Brigadier Orde Wingate, leader of the Chindits (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 24, 1943: First Chindit Raid ends (British/Indian raids in Japanese-occupied Burma); although one-third of the men have been lost, the raids raise morale.
US armor near El Guettar, Tunisia, 23 March 1943 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 23, 1943: In heaviest air raid to date, RAF drops 2000 tons of bombs on Dortmund, Germany.
At El Guettar in Tunisia, US 1st Infantry Division manages to defeat German armor (10th Panzer Division).
In a free election in occupied Denmark, the 4 main democratic parties win 139 seats in the Folketing (lower house of parliament), 3 minor parties win 7, and the Danish Nazi Party only wins 3 seats (89.5% turnout).
Men of the US 1st Armored Division at railroad station in Maknassy, Tunisia, 22 March 1943 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 22, 1943: Nazis extend work week in the occupied Netherlands to 54 hours.
US II Corps under Lt. Gen. George Patton occupies Maknassy, Tunisia.
Cornelia Fort, 1940 (US Air Force photo: 050406-F-1234P-100)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 21, 1943: Another assassination attempt on Hitler’s life: Col. Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff carries explosives under his coat at the Heroes Day celebration in Berlin but doesn’t have an opportunity.
In Tunisia, US Army Rangers ambush Italians near Gafsa and take 1000 POWs, while New Zealanders bypass the Mareth Line and surprise the Germans at Tebaga Gap.
Cornelia Fort becomes first WAFS member (Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, precursor of the WASPs) to be killed, in a midair collision while ferrying a BT-13 in Texas, the first female American pilot to be killed in active duty.
British field gun firing during the assault on the Mareth line, 30 March 1943 (Imperial War Museum: NA 1397)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 20, 1943: In Tunisia, British Eighth Army launches assault on the Mareth Line, and US II Corps drives for Maknassy.
British Field Marshal Archibald Wavell orders abandonment of Arakan offensive in Burma.
New song in Top Ten: “As Time Goes By.”
Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, circa 1945 (US Army photo)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 19, 1943: German U-boats break off attacks on Allied North Atlantic convoys HX-229 and SC-122, ending the largest convoy battle of the war.
Henry H. “Hap” Arnold is promoted to four-star general, a first for a US airman.
US Army Air Force recruiting poster, WWII
80 Years Ago—Mar. 18, 1943: US 1st Ranger Battalion takes El Guettar, Tunisia.
After successful US Eighth Air Force mission to Vegesack, Germany, US experiment with daylight bombing is declared a success.
US oil workers (“The Roughnecks”) arrive in Britain to drill for oil in Sherwood Forest under a one-year contract with Noble Drilling Corporation.
Lt. Gen. George Patton in Tunisia, 30 Mar 1943 (Library of Congress: LC-USZ62-25122)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 17, 1943: Climax of the Battle of the Atlantic (through March 19): German U-boats sink 22 Allied ships, 20% of convoys HX-229 & SC-122, with only one U-boat lost, the last big U-boat victory.
US II Corps under Lt. Gen. George Patton launches drive in Tunisia from Fériana, and occupies Gafsa.
Japanese launch counterattack on the Arakan Peninsula in Burma, leading to Indian retreat.
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published.
First edition cover of These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1943
“Zero Hour” by Jack Chaddock, depicting the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders advancing during the Battle of the Mareth Line, March 1943 (Imperial War Museum: ART LD 3398)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 16, 1943: Montgomery’s British Eighth Army attacks the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia, but fails with heavy casualties.
US Navy recruiting poster, 1941
80 Years Ago—Mar. 15, 1943: US Navy establishes numbered fleet system; fleets in the Pacific are assigned odd numbers (Third Fleet in South Pacific, Fifth Fleet in Central Pacific, and Seventh Fleet in Southwest Pacific) and those in the Atlantic even numbers (Second Fleet in Atlantic, Fourth Fleet in South Atlantic, Eighth Fleet in North Africa, and Twelfth Fleet in Europe).
President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes Jackson Hole National Monument, which will be merged with Grand Teton National Park in 1950.
“Sundin’s craft is inimitable, and her literary finesse radiates from every page.”—Booklist starred review for The Sound of Light