Western Front
Daylight air-raid by British on Mainz.
DH9 operational debut; controversial DH4 replacement aircraft of No 6 (Naval) Squadron attack St Pierre Capelle. 53 Royal Flying Corps aircraft attack 3 German airfields west of Le Gateau, hits on all three (repeated on Busigny on March 17 and 18). Ludendorffs Michael offensive, air units fly in (until March 12).
The D.H.9 should have been an improvement on the D.H.4, and indeed in terms of design it was. However, powerplant problems gave the new model a performance that was distinctly inferior to that of its predecessor:
https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...3/DH9.jpg?ssl=1
German gas bombardment for Somme offensive (Ypres-St Quentin): 500,000 rounds mustard gas and phosgene, of which 1,000t directed at British, esp. Flesquieres salient opposite Cambrai, and French positions. 7,223 soldiers gassed (87 deaths) until March 19.
Eastern Front
Finish Civil War: 15,000 Red Guards attack and fail against 7,350 Whites in central region (until March 14). Red C-in-C sacked on March 15.
Southern Front
Germany Navy airship
L-57 (Ludwig Bockholt) attacks Naples naval base and steel plant (50 casualties); raid attributed to Austrians (their seaplanes do raid on March 11). Royal Flying Corps claim 64 kills since November 10, 1917 for only 12 losses.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Mesopotamia: Hit (on the Euphrates) occupied by British forces.
Palestine: British cross Wadi Auja (Jordan valley) and advance 2-3 miles on front of 13, astride Jerusalem-Nablus road, taking height of Tel Asur.
Political, etc
Russia: Treaty of Peace signed between Romania and Bolshevik Russia (see 5th).
United Kingdom: War Bonds Week produces £138,870,240.
Romania: Berthelot’s French Military Mission leaves Romania (3 trains to Murmansk).
Switzerland: Last peace feelers till September: Smuts meets Austrian diplomat Skrzynski in Switzerland (until March 14) and Lloyd George’s Private Secretary Kerr also has meeting on March 15. Czernin cables Vienna on March 19 that Franco-Italian annexation demands destroy any continued talks.