WWII On This Day: March 6

German Type IXA submarine U-37 in dock at Lorient in 1940 after the French Atlantic ports became U-boat bases. — Mannewitz · Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-1032-11A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE

March 6, 1941 · 12:00 The Happy Time and the Wolfpacks

Churchill gives the Atlantic battle priority

Churchill issued a directive declaring that the Battle of the Atlantic had clearly begun and that the next four months must defeat the attempt to cut Britain off from food and the United States. It ordered offensive action against U-boats and Fw 200 aircraft, greater Coastal Command concentration in the North-West Approaches and urgent work on shipborne fighter measures and escorts. The directive did not create convoy escort or antisubmarine warfare; both had existed from the first days of the war. Its importance was priority. It treated the Atlantic supply…

HMS Duke of York in heavy seas during the 2–9 March 1942 Arctic convoy operation, photographed from HMS Victorious. The period includes the Tirpitz sortie against PQ 12 and QP 8. Lt C. H. Parnall, Royal Navy official photographer · Imperial War Museums A 7894 · Public domain Source

March 6, 1942 · 12:00 The Arctic Convoys

Tirpitz sorties against PQ 12 and QP 8

Tirpitz and accompanying German ships put to sea from Norway as PQ 12 steamed east and QP 8 returned west. The German force failed to find the main convoys, while Admiral John Tovey's Home Fleet covered the passage with battleships and the carrier HMS Victorious. The sortie demonstrated the operational effect of a battleship even without a successful engagement. The Admiralty could not treat Tirpitz as a remote threat while convoys passed close to Norway; every important sailing now had to be planned around the possibility of a surface interception,…

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B-17G 42-40006 Liberty Lady after crash-landing on Gotland on 6 March 1944 following that day's long Eighth Air Force mission. Presumed U.S. Army Air Forces / 306th Bomb Group collection · Public domain in the United States Source

March 6, 1944 · 10:00 The Combined Bomber Offensive

The Eighth Air Force reaches Berlin

American bombers attacked Berlin under relay escort and met the strongest fighter opposition of the March Berlin missions. Sixty-nine bombers and eleven escort fighters were lost. Unlike Schweinfurt in 1943, the force could be followed by further deep missions because long-range escort was now available.

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B-17G 42-40006 Liberty Lady after crash-landing on Gotland on 6 March 1944 following a long Eighth Air Force mission. Presumed U.S. Army Air Forces / 306th Bomb Group collection · Public Domain Mark 1.0 Source

March 6, 1944 · 13:00 Big Week and Air Superiority

Berlin becomes a full-strength daylight target

A small American force reached Berlin on 4 March after weather and recall confusion. Two days later the Eighth mounted its first major daylight attack on the capital, sending a large bomber stream with long-range fighter support. German interception was fierce. Sixty-nine Eighth Air Force heavy bombers were lost, together with eleven fighters. The mission was one of the Eighth's most costly of the war and makes clear that the Luftwaffe remained dangerous after Big Week. What had changed was the operational consequence of such a loss. Berlin could be…

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Wrecked rolling stock in the severely damaged marshalling yard at Juvisy-sur-Orge after Allied air attacks in 1944. — Bridge B (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Imperial War Museums, CL 4170 · Public domain · Source

March 6, 1944 · 22:00 The Transportation Plan

The trial begins at Trappes

Bomber Command sent 263 aircraft against the railway centre at Trappes and dropped 1,258 tons of bombs. Tracks, engine sheds and rolling stock were damaged so heavily that the centre remained out of action for more than a month. Eight further rail-centre attacks followed during March.

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