March 29, 1942
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SUNDAY, 29 MARCH 1942

SWPA, 5th Air Force: 19th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 22d Bombardment Group (Medium), transfers from Ipswich to Townsville with B-26's; first mission is 6 Apr. 93d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 19th Bombardment Group (Heavy), transfers from Melbourne to Cloncurry, Australia with B-17's; ground echelon is on Bataan and Mindanao; first mission is July 23, 1942.

USMC: Marines arrive on Efate in New Hebrides including Marine Fighting Squadron 212 (VMF-212) ground echelon at Port Vila Airfield.

USAAF: Captain Edwin J. York and his crew from B-25B Mitchell 40-2242 that landed in the Soviet Union and were interned bribed a smuggler, who helped them to cross the border between Turkmenistan into Persia (Iran) and reach Mashhad (Mashhadi). In fact, their "escape" was staged by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) because the Soviet Union wa unable to legally repatriate the crew due to their neutrality pact with Japan. Afterwards, the crew reached the British Consulate in Tehran then were returned to the United States.