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• » 29 Mar 1943

• New Zealand troops captured Gabès, Tunisia while Axis troops were evacuated out of El Hamma. ww2dbase [Operations Pugilist and Supercharge II | CPC]
• Hitler ordered the construction of large missile launch sites on French coast. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS S-31 completed her patrol in the Kwajalein area in the Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [S-31 | CPC]
• Cruisers USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis with destroyers USS Nicholas, USS Radford, USS Jenkins, and USS Strong departed Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides bound for several days of night patrols of the New Georgia Sound (The “Slot”) from Tulagi up to Kula Gulf. ww2dbase [Nicholas | St. Louis | Honolulu | Walden Ainsworth | DS]

• The 5,575-ton British merchant steamer Celtic Star was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Giuseppe Finzi, south west of Freetown, Sierra Leone, British West Africa whilst on a voyage from Manchester, England, United Kingdom; Greenock, Scotland, United Kingdom; and Freetown to Montevideo, Uruguay; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was carrying 4,410 tons of general cargo including mail. Two crew members were lost. ww2dbase [Giuseppe Finzi | HM]
• German submarine U-610 torpedoed the American Liberty ship William Pierce Frye, straggling from convoy HX-230, in the North Atlantic at 2340 hours. Heavy seas had previously damaged most of her lifeboats, and the only serviceable one was swamped. Life rafts and floats drifted away from the ship and a tank landing craft being carried as deck cargo broke free as the ship sank but only seven men managed to reach it. Thirty-five seamen perished, as did 22 of the 24-man armed guard. Seven survivors floated in the water and awaited rescue. ww2dbase [HM]
• The German patrol boat V-2018 (Vogtland), damaged from a mine on the previous day off Terschelling, the Netherlands, was placed under tow. While being towed, she struck another mine and was destroyed. Four men on board were killed. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
• As she crossed the Bay of Biscay the 6,852-ton British cargo ship Umaria that was carrying 2,500 tons of manganese ore and 1,000 tons of rubber was struck by a torpedo from German submarine U-662 at 2250 hours and was most likely hit again by another torpedo from the same submarine. ww2dbase [HM]

• Satoru Anabuki, flying Ki-43 fighter "Fubuki", claimed a Hurricane fighter over Mindon, Burma, but the downing was not confirmed. ww2dbase [Satoru Anabuki | Mindon | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi performed repair work for seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]

• USS Wahoo sank freighter Yamabato Maru in the East China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 2 torpedoes. She then transited the Collnett Strait (Tokara Kaiky) between Yakushima island and Kuchinoshima island in southern Japan, eastward into the Pacific Ocean. ww2dbase [Wahoo | East China Sea | CPC]

• USS S-43 arrived at Coco Solo, Colón, Panama Canal Zone (now Cativá, Panama). ww2dbase [S-43 | Colón | CPC]

• Guy Gibson was summoned to Group Headquarters where he was given a more detailed briefing by Ralph Cochrane, including details of the proposed targets of the Möhne and Sorpe Dams in Germany. ww2dbase [Dambuster Raid | England | AC]

29 Mar 1943 Interactive Map