March 1941
The following events occurred in March 1941:
March 1, 1941 (Saturday)
March 2, 1941 (Sunday)
March 3, 1941 (Monday)
- Turkey canceled its non-aggression pact with Bulgaria after only two weeks.[1]
- An earthquake in the Greek city of Larissa left 10,000 homeless.[5]
- U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an order freezing all Bulgarian assets in the United States.[6]
- A famous image of a weeping Frenchman was published in this week's issue of Life magazine. The picture is not actually a photograph, but is a still from film footage shot in Marseilles during a procession of French regimental flags on their way to Africa to preserve them from surrender.[7][8]
- German submarine U-125 was commissioned.
- The U.S. Supreme Court decided Railroad Commission v. Pullman Co.
March 4, 1941 (Tuesday)
- Operation Claymore: British Commandos conducted a raid on the Nazi-occupied Lofoten Islands in Norway. They achieved their objective of destroying fish oil factories and some 3,600 tons of oil and glycerine, and also captured German code information.
- Regent Prince Paul of Yugoslavia met with Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden. Paul set his conditions for Yugoslavia to join the Axis, including that Salonika be ceded to Yugoslavia after the war. Hitler agreed to all conditions except that the terms of the agreement be published.[9]
- Argentina defeated Chile 1-0 to win the South American Championship of football.
- The Boston Bruins took 83 shots on goal during a 3-2 win over the Chicago Black Hawks. Two NHL single-game records were set that still stand: number of shots on goal by one team, and number of saves by a goaltender (Sam LoPresti with 80).[10]
- Born: Adrian Lyne, film director, in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England
- Died: Nigel Cullen, 23, Australian fighter ace (shot down near Himarë, Albania)
March 5, 1941 (Wednesday)
March 6, 1941 (Thursday)
March 7, 1941 (Friday)
- The first British soldiers from North Africa arrived in Greece.[13]
- German submarine U-47 went missing west of Ireland. The sub's fate remains unknown.
- Died: Günther Prien, 33, German U-boat ace (went missing aboard U-47)
March 8, 1941 (Saturday)
March 9, 1941 (Sunday)
March 12, 1941 (Wednesday)
March 13, 1941 (Thursday)
March 15, 1941 (Saturday)
- The Italian Spring Offensive ended in complete failure for the Italians.
- British forces landed at Berbera.[1]
- A fire broke out on the docked German ocean liner SS Bremen, causing such extensive damage that the ship would be scrapped.[24] Initially thought to be the work of raiders, the arsonist was later said to have been a cabin boy avenging a punishment.[25]
- Hitler gave a Heldengedenktag speech at the Berlin Zeughaus, reviewing Germany's battlefield performance over the past twelve months and declaring that England would be defeated.[26][27]
- Born: Robert Guéï, 3rd President of Ivory Coast, in Kabakouma, Man, French West Africa (d. 2002); Chuck Woolery, game show host, in Ashland, Kentucky
- 162 planes of the Luftwaffe bombed the Avonmouth district of Bristol.[28]
- German submarine U-100 was depth charged and sunk by British warships when it attacked the convoy HX 112.
- German submarine U-99 was scuttled southeast of Iceland after being severely damaged by the British destroyers Walker and Vanoc. This was the first successful use of radar by surface units against U-boats,[25] a factor in the ending of Germany's First Happy Time.
- The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. was opened by President Roosevelt.
- Born: Paul Kantner, rock guitarist, singer and co-founder of Jefferson Airplane, in San Francisco, California
- Died: Joachim Schepke, 29, German U-boat commander (died in the sinking of U-100); Nicolae Titulescu, 59, Romanian diplomat
March 19, 1941 (Wednesday)
March 20, 1941 (Thursday)
March 22, 1941 (Saturday)
- British troops overran the Italians in Babille Pass.[1]
- Vichy French President Philippe Pétain signed a bill to construct a trans-Saharan railway, which was to be built by prisoners of war and Jews.[32]
- German submarines U-126 and U-202 were commissioned.
- The German submarine U-551 was depth charged and sunk in the North Atlantic by the British anti-submarine trawler HMT Visenda.
- Born: Jim Trelease, educator and author, in Orange, New Jersey
- Died: Tadeusz Tański, 49, Polish automobile designer (murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp)
March 26, 1941 (Wednesday)
March 27, 1941 (Thursday)
- The Yugoslav coup d'état occurred. Dušan Simović and other Serb nationalist officers in the Royal Yugoslav Air Force overthrew Yugoslavia's pro-Axis government and intended to back out of the Tripartite Pact. When Hitler learned of the coup he issued Directive No. 25 ordering an invasion of Yugoslavia.[16]
- The Battle of Cape Matapan began off the southwest coast of Greece.
- Ion Antonescu signed an anti-Jewish law providing for the segregation of Romania's Jews and expropriation of their property of their urban property.[36]
- Aboard the presidential yacht USS Potomac, President Roosevelt signed the $7 billion wartime appropriation bill.[37]
- German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop met his Japanese counterpart Yōsuke Matsuoka in Berlin.[38]
- Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa arrived in Pearl Harbor. Yoshikawa noticed that battleships were berthed in pairs and that the in-shore ship was protected from torpedo attacks by the outboard one.[39]
- German submarine U-563 was commissioned.
- 17-year old Peter II of Yugoslavia, considered by the new government to be of age to take the throne, took the oath of King of Yugoslavia in Belgrade as crowds cheered.[1]
- Hitler awarded Hanna Reitsch the Iron Cross Second Class, making her the first woman of the war to receive the medal.[40]
- The research group of Glenn T. Seaborg of the University of California, Berkeley demonstrated that plutonium was fissionable and could be used as a weapon.[41]
- Born: Philip Fang, simultaneous interpreter and United Nations official, in British Hong Kong (d. 2013); Jim Turner, American football placekicker, in Martinez, California
- Died: Kavasji Jamshedji Petigara, 63, first Indian to become Deputy Commissioner of the Mumbai Police; Virginia Woolf, 59, English writer (suicide by drowning)
March 29, 1941 (Saturday)
- Hitler held a conference with his generals in which he said that the upcoming war with Russia would be a race war in which communist commissars and Jews would be exterminated by SS Einsatzgruppen following behind the advancing armies. Hitler expected the Soviet Union to be defeated in a matter of weeks and declared, "We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down."[42]
- The British liner Umona was torpedoed and sunk off Freetown, Sierra Leone by the German submarine U-124.
- Born: Wasim Sajjad, President of Pakistan, in Jalandhar, Punjab, British India
- 109 RAF bombers attacked the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in Brest, France, but were unable to score any hits.[16]
- Erwin Rommel's forces attacked Ajdabiya and expelled the 2nd Armoured Division.[43]
- Crown Prince and Regent of Iraq 'Abd al-Ilah fled to Jordan after learning of a plot to assassinate him.[44]
- Germany and Yugoslavia severed diplomatic relations.[45]
- Martin Harlinghausen was appointed chief of the newly created Fliegerführer Atlantik.[46]
- The British light cruiser HMS Bonaventure was torpedoed and sunk south of Crete by the Italian submarine Ambra.
- German submarine U-331 was commissioned.
- The U.S. Supreme Court decided Cox v. New Hampshire.
- Born: Bonvi, comic book artist, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy (d. 1995); Graeme Edge, drummer, songwriter and member of The Moody Blues, in Rocester, Staffordshire, England
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "1941". MusicAndHistory. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Events occurring on Saturday, March 1, 1941". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Chronology and Index of the Second World War, 1938-1945. Research Publications. 1990. p. 48. ISBN 9780887365683.
- 1 2 Mercer, Derrik, ed. (1989). Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 546. ISBN 9-780582-039193.
- ↑ "Was war am 03. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Presidential Order Freezes Bulgarian Assets in America". Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago: Chicago Daily Tribune). March 4, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ "A Frenchman sheds tears of patriotic grief as flags of his country's lost regiments are exiled to Africa". Life (Time Inc.). March 3, 1941. p. 29.
- ↑ "The weeping Frenchman, 1940". Rare Historical Photos. June 19, 1940. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Events occurring on Tuesday, March 4, 1941". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Kreiser, John (July 20, 2010). "Some records are not meant to be broken". National Hockey League. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 "Chronology 1941". indiana.edu. 2002. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Battle of the Atlantic - Its Development 1939-1942". Naval-History.net. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Events occurring on Friday, March 7, 1941". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Senate Passes British Aid Bill by 60 to 31; Boro Trolleys Crash, Hurt 26; More Snow Due". Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn). March 9, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ Aaron, Marc Z.; Nowlin, Bill, eds. (2015). Who's on First: Replacement Players in World War II. Phoenix, AZ: Society for American Baseball Research, Inc. p. 16. ISBN 9781933599908.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "1941". World War II Database. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Veranneman de Watervliet, Jean-Michel (2014). Belgium in the Second World War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. p. 85. ISBN 9781783376070.
- ↑ Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2015). Pearl Harbor: The Essential Reference Guide:. ABC-CLIO, LLC. p. 241. ISBN 9781440837197.
- ↑ "Twice Every Week the French Will Now Say, "What! No Beer?"". Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago: Chicago Daily Tribune). March 11, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ Ogden, Mark (February 19, 2010). "Manchester United's Old Trafford since 1910". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Bronko Nagurski". The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Boro Man, Reporter, Seized by Gestapo as Spy in Berlin". Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn). March 15, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ Peters, Gerbhard; Woolley, John T. "Address at the Annual Dinner of White House Correspondents' Association". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Was war am 16. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 Davidson, Edward; Manning, Dale (1999). Chronology of World War Two. London: Cassell & Co. p. 62. ISBN 0-304-35309-4.
- ↑ "The Day: Spiegel's Take". Der Spiegel. November 2, 2004. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Chancellor Hitler's Memorial Address". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 "Was war am 17. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 "Events occurring on Thursday, March 20, 1941". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Was war am 21. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Joe Louis - Career Record". BoxRec. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Was war am 22. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Senate Passes War Aid Bill in Record Time". Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn). March 24, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ "Was war am 25. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "12 Killed in Food Riots in Damascus and Aleppo, Syria". Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago: Chicago Daily Tribune). March 27, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ "Was war am 27. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "7 Billion Aid Measure Signed by Roosevelt". Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn). March 27, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ "Ribbentrop Greeted Matsuoka". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Smith, Carl (1999). Pearl Harbor 1941: The Day of Infamy. Botley, Oxfordshire: Osprey Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 9781855327986.
- ↑ "Was war am 28. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Events occurring on Friday, March 28, 1941". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Cymet, David (2010). History vs. Apologetics: The Holocaust, the Third Reich, and the Catholic Church. Plymouth: Lexington Books. p. 200. ISBN 9780739132951.
- ↑ Evans, A. A.; Gibbons, David (2012). The Illustrated Timeline of World War II. Rosen Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 9781448847952.
- ↑ "Events occurring on Monday, March 31, 1941". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Was war am 31. März 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Askey, Nigel (2014). Operation Barbarossa: the Complete Organisational and Statistical Analysis, and Military Simulation Volume IIB. Lulu Publishing. p. 240. ISBN 9781312413269.