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SprueStack Zero Hour: WW2 day by day

5 March 1942

What happened on this day in the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, with a source for every entry.

About this page

Each day we list events from the Second World War that happened on that date, from 1939 to 1945. Every entry names its source and links to it, so you can read further. Entries are sourced and machine-screened before they go up, a subset is human-reviewed, and we add more over time.

8 of 10 sourced entries for this date, chosen by the editor.

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Entries

  1. Burma

    Lt Gen Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander arrives at Rangoon to take command of Burma Army. Gen Hutton remains as Chief of General Staff. Gen Alexander at once begins offensive to close gap between Burma 1st and Ind 17th Divs.

    Source US Army CMH chronology (opens external site)

  3. New Britain

    Japanese convoy bound for Huon Gulf, New Guinea, sails from Rabaul, New Britain, during night 5-6. INDIA-Gen Breton takes command of U.S. Tenth Air Force, which is at this time extremely small, with hq at New Delhi.

    Source US Army CMH chronology (opens external site)

  5. Japanese forces capture Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies, which is left undefended after the withdrawal of the KNIL garrison and Australian Blackforce battalion to Buitenzorg and Bandung.

    Source Wikipedia (opens external site)

  6. UK Parliament

    Prisoners of War (House of Commons)

    Official record of proceedings in the House of Commons, sitting of 1942-03-05: "Prisoners of War." Source: Hansard (Open Parliament Licence v3.0)

    Source Hansard (UK Parliament) (opens external site)

  7. Excerpt from the London Gazette, Issue 35479, page 1062, published 1942-03-06: "a Scheme, prepared by theCathedral Commissioners for England, for theCathedral Church of Winchester.

    Source The London Gazette (opens external site)

  8. China-Burma-India Theater

    THOR mission records show at least 6 Allied sorties (2 recorded unit missions) in the China-Burma-India Theater on 1942-03-05, flown by RAF. Targets included BURMA.

    Source US Air Force THOR (opens external site)

    THOR is a secondary compilation with known gaps, not a complete record.

The full list for this date is being cleaned and will return soon.

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5 March in other years 19401941194319441945

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