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March 24th, 1942

UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyer HMS Derwent commissioned.

Corvette KNM Nordkyn (ex-HMS Buttercup) commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

FRANCE: During the day, 18 RAF Bomber Command Bostons are dispatched on two escorted raids: 12 aircraft hit the Comines power-station and six bomb the marshaling yard at Abbeville. Bombing results were not observed; no aircraft are lost. (Jack McKillop)
During the night of the 24th/25th, 35 aircraft of RAF Bomber Command lay mines off Lorient; a Hampden and a Lancaster are lost. These were the first Bomber Command losses for 11 days and nights and the Lancaster lost, from 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, was the first of its type to be lost on operations. (Jack McKillop)

GERMANY: U-171 laid down.

U-196 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

BARENTS SEA: U-655 a type VIIC is sunk approx. 73.0N 21.0E after being rammed by minesweeper HMS Sharpshooter. All 45 of the U-Boat crew are lost. (Alex Gordon)

MALTA: A battered British supply convoy reached harbour in Malta today. On Sunday it was forced to fight a “David and Goliath” operation against a powerful Italian battle fleet, and it won. The five cruisers and 17 destroyers, escorting four merchant ships, were attacked by the battleship LITTORIO - with nine 15-inch guns - which appeared from the north-east with three heavy cruisers and four destroyers in attendance. The odds were very much against the British cruisers (5.25 inch guns) and destroyers (4.7 inch). Rear-Admiral Philip Vian ordered the convoy to sail at speed to the south-west, and then moved towards the Italians under a smokescreen. The Italians withdrew, worried by the threat of torpedoes through the smokescreen.

The Italian action delayed the four ships of the convoy, however, and all of them came under heavy air attack. Two of the freighters were sunk and although the other two, the TALABOT and PAMPAS, succeeded in reaching their destination, the Luftwaffe has concentrated on these two survivors in harbour. Some 326 bombers and fighters have been employed in their destruction, and only 5,000 of the 26,000 tons which left Egypt have actually landed in Malta.

EGYPT: The Wafd [nationalist] party wins the general election.

Whilst escorting convoy MW.10, destroyer HMS Southwold hits a mine off Zonkor Point at 35 63N 14 35E and sinks. (Alex Gordon)(108)

INDIA: Minesweeper INS Bombay commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

BURMA: In a surprise attack on Kyungon Airfield, north of Toungoo, the Japanese rout the defenders (troops of Chinese 200th Division and rear elements of the Burma 1st Division) and cut the rail line and road, thus partially surrounding Toungoo. The Chinese fall back on Toungoo, while the Burmese succeed in withdrawing to the Irrawaddy front. (Jack McKillop)

THAILAND: Ten P-40s of the 1st Fighter Squadron, American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka, “The Flying Tigers”) based at Kunming Airdrome, China, and staging through Loiwing and Namsang, Burma, strafe Chiengmai Airdrome between 0710 and 0725 hours. Fifteen Japanese Army bombers are destroyed on the ground but two AVG P-40s are shot down by ground fire; one pilot is killed and the second is taken prisoner after evading capture for 28 days. (Jack McKillop)

CHINA: British General Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding Burma Army, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek meet to discuss plans for the cooperation of Chinese and British Forces. (Jack McKillop)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The Japanese begin an intense air and artillery bombardment of Bataan. Luzon-based Japanese Army and Navy aircraft begin a thorough bombardment of Corregidor, continuing through the end of March. During this period night air attacks are conducted for the first time. (Jack McKillop)
A Filipino patrol on Bataan kills a Japanese officer who brought his documents with him to the front. They include orders for a reconnaissance in force on Mount Samat, followed by an attack on 26 March so the Americans dig trenches on Mount Samat. (Jack McKillop)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Moncton commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: The Pacific Theater of Operations is established as an area of U.S. responsibility by the Combined Chiefs of Staff. (Jack McKillop)

The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Lieutenant-General Thomas Holcomb writes a letter to the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Fleet (COMINCH), Admiral Ernest J. King, proposing a joint intelligence centre at Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i. (Mike Yared)(184)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 2348, the unescorted Empire Drum was torpedoed by U-136 north of Bermuda. The vessel was sunk by a coup de grâce at 0008 on 25 April. The master, 32 crewmembers and 16 gunners were picked up by the Swedish merchantman Venezia and landed at New York. Two crewmembers were rescued by a US destroyer and landed at Norfolk. (Dave Shirlaw)