Diary March 24, 1944

03-1944, Diary WW2, War Diary, Year 1944 / 1 minute of reading

Major-General Orde Wingate — Wingate (left) in the middle of his staff, as they waited for parachute supplies behind the Japanese lines.

WW2 War Diary for Friday, March 24, 1944:

Air War

Burma: Major-General Orde Wingate, leader of the Chindits, killed in air crash in Burma; aged 41.
Germany: 1,000 bomber night raid on Berlin (726 over target; 2,496t bombs dropped). Heavy damage on target, but many bombers are blown off course and more than 50 shot down by flak; 73 lost in all operations (including diversionary attack on Kiel). Flight-Sergeant Alkemade jumps, without parachute, from blazing RAF Avro Lancaster bomber 5,486 meters above Western Germany and lands safely in snowdrift (night March 24-25).

Eastern Front

Southern Sector: Russian 1st Ukrainian Front reaches river Dniester.

Home Fronts

Germany – THE GREAT ESCAPE: 76 Allied airmen escape from Stalag Luft III near Sagan (night March 24-25); 50 recaptured and executed.

Occupied Territories

Italy – Ardeatine Caves Massacre: The SS executes 335 Italian civilians (including Jews and criminals) near Rome as reprisal for Partisan activities (bomb assassination of German police patrol in Rome).

About The Author

Kretaner

My name is Norman 'Kretaner' and since my childhood I am interested in history and strategy games. Later, I have learned programming and the development of computer games, and finally with the Internet, also web design. I'm in the fortunate position to combine all my interests with my work and to live on a place of my choice, on Crete. All information, figures, specifications and statistics used here had been compiled from a variety of sources and the large, over decades collected, library of the author about military history, WW2 and weapons.