WWII On This Day: March 7

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 7, 1941 · 04:00 The Happy Time and the Wolfpacks

U-47 disappears after the OB 293 battle

U-47, U-99 and U-70 attacked outward convoy OB 293 on the night of 6–7 March. U-70 was sunk by the escorts, while U-47 was sighted during the battle and then failed to report again; Prien and his entire crew were lost. The precise cause of U-47's loss remains uncertain. Later accounts long credited HMS Wolverine, but the evidence does not permit a secure attribution. What can be established is that U-47 disappeared immediately after operating around OB 293 and that BdU's requests for a position report went unanswered.

Continue in The Happy Time and the Wolfpacks →

A reconnaissance detachment of the German 5th Panzer Division entering Athens on 27 April 1941. — Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1979-123-32 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source

March 7, 1941 · 12:00 German Invasion of Greece, April 1941

British and Commonwealth formations begin landing in Greece

From 7 March, the headquarters and units of I Australian Corps, 6th Australian Division, 2nd New Zealand Division, the British 1st Armoured Brigade and supporting troops began disembarking through Piraeus and Volos. The movement continued through the end of the month. The force arrived with an awkward mission. It was too small to defend every approach into northern Greece and had to deploy while the Greek Army remained committed in Albania. Wilson placed the main Commonwealth formations on the shorter Vermion–Aliakmon position, preserving a connection with the Greek western armies…

Continue in German Invasion of Greece, April 1941 →

Spitfire Vs ranged on HMS Eagle during Operation Spotter; fifteen fighters were flown to Malta on 7 March 1942. Lt J. G. Marshall, Royal Navy official photographer / Imperial War Museums A 7840 · public domain (UK Government) Source

March 7, 1942 Malta: Air Siege and Convoy War

The first Spitfire reinforcement

HMS Eagle flew off fifteen Spitfire Vs during Operation Spotter, giving Malta a fighter with the speed and performance needed to meet the Bf 109 more evenly than the Hurricane. The aircraft still had to land on airfields under attack, enter dispersed service and survive bombing before their tactical value could be realised. March produced 4,927 Luftwaffe sorties, and fighter serviceability at times fell to a handful of aircraft. Spotter opened a sequence of carrier ferry missions in which Malta's fighter force survived by receiving replacements while the airfields remained…

Continue in Malta: Air Siege and Convoy War →

Japanese troops outside Government House in Rangoon shortly after the city fell in March 1942. This is the immediate aftermath of the 7–8 March withdrawal and occupation, not the evacuation itself. Unidentified photographer / Yangon Heritage Trust · public domain in Myanmar (Commons record) Source

March 7, 1942 The Fall of Burma

The Burma Army evacuates Rangoon

On 7 March 1942 the Burma Army evacuated Rangoon, and Japanese troops entered the city on 8 March. Counter-attacks at Pegu, on the road north-east of the port, had failed to clear the Japanese from the road, and Alexander, who had been ordered to hold Rangoon, could not carry the order out. The army carried out a scorched-earth demolition. The port was destroyed and the oil terminal blown up, to deny both to the Japanese. The loss of Rangoon cut the Burma Road from the sea and left the Burma…

Continue in The Fall of Burma →

Waves of United States Marine Corps amphibious tractors approaching the smoke-covered landing beaches of Iwo Jima in February 1945, with Mount Suribachi in the distance. — Archives Branch, USMC History Division / Thayer Soule Collection COLL/2266 · CC BY 2.0

March 7, 1945 Iwo Jima

The 3d Division takes Hill 362C in a night attack without artillery preparation

Hill 362C was the core of the final Japanese defence in the 3d Division's sector, and daylight assaults on it had failed for several days. Major General Erskine ordered a night attack before dawn on 7 March with no preliminary artillery, relying on surprise. Surprise was largely achieved, and the attacking battalion took the hill, although it had at first misidentified its objective; the official history credits luck as much as planning. Erskine's methods in this phase were to exploit weak points, to push units forward without waiting for neighbours,…

Continue in Iwo Jima →

The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen after U.S. troops captured it on 7 March 1945. U.S. Signal Corps · National Archives · public domain Source

March 7, 1945 The Rhineland Battles

U.S. troops capture the Ludendorff Bridge

A spearhead of the U.S. 9th Armored Division reached Remagen on 7 March and found the Ludendorff railway bridge still standing. German demolition charges damaged the structure but failed to bring it down, and American infantry crossed before the defenders could make another attempt. The capture created an immediate bridgehead east of the Rhine while the planned major river assault was still being prepared farther north. The bridgehead became the opening state for the separate Rhine-crossings page.

Continue in The Rhineland Battles →

Damage from the failed German demolition on the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, 7 March 1945. U.S. Army Signal Corps · Public domain Source

March 7, 1945 · 15:50 The Rhine Crossings

Hoge orders the Ludendorff Bridge seized

A task force of the 9th Armored Division came over a rise in the afternoon and found the railway bridge at Remagen standing. Brigadier General William Hoge had been ordered to continue south, but the intact span offered an immediate opportunity; he ordered Combat Command B to seize it before the German garrison could complete the demolition. Recent German orders required written authority for demolition after bridges elsewhere had been destroyed prematurely. German troops were still crossing as the Americans entered Remagen, compressing the decision to destroy the span into…

Continue in The Rhine Crossings →

Horsa gliders on the ground near Hamminkeln on 25 March 1945, the day after Operation Varsity. — Sgt Christie, No. 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit · Imperial War Museums BU 2287 · Public domain

March 7, 1945 · 16:10 The Rhine Crossings

The demolition fails and Company A crosses

Lieutenant Karl Timmermann was told to take his company over a bridge that was expected to blow underneath them. The German demolition lifted the structure but failed to bring it down; Sergeant Alexander Drabik was among the first Americans to reach the far bank, and Timmermann led his company across under fire. Engineers followed the infantry onto the bridge, cut demolition cables and removed unexploded charges while the span remained under fire. By nightfall American troops held a foothold around Erpel on the east bank.

Continue in The Rhine Crossings →

March 7, 1945 · 18:45 The Rhine Crossings

First Army commits to the Remagen bridgehead

The decision to exploit the bridge moved upward quickly. Hoge committed more of Combat Command B, III Corps backed the crossing, and Courtney Hodges ordered engineers and assault boats toward Remagen. Omar Bradley agreed that the opportunity should be exploited. At SHAEF, Major General Harold Bull questioned a crossing outside the planned main effort, but Eisenhower confirmed Bradley's decision and said at least five divisions should be put across. First Army now had authority to turn the tactical seizure into an operational bridgehead.

Continue in The Rhine Crossings →