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• In the Fosse Ardeantine caves outside of Rome, 355 Italians, 250 of them civilians, were shot by the SS under Standartenführer Herbert Kappler in reprisal for the killing of 35 Germans during a SS parade on the previous day by the members of the Italian resistance. ww2dbase [TH]
• Soviet tanks crossed the Dneiper River near the Czech border. ww2dbase [TH]
• British miners signed a 4-year contract for their wages. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Great Escape: A large escape of prisoners of war from Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Germany (now Zagan, Poland) was attempted; 76 would succeed. 50 prisoners who had failed would be executed for their involvement. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Japanese troops mounted an unsuccessful suicide charge on Bougainville. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]
• The 15 American commandos who landed on the Italian coast aiming to sabotage the La Spezia-Genoa railway were captured. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The 3rd Battalion of the Japanese 58th Regiment arrived in the Sangshak, India region as reinforcements. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | CPC]

• The headquarters of USAAF 475th Fighter Group was transferred out of Dobodura Airfield, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Dobodura Airfield | Dobodura | CPC]

• Troops of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) fought off a Japanese attack near the Mogaung River in Burma, advanced, and reached the village of Ngagahtawng. In the same area, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Beach of 3rd Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) ordered the intelligence and reconnaissance platoon, led by Lieutenant Logan Weston to set up roadblock at Poakum, 7 miles north of Kamaing. He also ordered a rifle platoon under Lieutenant Warren Smith of K Company of Orange Combat Team to setup a roadblock on Warong-Tatbum road. These were to protect 2nd and 3rd Battalions' northeastward withdraw from Manpin. On the same day, Merrill moved his headquarters to the village of Nhpum Ga, which was about 7 miles north of Weston and Smith. ww2dbase [Charles Beach | Battle of Myitkyina | Ngagahtawng | CPC]

• 810 RAF aircraft attacked Berlin, Germany; 72 aircraft were lost. After sundown, Frankfurt was bombed by the RAF for the third time in four nights. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against Schweinfurt, Germany but divert due to weather and bombed secondary target of Frankfurt, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Frankfurt | DS]

• Orde Wingate visited the Broadway and White City sites of Operation Thursday in Burma in an attempt to raise the morale of the British 77th Brigade. At 1823 hours, his returning plane arrived at Imphal, India, and then off again shortly before 2000 hours for Hailakandi, India. The aircraft crashed into the Naga hill west of Imphal about 30 minutes after taking off, killing the American pilot Lieutenant Brian Hodges, Wingate, and the other 8 passengers and crew aboard. ww2dbase [Orde Wingate | Bishnupur, Manipur | CPC]

• The Anzio beachhead in Italy was subjected to heavy German artillery and guided bomb attacks. Out at sea, an Italian motor torpedo boat attack sank one cargo ship; one Italian boat was sunk in the attack. ww2dbase [Battle of Anzio | Anzio, Lazio | TH, CPC]
• The Allied attacks on the Gustav Line were persistently repulsed by German defenders. ww2dbase [Battle of Monte Cassino | CPC]

• Submarines USS Tang, Sealion (Balao-class) and Tinosa rendezvoused south of Danjo Gunto and began operating as a wolfpack in the shipping lanes off Nagasaki in southern Japan. ww2dbase [Richard O'Kane | Tinosa | Tang | Sealion (Balao-class) | East China Sea | DS]

• USAAF 35th Bombardment Squadron departed Carlsen Field in Trinidad. ww2dbase [Carlsen Field | Chaguanas | CPC]

• 200 prisoners deemed "invalid" were executed by gunfire at Majdanek Concentration Camp in occupied Poland. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Majdanek Concentration Camp | Lublin | CPC]

• The control of Losey Field in Puerto Rico, now without any active air units, was turned over to US Army ground forces. ww2dbase [Losey Field | Juana Díaz | CPC]

• Red Army units crossed the Bug River by the Black Sea on the Ukrainian coast. ww2dbase [TH]

• 90 German bombers attacked London, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | London, England | TH]

• 417th Bombardment Squadron of 25th Bombardment Group of US Army Air Forces, operating B-18 Bolo bombers, was assigned to Alamogordo Army Air Field in New Mexico, United States. ww2dbase [Alamogordo Army Air Field | Alamogordo, New Mexico | CPC]

24 Mar 1944 Interactive Map