3 Mar 1941 | World War II Database

3 Mar 1941

Erwin Rommel moved German 5th Light Division to a narrow pass 17 miles west of the Allied forward positions at El Agheila, Libya to block any Allied advances toward Tripoli. He also ordered the construction of defensive positions in the desert to the south to prevent the Allies from bypassing the pass. ww2dbase [Operation Sonnenblume | CPC]
Italian aircraft bombed Larissa, Greece; 5 bombers were shot down by RAF Hurricane fighters. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau reached the Cape Verde Islands area in Central Atlantic. ww2dbase [Scharnhorst | CPC]
German submariner Bootsmannsmaat Artur Mei fell overboard from U-97 440 miles west of Ireland. He was never seen again. ww2dbase [CPC]
The US Marine Corps set up 8 men (6 Marines and 2 US Navy corpsmen) and 2 5-inch guns on Johnston Island. ww2dbase [CPC]

France

Admiral William Leahy, US Ambassador to Vichy France, secured an agreement from the Vichy government to deny the Axis any oil from French North Africa. ww2dbase [William Leahy | Paris | AC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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