March 28th, 1943 (SUNDAY)
FRANCE: 70 of 103 Eighth Air Force B-17s and B-24s dispatched bomb a marshalling yard at
Rouen.
BALTIC SEA: Finns and Germans begin laying an anti-submarine net across the Gulf of Finland. When patrolled actively, it effectively closes the Soviet submarines at the eastern end of the Gulf.
TUNISIA: Ninth Air Force P-40s support ground forces in eastern Tunisia while Twelfth Air Force aircraft support ground operations in western Tunisia.
Montgomery telegraphs Churchill: "Eighth Army has inflicted severe defeat on enemy."
NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-17s, B-24s and B-25s bomb numerous targets along the north coast.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force P-38s and a US Marine Corps F4U attack a seaplane base at Poporang Island and in the Shortland Islands. A Japanese destroyer is encountered and seriously damaged by strafing.
U.S.A.: Washington: Japan's outer defensive perimeter was crumbling as the Allied leaders met at Casablanca in January to chart the way ahead.
In spite of their warnings of possible disaster, the please of the "have nots" of the Pacific war theatre went unheeded. In allotting arms and resources the Allied leaders have only fifth priority to the Pacific. The agreed "beat Hitler first" grand strategy was not seriously challenged.
Although Pacific commanders were disappointed, the combined chiefs of staff at the Casablanca conference directed that the Allies were to retain the initiative in the Pacific and prepare for a full-scale offensive when Germany has been defeated. At the outset they were to take the Japanese bastion, Rabaul, secure the Aleutians, and then advance east to west across the Pacific through the Gilberts and Marshalls towards Truk and the Marianas.
However, at a conference of Pacific commanders in Washington it was revealed that available reinforcements were not sufficient for an advance all the way to Rabaul. It was therefore agreed that the scope of the tasks would have to be limited to New Guinea, the Solomons and other strategic islands.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-77 type VIIC is sunk at 0115 east of Cartagena, Spain at position 37.42N 00.10W, by 4 depth charges and 1 bomb dropped from 2 British Hudson aircraft of 48 and 233 Squadrons. 9 of U-77 crew survive, but 38 are lost. 36 of those who lost their lives are buried ashore in the cemetery of Cuacos de Yuste, Caceres, Spain. (Alex Gordon)