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• The Allies created multiple theaters of the war, with US responsible for the Pacific Ocean, UK for the area between Singapore and the Mediterranean, and both US and UK in the Atlantic Ocean. The US Joint Chiefs of Staff further divided the Pacific Ocean into two sub-theaters, with US Navy in charge of the North and Central Pacific under Nimitz and US Army in charge of the Southwestern Pacific under MacArthur. ww2dbase [CPC]
• During the night, 32 British Halifax bombers from three bases in Scotland attacked German battleship Tirpitz to little effect. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
• German armed merchant cruiser Thor attacked British freighter Wellpark in the South Atlantic at 1400 hours, which was later scuttled by demolition charges; 7 were killed, 41 survived. At 2243 hours, U-68 sank British transport Muncaster Castle 200 miles south of Liberia; 24 were killed, 329 survived. To combat such attacks in the South Atlantic, US Army engineers arrived at Ascension Island on this day to began building an airfield; upon completion, it would be named Wideawake Field. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Thor | CPC]
• German submarines U-209 and U-376 attacked British Induna of Allied convoy PQ-13 at 0552 hours (41 survived the sinking, but 11 would die in the freezing water and 2 more would die in the hospital after being rescued); U-209's attack failed, but U-376 would sink Induna at 0807 hours; 38 were killed, 28 survived. At 1035 hours, U-456 and U-435 also attacked the convoy, stopping US transport Effingham; 2 were killed, 41 survived (some of the survivors would die of exposure before being rescued); the transport was scuttled by U-435 at 1219 hours. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
• Japanese 55th Division attacked Taungoo, Burma at dawn, capturing it without resistance as the Chinese 200th Division had evacuated the city overnight. To the west, British 7th Armoured Brigade broke through the Japanese roadblock at Shwedaung, but suffered tank destroyed on the nearby bridge over the Irrawaddy River, blocking traffic. Shortly after, Japanese-sponsored Burma National Army attacked the British troops while the British attempted to maneuver around the disabled tank, killing 350 with as many losses. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]
• In a broadcast to India, Sir Stafford Cripps said that it was the desire of the British that India should have full self-government and, to that end, India had been requested to send a representative to join the War Cabinet and the Pacific Council of the United Nations. ww2dbase [AC]

• German submarine U-585 probably struck one of the many mines that drifted from the German defensive barrage Bantos-A in the Barents Sea on this day. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Barents Sea | HM]

• Tenryu provided cover for the landings at Shortland island, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Shortland Island | CPC]

• USS Sturgeon sank Japanese transport ship Choko Maru 20 miles southwest of Celebes, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Sturgeon | Celebes | CPC]

• Gamatron, a long range navigation station in southern Greenland, was fully operational. ww2dbase [Gamatron | Frederiksdal, South Greenland | CPC]

• Captain Gihachi Takayanagi conducted armament trials for battleship Yamato at a range of 23 miles, observed by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, in the Inland Sea of Japan. The trials were judged a failure. Both Takayanagi and his gunnery officer were upbraided because gun aimers manning the main rangefinder misread the horizontal settings. ww2dbase [Yamato | Inland Sea | CPC]
• Tatsuta Maru departed Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Japanese bombers attacked American field hospital No. 1 at Bataan, Philippine Islands at 0730 hours despite the large red crosses painted on the building's roof, killing 15. In the evening, Japanese radio broadcast an apology for this attack. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• French Jews began arriving at Auschwitz Concentration Camp, with the first transport originating from Compiegne. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Soviet fighters shot down two He 111 bombers of 1. Staffel of the III. Gruppe of German Luftwaffe KG 27 over Kerch, Russia. ww2dbase [Kerch, Krym | CPC]

30 Mar 1942 Interactive Map