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…

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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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A Chindit column crosses a river in Burma during Operation Longcloth in 1943. — Imperial War Museums, IND 2290 · UK Government public domain

March 6, 1943 The Arakan and the Chindits

Chindit columns cut Japanese railway communications

During the first week of March, Chindit columns reached the north–south railway and carried out demolitions around Nankan, Bonchaung and nearby points. Columns 3 and 5 attacked track, bridges and related communications before moving toward the Irrawaddy. The raids forced Japanese commands to search for a brigade-sized force whose supply system was still unclear to them. Railway damage could be repaired, but the movement of troops to protect lines and hunt the columns imposed a wider burden. After the demolitions the Chindits faced a harder problem: rivers, distance and Japanese…

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American infantry aboard a landing craft approaching Oran, Algeria, in November 1942 during Operation Torch. — Lt F. A. Hudson / Royal Navy / Imperial War Museums A 12661 · UK Government public domain

March 6, 1943 · 12:00 Operation Torch and the Tunisian Campaign

Patton takes command of U.S. II Corps

George S. Patton assumed command of the U.S. II Corps in early March after Lloyd Fredendall was relieved. He reorganised the corps staff, tightened unit reporting and prepared the formation for renewed attacks on the central Tunisian front. American armour, infantry and artillery would now fight under a reorganised command while the British Eighth Army pressed the Axis southern defence from Libya. Alexander’s army-group headquarters coordinated the converging operations.

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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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A destroyed Panther in front of Cologne Cathedral on 6 March 1945. U.S. Army Air Forces · NARA NAID 204902507 · public domain Source

March 6, 1945 The Rhineland Battles

First Army secures Cologne west of the Rhine

U.S. First Army completed the capture of Cologne west of the Rhine on 6 March after 3rd Armored Division and infantry formations entered the ruined city. German forces withdrew across the river and destroyed the Rhine bridges behind them. Cologne formed part of First Army's wider Rhineland clearance south of the Veritable-Grenade pincer. Its fall carried the west-bank advance into the central sector, and First Army's next movement along the river produced an unexpected opportunity at Remagen.

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