon sites were turned down by Dwight Eisenhower, who preferred to place priority on transportation and communications hubs. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | Dwight Eisenhower | V-Weapons Campaign | CPC]

• Franklin Roosevelt arrived at Hyde Park, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Hyde Park, New York | CPC]
• 231st Army Air Force Base Unit was named the operating unit of Alamogordo Army Air Field near Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States. ww2dbase [Alamogordo Army Air Field | Alamogordo, New Mexico | CPC]

25 Mar 1944 Interactive Map