March 1941

March

• 01

  • Himmler orders the expansion of AuschwitzOn 1 March 1941 Himmler first visited Auschwitz. He ordered the camp enlarged for 30,000 prisoners and 10,000 prisoners provided to build the IG Farben plant.
  • Bulgaria joins the Tripartite PactOn 1 March 1941 Prime Minister Bogdan Filov signed Bulgaria’s accession to the Tripartite Pact in Vienna. Next day the German Twelfth Army crossed the Danube.
• 04

  • The Lofoten raidOn 4 March 1941 British and Norwegian commandos destroyed fish-oil plants in the Lofotens and seized Enigma cipher material from the trawler Krebs.
• 07

  • The British land in GreeceOn 7 March 1941 the first troops of General Wilson's corps landed at Piraeus. For the Greek expedition Wavell gave up his best units in Cyrenaica.
• 09

  • The Italian spring offensive in AlbaniaOn 9 March 1941, with Mussolini watching, the Italians attacked the Greeks in Albania to retake Klisura. After two weeks and 12,000 casualties it collapsed.
• 11

  • Key eventRoosevelt signs the Lend-Lease ActOn 11 March 1941 Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act and that day declared the defence of Britain and Greece vital to the US, approving the first deliveries.
• 13

  • The Clydebank BlitzOn the nights of 13 and 14 March 1941 the Luftwaffe bombed the Clyde shipyards. About 1,200 died, and of Clydebank's 12,000 homes only a handful were unscathed.
• 17

  • The end of the U-boat acesOn the night of 16–17 March 1941, at convoy HX 112, Joachim Schepke was killed and Otto Kretschmer captured. Ten days earlier Prien had gone missing.
  • The US defense commandsOn 17 March 1941 the War Department divided the continental United States into four defense commands, which were to become theatres of operations if invaded.
• 19

  • The London raid of 19 MarchOn the night of 19–20 March 1941 the Luftwaffe made its heaviest raid on London since the start of the year. British figures put the dead at about 750.
• 24

  • Rommel retakes El AgheilaOn 24 March 1941 a German reconnaissance battalion took El Agheila, its fort and wells – the first attack by Rommel, now reinforced with 5th Panzer Regiment.
• 25

  • Yugoslavia joins the Tripartite PactOn 25 March 1941 in Vienna, Premier Cvetković signed Yugoslavia’s accession to the Tripartite Pact. Secret notes spared it troop transit and military aid.
• 26

  • The raid on Suda BayOn 26 March 1941 explosive motorboats of the Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS raided Suda Bay in Crete and disabled the cruiser HMS York and the tanker Pericles.
• 27

  • Key eventThe Yugoslav coup d’étatOn 27 March 1941 air force officers in Belgrade ousted Prince Paul’s regency and the government that signed the pact. Hitler resolved to destroy Yugoslavia.
  • Takeo Yoshikawa in HonoluluOn 27 March 1941 Japanese naval intelligence officer Takeo Yoshikawa arrived in Honolulu. Posing as a consular clerk, he was to watch the fleet at Pearl Harbor.
  • The British take KerenOn 27 March 1941 the Italians abandoned Keren and British tanks drove into the town. After twelve days of assault Platt had opened the road to Asmara.
• 28

  • Key eventThe Battle of Cape MatapanOn 28 March 1941 Cunningham’s fleet, forewarned by Bletchley Park, damaged the Vittorio Veneto and that night sank three Italian cruisers and two destroyers.
• 31

  • Rommel takes Mersa BregaOn 31 March 1941 the German 5th Light Division attacked at Mersa Brega. By evening it had broken through; the weak 2nd Armoured Division withdrew that night.