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• » 22 Mar 1943

• Germans recaptured Belgorod, Russia. ww2dbase [TH]
• Khatyn Massacre: German SS men massacred civilians in the Byelorussian village of Khatyn, killing its entire population of 149, 75 of which children. The village was then burned to the ground. ww2dbase [Khatyn Massacre | CPC]
• American troops captured Maknassy, Tunisia. ww2dbase [Battle of El Guettar | CPC]
• Lydia Litvyak shot down the German Bf 109G-4 fighter piloted by Leutnant Franz Müller and the Bf 109G-2 fighter piloted by Unteroffizier Karl-Otto Harloff while flying a Yak-1 fighter. She was wounded during this engagement. ww2dbase [Lydia Litvyak | CPC]
• Captain William Wellclose Davis was named the commanding officer of HMS Mauritius. ww2dbase [Mauritius | CPC]
• Cruiser USS Honolulu with destroyers USS Nicholas, USS Radford, USS Taylor, and USS Strong arrived at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Walden Ainsworth | Nicholas | DS]

• Alpino Bagnolini began sailing toward France to end her war patrol. En route, she sighted smoke in the Atlantic Ocean at 1340 hours, and she submerged to attack. She later identified the ship as a British destroyer. Without a working hydrophone, which was damaged from an air attack on 15 Mar 1943, it was difficult to track the target while submerged, and ultimately the target moved too far away from her for her to effectively launch an attack. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the submarine yards at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Wilhelmshaven | DS]

• USS New Mexico arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [New Mexico | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• The Japanese Army and Navy staffs in Tokyo, Japan issued a new directive for operations in the Rabaul area, emphasizing the importance of the defense of New Guinea. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Tokyo | CPC]
• Junyo and Hiyo departed Saeki, Hiroshima, Japan with Yugure, Hatsuzuki, Suzutsuki, and Kagero in escort. ww2dbase [Yugure | Junyo | Hiyo | Saeki, Hiroshima | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Saufley arrived at Efate, New Hebrides. After refueling, Saufley went alongside destroyer tender USS Rigel. ww2dbase [Saufley | Efate | DS]

• Tirpitz departed for Kåfjord/Altafjord, Norway. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | Altafjord, Finnmark | CPC]
• Jaguar and Greif escorted heavy cruiser Lützow and light cruiser Nürnberg out of Bogen Bay, Norway. ww2dbase [Nürnberg | Jaguar | Greif | Lützow | Bogen Bay | CPC]

• USS Whale spotted a Japanese convoy consisted of three freighters off Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Mariana Islands and began tracking the convoy. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
• USS Wahoo set sail toward Lushunkou, Liaoning Province, China. ww2dbase [Wahoo | Yellow Sea | CPC]

• Crematorium 4 began operation at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• German 15th Panzer Division neared Zarat, Tunisia, recapturing territory lost at the opening of the British Operation Pugilist. ww2dbase [Operations Pugilist and Supercharge II | CPC]

• Two captured German generals spoke of plans for long range missiles in a room in Kensington Park Gardens, London, England, United Kingdom, not realizing that the room had been bugged. ww2dbase [London, England | CPC]

• George Kenney was featured on the cover of the Life magazine in the United States. ww2dbase [George Kenney | CPC]

22 Mar 1943 Interactive Map