27 Mar 1895
- Erich Abraham was born.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1926
China
China
- Haichou was damaged by Beiyang warships off Wusong, Shanghai, China, which caused 9 killed and 10 to 20 wounded.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1933
- The Enabling Act, which gave Hitler near-dictatorial powers, came into effect.
» In-depth article - 55,000 civilians staged a protest against Adolf Hitler in New York City, New York, United States.
- Japan officially withdrew from the League of Nations.
27 Mar 1934
Photo(s) dated 27 Mar 1934
Photo(s) dated 27 Mar 1934
27 Mar 1938
- A Do 18W flying boat established a seaplane record flying non-stop in a straight distance of 8,391 kilometers from Start Point, Devon, England, United Kingdom to Caravelas, Brazil.
» In-depth article
- Japanese troops began to enter the town of Tai'erzhuang in Jiangsu Province; Chinese troops forced the Japanese to fight for every block.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1939
China
China
- Japanese 101st Division captured Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1940
- New Zealand Prime Minister Michael Savage died from cancer.
- The French government requested the Soviet Union to recall its ambassador to Paris, France.
- A dredge was towed to Midway Atoll to begin work to enlarge the basin and channels between the two main islands.
27 Mar 1941
- The US Congress approved US$7,000,000,000 for the Lend-Lease program.
- German submarine U-98 sank British ship Koranton 400 miles southwest of Iceland at 1350 hours, killing the entire crew of 34.
- Adolf Hitler ordered Operation Barbarossa to be postponed due to changing political situations in the Balkan Peninsula.
» In-depth article - Allied tanks and infantry captured heights beyond the Dongolaas Gorge in Eritrea, Italian East Africa. By 1000 hours, Keren was captured without opposition as Italian troops fled toward Asmara. The Battle of Keren ended with 536 Allies killed and 3,229 wounded, while the Italians suffered 6,500 casualties.
» In-depth article - Battleship HMS Warspite, battleship HMS Barham, battleship HMS Valiant, carrier HMS Formidable, and nine destroyers of the British Mediterranean Fleet departed Alexandria, Egypt to hunt for an Italian fleet known to have departed bases in Italy. Four cruisers and four destroyers also departed from Piraeus, Greece, launching spotter planes to search for the Italian fleet, locating it at noon.
» In-depth article - Oberleutnant zur See Helmut Pöttgen of German submarine U-46 fell overboard from the submarine and was lost.
- Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka met with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in Berlin, Germany in the morning; Ribbentrop noted to Matsuoka that the United States was intimidated by the Axis alliance thus would not enter into the war even if Japan joined in to strike at British possessions in Asia. In the afternoon, Matsuoka met with Adolf Hitler.
» In-depth article - The first transfers of prisoners out of Oflag IV-C camp at Colditz Castle in Germany took place; 27 Polish officers were moved to Oflag VII-B in Eichstätt, Germany.
- Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa arrived at the US Territory of Hawaii aboard the passenger liner Nitta Maru, under the guise of a diplomat.
» In-depth article
- American and British representatives met at Washington DC, United States.
» In-depth article
- General Dusan Simovic and other anti-German officers overthrew the pro-Axis government in Yugoslavia, placing Regent Prince Paul with King Petar II and intending to back out of the Tripartite Pact. Upon hear the news, Adolf Hitler ordered an invasion of Yugoslavia; the German foreign ministry prepared messages to Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy for them to join in the partition Yugoslavia. On the same day, 500 German military aircraft were dispatched for Bulgaria and Romania.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1942
- German propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary on this date, regarding the deportation of Jews, "a fairly barbaric process is utilized. Of the Jews themselves, not much remains".
» In-depth article - The deportation of French Jews to Auschwitz Concentration Camp began.
» In-depth article - Iro Ilk was awarded the German Cross in Gold.
» In-depth article - Japanese aircraft and artillery bombarded Chinese positions at Taungoo, Burma.
» In-depth article - Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld, having shot down four British bombers during the previous night, was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht bulletin by the headquarters of the German Wehrmacht.
» In-depth article - British aircraft carriers HMS Argus and HMS Eagle departed Gibraltar with battleship HMS Malaya and other warships in escort to deliver 16 Spitfire fighters to Malta.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-160 sank Panamanian tanker Equipoise 50 kilometers east of Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States at 0238 hours; 41 were killed, 13 survived. Further out to sea, 380 miles east of Virginia, U-150 sank Norwegian tanker MV Svenør at 1340 hours; 8 were killed, 29 survived. Closer to Europe, U-587 unsuccessfully attacked Allied convoy WS-17 and was sank by escorting destroyers; all 42 aboard the German submarine were lost.
» In-depth article - US Navy Admiral John Wilcox, Jr. drowned after being swept overboard from USS Washington during a storm at about 1030 hours.
» In-depth article - At 2300 hours, in British destroyer HMS Campeltown, with commandos aboard, left her destroyer escorts behind and sailed toward Saint-Nazaire, France with a few small vessels.
- USS Gudgeon sank Japanese merchant ship Nissho Maru in the East China Sea 20 miles off southern Korea.
» In-depth article - Dutch aircraft sank Japanese collier Yubari Maru off Koepang, Timor, Dutch East Indies.
- The German naval staff requested the Japanese to conduct raids against Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean.
» In-depth article
- Repair ship Akashi departed Staring Bay, Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- Tatsuta Maru departed Kure, Japan and arrived at Kobe, Japan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - Kaga entered the drydocks of Sasebo, Japan to repair the damage caused by striking reefs in the Palau Islands, Caroline Islands on 9 Feb 1942.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- Japanese transport Kitano Maru struck a Japanese naval mine and sank in Lingayen Gulf, Philippine Islands.
- With freezers failing after a Japanese aerial attack on the previous day, US and Filipino troops attempted to transport the contents, 24,000 pounds of frozen carabao meat, from Corregidor Island to Bataan Peninsula in the Philippine Islands for immediate consumption. Japanese air attacks would prevent this transport, and the meat would soon spoil.
» In-depth article
- Agents of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested members of the Black Dragon Society, a right wing para-military Japanese group, in the San Joaquin Valley region in California, United States.
27 Mar 1943
- Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Rabaul, New Britain departing later on the same day.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - German tanks stopped the British offensive at El Hamma, Tunisia, but New Zealand troops had successfully secured territory south of the town.
» In-depth article - USS Tunny reached Wake Island waters.
» In-depth article
- Shokaku arrived at Kure, Japan after layovers at Tokuyama, Iwaishima, Beppu, and Tokuyama again en route.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- The BI-3 rocket-powered prototype aircraft took its fourth flight at Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, reaching the speed of more than 800 kilometers per hour. The aircraft would lose control during flight, crashing to the ground and killing test pilot Grigory Bakhchivandzhi.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1944
- Vichy French government allowed its citizens to join the German SS organization.
- German SS troops massacred all Jewish children under the age of 13 in Kovno, Lithuania.
- The government of the United Kingdom banned foreign travel.
- Japanese 58th Regiment launched an all-out attack on Sangshak, India. Brigadier Maxwell Hope-Thompson, commanding officer of the defending Allied troops, ordered a retreat from Sangshak at 1800 hours. On the same day, William Slim requested the British 2nd Division to help defend nearby Dimapur.
» In-depth article - Japanese troops attacked the Broadway site of Operation Thursday in Burma.
» In-depth article
- USS Ray arrived at Fremantle, Australia, ending her third war patrol.
» In-depth article
- Allied convoy JW-58 departed Liverpool, England, United Kingdom.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1945
- USS Caiman detected a Japanese cargo ship in the southern South China Sea and fired 4 torpedoes; they failed to hit the target.
» In-depth article - Red Army fought fight their way into Danzig in the face of heavy resistance.
» In-depth article - A German counter attack from Frankfurt, Germany towards Küstrin barely got out of the city. Meanwhile, US Third Army captured Aschaffenburg, Germany, 40 kilometers to the southeast.
» In-depth article - American B-29 aircraft mined Kanmon Straits near Shimonoseki, Japan.
- Argentina declared war on the Axis alliance. The interned sailors of the Admiral Graf Spee (since Dec 1939) were now considered prisoners of war.
» In-depth article - Before dawn, USS Rock fired six torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer escort; she claimed the target was sunk with one hit, but the sinking was not confirmed. In the late evening, USS Rock fired a torpedo at another Japanese destroyer; the torpedo missed.
» In-depth article - USS Charr departed Fremantle, Australia for her second war patrol.
» In-depth article - Dwight Eisenhower wrote Joseph Stalin a letter in an effort to coordinate the movement of Anglo-American and Soviet front lines as the two fronts neared each other in Germany.
» In-depth article
- The US 5th Marine Division departed from Iwo Jima, Japan (its only combat operation), bound for US Territory of Hawaii for resting.
- USS Spot departed Saipan, Mariana Islands.
» In-depth article
- German V-2 rocket hit Ilford, London, England, United Kingdom. It was to be the last rocket to strike this suburban district of London. To date, 117 Ilford residents were killed by rockets, while 349 were seriously injured. A second V-2 rocket hit Hughes Mansions, Stepney, London, killing 134 and injuring 49.
- USS Manta departed New London, Connecticut, United States.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1947
- Massachusetts was decommissioned from service.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1948
- USS Bugara arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article
27 Mar 1953
United States
United States
- USS Ray departed Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States for a training cruise off eastern United States and in the Caribbean Sea.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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Famous WW2 Quote
"I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."General Douglas MacArthur at Leyte, 17 Oct 1944