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• » 22 Mar 1942

• 360 US Army personnel greeted US Army General MacArthur at Melbourne, Australia. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | CPC]
• German Abwehr agent Paul Thümmel was arrested by the SS on recent findings that he was actually a British agent; Wilhelm Canaris requested Thümmel's release, claiming that he was actually a double agent working for him. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-373 sank British ship Thursobank 300 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States at 0509 hours; 33 were killed, 26 survived. U-123 sank US tanker Muskogee in the Atlantic Ocean at 1756 hours; all 34 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• USS Marlin arrived at Casco Bay, Maine, United States and joined Task Group 27.1 for anti-submarine warfare training. ww2dbase [Marlin | CPC]
• German submarine U-73 was damaged by a British RAF Blenheim bomber 50 miles northwest of Derna, Libya at 1150 hours. U-73 would escape the encounter, but was forced to end her patrol early. ww2dbase [CPC]

• A number of US B-26 Marauder bombers arrived at Archerfield Municipal Airport near Brisbane, Australia; 3 of the Marauder bombers were lost en route from the US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• Nine US Kittyhawk fighters based in Port Moresby, Australian Papua attacked the airfield near Lae on the northern coast of New Guinea. Shortly after, two Hudson bombers conducted a follow-up attack, but all their bombs missed the target. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Lae | CPC]

• American and British airmen abandoned the airfield in Magwe in northern Burma. To the southeast, at dawn, troops of the 600th Regiment of the Chinese 200th ambushed troops of the 122nd Regiment of the Japanese 55th Division near Oktwin, Burma. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]

• The first four P-40E fighters for the 1st American Volunteer Group arrived in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. ww2dbase [Kunming, Yunnan | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Tokuyama, Japan and took on fuel. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Tokuyama, Yamaguchi | CPC]
• Kaga arrived at Sasebo, Japan. ww2dbase [Kaga | Sasebo, Nagasaki | CPC]
• Yugure arrived at Sasebo, Japan at 1025 hours; she would be drydocked at Sasebo Naval Arsenal for repairs starting in the next month. ww2dbase [Sasebo Naval Arsenal | Yugure | Sasebo, Nagasaki | CPC]

• Italian battleship Littorio, 3 cruisers, and 10 destroyers successfully intercepted Allied convoy MW10 in the Gulf of Sirte between Libya and Malta at 1430 hours, but they were fended off by the smaller British escort force of 4 cruisers and 17 destroyers. As the Second Battle of Sirte ended at 1900 hours, 3 British cruisers and 6 destroyers were damaged (39 killed), while the Italian battleship Littorio was also damaged. After the two forces disengaged, Italian destroyers Lanciere and Scirocco were sunk by a storm, killing 201 and 189, respectively. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | Gulf of Sirte | CPC]

• Japanese aircraft bombed US positions at Bataan and Corregidor, Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• Mass exterminations of Jews using Zyklon B gas began at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Survivors of Norwegian motor taker Charles Racine, sunk by Italian submarine Giuseppe Finzi on 10 Mar 1942, departed San Juan, Puerto Rico for New York, New York, United States. ww2dbase [San Juan | HM]

• German troops outside the Demyansk Pocket attacked Soviet 11th Army and 1st Shock Army at Staraya Russa, Russia, supporting the breakout attempt from the pocket launched on the previous day. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | Staraya Russa, Novgorod | CPC]
• Allied convoy QP-9, consisted of 19 merchant ships, departed Murmansk, Russia with cruiser HMS Nigeria, destroyer HMS Offa, and 2 minesweepers in close escort. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Murmansk | CPC]

• USS Ranger entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for repairs and an overhaul. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Ranger | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]

22 Mar 1942 Interactive Map