Western Front
Anglo-French Military Conference assembles at Calais to discuss operations, the co-operation of the armies and the co-ordination of operations by the French Commander-in-Chief (continued on 27th) (see March 12th); fixes next Western Front offensive.
Somme: North and south of the Ancre British make further progress, capturing the village of Le Barque (south-west of Bapaume).
Due to the German withdrawal towards the Hindenburg line, British forces have gained 22 square miles of territory in France.
An artificial armored tree used by the French as an observation post in the Auberive sector:
http://imgur.com/2k6HunP* © IWM (Q 78890)
Southern Front
Macedonia: 20 aircraft of KG 1 (transferred from Bucharest) surprise bomb French Gorgop airfield; 8 French aircraft destroyed, 4 damaged. KG 1 later bombs Yanesh airfield (RFC), British dumps and camps (28 casualties).
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Mesopotamia: British 13th Division belatedly drives Turkish rearguard from Sheikh Ja’ad, but 3 Royal Navy gunboats (2 hit) destroy Turkish flotilla (4 ships and 1,500 PoWs) and recapture the gunboat
HMS Firefly.
Turkish rearguard covers the retreat 15 miles from Kut.
Political, etc.
United Kingdom: British Government requisitions Dutch ships in British ports.
British government announces that it raised £1 billion in new war loans, raised by the contribution of 5 million subscribers.
United States: President Wilson in address to Congress asks for power to arm merchant ships (see February 21st, 1916 and March 12th, 1917). Bill introduced on February 28, but filibustered in Senate to session’s end, March 3.
President Wilson asks the Senate “blanket” authority to use “all instrumentalities” to meet emergencies if Congress is not in session.
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief states $5 million a month is needed to save refugees in the region.
President Wilson signs the bill creating the Mount McKinley (Denali) National Park in Alaska.