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• Pius XII was born in Rome, Italy. ww2dbase [Pius XII | Rome | CPC]

• Mitsumasa Yonai was born in Morioka, Iwate, Japan. ww2dbase [Mitsumasa Yonai | Morioka, Iwate | CPC]

• Theodor Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. ww2dbase [Theodor Geisel | Springfield, Massachusetts | CPC]

2 Mar 1913 Interactive Map

• Tsar Nicholas of Russia reluctantly agreed to abdicate and renounced his son's right to the throne in favour of his brother, The Grand Duke Michael, and signed the abdication documents. Five hours later Rodzianko telephoned Russky and bluntly told him that the abdication manifesto was useless as the people did not want Michael any more than they wanted Nicholas. It was only then that Russky and the other Army Commanders, realized that they had been nothing more than blind instruments in the hands of forces beyond their control. ww2dbase [AC]

• Friedrich Ruge was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class medal. ww2dbase [Friedrich Ruge | CPC]

• Masafumi Arima departed for an overseas tour. ww2dbase [Masafumi Arima | CPC]

• Trotsky told the Murmansk Soviet to fully co-operate with the Allies. ww2dbase [AC]

• Kenkichi Ueda was made the head of the supply section of the Japanese Army Cavalry. ww2dbase [Kenkichi Ueda | CPC]

• General Shusei Morioka was named the commanding officer of the Japanese Chosen Army in occupied Korea, relieving Soroku Suzuki. Morioka named Lieutenant General Senyuki Hayashi as his chief of staff. ww2dbase [CPC]

• HMS Hermes departed Nanjing, China for Shanghai, China. ww2dbase [Hermes | Nanjing | CPC]

• Josias joined the SS organization of the Nazi Party. ww2dbase [Josias | CPC]

• Lin Sen was made the head of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. ww2dbase [Lin Sen | CPC]

2 Mar 1931 Interactive Map

• Chinese 19th Route Army indicated that it was running out of supplies and was preparing to withdraw from Shanghai, China. ww2dbase [First Battle of Shanghai | Shanghai | CPC]

• Hiroshi Minami was named the governor-general of Taiwan. ww2dbase [CPC]

2 Mar 1932 Interactive Map

• Chinese troops counterattacked against troops of the Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade during the Battle of the Great Wall, achieving initial success, but the attack was ultimately beaten by superior firepower. ww2dbase [First Battle of Hebei | CPC]

• USS New York arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | New York | Bremerton, Washington | DS]

2 Mar 1933 Interactive Map

• Nikolai Kamanin boarded a ship at Vladivostok, Far Eastern Krai, Russia, sailing northward for Olyutorka, Russia. ww2dbase [Nikolai Kamanin | Vladivostok, Dalnevostochny krai | CPC]

• Henry Arnold was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general. ww2dbase [Henry Arnold | CPC]

• U-36 was launched. ww2dbase [U-36 | CPC]
• Werner von Blomberg issued orders for the reoccupation of Rhineland in western Germany. ww2dbase [Re-militarization of Rhineland | CPC]

• The keel of Morosini was laid down by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico in Monfalcone, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy. ww2dbase [Morosini | Monfalcone, Friuli Venezia Giulia | CPC]

2 Mar 1937 Interactive Map

• The last US Army troops departed Tianjin, China; 200 US Marines remained in the city to guard American interests there. ww2dbase [Tianjin | CPC]

• Martin Niemöller was tried by a special court appointed by the Nazi German government for anti-German activities. He would be sentenced to a 7-month prison sentence and a fine of 2,000 Reichmarks. ww2dbase [Martin Niemöller | CPC]

• The Trial of the Twenty-one opened in Moscow, Russia, a show trial at the end of the Great purges against 21 prominent Bolsheviks accused of anti-Stalinist plots. ww2dbase [Moscow | AC]
• Kirill Meretskov was awarded his second Order of Red Banner. ww2dbase [Kirill Meretskov | CPC]

• A Hurricane fighter was sent to Canada in preparation for license production. ww2dbase [Hurricane | CPC]

• HMS Acasta began aiding Vickers-Armstrongs in testing ASDIC equipment for the Argentinian light cruiser La Argentina. ww2dbase [Acasta | England | CPC]

• Eugenio Pacelli became the head of the Catholic Church; he took on the papal name Pius XII. ww2dbase [Pius XII | CPC]

• The United Kingdom and France once again requested Sweden and Norway to allow passage of Allied troops through their borders in order to aid Finland, should Finland formally requested such aid from the Allies. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | CPC]
• O'Brien was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [O'Brien | CPC]

• The cargo-liner SS Domala carrying mainly British Indian subjects repatriated from Germany was bombed and machine gunned off the Isle of Wight by a German He 111 aircraft with the loss of 108 lives. Dutch ship Jong Willem, which rescued 48 of the 183 survivors, was also strafed. Beached and later repaired, she went back into service under the name Empire Attendant only to be torpedoed and sunk south of the Canary Islands in Jul 1945 with the loss of all 59 hands. ww2dbase [English Channel | AC]
• British cruiser HMS Berwick stopped German steamer Wolfsburg, which was disguised as Norwegian ship Aust, north of Iceland. Wolfsburg was scuttled by her crew of 54, who were all subsequently rescued by Berwick. Berwick sank Wolfsburg by gunfire before departure. ww2dbase [Denmark Strait | CPC]
• British cruiser HMS Dunedin stopped German steamer Heidelberg 60 miles west of Aruba in the Caribbean Sea. Heidelberg was scuttled by her crew of 25, who were all subsequently rescued by Dunedin and later delivered to Jamaica. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea | CPC]
• The 695-ton Dutch motor merchant Rijnstroom loaded with general cargo was hit in the bow by a torpedo fired by German Submarine U-17 (Kapitänleutnant Udo Behrens) and sank within five minutes. The ship was reported missing after leaving the Downs (an area of safe anchorage in the southern North Sea) just a small amount of wreckage was later found, none of the 12-man crew survived. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
• The 2,818-ton Swedish merchant steamer Lagaholm with 4,700 tons of general cargo, including 100 tons of aluminium ingots, 62 tons of copper, 53 tons of brass, engines and chemicals and mail was stopped by German submarine U-32 when 80 miles west of Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom at 0715 hours. The crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats and after questioning the Germans gave them a course to steer to the nearest land. At 0810 hours the submarine shelled and set the Lagaholm alight after which she sank. The survivors were picked up by a Norwegian merchant ship Belpamela and taken to Kirkwall and North Ronaldsay. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | HM]

• Soviet troops attempted to establish a beachhead west of the Finnish city of Viipuri across the frozen Viipuri Bay, while pressure was asserted on the city from its south and east. An attempt was orchestrated on 29 Feb 1940 without success; likewise, this newly dispatched unit failed to establish a beachhead, however, the Soviet troops were able to capture the coastal battery on the island of Tuppuransaari, which had caused high casualties on both attempts. ww2dbase [The Winter War | Viipuri | CPC]
• Hungarian volunteers reached a training facility in Finland after 3 weeks of travel. They immediately began training with the Finnish Army, but they would not complete the training before the end of the Winter War. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Adolf Hitler met with US Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles in Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Berlin | CPC]

• The British submarine HMS Proteus (Lieutenant Commander R. T. Gordon-Duff, RN) departed from Hong Kong for her first war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Vladivostok, Russia. ww2dbase [HM]

• The British submarine HMS Rover (Lieutenant Commander H. A. L. Marsham, RN) departed Singapore for Hong Kong. ww2dbase [Singapore | HM]

• The 5,222-ton Italian steam tanker Mirella, built in 1918, was on route from Tyne, England, United Kingdom for Livorno, Italy with 3,900 tons of coal when she was torpedoed by German submarine U-20 just off Lowestoft, Suffolk, England at 0315 hours. One member of her crew was lost. ww2dbase [Lowestoft, England | HM]

• USS Helena arrived at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Helena (St. Louis-class) | Brooklyn, New York | CPC]

2 Mar 1940 Interactive Map

• German submarines U-552, U-95, and U-147 attacked Allied convoy HX-109 170 miles northwest of Outer Hebrides, Scotland, United Kingdom since the previous day. Near the end of the day at 2212 hours, U-147 sank 4,811-ton Norwegian merchant steamer Augvald. Augvald was carrying 7,000 tons of steel, scrap iron and tractors bound for Kingston upon Hull in Britain from Halifax in Canada and due to bad weather had straggled from the convoy HX-109. U-147 fired a single G7a torpedo and hit the Augvald at the forward hold. The heavily laden ship sank within a minute. Some survivors climbed onto wreckage and the Germans tried to question them but failed to understand them so sailed off. The master, Rolf Svensen and 28 crewmen died, including the 2 English mess boys, Stanley Scargill, aged 14, and Micheal Gouldon, aged 15. Able Seaman Rasmus Kolstø survived for 11 days alone on a raft before being seen by a Sunderland flying boat that brought the corvette HMS Pimpernel to pick him up. He was taken to hospital in Greenock where he had to have one of his toes amputated due to frostbite. The medical officer on board the Pimpernel reported that Kolstø was very near death whenthey got to him, he had only some moudy biscuits and fouled water left in the raft and had wrapped himself in a sail and fixed a canvas screen to protect himself to a certain degree. ww2dbase [CPC, HM]

• British 11th African Division began marching from Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland toward Jijiga, Ethiopia in pursuit of retreating Italian forces. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | Mogadishu | CPC]

• German Twelfth Army moved from Romania into Bulgaria the day after Bulgaria joined the Axis alliance. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | TH]

• The RAF conducted a heavy bombing raid on Köln (Cologne), Germany. ww2dbase [Köln, Köln-Aachen | TH]

• At Kufra, Libya, Free French Major Philippe Leclerc pledged not to lay down his weapons until the French flag once again flew over the cathedral at Strasbourg, France. ww2dbase [Battle of Kufra | Philippe Leclerc | Kufra | CPC]

• The United Kingdom severed diplomatic relations with Bulgaria. ww2dbase [London, England | TH]

2 Mar 1941 Interactive Map

• The 2,362-ton Norwegian merchant steamer Gunny loaded with 3,100 tons of manganese ore and mahogany was 400 miles south of the Bermudas when she was torpedoed by German submarine U-126 (Kapitänleutnant Ernst Bauer) at 2047 hours. U-126 had missed the Gunny earlier that day although no one on board Gunny had seen the torpedo's track. The Gunny sank within a single minute, 13 survivors managed to climb on a raft but had no food or water and the badly injured chief engineer, Birger Jørgensen died on the fourth day. The surviving 12 men managed to stay alive until they were seen and picked up by the Swedish motor merchant Temnaren and landed at the Mexican port of Progreso where the Norwegian Vice Consul, Felix Lejeune, came on board and took them to Merida, as there were no hotels in Progreso. 4 men were admitted to hospital, while the rest were treated by a doctor who came to the hotel. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC, HM]
• A lifeboat containing the master and nine survivors of Norwegian motor merchant Leif, sunk by German submarine U-653 two days prior, was picked up by the Swedish steam tanker Sveadrott about 185 miles west of Bermuda. ww2dbase [HM]
• Leonardo da Vinci made rendezvous with fellow Italian submarine Morosini in the Atlantic Ocean at 2250 hours and attempted to transfer 20 tons of fuel in rough seas. After both 80-meter hoses broke, the fuel transfer attempt was abandoned. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Morosini | CPC]

• Australia declared war on Thailand. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Japanese 33rd and 55th Infantry Divisions crossed Sittang River at Kunzeik and Donzayit, Burma, forcing the British 2nd Battalion Royal Tank Regiment to fall back 20 miles as the Japanese troops captured the village of Waw. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | Waw | CPC]

• Destroyer Yuzuki departed Truk, Caroline Islands with Destroyer Division 23, supporting invasion operations at Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea, northern Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | Truk | CPC]
• Tenryu departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Truk | CPC]

• USS Marblehead departed Trincomalee, Ceylon. ww2dbase [Marblehead | Trincomalee | CPC]

• Japanese troops advancing toward Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies were halted by Australian troops at Leuwiliang. At Soebang, 250 Dutch troops with 20 tanks attacked Kalidjati airfield, but the attack was repulsed. East of Batavia, Japanese troops captured the oilfields at Tjepoe (now Cepu). As the Japanese troops approached, the Dutch colonial government relocated to Bandoeng, US personnel began evacuation by aircraft, and the Dutch Navy continued to scuttle destroyers, submarines, minesweepers, and other warships at Surabaya to prevent capture. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Java | CPC]
• USS Sailfish sank Japanese transport Kamogawa Maru east of Bali in the Lombok Strait in the Dutch East Indies at 2100 hours, killing 326. ww2dbase [Sailfish | CPC]
• Naka patrolled off Kragan, Java, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Naka | Kragan, Java | CPC]
• Conrad Helfrich escaped Java, Dutch East Indies by Catalina aircraft. ww2dbase [Conrad Helfrich | Java | CPC]
• Americans evacuated from the city of Surabaya, Dutch East Indies. The scuttled wreck of USS Stewart remained there to be captured by the incoming Japanese. ww2dbase [Stewart | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
• Submarine USS Spearfish arrived at Tjilatjap, South Java, Dutch East Indies (now Cilacap, Indonesia) and experienced a change of command. Lieutenant James C. Dempsey relieved Lieutenant Commander Roland F. Pryce. Spearfish took aboard 12 members of the staff of the Commander Submarines Asiatic Fleet for transportation to Fremantle, Australia. ww2dbase [Spearfish | Tjilatjap | DS]

• Joseph Rochefort reported that intercepted Japanese Navy radio messages revealed a planned air attack on a location code named AK, which was soon interpreted as Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Joseph Rochefort | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Japanese cruiser Maya, destroyer Arashi, and destroyer Nowaki sank British destroyer HMS Stronghold in the Indian Ocean at 1900 hours, killing 75. ww2dbase [Maya | CPC]
• Japanese cruisers Takao and Atago sank US destroyer USS Pillsbury 500 miles south of Java, Dutch East Indies at 2100 hours, all 173 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [Takao | CPC]

• 16 British RAF Wellington bombers from Malta attacked Palermo, Sicily, Italy, destroying ammunition ship Cuma, whose explosion damaged five warships and eight freighters nearby. ww2dbase [Palermo, Sicilia | CPC]

• Japanese Navy Minister Admiral Shimada removed previously recognized rules of engagements in naval warfare due to "Allied retaliation and hatred". ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS Perch surfaced at 0200 hours, only to be forced to dive by Japanese destroyers. Her leaking oil and air made the Japanese destroyer to believe she had already broken up, and the Japanese destroyers departed the area. ww2dbase [Perch (Porpoise-class) | CPC]
• Japanese destroyer Ikazuchi rescued 442 survivors of HMS Exeter, HMS Encounter, and USS Pope which had been sunk during the Second Battle of the Java Sea on the previous day. ww2dbase [Ikazuchi | Java Sea | CPC]
• USS S-38 spotted Japanese light cruiser Kinu in the Java Sea before dawn. She fired four torpedoes and claimed one hit, but Japanese records showed no damage to Kinu on that date. Japanese destroyers counterattacked with depth charges, causing no damage. S-38 escaped the area in the mid-afternoon. In the evening, she came upon a Japanese destroyer and fired two torpedoes at the target; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | S-38 | Java Sea | CPC]

• Ed Dyess, flying a P-40 fighter, led a raid on Japanese shipping in Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | Ed Dyess | Subic Bay | CPC]

• US Army General John L. DeWitt, responsible for the defense of the west coast of the United States, issued Public Proclamation No. 1 to create Military Areas 1 and 2 which covered the entire length of the coast. ww2dbase [Internment of Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians | CPC]
• US Navy acquired excursion steamer Seeandbee. ww2dbase [Wolverine | DS]
• Japanese submarine I-17 attacked a merchant ship estimated at 7,000 tons off Cape Mendocino and claims the ship is sunk. No Allied records correspond to this attack so it is likely the ship was undamaged and perhaps even unaware of the attack. ww2dbase [Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | Cape Mendocino, California | DS]

2 Mar 1942 Interactive Map

• Coronel was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | CPC]

• On USS Ranger’s return voyage from North Africa to Norfolk, one of her patrol planes observed two life boats adrift. One of Ranger’s escorts, destroyer USS Hobson, picked up 46 survivors from the British merchant ship St. Margaret, torpedoed by U-66 three days earlier on 27 Feb 1943. ww2dbase [Ranger | DS]
• Alpino Bagnolini sighted an aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 1140 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]
• Comandante Cappellini sighted a four-engined aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 1945 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• After nightfall, USS Greenling unloaded supplies off Cape Orford, New Britain for newly deployed coast watchers. ww2dbase [Greenling | Cape Orford, New Britain | CPC]

• The Northern Group of the Chindits marched 20 miles along a road northeast of Pinlebu, Burma. ww2dbase [Operation Longcloth | Pinlebu, Sagaing | CPC]
• Satoru Anabuki, flying Ki-43 fighter "Fubuki", claimed a Hurricane fighter over Burma, but the downing was not confirmed. ww2dbase [Satoru Anabuki | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi began repairing destroyer Isokaze at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]
• Yugure arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands at 1300 hours and unloaded support crews of carrier Zuiho. ww2dbase [Zuiho | Yugure | Truk | CPC]

• Joseph Goebbels' diary entry on this date noted that "we are now definitely pushing the Jews out of Berlin" and expressing that many Jews were still in hiding in the city that needed to be found and deported. ww2dbase [Joseph Goebbels | Berlin | CPC]

• Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Mississippi | Minneapolis | Shaw | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Yokosuka, Japan then sailed to Yokohama, Japan later on the same day. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• In Battle of the Bismarck Sea, US and Australian fighters and short range bombers attacked Lae, Australian Papua while US B-17 bombers located and attacked the Japanese convoy Operation 81 at 0930 hours. The first attack on the convoy sank Kyokusei Maru. In the afternoon, another wave of bombers attacked the convoy, damaging Teiyo Maru. After dark, a Catalina aircraft of Australian 11 Squadron maintained contact with the convoy. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Bismarck Sea | CPC]
• Destroyer Yukikaze rescued survivors of transport Kyokusei Maru in the Bismarck Sea. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | Bismarck Sea | CPC]
• USS Permit sank a Japanese transport off Iwate, Japan, hitting her with 3 of 4 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Permit | CPC]

• At 2140 hours, Auschwitz Concentration Camp commandant Rudolf Höss was informed that 15,000 Berlin Jews were being transported to the camp; he ordered that the prisoners must be kept in good health during the journey so that they could work at Auschwitz. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Rudolf Höss | Oswiecim | CPC]

• The Soviet 3rd Tank Army was destroyed near Kharkov, Ukraine which had only just been recaptured by the Soviets two weeks prior. ww2dbase [Third Battle of Kharkov | Kharkov | AC]

2 Mar 1943 Interactive Map

• Walter Krupinski received Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross medal. ww2dbase [Walter Krupinski | CPC]
• James Johnson was named the commanding officer of the No. 144 (RCAF) Wing. ww2dbase [James Johnson | CPC]
• Wilhelm Kratzer was named the acting civilian administrator of the Channel Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS Cero arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Cero | Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• US 1st Cavalry Division captured Hayne Airfield at Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Los Negros, Admiralty Islands | CPC]
• US aircraft carpet-bombed the center of Rabaul, New Britain. The Chinatown district received the most damage. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Destroyers USS Waller, USS Saufley, USS Philip, and USS Renshaw arrived at Tulagi, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Pringle | Waller | Saufley | Philip | Renshaw | Tulagi, Solomon Islands | DS]

• Joseph Stilwell gave orders to the three battalion commanding officers of the US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) in Burma. The 1st Battalion was to split in two, one force to block trails at Sana Ga and Nchet Ga, and the other to be held in reserve at West Ga. The 2nd Battalion was to go through Wesu Ga to set up a roadblock on the Kamaing Road just east of the Numpyek River 2.5 miles west of Malawbum. The 3rd Battalion was to pass through Sabaw Ga and Lagang Ga and secure high positions along the Numpyek River. All three battalions were to hold those positions until Chinese troops would capture Malawbum. As the Americans advanced according to these orders, they engaged Japanese troops later on the same day. ww2dbase [Battle of Myitkyina | Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

• German Luftwaffe ace Egon Mayer (102 victories) was shot down and killed when his Fw 190 aircraft was bounced by a pair of US 9th Air Force P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft whilst attacking a formation of B-17 bombers near Sedan, France. In a cruel twist of fate his award of Swords had been announced on that same day. ww2dbase [Sedan, Champagne-Ardenne | AC]
• SOE agents Denise Bloch and Robert Benoist were dropped into central France. ww2dbase [Denise Bloch | CPC]

• 421 Czech prisoners were transferred from Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland to Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Buchenwald Concentration Camp | Weimar, Thüringen | CPC]
• Heinrich Himmler signed Aktion K into effect, which decreed that captured escapees of prisoners of war camps would be sent to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in occupied Austria, where they would face execution immediately upon arrival and their remains would be destroyed in the camp crematorium. ww2dbase [Heinrich Himmler | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against dock facilities at Frankfurt, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Frankfurt | DS]

• Norwegian motor vessel Tarifa (Master Hans Bjønness) joined an Allied convoy AB-33 off Aden Protectorate. ww2dbase [Arabian Sea | HM]

• On Mount Trocchio near Cassino, Italy, walking down a path that was supposed to have been cleared, Major-General Howard Kippenberger, the admirable commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division, stepped on one of the vicious little wooden "Schu" mines. One of his feet was blown off and the other had to be amputated. ww2dbase [Battle of Monte Cassino | Cassino, Lazio | AC]

• USS Ray began pursuing a nine-ship Japanese convoy in the South China Sea. ww2dbase [Ray | South China Sea | CPC]

• Allied convoy RA-57 departed the Kola Inlet near Murmansk, Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Murmansk | CPC]

• Escort carrier USS Saginaw Bay (CVE-82) was commissioned with Captain Frank C. Sutton in command. ww2dbase [Saginaw Bay | AC]
• Leutze was commissioned into service at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, United States. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Leutze | Bremerton, Washington | CPC]
• USS Proteus entered Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, United States for repairs. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Proteus | Vallejo, California | CPC]

• USS Tunny arrived at Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Tunny | Midway | CPC]

2 Mar 1944 Interactive Map

• The 3,204-ton Norwegian freighter Novasli had arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States from England, United Kingdom on 17 Jan 1945, where she had taken on board 1,123 standards of lumber, before leaving for Boston and Halifax on 4 Feb 1945, arriving at Halifax on 13 Feb. She left Halifax again on 16 Feb for Swansea Bay and London in Convoy SC 167, station 31. The ship reached St. Georges Channel on 2 Mar and was just off Milford Haven when she was torpedoed in the stern by German submarine U-1302 (Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Herwartz). The rudder and propeller were blown away, and she had a crack behind midships on both sides from the gunwale and as far down as they could see, with an opening of about 1-foot wide from the rail and down, and water gushed into the engine room. Three lifeboats were sent away from the ship while the captain, the first mate, the radio operator, steward and mess boy remained on board, and that afternoon she was taken in tow. However, the water kept rising in and the aft section sank deeper, until the sea was washing over the midships deck when they left the ship. The survivors were picked up by the trawler HMS Helier II (FY-312), which shelled, and depth charged the wreck, and by midnight she was gone. Novasli's crew were landed in Milford Haven. ww2dbase [HM]

• USS S-43 departed Australia. ww2dbase [S-43 | CPC]

• Anglo-Indian troops attacked Meiktila, Burma. ww2dbase [Battle of Meiktila-Mandalay | Meiktila | CPC]
• In Burma, Corporal Fazal Din was attacked by six sword wielding Japanese after taking an enemy bunker and was run through the chest by one of them. As the officer pulled the sword out, Din wrestled it from him and killed him with his own weapon. Din took down another man and, waving the sword in the air, urged his men on to victory before collapsing. He died shortly afterwards and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [AC]
• At Kamye, Burma, Corporal Gian Singh took out a series of foxholes and an anti-tank gun with Thompson submachine gun and grenades despite serious wounds. He was awarded the Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [Kamye | AC]

• Elements of US Ninth Army reached the Rhine River at Neuss, Germany. To the north US Third Army captures Trier, Germany. ww2dbase [Advance to the Rhine | TH]
• The RAF conducted its last major raid on Köln (Cologne), Germany with 858 aircraft; also on this date, one USAAF B-17 bomber attacked Köln as a target of opportunity. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Köln, Köln-Aachen | CPC]
• Colonel General Walter Weiß reported that his forces in the Danzig-Westpreußen region of Germany (occupied Danzig and Poland) were surrounded by Soviet troops. ww2dbase [East Pomeranian Offensive | Danzig-Westpreußen | CPC]
• German General of the Infantry Hermann Niehoff was named the commanding officer of the Fortress City of Breslau. ww2dbase [Silesian Offensive and the Siege of Breslau | Breslau, Niederschlesien | CPC]
• 1st Lieutenant Theodore Sedvert, flying a P-51 fighter, shot down Oberfaehrich Horst Netzeband, flying a Me 262 jet fighter. Netzeband was wounded in the hip, causing him to be unable to bail out and to be killed when the aircraft crashed near Dillingen, Germany at 0935 hours. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the synthetic oil facility at Böhlen, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Böhlen | DS]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Air Group 85 departed. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• USS Bailey arrived at Mindoro, Philippines. ww2dbase [Bailey | Mangarin Bay, Mindoro | DS]
• After destroyer USS Saufley delivered the convoy she was escorting to Mangarin Bay, Mindoro, Saufley departed bound for Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines. ww2dbase [Saufley | Mangarin Bay, Mindoro | DS]

• US B-24, B-25, and A-20 aircraft attacked Matsuyama Airfield in Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Matsuyama Airfield | Taihoku | CPC]
• US Far East Air Force B-24, B-25, A-20, and fighter-bomber aircraft attacked Kagi Airfield in Kagi (now Chiayi), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Kagi Airfield | Kagi, Tainan | CPC]

• Escort carriers USS Card and Bogue departed Liverpool bound for New York. ww2dbase [Card | Bogue | Liverpool, England | DS]

2 Mar 1945 Interactive Map

• USS Seahorse was decommissioned from service at Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, United States. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Seahorse | Vallejo, California | CPC]
• USS Spot completed her duty with anti-submarine warfare training units at San Diego, California, United States. ww2dbase [Spot | San Diego, California | CPC]

2 Mar 1946 Interactive Map

• Joseph Rochefort retired from the US Navy. ww2dbase [Joseph Rochefort | CPC]

• U Nu stepped down as the Prime Minister of Burma. ww2dbase [U Nu | CPC]

• Section C of floating drydock Artisan was reclassified a miscellaneous vessel, receiving the new designation of IX-525. ww2dbase [ABSD-1 | CPC]

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied that the Japanese military coerced women into sexual slavery. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The Romanian Royal Council announced that Mihai, the former king of Romania, was to retire from public life. ww2dbase [Mihai I | CPC]