03-1941

Diary for Monday, March 31, 1941: North Africa Rommel breaks through British defences at Mersa Brega, near El Agheila. British withdraw, abandoning 50 armoured cars and 30 light tanks. Sea […]

Diary for Sunday, March 30, 1941: Air and Sea War Blockade of Brest: 109 RAF bombers attack Gneisenau and Scharnhorst (night March 30-31) in first of 63 raids on the

Diary for Saturday, March 29, 1941 East Africa South Africans occupy Diredawa, third city of Ethiopia, with important railway repair shops.

Diary for Friday, March 28, 1941: Sea War BATTLE OF MATAPAN: Italian Fleet is attacked by British torpedo-bombers while returning from unsuccessful sortie into Aegean Sea. Battleship Vittorio Veneto and

Diary for Thursday, March 27, 1941: Politics Yugoslavia: BLOODLESS COUP D’ETAT IN BELGRADE. Pro-Axis Prime Minister Tsvetkovich and Foreign Minister Cincar-Markovich arrested; Air Force CinC, General Simovic, forms all-Party anti-Nazi

Diary for Wednesday, March 26, 1941: Sea War Mediterranean: Italian one-man explosive motorboats (barchini esplosivi), launched from destroyers, cripple British cruiser York and sink Norwegian tanker in Suda Bay, Crete

Diary for Tuesday, March 25, 1941: Politics YUGOSLAVIA SIGNS TRIPARTITE PACT in Vienna, allying herself with the Axis Powers. North Africa Marshal Graziani, CinC Italian Armies in Libya and Chief

Diary for Monday, March 24, 1941: North Africa ROMMEL OPENS HIS FIRST OFFENSIVE in the Western Desert and captures El Agheila. Sea War Mediterranean: British submarine Rorqual lays mines west

Diary for Sunday, March 23, 1941: Air War Ju 87 Stukas with fighter escort carry out major raid on Malta: 13 Stukas shot down (2 RAF fighters lost in air

Diary for Saturday, March 22, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst return to Brest having sunk 22 ships totalling 116,000 t during ‘Operation Berlin‘. Neutrals Vichy France:

Diary for Friday, March 21, 1941: North Africa Italian garrison of Jarabub, Southern Libya, surrenders to British and Australians after 15-week siege. Neutrals USA: New York bus strike ends after

Diary for Thursday, March 20, 1941: Air War RAF and South African AF bomb Italian positions around Keren (Eritrea).

Diary for Wednesday, March 19, 1941: Air War Britain: Heaviest night raid on London since last December.

Diary for Tuesday, March 18, 1941: East Africa Ethiopian ‘Patriot’ tribesmen attempt to surround Italian garrison at Debra Marcos. Politics British Foreign Minister, Eden, meets his Turkish counterpart in Cyprus

Diary for Monday, March 17, 1941: East Africa Italians launch unsuccessful counter-attack in Eritrea. Home Fronts Britain: Jam and marmalade rationed to 8 oz. (225 g) per person per month.

Diary for Sunday, March 16, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: Two U-boat ‘aces’ Kretschmer (U-99) and Schepke (U-100) lost while attacking Convoy HX.112. U-100 rammed by HMS Vanoc; U-99 depth-charged by

Diary for Saturday, March 15, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: German U-boats U-105 and U-106 hound Convoy SL.68 for a week off West Africa, sinking 7 ships and damaging battleship Malaya.

Diary for Friday, March 14, 1941: Air War Britain: Night raids on Glasgow and Sheffield.

Diary for Thursday, March 13, 1941: Air War Britain: Devastating night raids on Glasgow and Clydeside (March 13-14 and 14-15); 35,000 homeless in Clydebank (total population 47,000). 460 killed, 750

Diary for Wednesday, March 12, 1941: Air War Germany – RAF raid on Berlin: first of 10 heavy raids during 1941. Halifax four-engined bombers participate in night raid on Hamburg.