World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 31 Mar in WW2 History

• Commodore Thomas S. Fillebrown was named the commanding officer of New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, United States. ww2dbase [New York Navy Yard | Brooklyn, New York | CPC]

31 Mar 1884 Interactive Map

• Stanislaw Maczek was born. ww2dbase [Stanislaw Maczek | CPC]

• Yamashiro was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Yamashiro | CPC]
• Destroyer Kashi was completed and entered Japanese naval service. ww2dbase [Kashi | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler was demobilized from the Bavarian Army. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | München | CPC]

• Maria Smirnova was born in Vorobievo, Tver Oblast, Russia. ww2dbase [Maria Smirnova | Vorobievo, Tver | CPC]

• Battleship Sevastopol was renamed Parizhskava Kommuna. ww2dbase [Parizhskava Kommuna | AC]

• S-43 was launched at the Bethlehem shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts, United States, sponsored by the wife of naval officer and submariner John H. Brown, Jr. ww2dbase [Bethlehem Fore River Shipyard | S-43 | Quincy, Massachusetts | CPC]

31 Mar 1923 Interactive Map

• S-45 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [S-45 | CPC]

• Furutaka was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Furutaka | CPC]

• A serious air crash occurred at Bazaar, Kansas, United States. Among those killed as a result of structural failure in the Atlantic-built Fokker F.10A was Knute Rockne, coach of the Notre Dame football team. The resuting publicity led to TWA withdrawing their entire Fokker fleet and the F.10A was to become the first aircraft type to be officially grounded by the US Department of Commerce. ww2dbase [Bazaar, Kansas | AC]

• Franklin Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]

• Submarine tender Taigei was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Ryuho | CPC]

• Light carrier Hosho completed her repairs. ww2dbase [Hosho | CPC]

• SS-Oberführer Hans Loritz was named the commandant of Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany, replacing Heinrich Deubel. ww2dbase [Dachau Concentration Camp | Dachau, München-Oberbayern | CPC]

31 Mar 1936 Interactive Map

• Bombers of the German Condor Legion in Spain, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Freiherr von Richthofen, bombed the mountain strongholds of the Republicans, not easily reached by artillery, and battered the key village of Ochandiano before it was quickly taken by the Army of Navarre. In the same region, the Spanish Nationalist forces, commanded by General Emilio Mola y Vidal, began an offensive against Basque forces in Vizcaya with the intention of capturing the Basque stronghold of Bilbao. ww2dbase [The Spanish Civil War | AC]

• Georg von Küchler stepped down as the deputy president of the military court system. ww2dbase [Georg von Küchler | CPC]

• Asagumo was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Asagumo | CPC]
• HMS Edinburgh was launched. ww2dbase [Edinburgh | CPC]

• The order for the construction of eight barracks at the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp in southern Germany was issued. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Flossenbürg Concentration Camp | Flossenbürg, Bayreuth | CPC]

• The keel of cruiser HMS Mauritius was laid down by Swan Hunter at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Mauritius | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | CPC]

31 Mar 1938 Interactive Map

• The fighting between Slovakia and Hungary largely ceased. ww2dbase [The Slovak-Hungarian War | CPC]
• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain noted that the United Kingdom and France would guarantee Polish borders, with military force if necessary. ww2dbase [The Danzig Crisis | CPC]

• Cruiser No. 72, under construction at Mitsubishi Yokohama shipyards in Japan, was officially named Katori. ww2dbase [Katori | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• The first M.9A Master aircraft took flight. ww2dbase [M.9 Master | AC]

• British Prime Minister Chamberlain called off the mining of the Norwegian coast in protest of the French resistance to the mining of the Rhine River. ww2dbase [Neville Chamberlain | CPC]
• German WWI-era battleship Hessen (serving as ice breaker) and armed merchant cruisers Atlantis, Orion, and Widder departed from Kiel, Germany for their various anti-Allied shipping missions. ww2dbase [Orion | CPC]
• Mussolini informed King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy that Italy would soon enter the European War. ww2dbase [Benito Mussolini | CPC]
• Japanese troops completed the evacuation of Wuyuan, Suiyuan Province, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Wuyuan | CPC]
• The armed merchant raider Atlantis set sail from Germany. ww2dbase [Atlantis | AC]

• The British Ministry of Informations introduced paper rationing to publishing and printing industries. The ration, based on consumption over the year 1938-1939, would continue until 1948. ww2dbase [AC]

• British Army Dental Corps Private Coe arrived in Switzerland after escaping from a German prisoner of war camp. He was the first to successfully do so. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Before dawn, 109 RAF bombers attacked German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in Brest, France, scoring no hits. ww2dbase [Scharnhorst | CPC]
• German 5th Light Division attacked British 2nd Armoured Division at Mersa Brega, Libya starting at 0745 hours, supported by dive bombers. After holding off the offensive for most of the day, German tanks broke through at 1730 hours, capturing the town by 1900 hours. As the sun slowly set, British commanders decided not to counterattack with their tanks, but instead withdraw 30 miles northeast toward Agedabia. The day's engagement cost the British 60 men killed, 8 armored carriers destroyed, and 1 anti-aircraft gun destroyed. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
• German submarine U-46 sank Swedish tanker Castor 300 miles east of the southern tip of Greenland at 1033 hours, killing the entire crew of 15. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Rorqual sank Italian submarine Pier Capponi by torpedo 28 miles northwest of Messina, Sicily, Italy, killing the entire crew of 49. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Prince of Wales was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Prince of Wales | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci departed Bordeaux, France at 1010 hours and sailed northward down the Gironde estuary, reaching Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France at 1322 hours. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]

• Four French merchant ships departed Africa for Europe, escorted by a French destroyer. British warships tried to intercept them in order to search them for possible war goods for Germany. The French ships left international waters and entered Moroccan waters, and the British followed, leading to the French coastal batteries firing on the British. The British returned fire against the batteries. The French merchant ships escaped the British pursuit and docked at Nemours (now Ghazaouet), Algeria. ww2dbase [Ghazaouet | CPC]

• Husband Kimmel and Walter Short received a report noting the weakness of the base at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii to surprise air attacks. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | Detailed Timetable | CPC]

• British and Indian troops broke through the roadblocks on the road between Keren and Asmara in Eritrea, Italian East Africa, capturing 560 Italian troops; continuing the push south, Indian 5th Infantry Division engaged Italian troops near Adi Tekelezan, which was less than 50 kilometers from Asmara and was the last town before Asmara. To the east, Italian destroyers Leone, Pantera, and Tigre departed Massawa, Eritrea to attack British port facilities at Port Sudan, British Sudan; Leone struck underwater rocks en route, and Pantera and Tigre were forced to sink Leone by gunfire, and the attack was called off with two surviving ships heading back to Massawa. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | CPC]

• Italian submarine Ambra sank British cruiser HMS Bonaventure 125 miles south of Crete, Greece at 0244 hours. Bonaventure was escorting Allied convoy GA8 from Greece to Alexandria, Egypt at the time. 138 were killed, 310 survived. ww2dbase [Ambra | CPC]

• US troops at Chaguramas, Trinidad held a ceremony. ww2dbase [Chaguramas | CPC]

• HMS Howe was completed. ww2dbase [Howe | CPC]

• The keel of submarine Haddock was laid down at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, United States. ww2dbase [Haddock | Kittery, Maine | CPC]

31 Mar 1941 Interactive Map

• The Indian Congress Party demanded immediate independence from the United Kingdom. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Unhappy with the progress of the interior ministry, Hitler reassigned the task of providing housing to those displaced by Allied bombing to propaganda chief Goebbels. ww2dbase [Joseph Goebbels | CPC]
• German submarine U-754 sank US tug Menominee, barge Allegheny, and barge Barnegat 10 kilometers northeast of Hog Island Lighthouse, Virginia, United States at 0800 hours; 16 were killed, 9 survived. At 2222 hours, 480 miles east of Virginia, U-71 sank British tanker San Gerardo; 51 were killed, 6 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Laffey (Benson-class) was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Laffey (Benson-class) | CPC]
• Italian submarine Tazzoli arrived at Bordeaux, France. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Eight A-24 Banshee aircraft under US Army Captain Floyd Rogers arrived at Port Moresby, Australian Papua; it was the first US squadron to be based at Port Moresby. ww2dbase [Port Moresby | CPC]

• The Death penalty for forging ration cards was introduced in Belgium as the food situation worsens. ww2dbase [AC]

• Japanese troops occupied Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]
• Tenryu provided cover for the landings at Kieta, Bougainville, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Kieta, Bougainville | CPC]

• 850 Japanese troops landed on Christmas Island unopposed. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Naka supported the landing on Christmas Island as the invasion force's flagship; submarine USS Seawolf attempted a torpedo attack on Naka at 0949 hours but failed to score hits. ww2dbase [Naka | CPC]

• Japanese troops occupied Ceram Island, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Ceram, Maluku Islands | CPC]

• USS S-31 completed her first war patrol off the Panama Canal Zone. ww2dbase [S-31 | CPC]

• Surviving ships of Allied convoy PQ-13 began to arrive at Murmansk, Russia after several attacks by German destroyers, submarines, and aircraft. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Murmansk | CPC]

• Ten Norwegian freighters and tankers, interned by the Swedish at Gothenburg, attempted to break out for Britain. Two of them, transport Lind and tanker B. P. Newton, would make the escape. Six of the remaining eight ships were sunk by mines, German aircraft, and German warships, while the final two were forced to return to Gothenburg. ww2dbase [Gothenburg | CPC]

• USS Colorado departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where she had been since Jun 1941. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Colorado | Bremerton, Washington | CPC]
• Light cruiser Fargo, previously ordered but not yet laid down, was reordered by the US Navy as a carrier to be named Crown Point. ww2dbase [Langley (Independence-class) | CPC]

31 Mar 1942 Interactive Map

• British troops occupied Cap Serrat on the Tunisian coast. Operation Supercharge II was concluded with success in Tunisia, forcing the Axis defenses to move north to Wadi Akarit. ww2dbase [Operations Pugilist and Supercharge II | CPC]
• USAAF bombers attacked the Italian airfield at Cagliari, Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German Luftwaffe Major General Peltz was placed in charge of bombing raids against Britain. ww2dbase [CPC]
• American troops under Colonel Archibald MacKechnie landed at the mouth of Waria River in New Guinea. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | CPC]
• US 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions again attacked Italian positions at Hill 369 near El Guettar, Tunisia to little success. ww2dbase [Battle of El Guettar | CPC]
• Belleau Wood was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Belleau Wood | CPC]
• The US 2nd Marine Brigade was disbanded in Pago Pago, American Samoa. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British corvette HMS Milfoil was recommissioned into the United States Navy as USS Intensity. ww2dbase [Milfoil | CPC]
• Gusztáv Jány was awarded the German Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal. ww2dbase [Gusztáv Jány | CPC]

• Alpino Bagnolini sighted an aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 1400 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]

• Vice Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka launched a 2-wave fighter sweep (32 fighters and 25 fighters, respectively) down the Slot in the Solomon Islands to draw out Allied fighters. About 30 Guadalcanal-based US F4F fighters, 8 P-38 fighters, and a few F4U fighters engaged them over the Russell Islands. 9 Japanese Zero fighters, 5 US F4F Wildcat fighters, and 1 US F4U Corsair fighter were shot down in the action. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]

• Owen Baggett, while descending in a parachute over Burma after his B-24 bomber was fatally damaged, claimed to have used a M1911 handgun to kill the pilot of a Japanese A6M Zero fighter. Post war study of Japanese records would show that there were no A6M Zero fighters in the vicinity on that date, and the Japanese squadron present during the engagement suffered no pilot losses. ww2dbase [Owen Baggett | CPC]

• USS Tunny reached the Caroline Islands region. ww2dbase [Tunny | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler met Bulgarian King Boris III at his headquarters at Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany. ww2dbase [Boris III | Rastenburg, Ostpreußen | CPC]

• Satoru Anabuki, flying Ki-43 fighter "Fubuki", shot down three Hurricane fighters over Patenga, India (now Bangladesh), increasing his score to 29. ww2dbase [Satoru Anabuki | Patenga | CPC]

• Nachi departed Paramushiro (Paramushir), Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the docks at Schiedam, Holland but turned back on arrival over the target without dropping any bombs due to solid clouds over the area. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Schiedam | DS]

• USS Whale set sail toward Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]

• Crematorium 2 began operation at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in occupied Poland. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Soviet troops defeated the German 17th Army in the Kuban Peninsula and captured Anastasyevsk north of Novorossiysk, near the coast of the Black Sea in southern Russia. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | Anastasyevsk, Krasnodar Krai | CPC]
• The Soviet GKO meeting at 2330 hours on this date, also joined by Vsevolod Merkulov and Viktor Abakumov, discussed the establishment of a counterintelligence branch. ww2dbase [Viktor Abakumov | Moscow | CPC]

• Replying to a question from Member of Parliament Richard Stokes, the Air Minister, Sir Archibald Sinclair, told the British House of Commons that Bomber Command's targets were always of a military nature, but that bombing of military targets would necessarily involve bombing areas in which they were situated. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | London, England | AC]
• The first Firebrand II variant aircraft, which was the second prototype aircraft of the original variant modified to new specifications, took flight. ww2dbase [Firebrand | AC]

• US leadership gave the order to invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands on 7 May 1943. ww2dbase [Aleutian Islands Campaign | CPC]
• USS Seahorse was commissioned into service with Commander Donald McGregor in command. ww2dbase [Seahorse | CPC]

31 Mar 1943 Interactive Map

• Shokaku arrived off Singapore naval yard. ww2dbase [Shokaku | CPC]
• Mineichi Koga passed away when the flying boat that carried him from Palau Islands to Philippine Islands crashed into the sea in bad weather. ww2dbase [Mineichi Koga | CPC]
• Aircraft from ships Beagle and Tracker in Allied convoy JW-58 sank German submarine U-355 in the Arctic Sea. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
• Destroyer USS De Haven (DD-727) was commissioned with Commander J. B. Dimmick in command. ww2dbase [AC]
• Smalley was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Smalley | CPC]
• USS Pintado set sail for the Panama Canal. ww2dbase [Pintado | CPC]
• US Navy canceled its contracts signed prior to the Pacific War with civilian construction firms for projects across the Pacific Ocean. Those signed after the start of the war would continue. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Destroyer Yukikaze was assigned to Destroyer Division 17, Destroyer Squadron 10, 3rd Fleet. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | CPC]
• USS Flying Fish was attacked by a Japanese submarine; she was able to evade the torpedoes fired at her. ww2dbase [Flying Fish | CPC]

• At 0530 hours, Japanese artillery on the American positions at Nhpum Ga, Burma intensified, paving way for a second day of infantry assaults. Meanwhile, another group of Japanese troops moved toward the clearing at Hsamshingyang and set up a roadblock, cutting off Nhpum Ga's main supply route; this roadblock was discovered by troops of Orange Combat Team of 3rd Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), but the Americans were unable to break the roadblock. Lieutenant Colonel George McGee, Jr., commanding officer of 2nd Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), reported 3 men dead, 9 men wounded, and many mules killed; though casualties were relatively few, McGee nevertheless feared that the supply situation would become impossible to overcome by the next day. Colonel Charles Hunter, in command of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), at Hsamshingyang, began to organize a mule train to leave for Nhpum Ga the next day, to ensure his own position did not get surrounded by the Japanese, and to request fresh water to be delivered by air. ww2dbase [Battle of Myitkyina | Charles Hunter | George McGee | Nhpum Ga | CPC]

• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) launched air strikes on enemy installations located in the Palau Islands, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Essex-class) | Palau | DS]

• USS Saratoga, HMS Cumberland, USS Cummings, USS Fanning, USS Dunlap, and ships of the Royal Navy Eastern Fleet arrived at Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). ww2dbase [Operation Cockpit and Operation Transom | Saratoga | Cummings | Cumberland | Trincomalee | DS]

• The newly-formed German Jagdverband 44, flying Me 262 jet fighters, flew its first mission out of München (Munich), Germany. ww2dbase [Me 262 Schwalbe | München, München-Oberbayern | CPC]

• USS S-43 departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [S-43 | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Naka was struck from the Japanese Navy list. ww2dbase [Naka | CPC]
• Katori was stricken from the Japanese Navy list. ww2dbase [Katori | CPC]

• USS Portland screened fleet carriers as their aircraft struck enemy installations located in the Palau Islands, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Palau Islands and Ulithi Islands Campaigns | Portland | DS]

• Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Sargent Bay departed Astoria, Oregon bound for Bremerton, Washington, United States. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Astoria, Oregon | DS]

31 Mar 1944 Interactive Map

• USS Tirante sank a Japanese sail with gunfire. ww2dbase [Tirante | CPC]
• German forces began withdrawing from the Netherlands. ww2dbase [TH]
• As the troops of the French First Army crossed the Rhine River near Speyer, Germany, they became the first French troops to attack across the river since Napoleon Bonaparte. Meanwhile, US Third Army reached Siegen, Germany. ww2dbase [Crossing the Rhine | TH]
• Soviet forces crossed into the Germany border from Sopron, Hungary. ww2dbase [TH]
• Allied commander Eisenhower demanded German surrender over radio. ww2dbase [Dwight Eisenhower | CPC]
• Otto Skorzeny was ordered to go to the "Alpine Fortress". ww2dbase [Otto Skorzeny | CPC]
• 50 Japanese Army Renraku-tei special attack boats sank American landing ship LSM-12 at Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Renraku-tei-class | CPC]
• Soviet troops captured Ratibor and Katscher, Germany (now Raciborz and Kietrz, Poland). ww2dbase [Silesian Offensive and the Siege of Breslau | CPC]

• On Heinrich Himmler's orders, men led by SS-Sturmbannführer Heinz Macher attempted to use tank mines to demolish the SS castle of Schloß Wewelsburg in Büren, Germany. The attempt only damaged the southeast tower, while the rest of the castle, was damaged by fires. The 9,000 SS Ehrenring (SS Honor Rings) stored at the castle were taken away by Macher and were buried at a secret location in nearby woods. ww2dbase [Schloß Wewelsburg | Büren, Westfalen-Nord | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the reinforced submarine pens at Farge, Germany using the rocket-assisted "Disney" bomb for the first time operationally. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Farge | DS]

• USS Sunfish departed Apra, Guam, Mariana Islands for her eleventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | Apra | CPC]

• USS Cero departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Cero | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]

• Light carrier Ryuho's anti-aircraft weapons fired on attacking US aircraft at Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Ryuho | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) pounded Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands and its surrounding islets in softening-up strikes. ww2dbase [Okinawa Campaign | Yorktown (Essex-class) | Okinawa | DS]
• USS St. Louis rearmed at Kerama Retto and conducted additional bombardments of Okinawa. ww2dbase [Okinawa Campaign | St. Louis | Okinawa | DS]
• United States submarines operating off Kyushu received orders to form a wolfpack consisting of USS Silversides, USS Threadfin, and USS Hackleback. Unit commander would be the commanding officer of USS Silversides, Cdr J.C. Nichols, and thus the wolfpack would be known as "Nicks Nippers." ww2dbase [Silversides | Threadfin | Hackleback | Bungo Channel | DS]

• U-1233 departed Kristiansand, Vest-Agder, Norway. ww2dbase [U-1233 | Kristiansand, Vest-Agder | CPC]

• USS Spot, misidentified as a hostile submarine, was attacked by American destroyer USS Case; USS Spot did not suffer any damage by the two salvos fired. ww2dbase [Spot | CPC]
• In the Philippine Sea, Japanese submarine I-361 with its deck loaded with five Kaitens was spotted on the surface by US Navy Lt(jg) Sam Stovall flying a TBM-3E Avenger from USS Anzio. The Avenger released a Mark 24 FIDO acoustic homing torpedo and I-361 was lost with all 76 hands plus the five Kaiten pilots. ww2dbase [TBF Avenger | Anzio | Kaiten-class | Mark XXIV | Philippine Sea | DS]

• Garland completed her refitting at Devonport, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Garland | Devonport, England | CPC]

31 Mar 1945 Interactive Map

• Young was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Young | CPC]
• Lord Gort passed away. ww2dbase [John Vereker | CPC]

• The charter for the former Small Arms, Ltd. of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada was disbanded. ww2dbase [Small Arms, Ltd. | Mississauga, Ontario | CPC]

• Rudolf Höss departed Minden, Germany for Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Germany. ww2dbase [Nuremberg Trials and Other Trials Against Germany | Rudolf Höss | Minden | CPC]

• Allied repatriation ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Uraga, Japan and disembarked personnel. She entered drydock for repairs. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Uraga, Kanagawa | CPC]

31 Mar 1946 Interactive Map

• The United States Congress voted for the funding for the Marshall Plan. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS Barbero was activated as an experimental cargo submarine. ww2dbase [Barbero | CPC]
• The former Japanese Navy landing ship No. 147 was scrapped in the United States. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• Newfoundland became a province of Canada. ww2dbase [AC]

• Walther Schellenberg passed away. ww2dbase [Walther Schellenberg | CPC]

• Alexandros Sakellariou resigned as the Minister for National Defence. ww2dbase [Alexandros Sakellariou | CPC]

• Wei Lihuang arrived in Shanghai. China. ww2dbase [Wei Lihuang | Shanghai | CPC]

• Ramón Magsaysay's burial ceremony was held at the Manila North Cemetery in Santa Cruz, Manila, Philippines; about 2,000,000 people attended. ww2dbase [Ramón Magsaysay | Manila | CPC]

31 Mar 1957 Interactive Map

• Japanese submarine Kuroshio was decommissioned from service and returned to the United States. ww2dbase [Mingo | CPC]

• Gladys Anslow passed away in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. ww2dbase [Gladys Anslow | Northampton, Massachusetts | CPC]

• Semyon Timoshenko passed away in Moscow, Russia. ww2dbase [Semyon Timoshenko | Moscow | CPC]

• At the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, the Knox-class frigate USS Ainsworth, named for the late Vice-Admiral Walden Ainsworth, was commissioned. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Walden Ainsworth | DS]

• USS Missouri was decommissioned at Long Beach, California, United States. ww2dbase [Missouri | CPC]

31 Mar 1992 Interactive Map

• Léon Degrelle passed away from cardiac arrest in a hospital in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. ww2dbase [Léon Degrelle | Málaga, Andalusia | CPC]