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• » 3 Mar 1943

• Soviet troops recaptured Rzhev, Russia. ww2dbase [TH]
• Battle of the Bismarck Sea: In the morning, 7 Australian 100 Squadron Beaufort aircraft took off from an airfield on the coast of Milne Bay, Australian Papua to attack the Japanese convoy Operation 81; only 2 of them would reach the convoy due to poor weather, and the attack would cause no damage. Shortly after, more than 100 aircraft took off from Port Moresby, Milne Bay area, and the new Dobodura airfield, assembled over Cape Ward Hunt, and attacked the convoy beginning at 0955 hours; 7 transports and 3 destroyers were sunk or damaged by a combination of strafing, bombing, and skip-bombing. Rear Admiral Yutaka Kimura and Lieutenant General Hatazo Adachi had to be rescued off of damaged destroyers Shikinami and Tokitsukaze, respectively. In the late morning, several waves of bombers attacked the convoy; when one US B-17 bomber, "Double Trouble" was fatally damaged, the crew parachuted, and Japanese fighters shot at the parachutes, which was observed by the other Americans. In the mid-afternoon, B-25 bombers and B-17 bombers attacked the convoy, fatally damaged destroyer Arashio; after expending their bombs, the Americans strafed many Japanese survivors floating in the water. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]
• Hitler survived an assassination attempt. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | TH]
• Destroyer Yukikaze was attacked by US aircraft in the Bismarck Sea but sustained no damage. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | CPC]
• 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. ww2dbase [Operation Longcloth | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi completed the repair work for transport Nankai Maru at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]

• He Yingqin arrived in Chongqing, China. ww2dbase [He Yingqin | Chongqing | CPC]

• Kamoi departed Kupang, West Timor, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Kupang, West Timor | CPC]

• USS Nassau arrived at Espiritu Santo in the morning with US Marine Aircraft Group 21 and its 54 F4F Wildcat fighters aboard. ww2dbase [Espiritu Santo | CPC]

• The 32nd transport from Berlin, Germany arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland 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. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• 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. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | London, England | AC]
• Destroyer Stord was launched on Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Stord | Cowes, England | DS]

• USS Snook departed New London, Connecticut, United States. ww2dbase [Snook | New London, Connecticut | CPC]
• Portland arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard in California, United States for repairs and an overhaul. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Portland | Vallejo, California | DS]

3 Mar 1943 Interactive Map