March 24th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
NORTH AFRICA: Montgomery sends the 4th Indian Division toward Ksas el Hollant. The difficult terrain diffuses this effort.
U.S.S.R.: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov gives to the US government the terms of peace with Finland. They include borders of 1940, war against Germany and reparations. The US government doesn't transmit terms to Finns, because it considers terms too harsh. (Gene Hanson)
U-655 a type VIIC is sunk in the Barents Sea, approx. 73.0N 21.0E after being rammed by minesweeper HMS Sharpshooter. All 45 of the U-Boat crew are lost. (Alex Gordon)
BURMA: Wingate is ordered to break up his Chindits and return to India.
JAPAN: The Imperial Japanese Navy issues Directive No. 209. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is directed to capture and secure the northern Sakhalin Island and Kamchatka Peninsula if the Soviet Union declares war on Japan. Vladivostok is considered one of the invasion areas.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: The last major IJA offensive effort ends on Bougainville.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: 25 Eleventh Air Force B-24s,
B-25s and P-38s attack Kiska Island.
U.S.A.: The Joint Chiefs of Staff
approve a plan to invade Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands.