19 Mar in WW2 History | World War II Database

19 Mar 1883

Joseph Stilwell was born.
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19 Mar 1896

Martti Aho was born in Keminmaa, Finland.
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19 Mar 1904

Lieutenant General Rikisaburo Saito was named the chief of staff of the Japanese Chosen Army in occupied Korea.

19 Mar 1905

Albert Speer was born.
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19 Mar 1906

Adolf Eichmann was born.
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19 Mar 1912

Adolf Galland was born.
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19 Mar 1918

Douglas MacArthur led US Secretary of War Newton Baker on a tour near the front lines.
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The French cruiser Amiral Aube arrived at Murmansk, Russia to join Admiral Kemp's Squadron.
Admiral William S. Sims, commander of the US Naval forces in European waters, asked Washington to provide a warship to join the British and French naval force assembling at Murmansk, Russia. After consultation with the State Department, Admiral Benson, the Chief of Naval Operations, signaled back that no American ship could be spared to operate in north Russian water. Sims however continued to press for a reversal of the decision and after a few days Benson relented and ordered the cruiser USS Olympia to proceed to Murmansk.

19 Mar 1931

USS Arizona embarked US President Herbert Hoover and departed Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States for a trip to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
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19 Mar 1937

The second prototype of the Mitsubishi Ki-15 aircraft took flight.
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19 Mar 1939

Fleet Exercise No. 5 in the Caribbean Sea, participated by US Navy and US Marine Corps personnel, drew to a close.
British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Lord Halifax explained to the Soviet ambassador in the United Kingdom that the reason for the rejection for Joseph Stalin's call for a multi-power conference to contain Germany was due to the lack of available personnel to embark on these negotiations.
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19 Mar 1940

In retaliation for the Scapa Flow raid, the RAF attacked the German seaplane base on Sylt Island, but with little effect. Meanwhile, British Whitley bombers of 10 Squadron No. 4 Group RAF Bomber Command dropped 1,500 pounds of bombs over the Hornum seaplane base in Germany also as part of the retaliatory bombing.
German submarine U-19 sank Danish steamer Minsk in the Moray Firth, Scotland at 0935 hours, killing 11. Destroyer HMS Esk rescued 9 survivors. At 1037 hours, U-19 struck again, sinking Danish steamer Charkow, killing the entire crew of 20.
Members of the British House of Commons debated Britain's lack of action during the Winter War and criticized Prime Minister Chamberlain. Chamberlain noted that Finland never officially requested British military aid.
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The French Parliament criticized Prime Minister Daladier for the French inaction during the Winter War. Daladier resigned after a vote of no confidence.
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British destroyer HMS Jervis collided with Swedish steamer Tor northeast of Blyth, England at 0300 hours, killing 2 aboard Jervis. She would be under repair until Jul 1940.

19 Mar 1941

The French government-in-exile in Britain established a central bank.
Mass-produced vegetable casseroles went on sale in Britain for 8 pence per pound.
370 German Luftwaffe aircraft bombed London, England, United Kingdom, killing 750. Several freighters and auxiliary anti-aircraft ship Helvellyn were sunk or damaged in London docks.
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Erwin Rommel met with Adolf Hitler, Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch, and Chief of Staff General Franz Halder. Rommel was told to expect no reinforcements in Libya until May, when the German 15th Panzer Division would be assigned to him.
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Adolf Hitler gave Prince Paul of Yugoslavia an ultimatum, asking him to join the Tripartite Pact within five days, or face invasion.
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German submarine U-105 sank Dutch ship Mandalika of Allied convoy SL-68 350 miles west of Nouakchott, Mauritania, French West Africa. 3 were killed and 62 survivors were rescued by British corvette HMS Marguerite.
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau began their return voyage to Brest, France.
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19 Mar 1942

German Armeegruppe Nord cut off General Vlasov's Soviet 2nd Shock Army in a salient on the Volkhov River near Novgorod 50 miles southeast of Leningrad, Russia.
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Operations Munich and Bamberg were launched against Soviet partisans, though tactical successes turned out to be counter-productive, encouraging more civilians to join the partisans.
Lieutenant General William Slim was ordered to lead the Burma Corps.
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British censorship on caricatures, obituaries, and football scores led to widespread complaint; Home Secretary Morrison threatened Daily Mirror with shut down order unless the newspaper obeyed the censorship laws.
German submarine U-124 sank US tanker Papoose 25 miles south of Cape Fear, North Carolina, United States at 0431 hours; 2 were killed, 32 survived. To the northwest, German submarine U-332 sank US freighter Liberator off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina at 0419 hours; 5 were killed, 30 survived. At 0538 hours, U-124 attacked again off Cape Fear, sinking US tanker W. E. Hutton; 13 were killed, 12 survived.
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The advance echelon of US Marine Aircraft Group 13 arrived at the newly-completed airfield at Tutuila, American Samoa.
Japanese troops captured Pyu, Burma.
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At Bataan Peninsula at Luzon, Philippine Islands, US and Filipino troops were put on quarter rations (1000 calories) as the food supplies dwindled. The supply of quinine, a medicine for malaria, had also depleted.
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19 Mar 1943

German Colonel Rudolf von Gersdorff's attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bombing was canceled at the last moment when Hitler decided to leave early from a show of captured weapons.
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The new radiolocation system ASV III was used over the Bay of Biscay off France by bombers of No. 172 Squadron RAF.
The British launched Operation Pugilist in Tunisia against the Axis Mareth Line, penetrating the line near Zarat.
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The Japanese passenger ship, Takachihi Maru, was torpedoed and sunk off Taiwan. More than 1,200 perish, mainly Japanese and Taiwanese civilians (Taiwan was a Japanese colony at the time). It remained Taiwan's worst sea disaster.
The China Air Task Force was incorporated into the USAAF 14th Air Force.
The largest air drop in support of Operation Longcloth in Burma was conducted, delivering 100 tons of supplies to the Chindits.
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Shokaku departed Yokosuka, Japan for Kure, Japan.
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Light carrier Ryuho departed Yokosuka, Japan for the Oita, Japan region of the Inland Sea.
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Photos dated 19 Mar 1943

19 Mar 1944

Allies launched Operation Strangle, which was consisted of air interdiction attacks on the rail yards at Sienna, Italy.
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German troops occupied Hungary. Adolf Eichmann arrived in Hungary to begin mass deportation of the 750,000 Hungarian Jews who, thus far, had been largely unmolested.
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Former Vichy French Interior Minister Pierre Pucheu was killed in Algiers in North Africa.
Soviet troops captured Mogilev-Podolski and Vinnitsa, Ukraine.
US Marines landed on Emirau, Bismarck Islands; the landings were not opposed.
Lieutenant General Edson Burns took command of the Canadian First Corps.
Edmund Veesenmayer was assigned to the German embassy in Budapest, Hungary with plenipotentiary powers.
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Louis Mountbatten recovered from his temporary blindness at Ledo, India, as pronounced by US Army eye specialist Captain Scheie. On the same day, he issued a reprimand against Orde Wingate for sending complaints of his fellow officers through clear text so that it could be read by all cipher and signals staff.
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Chinese 66th Regiment captured Jambu Bum ridge in northern Burma, about 140 kilometers northwest of Myitkyina.
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USS Cassin Young arrived at Pearl Harbor.
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Photos dated 19 Mar 1944

19 Mar 1945

US Seventh Army captured Worms, Germany.
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Hitler issued the Nero Decree, which was a scorched Earth policy to prevent any industry, utility, or transportation from being used by the advancing Allied and Soviet armies. Albert Speer, the Armaments Minister, recognized the need for this infrastructure after the war and undermined efforts to carry out the decree.
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General of Panzer Troops Walther Nehring replaced Gotthard Heinrici as the commander of the German 1.Panzerarmee.
Adolf Hitler ordered Gotthard Heinrici to replace Heinrich Himmler as the commander of Group Vistula as suggested by Heinz Guderian.
France signed an economic pact with the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
In Japan, aircraft of US Navy TF 58 attacked targets on Kyushu and Honshu (Kure, Osaka, and Kobe), destroying submarine I-205 (still under construction) and damaging many warships.
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Anglo-Indian troops attempted to cross the moat of Fort Dufferin in Mandalay, Burma in failure, suffering heavy casualties. A commando raid was put together to penetrate the fortress, but it would not be carried out due to the unexpected Japanese surrender on the next day.
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USS Franklin was attacked by Japanese aircraft, igniting bombs and rockets, and later seriously damaged by the ignition of gasoline vapors. Damage control teams were able to save the ship.
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USS Kete was ordered to depart Ryukyu Islands area for refueling at Midway, then to sail on to Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
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USS Sea Robin departed Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, continuing her second war patrol.
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USS Iowa departed San Francisco, California, United States.
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Light carrier Ryuho was damaged by three bombs and two rockets delivered by US aircraft at Kure, Japan between 0720 and 0905 hours. 20 were killed and 30 were wounded. Her flight deck and boiler room were damaged, and a gash on the port side caused her to settle in six feet of water on the aft side.
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Light carrier Hosho was attacked by 7 US aircraft off Kure, Japan at 0532 hours, receiving three hits, which caused minor damage and killed six.
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USS S-35 was decommissioned from service at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
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Photos dated 19 Mar 1945

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19 Mar 1946

Captain Frank Robinson Walker was named the commanding officer of USS Astoria.
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USS Puffer arrived at San Francisco, California, United States.
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19 Mar 1947

George Patton's remains were moved to a different grave site within the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial in Hamm, Luxembourg.
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19 Mar 1948