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• HMS Cumberland carried out offensive sweep in Indian Ocean with HM Battleships Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, HM Battlecruiser Renown, HM Aircraft Carrier Illustrious, HM Cruisers London, Gambia and Ceylon screened by fleet destroyers. (Operation Diplomat). ww2dbase [Valiant | Renown | Illustrious | Queen Elizabeth | London | Cumberland | DS]

• Torpedo boats Jaguar, Möwe, Greif, Kondor, T27, and T29 began to lay mines off Le Havre and Fécamp, France. ww2dbase [Möwe | Greif | Kondor | Jaguar | T27 | T29 | English Channel | CPC]

• USS Corregidor arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Corregidor | Guadalcanal | CPC]
• Carriers USS Corregidor and USS Coral Sea with destroyers USS Nicholas, USS LaVallette, and USS Ellet arrived at Tulagi, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Corregidor | Anzio | Ellet | Nicholas | Tulagi, Solomon Islands | DS]

• British Chindit forces attacked Indaw, Burma. Meanwhile, Orde Wingate began moving his headquarters from Imphal to Sylhet in India, thus causing some confusion in the Indaw offensive. ww2dbase [Operation Thursday | Indaw | CPC]
• Troops of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) received an air drop at the village of Auche, Burma. Colonel Charles Hunter gave the villagers the parachutes as compensation for their assistance. Meanwhile, Chinese troops captured Jambu Bum ahead of schedule, thus Frank Merrill ordered Hunter to establish a roadblock on Kamaing Road 36 hours earlier than originally planned. Merrill also ordered the Orange Combat Team of 3rd Battalion to depart Janpan and form a block near Auche. ww2dbase [Battle of Myitkyina | Frank Merrill | Charles Hunter | Auche | CPC]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 arrived at Tarakan, Dutch East Indies at 0830 hours. ww2dbase [Stewart | Tarakan, Borneo | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Officers and men of Air Group 100 arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• While transiting from Emirau Island in the Bismarck Islands to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, one of the wounded Marines aboard destroyer USS Saufley died of his wounds and was buried at sea. ww2dbase [Saufley | DS]

• A Junkers Ju 88A-14 from 8/KG6 of German Luftwaffe shot down during the night by a Mosquito of No. 488 Squadron RAF crashed on three B-26 Marauder bombers of the US 323rd Bombardment Group (Medium) at RAF Earls Colne at Earls Colne, Essex, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Earls Colne, England | AC]

• USS Wasp arrived at San Diego, California, United States. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | San Diego, California | CPC]

21 Mar 1944 Interactive Map