March 1944

• The Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive ended in Soviet victory. • In Papua New Guinea, the Battle of Sio ended in Allied victory. • As part of the Battle of Narva, the Soviets began the second Narva Offensive. • The Vatican was bombed for the second time during the war. • The Huon Peninsula campaign in Papua New Guinea ended in Allied victory. • A massive strike began in the Italian Social Republic, for reasons that included resentment of producing for the Germans and the loyalty that many factory workers retained for Socialist and Communist ideologies. Estimates of the number of workers who participated in the strike range from 500,000 to 1.2 million. • Three Japanese heavy cruisers began the Indian Ocean raid. • At the Wolf's Lair, Adolf Hitler received leaders of the Independent State of Croatia to discuss current political issues. • German submarines U-358, U-603 and U-709 were all sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by Allied warships. • Born: John Breaux, politician, in Crowley, Louisiana; Roger Daltrey, singer and front-man of The Who, in Hammersmith, London, England ==March 2, 1944 (Thursday)==

• A second landing in the Admiralty Islands saw 1,000 men of the U.S. 5th Cavalry Regiment arrive at Los Negros while the previous landing group took Momote Airfield. • The 16th Academy Awards were held at Grauman's Chinese Theater, marking the first time the ceremony was held in a large public venue. Casablanca won Best Picture. • The Balvano train disaster occurred over the night of March 2/3 when some 426 people illegally riding a freight train in southern Italy died of carbon monoxide poisoning. • Born: Uschi Glas, actress, in Landau an der Isar, Germany; Leif Segerstam, conductor, composer, violinist and musician, in Vaasa, Finland (d. 2024) • Died: Egon Mayer, 26, German fighter ace (shot down near Montmédy, France) ==March 3, 1944 (Friday)==

• Joseph Stalin rejected British proposals to negotiate over the Polish-Soviet border. • A night attack by the Japanese garrison on Los Negros was repulsed by the Americans. ==March 4, 1944 (Saturday)==

• The second Narva Offensive ended in another German defensive victory. • Former Vichy French Interior Minister Pierre Pucheu went on trial on Algiers. • China and Afghanistan signed a treaty of friendship. • "Bésame Mucho" by Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra hit #1 on the Billboard singles charts. • Born: Harvey Postlethwaite, aerodynamicist and engineer, in Barnet, England (d. 1999); Bobby Womack, singer and songwriter, in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2014) • Died: Louis Buchalter, 47, Jewish-American mobster (executed by electric chair) ==March 5, 1944 (Sunday)==

• The Red Army began the Uman–Botoșani Offensive. • Soviet forces took the Ukrainian cities of Iziaslav and Yampil. • Operation Thursday: The 77th Indian Infantry Brigade, otherwise known as the Chindits, flew by Hadrian glider from India into the heart of Burma. • German submarine U-366 was depth charged and sunk in the Arctic Ocean by Fairey Swordfish of 816 Naval Air Squadron. • Born: Peter Brandes, painter, sculptor, ceramic artist and photographer, in Assens, Denmark (d. 2025) • Died: Max Jacob, 67, French artist and writer (died of bronchial pneumonia in Drancy internment camp) ==March 6, 1944 (Monday)==

• American heavy bombers mounted the first-ever, full-scale daylight raid on Berlin. • Soviet forces took Volochysk. • Finland rejected a Soviet peace offer, objecting to the Soviet condition that all German troops in the country be interned and the 1940 borders be restored. • German submarine U-744 was depth charged and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by Allied warships. • German submarine U-973 was depth charged and sunk in the Arctic Ocean by Fairey Swordfish of 816 Naval Air Squadron. • Born: Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano, in Gisborne, New Zealand; Mary Wilson, singer and founding member of the Supremes, in Greenville, Mississippi (d. 2021) ==March 7, 1944 (Tuesday)==

• The Japanese began the offensive code-named Operation U-Go on the Indian-Burman border. • Born: Townes Van Zandt, singer and songwriter, in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 1997) • Died: Emanuel Ringelblum, 43, Polish-Jewish historian and social worker (executed by the Gestapo) ==March 8, 1944 (Wednesday)==

• The Battle of Imphal began in northeast India. • The Second Battle of Torokina began on Bougainville Island, a Japanese counteroffensive against the American foothold there. • The British government announced plans to build 300,000 houses after the war. • The general strike in the Italian Social Republic ended after eight days. The Germans had arrested and deported about 1,200 workers. • The war film The Purple Heart starring Dana Andrews and Richard Conte was released, dramatizing the "show trial" of a number of American airmen by the Japanese during World War II. • Born: Buzz Hargrove, labour leader, in Bath, New Brunswick, Canada (d. 2025); Carole Bayer Sager, singer, songwriter and painter, in New York City ==March 9, 1944 (Thursday)==

• The U.S. 5th Marine Regiment took Talasea in New Britain unopposed. • American destroyer escort Leopold was torpedoed and heavily damaged in the North Atlantic by German submarine U-255. The 28 survivors of the 191 crew were rescued and Leopold was abandoned to sink the next day. ==March 10, 1944 (Friday)==

• Ireland rejected a U.S. request to expel Axis diplomats from the country. • The Kriegsmarine lost four U-boats (U-343, U-450, U-625 and U-845) to enemy action in a single day. • The leftist Political Committee of National Liberation, commonly known as the "Mountain Government", was established in Greece. • The war film The Fighting Seabees starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward was released. ==March 11, 1944 (Saturday)==

• British forces took Buthidaung in Burma. • Pierre Pucheu was sentenced to death. • German submarines U-380 and U-410 were bombed and sunk at Toulon in an American air raid. • Born: Graham Lyle, musician and producer, in Bellshill, Scotland; Don Maclean, actor and comedian, in Birmingham, England • Died: Irvin S. Cobb, 67, American author and humorist ==March 12, 1944 (Sunday)==

• U.S. Marines occupied Wotje Atoll without opposition. • Pope Pius XII asked the belligerent powers to spare the city of Rome from fighting and destruction. • Hitler ordered Operation Margarethe, the German occupation of Hungary. • Died: Romolo Murri, 73, Italian priest and later politician, exponent of Catholic modernism ==March 13, 1944 (Monday)==

• The Soviet 28th Army captured Kherson. • On Bougainville Island, Japanese troops ended their assault on American forces at Hill 700. • Italy and the Soviet Union restored diplomatic relations with one another. • German submarine U-575 was depth charged and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by Allied ships and aircraft. • Japanese cruiser Tatsuta was torpedoed and sunk off Hachijō-jima by the American submarine Sand Lance. • Died: Lev Shestakov, 38, Russian fighter ace (missing in action on the Eastern Front) ==March 14, 1944 (Tuesday)==

• Winston Churchill told the House of Commons that the Allies intended to completely isolate Ireland to prevent military secrets leaking to the Axis, hinting that the border with Northern Ireland would soon be closed. • 30 RAF planes were sent to attack Düsseldorf overnight. • The Republican Party presidential primaries began in the United States. ==March 15, 1944 (Wednesday)==

• During the Battle of Monte Cassino the Allies dropped 992 tons of bombs on Monte Cassino Monastery and fired 195,000 rounds of artillery. British, Indian and New Zealand forces tried to storm the building but were unable to dislodge the Germans. • German submarine U-653 was depth charged and sunk in the North Atlantic by British sloops Starling and Wild Goose. • British submarine Stonehenge was lost in the Indian Ocean on or around this date, presumably to a naval mine. • State Anthem of the Soviet Union replaced The Internationale as the new anthem of the Soviet Union. • Born: A. K. Faezul Huq, politician, lawyer and columnist, in Calcutta, British India (d. 2007) ==March 16, 1944 (Thursday)==

• The Japanese Indian Ocean raid ended inconclusively. • The American submarine Tautog torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Shirakumo east of Muroran, Hokkaido. • American aircraft and British warships sank the German submarine U-392 in the Strait of Gibraltar. • At a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) seminar, in Washington, D.C., with Army Air Forces and Navy personnel attending, NACA personnel proposed a jet-propelled transonic research airplane be developed. This proposal ultimately led to the "X" series research airplane projects. ==March 17, 1944 (Friday)==

• Soviet forces took Dubno. • German submarine U-801 was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by American warships and aircraft. • The novel Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith was banned in Boston as obscene. • Born: Pattie Boyd, model, photographer and author, in Taunton, England; John Sebastian, musician and founding member of The Lovin' Spoonful, in Greenwich Village, New York ==March 18, 1944 (Saturday)==

• As part of the Battle of Narva, the Soviets began the third Narva Offensive. • The Soviets took Zhmerynka. • Hungarian head of state Miklós Horthy came to the Schloss Klessheim south of Salzburg at Hitler's invitation. Horthy was forced to accept a new government and allow German troops onto Hungarian soil. • On the Modena Apennines, the 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring bombed the villages of Monchio, Susano and Costrignano, around Montefiorino, and slaughtered their whole population. The victims were 129, all civilians, and included women, old men and children. The carnage was aimed to repress the partisan activity in the zone. • Aimo Koivunen and his men were attacked by the Russian Soviets during a rest; after this Aimo went on an insane methamphetamine adventure alone in the snowy lands of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. • Died: Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau, 92, French World War I general ==March 19, 1944 (Sunday)==

• Eight German divisions carried out Operation Margarethe and occupied Hungary to forestall their Axis partner from making a separate peace with the Soviet Union. • The secular oratorio A Child of Our Time by Michael Tippett premiered at the Adelphi Theatre in London. • The Indian National Army (INA) hoisted the Tricolour flag on liberated Indian soil. • Born: Said Musa, 5th Prime Minister of Belize, in San Ignacio, Belize; Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian-Jordanian convicted assassin of Robert F. Kennedy, in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine • Died: Giuseppe De Liguoro, 75, pioneer of Italian cinema ==March 20, 1944 (Monday)==

• The Battle of Sangshak began in Manipur. • U.S. Marines began the unopposed Landing on Emirau. • Soviet forces captured the Ukrainian cities of Vinnytsia and Mohyliv-Podilskyi. • Died: Pierre Pucheu, 44, French industrialist, fascist and member of the Vichy government (executed) ==March 21, 1944 (Tuesday)==