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• » 5 Mar 1944

• Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front under Ivan Konev attacked toward Uman, Ukraine. ww2dbase [TH]
• Operation Thursday was launched. William Slim flew to Hailakandi, India to oversee the launch. One of the intended glider landing spots in Burma was found by pre-operation reconnaissance flights to be defended by newly-arrived Japanese troops, and Wingate accused Slim or the Chinese of betrayal (in actuality, Japanese Army lumberjacks had coincidentally started working in the region); troops originally intended to land at that spot were diverted to other landing areas. Several gliders were lost by the over-burdened glider towing aircraft, but the operation would still get underway. ww2dbase [Operation Thursday | AC]

• USS Hoe arrived at Fremantle, Australia, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Hoe | Fremantle, Western Australia | CPC]

• Togo arrived in the Gulf of Finland. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | Gulf of Finland | CPC]

• Roy Matsumoto of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) stumbled upon a Japanese telephone line connecting Japanese 18th Division headquarters in Kamaing and its field units at Maingkwan in Burma. Tapping into it, he learned of the location of an ammunition dump. After relaying the intelligence to his superiors, an air strike was ordered to destroy it. He also was able to gain advance warning regarding an attack on positions manned by the Blue Combat Team. ww2dbase [Battle of Myitkyina | CPC]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 and Patrol Boat No. 36 departed Balikpapan, Dutch East Indies at 1650 hours to escort convoy O-502 consisted of tanker Nasusan Maru and cargo ship Havre Maru. ww2dbase [Stewart | Balikpapan, Borneo | CPC]

• Chuck Yeager was shot down over France on his eighth mission, and was saved by members of the French resistance. ww2dbase [Charles Yeager | The French Resistance | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Air Group 15 on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• William Slim requested his superiors to assign an additional division to defend Kohima and Dimapur, India. He would only receive two battalions of Indian parachute troops. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | Kohima, Assam | CPC]

• Three Italian motor torpedo boats attacked the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy before dawn, causing no damage and suffering no losses. ww2dbase [Anzio, Lazio | CPC]

• 732 Jews from the Westerbork transit camp arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Poland. 477 of them were sent to the gas chambers without being registered into the camp. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]
• Auschwitz-Birkenau camp officials decided to gas the Czech Jews of Theresienstadt camp (sector BIIb). They were given postcards post-dated 25-27 Mar 1944 with pre-printed message "we are healthy and fine" and were told to sign them. These prisoners were gassed on 8 Mar 1944 and the postcards were mailed after 25 Mar. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• The second BTD Destroyer prototype aircraft took its first flight. ww2dbase [BTD Destroyer | CPC]

5 Mar 1944 Interactive Map