World War II Database

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

• British Prime Minister Winston Churchill praised Yugoslavian partisans under Tito. ww2dbase [Josip Tito | CPC]
• Japanese submarine I-8 damaged Dutch ship Tjisalak with a torpedo in the Indian Ocean, and then surfaced to exchange shellfire. After the ship sank, the Japanese attacked 97 survivors with swords, wrenches, and sledgehammers. They were then shot and dumped into the water. Six men survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Anton Dostler ordered the execution of the 15 American commandos who were captured on 24 Mar 1944 while attempting to sabotage the La Spezia-Genoa rail line in Italy. ww2dbase [Anton Dostler | CPC]
• Troops of Japanese 60th Regiment attacked Sangshak, India after dark, but got lost in the darkness, and many men were trapped in the open in the next morning. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | CPC]
• Oberleutnant Hans Bennemann and Oberfeldwebel Wilhelm Brennecke of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. ww2dbase [CPC]

• In Burma, Lieutenant Colonel George McGee, Jr. and the troops of his 2nd Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) departed camp at 1000 hours, and Colonel Charles Hunter followed after all wounded were evacuated by air. McGee arrived at Manpin at 1200 hours, where Hunter ordered McGee to clear a field for a resupply by air. At 1700 hours, McGee departed camp toward Auche while Hunter remained at Manpin, where he was joined with Lieutenant Colonel Charles Beach of the 3rd Battalion to plan on an attack on Kamaing. The attack was overruled by Frank Merrill, who ordered Hunter to withdraw instead. ww2dbase [Charles Beach | George McGee | Charles Hunter | Battle of Myitkyina | Frank Merrill | Manpin | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a raid against rocket launching sites in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 2 | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | RAF Thurleigh | Pas-de-Calais | DS]

• The Greek Communist Party established a provisional government in the mountains of northern Greece. ww2dbase [AC]

• The New Zealand Corps headquarters, currently near Cassino, Italy, was dissolved. Surviving troops were incorporated into British XIII Corps. ww2dbase [Battle of Monte Cassino | Cassino, Lazio | CPC]

• The keel of landing ship No. 154 was laid down by Hitachi Zosen. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• The 890-ton Japanese army cargo ship Shimotsuki Maru was sunk by a mine off Murotozaki, Kochi Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [HM]
• The German motor torpedo boats S-93 and S-129 were both sunk in a US bomber air raid, west of Ijmuiden, the Netherlands. S-93 was later lifted and broken up. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]

• Soviet units captured Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine, reaching the Romanian border on a wide front. ww2dbase [Kamenets-Podolsk | TH]

26 Mar 1944 Interactive Map