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WWII On This Day: March 28

What happened on March 28 during World War II? This date brings together 3 events from 1942 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1942
Incendiary fires burn in Lübeck's Altstadt during Bomber Command's raid on the night of 28–29 March 1942.
Incendiary fires burn in Lübeck's Altstadt during Bomber Command's raid on the night of 28–29 March 1942. Royal Air Force official photographer / Imperial War Museums, C 2364 · Public domain Source
Area Bombing Begins

Lübeck shows the destructive potential of concentrated incendiaries

Bomber Command dispatched 234 aircraft against Lübeck, a lightly defended Baltic port well beyond Gee range. Bright moonlight and the city's position near the coast made it easier to identify than the Ruhr, while the dense old centre contained large numbers of timbered buildings vulnerable to fire. Nearly half the bomb load was incendiary. Of the aircraft sent, 191 crews claimed the target. About 300 tons of bombs fell on the built-up area, including 144 tons of incendiaries, and more than 200 acres were devastated. The central power station, railway…

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1945
U.S. Army engineers install a Bailey bridge across the Rhine south of Wesel, 28 March 1945.
U.S. Army engineers install a Bailey bridge across the Rhine south of Wesel, 28 March 1945. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · Public domain Source
The Rhine Crossings

The bridgeheads become routes for the advance

By 28 March bridges and ferries were carrying armour, artillery and supply traffic east from the principal Rhine bridgeheads, and the armoured divisions were moving into the country beyond the river. First Army was driving east from Remagen through the Lahn valley while Third Army expanded from its southern crossings. On the lower Rhine, Second and Ninth Armies moved out toward the north German plain and the approaches to the Ruhr.

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Soldiers of the U.S. 95th Infantry Division patrol Soest after its capture during the reduction of the Ruhr Pocket, 7 April 1945.
Men of the 95th Infantry Division patrol Soest, 7 April 1945 · Photographer Pick · U.S. Army Signal Corps / NARA · Public domain
The Ruhr Pocket

Bradley turns First Army north

On 28 March Twelfth Army Group redirected First Army north toward Paderborn while Third Army continued toward Kassel. The new axis gave First Army the southern arm of the developing Ruhr envelopment while the wider eastward exploitation continued. Ninth Army was already advancing east from the lower Rhine as the northern arm. The two movements threatened to close behind Army Group B while the rest of the Allied front kept moving into central Germany.

Continue in The Ruhr Pocket →