3 Mar 1880
- Yosuke Matsuoka was born.
» In-depth article
3 Mar 1891
- Damaskinos was born.
» In-depth article
3 Mar 1909
- Tsuneyoshi was born.
» In-depth article
3 Mar 1918
- Russia signed a peace treaty with the Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk, Russia. Its fourteen articles reduced the territorial possessions of Russia to those of Muscovy before the time of Peter the Great. Poland, the Baltic Provinces and the Ukraine were all surrendered as well as a third of Russia's population.
3 Mar 1932
- Chinese 19th Route Army and the 5th Army withdrew from Shanghai, China.
» In-depth article
3 Mar 1938
- Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia, but upcoming war meant it would not to be developed until 1946.
3 Mar 1939
- USS Astoria departed Culebra, Puerto Rico.
» In-depth article
3 Mar 1940
- Italy protested UK-proposed ban on Italian imports of German coal.
- Two days after the offered peace ultimatum expired, Soviet forces launched a major offensive against the Finns. A beachhead on the frozen Viipuri Bay west of the Viipuri city was reinforced, while the island of Uuras was captured. Finnish General Wallenius was dishonorably discharged for getting drunk during this key moment in the defense; Lieutenant General Lennart Oesch was appointed to succeed him.
» In-depth article - As the large passenger liner Queen Elizabeth sailed for New York, British agents released false information regarding the final destination being Southampton in southern England. German intelligence apparently picked up this information as Luftwaffe aircraft appeared to bomb Southampton on this date, the date when Queen Elizabeth was falsely said to arrive.
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- British cruiser HMS York stopped German steamer Arucas 50 miles south of Iceland. Arucas' crew of 42 Arucas scuttled the ship; 3 died in the process. 39 men were rescued by York and delivered to Kirkwall, Scotland on 10 Mar 1940.
- German submarine U-29 laid mines in the Bristol Channel. British steamer Cato hit one of them later on this date, killing 13; 2 survivors were rescued by minesweeper HMS Akita.
- Adolf Hitler decided that the invasion of Norway would take place prior to the invasion of France.
» In-depth article - Hermann Göring met with US Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles in Berlin, Germany.
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Fragmentary Text from Moscow to London
» In-depth article
3 Mar 1941
- Erwin Rommel moved German 5th Light Division to a narrow pass 17 miles west of the Allied forward positions at El Agheila, Libya to block any Allied advances toward Tripoli. He also ordered the construction of defensive positions in the desert to the south to prevent the Allies from bypassing the pass.
» In-depth article - Italian aircraft bombed Larissa, Greece; 5 bombers were shot down by RAF Hurricane fighters.
» In-depth article - German submariner Bootsmannsmaat Artur Mei fell overboard from U-97 440 miles west of Ireland. He was never seen again.
- The US Marine Corps set up 8 men (6 Marines and 2 US Navy corpsmen) and 2 5-inch guns on Johnston Island.
- German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau reached the Cape Verde Islands area in Central Atlantic.
» In-depth article
3 Mar 1942
- RAF bombed the Renault plant in Billancourt, near Paris, France, while the Lancaster bomber made its debut mining the harbor at Brest, France.
» In-depth article - Official German figures announced in Vichy of over 5,000 arrests and more than 250 executions in 1941; .
- Two Japanese flying boats from the Marshall Islands, refueled by submarines, attacked Hawaii. The intended target was Pearl Harbor, but during this cloudy night one aircraft dropped its four bombs on Mount Tantalus 6 miles away, while the other aircraft dropped its four bombs in the water.
- A German submarine shelled Mona near Puerto Rico, causing little damage.
» In-depth article - Allied leaders approved the division of Western Pacific into two zones, with Burma and all Southeast Asia west of Java-Sumatra border under the command of British General Archibald Wavell, and areas to the east under the command of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- The Atlantic Amphibious Force, commanded by USMC Major General Holland Smith, received its final redesignation as Amphibious Corps, Atlantic Fleet.
- Joseph Stilwell met with Chiang Kaishek in Lashio, Burma.
» In-depth article - Australian troops continued to hold against Japanese attacks at Leuwiliang west of Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies. In eastern Java, Japanese captured Bojonegoro.
» In-depth article - Japanese troops forced Indian 17th Infantry Division out of Payagyi, Burma.
» In-depth article - Japanese destroyers Arashi and Nowaki sank US gunboat USS Asheville south of Java, Dutch East Indies, killing all 170 aboard.
- In Western Australia, Australia, 9 Japanese Zero fighters from Koepang, Timor, Dutch East Indies attacked the flying boat anchorage at Roebuck Bay (destroying 15 flying boats) and the airfield at Broome (destroying 5 bombers and 2 transport aircraft; one of the transports shot down at Broome, a DC-3 airliner carrying evacuees from Java, Dutch East Indies, crashed into the jungle 50 miles north of the city, destroying its cargo of £150,000-£300,000 worth of diamonds. Only 1 Japanese Zero fighter was lost during the attack.
- German submarine U-129 sank US transport Mary 165 miles north of Dutch Suriname in the Atlantic Ocean at 1705 hours; 1 was killed, 33 survived. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, German submarine U-68 sank British ship Helenus 86 miles west of Monrovia, Liberia at 1721 hours; 6 were killed, 76 survived.
» In-depth article - Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Palau.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - After emergency repairs, USS Perch attempted to make a test dive, but it failed without almost disastrous results. As repairs continued, she was discovered by two Japanese cruisers and three Japanese destroyers. Commanding officer David A. Hurt gave the abandon ship order, sinking the ship and giving up himself and his crew, totaling 59 men, to the Japanese.
» In-depth article
3 Mar 1943
- Hitler survived an assassination attempt.
» In-depth article - Soviet troops recaptured Rzhev, Russia.
- The 32nd transport from Berlin arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in two trains, totaling 1,758 German Jews and 158 Norwegian Jews. 535 men and 145 women were registered into the camp from the first train, and 50 and 164 were registered from the second train. The remaining 1,022 were killed in gas chambers.
» In-depth article - British anti-aircraft gunners used a new rocket projectile for the first time during an air raid on London, England, United Kingdom. Civilians descending into a new tube station at Bethnal Green to take cover became panicked by the unfamiliar sound and, believing they were being bombed, stampeded down the stairs. In the crush someone stumbled causing others to fall. Those behind, not being able to see what was happening below continued to press forward, and soon 300 bodies were piled up. Tragically 173 people were crushed to death or suffocated. For the sake of public morale, news of the tragedy was suppressed for another two years.
» In-depth article - The No. 4 Column of the Northern Group of the Chindits was ambushed and was nearly annihilated; Orde Wingate ordered the column to return to India. Meanwhile, the two columns of the Southern Group were ambushed by Japanese troops in the Mu valley after dark; both columns lost much equipment, while one of them was nearly wiped out.
» In-depth article - USS Snook departed New London, Connecticut, United States.
» In-depth article - Destroyer Yukikaze was attacked by US aircraft in the Bismarck Sea but sustained no damage.
» In-depth article - Repair ship Akashi completed the repair work for transport Nankai Maru at Truk, Caroline Islands.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
3 Mar 1944
- An American B-29 bomber dropped a dummy atomic bomb at Muroc Army Air Force Base in California, United States at the altitude of 24,000 feet. The test bomb considerably damaged the aircraft's bomb bay doors as it exited the aircraft.
» In-depth article - The number of British civilian casualties (50,324) became higher than military (50,103).
- The Germans called off the attacks on the American beachhead at Anzio, Italy.
» In-depth article - 29 USAAF bombers attacked Berlin, Germany; the attack was "accidental", as it was actually called off, but the aircraft failed to receive the order.
» In-depth article - Under heavy Allied pressure, Spain ordered all remaining Spaniards in German service home, but some ignored the order, and would end up fighting in Berlin, Germany near the end of the European War.
- The German Security Police in Italy requested the Italians to assist them in enlarging the Fossoli transit camp because of the growing number of prisoners interned there.
- A transport of 1,390 prisoners, mostly Latvians and Russians, was sent from Stutthof Concentration Camp to Mauthausen Concentration Camp.
» In-depth article - Franklin Roosevelt announced to the American public that United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union were intended on dividing the Italian fleet evenly between the three powers as war reparations.
» In-depth article - USS Franklin departed Pearl Harbor.
» In-depth article - USS Gar began her eleventh war patrol which saw her on lifeguard duty off Palau Islands.
» In-depth article - USS Tunny departed Midway Atoll.
» In-depth article - Irako began repairs at Yokosuka, Japan and later Yokohama, Japan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - Photos dated 3 Mar 1944
3 Mar 1945
- Gheorghe Avramescu passed away.
» In-depth article - Kurt Schmidt passed away.
» In-depth article - In Burma, British Lieutenant William Weston, 21, of the Green Howards, was clearing a labyrinth of bunkers and tunnels with grenades when he was wounded. Falling into the entrance of an enemy bunker, his only thought was for the task. He pulled the pin of a grenade and rolled into the strong-point killing himself and all inside. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
- Anglo-Indian troops captured Meiktila, Burma after the final 47 Japanese defenders committed suicide. Japanese resistance in outskirts of the city would continue for a few more days.
» In-depth article - US and Filipino troops captured Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands.
» In-depth article - Canadian troops captured Xanten, Germany while US First Army captured Krefeld, Germany.
» In-depth article - Prisoners at Hinzert satellite camp of Buchenwald Concentration Camp were evacuated.
» In-depth article - 57 Mitchell and Boston bombers of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force were sent to bomb a suspected rocket launching site in a wooded park in the Hague in the Netherlands. Some of the 69 tons of bombs meant for the site missed by as much as 500 yards, hitting the Bezuidenhout district. 500 civilians were killed and 2,000 were injured, while several thousands were made homeless. The German occupation refused to help the survivors, delaring that the "Dutch have to learn what it is like", referring to the Allied bombing of German cities of Hamburg, Dresden, and others.
- Cruiser Köln was sunk by British aircraft at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Her turrets remain above water and operational.
» In-depth article - USS Tirante departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article - USS Charr arrived at Fremantle, Australia, ending her first war patrol.
» In-depth article - USS Sea Robin sank the Japanese cargo ship Suiten Maru north of Surabaja, Java, hitting her with 1 of 7 torpedoes fired; she picked up 3 survivors.
» In-depth article - USS Chub was attacked by a Japanese submarine but was able to escape unharmed.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 3 Mar 1945
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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