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• Zhukov's attack against Armeegruppe Süd in Ukraine was resumed. ww2dbase [TH]
• The Japanese Navy formed the 14th Air Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo with Rear Admiral Hideo Yano as his chief of staff; the fleet had the sgrenth of two air flotillas and one seaplane tender. ww2dbase [Chuichi Nagumo | CPC]

• About 31 prisoners of war were led out of their cells in Rabaul, New Britain and they were never to be seen again. After the war, the Japanese claimed that they were led to the Talili Bay area where a direct hit by a US bomber killed them all on 5 Mar 1944. A later study of US records showed that no missions were conducted in that region during the campaign, however. No conclusion had ever been reached on the fates of these prisoners of war, although many historians would venture that they were executed by their guards. ww2dbase [Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Tan Kun, flying a P-40N fighter, attacked Qiongshan Airfield near Haikou, Hainan island, China, destroying one bomber on the ground and one Ki-43 aircraft in the air; he was given credit by the Chinese Air Force for the aerial victory but not by the US Army Air Forces. ww2dbase [Tan Kun | Qiongshan, Hainan | CPC]

• A British photo-reconnaissance flight by a Spitfire aircraft revealed concrete mixing was being conducted under camouflage netting beside the railway near Wizernes in northern France, and it was later determined that the site might possibly be intended for the launching of a large rocket. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | La Coupole | Wizernes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]

• USAAF launched its first major bombing raid on Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | TH]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Composite Squadron 30 (VC-30) and Composite Squadron 25 (VC-25) on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• Submarine USS Tinosa arrived at Pearl Harbor, completing her fifth war patrol. For his performance on this patrol, Commander Weiss was awarded the Navy Cross. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Tinosa | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Destroyer Yukikaze arrived at Yokosuka, Japan. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]
• Nachi refueled from oiler Teiyo Maru in Mutsu Bay, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [Nachi | Mutsu Bay, Aomori | CPC]

• USS Bluefish sank a Japanese oiler in the South China Sea, hitting her with 3 of 3 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Bluefish | South China Sea | CPC]

• 750 Jews from the Łódź ghetto were sent to the Hugo Schneider AG factories in Czestochowa, Poland as forced laborers. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Łódź | CPC]

• Viktor Abakumov was awarded the Order of Suvorov 2nd Class. ww2dbase [Viktor Abakumov | CPC]
• Lavrentiy Beria was awarded the Order of Suvorov 1st Class. ww2dbase [Lavrentiy Beria | CPC]
• Vsevolod Merkulov was awarded the Order of Kutuzov 1st Class. ww2dbase [Vsevolod Merkulov | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against Erkner, Germany but aborted due to weather. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Thurleigh, England | DS]

• Sterlet was commissioned into service with Commander O. C. Robbins in command. ww2dbase [Sterlet | CPC]

4 Mar 1944 Interactive Map