1 March 1943

UNITED KINGDOM: Soviet envoys tell the Polish government in exile that the USSR intends to keep eastern Poland, which it invaded in 1939.

A year after "Austerity" was introduced, the population of Britain has reduced its annual consumption to four-fifths of its peacetime level, although incomes are up by over 50% since 1938. Rationing, high taxes and shortages have bitten deep into the average family's way of life. While expenditure on food, clothing and travel has fallen in real terms, that on drink and tobacco has doubled.

"Utility" production applies not only to clothing and furniture but also to many household goods. Only white crockery is being made and this year's plain white cups are usually without handles to save material. Licensed manufacture permits only one standard quality of sheets, blankets, pots and pans, kettles and electrical appliances, carpets and linoleum, pens and pencils, lighters and umbrellas. "Fripperies" such as soup spoons and butter knives and ornamental glassware are banned. Toys cannot include rubber, hemp, cork, celluloid or plastic.

Shortages have driven many goods "under the counter" - notoriously cigarettes of all popular brands, vacuum flasks, combs, hair grips, needles, safety pins, babies' teats, lipstick and cosmetics, alarm clocks, prams and bicycles. Shortage of newsprint means that national papers are reduced to four pages on several days of the month.

The ministry of food's rhyming exhortations continue - "Don't you know the sight of peelings greatly hurts Lord Woolton's feelings?" Wartime sausages have been dubbed "breadcrumbs in battledress". There are recipes for carrot jam and nettle tea. Unloved dried egg has encouraged people to keep chickens and two million families are self-sufficient in vegetables thanks to "digging for victory" in gardens and allotments.

ITALY: GENIERE, RM, Italian Destroyer. Sunk in dry dock at Palermo by USAAF air raids

U.S.S.R.: Russian troops resume the offensive North of Moscow. Soviet troops re-capture Demyansk, Zaluchie and Lychkovo.

BURMA: Myitkyina: A new Burma road, to take material to Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists, has just been completed. Two Chinese divisions which had retreated into India, the 22nd and 38th under the command of Chiang Kai-shek's hard-boiled US chief of staff, Lieutenant General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, pushed up from Ledo, 275 miles through Hukawng Valley and the Pangsan Pass, to Myitkyina, on the frontier with China.

In three months Stilwell's divisions killed 4,000 Japanese. They were followed by US Army engineers and 15,000 labourers. Since the original Burma Road was cut by the advancing Japanese early in 1942, the Nationalists have not been isolated. For nearly a year US pilots have flown an air bridge from Dinjan, near Ledo, across the Himalayan foothills into Yunnan. It was a dangerous journey, with planes buffeted by turbulent air currents and pilots suffering snow-blindness and crashing. Yet so successful was the air bridge that it carried more supplies than the original Burma Road.

AMC HMCS Prince David arrived Burrard Drydock for conversion to infantry landing ship.

U.S.A.: VMB-413 is the first Marine PBJ squadron formed. Commissioned at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina.

Washington: The Atlantic Convoy Conference, which opened here today, is deciding the strategy for combating the continuing U-boat menace in the North Atlantic. Losses have mounted because of the increased number of U-boats, the deployment of "milch cow" submarines so that the U-boats can refuel while on patrol, and the shortage of very-long-range aircraft. From 1 April the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy are to share the escort of convoys on the North Atlantic route, with a dividing line at 47 degrees west, while the US Navy will cover the South Atlantic and Caribbean.

Aircraft carriers USS Ticonderoga and Kearsarge laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Cates, Gandy and Lee Fox laid down.

A revision of the squadron designation system changed Inshore Patrol Squadrons to Scouting Squadrons (VS), Escort Fighting Squadrons (VGF) to Fighting Squadrons (VF), Escort Scouting Squadrons (VGS) to Composite Squadrons (VC) and Patrol Squadrons (VP) operating land type aircraft to Bombing Squadrons (VB). This revision also redesignated carrier Scouting Squadrons (VS) as VB and VC and as a result the types of squadrons on Essex Class carriers was reduced to three. In spite of this change, the aircraft complement of their Air Groups remained at its previous level of 21 VF, 36 VSB and 18 VTB. (Massimiliano Stola)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Between 28 Feb and 2 Mar, 1943, U-518 attacked Convoy BT-6, which was escorted by the Brazilian escort vessels Carioca, Caraveles and Rio Branco, several times and reported one ship sunk, six missed shots and eight duds or deep-running torpedoes. At 0330 on 1 March, lookouts on the Fitz-John Porter in station #14 spotted one torpedo coming from the starboard beam and cross the bow by a few feet. Later another torpedo missed the stern by about 25 yards. At 0652, a third torpedo struck on the port side at #5 hold. The explosion blew large holes in the ship at the waterline on both sides, demolished the after gun mount, severed the main shaft and completely destroyed the #5 hold. The eight officers, 30 men and 17 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 3in and five 20mm guns) abandoned ship in four lifeboats and one raft in good order. One armed guard, sleeping on #5 hatch was blown overboard and was not seen again. The Liberty ship sank sometime during the night of 2 March. The Brazilian minelayer Carioca picked up the survivors within two hours after the attack. One hour later they were transferred to a Brazilian freighter and landed in Recife, Brazil.