World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 18 Mar 1944

• USS Nicholas crossed the 180th meridian. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Line Crossing Ceremony | DS]

• Aircraft of No. 466 Squadron RAAF conducted minelaying operations in the North Sea off of Helgoland, Germany. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]

• Chindit troops reached the railway at Kenu, Burma; the subsequent Battle of Pagoda Hill was characterized by savage hand-to-hand fighting that resulted in 23 Chindits and 42 Japanese killed. ww2dbase [Operation Thursday | Kenu | CPC]

• Escort carrier USS Bogue and her task group arrived at Casablanca, French Morocco. ww2dbase [Bogue | Casablanca | DS]

• RAF bombers attacked Hamburg, Germany with approximately 3,000 tons of bombs. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Hamburg | TH]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the airfield at Lechfeld, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Lechfeld, Bavaria | DS]

• USS Golet departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Golet | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]

• Japanese 15th Division reached Ukhrul, India, which was about 50 miles from Imphal, India. Behind them, Japanese 31st Division crossed the Chindwin River in eight columns toward India. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | Ukhrul, Manipur | CPC]

• Japanese submarine I-165 sank British merchant ship Nancy Moller in the Indian Ocean. The submarine picked up six of the survivors and executed two of them by pistol and another two by drowning. The crew then opened fire on the life boat, killing 32 of the over 60 survivors aboard. Ultimately only 31 would survive, picked up by HMS Emerald four days later. ww2dbase [CPC]

• New Zealand troops mounted a failed armored attack on Cassino, Italy, losing all 17 tanks in the process. ww2dbase [Battle of Monte Cassino | Cassino, Lazio | TH]

• Yamato exited drydocks at Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Yamato | Kure Naval Arsenal | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 128 was completed. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• USS Iowa bombarded Mili Atoll, Marshall Islands. She was hit by two 120-millimeter shells from Japanese coastal guns during the bombardment, suffering minor damage. ww2dbase [Iowa | Mili | CPC]

• USS Pollack arrived off Nanpo Islands, Japan. ww2dbase [Pollack | CPC]
• USS Ray fired six torpedoes at two Japanese destroyers and one patrol craft in the South China Sea; her crew reported hearing one explosion, but could not confirm it as the submarine dove in expectation of counterattacks. ww2dbase [Ray | South China Sea | CPC]

• At 1100 hours, Auschwitz Concentration Camp prisoner Rudolf Friemel married forced laborer Margarita Ferrer at the camp's Registry Office. It was the only case where a prisoner was allowed to marry in the camp. They had met in Spain when Rudolf Friemel, an Austrian, fought as a volunteer for the Spanish Republicans in the civil war. Friemel was executed by hanging on 30 Dec 1944 for a failed attempt to escape Auschwitz. Ferrer and their child survived the war. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• USAAF 453rd Bomber Group based at Old Buckenham Airfield (US Station 144) in Norfolk, England, United Kingdom attacked Friedrichshafen in southern Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Old Buckenham Airfield | Old Buckenham, England | AC]

• After a nine-day maintenance period at Norfolk, Virginia, escort carrier USS Card departed Norfolk bound for New York. ww2dbase [Card | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]

18 Mar 1944 Interactive Map