23 Mar 1944
  • USS Tunny made radar contact with Japanese submarine I-42 off Angaur Island, Palau Islands. At 2324, Tunny lauched four torpedoes at the range of 1,700 meters, hitting and sinking the Japanese submarine. ww2dbase [Tunny | CPC]
  • Japanese troops assaulted an Allied defensive position in the crater of an extinct volcano near Sangshak, India, initially failing to take the position. Shortly after, Allied aircraft dropped supplies to the Indian troops at Sangshak, India, but most of the supplies fell behind Japanese lines. As Indian 152nd Parachute Battalion attacked from the volcano crater to regain the supplies, the Japanese drove them back, causing heavy casualties. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | CPC]
Australian New Guinea Burma
  • Colonel Charles Hunter, with his troops now 6 miles southeast of Inkangahtawng, Burma, decided to establish the roadblock at that location. He ordered the Khaki Combat Team to be held in reserve while the forward elements he sent out reached as far as the eastern bank of the Mogaung River, the village of Ngagahtwang, and a position 300 yards east of the Kamaing Road; from the latter location, the American soldiers were close enough to the Japanese to hear arriving trucks disembarking Japanese troops. The 1st Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) was supposed to establish another roadblock a few miles to the north, but 1st Battalion fell behind schedule, leaving Hunter's troops exposed without Hunter's knowledge. Also, unbeknownst to the Americans, the Chinese 22nd Division halted its southward advance to rest, further exposing Hunter's troops. ww2dbase [Charles Hunter | Battle of Myitkyina | Inkangahtawng | CPC]
Germany Hawaii India
  • Orde Wingate's headquarters completed its move to Sylhet, British India (now Bengladesh). ww2dbase [Orde Wingate | Sylhet, Bengal | CPC]
Japan Pacific Ocean
  • USS Whale made rendezvous with USS Pollack and formed a wolfpack to patrol Torishima of Izu Islands and the Bonin Islands (Ogasawara Islands). ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
Russia
  • V. T. Shirmanov stepped down as GUKR SMERSH's chief in the 1st Byelorussian Front. ww2dbase [CPC]
United States Photo(s) dated 23 Mar 1944
Liberty Ship SS John Stagg at sea, 23 Mar 1944Crew member sweeping ashes off a B-25 of the 340th Bomb Group at Pompeii Field, Italy. Ash came from an eruption of Mt Vesuvius on 23 Mar 1944 that rained hot ash and brimstone on the area damaging several aircraft. Photo 1 of 2.Crew member examining a layer of ashes on a B-25 of the 340th Bomb Group at Pompeii Field, Italy. Ash came from an eruption of Mt Vesuvius on 23 Mar 1944 that rained hot ash and brimstone on the area damaging several aircraft. Photo 2 of 2.RAdm Mahlon Tisdale presenting champagne bottle to Mrs Davenport to christen Trepang, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States, 23 Mar 1944; Mrs Garvey and Cmdr Roy Davenport also present
See all photos dated 23 Mar 1944

23 Mar 1944 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time."

Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal


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